South East Angling Services Gerard Doran heads to the beautiful St Mullins in Co. Carlow and reports:

Its that time of year again when the Shad arrive in numbers into the Barrow system to spawn. All though Twaite Shad are also recorded as being caught in various other rivers over the years the best location to catch them is the river Barrow with St Mullins being the main hotspot. Spring tides at the end of April and into early May see the herring type fish move upstream to spawning locations. They are a great sporting fish attracting anglers from all corners of the country including many ‘specimen hunters’.

Ger Doran - Shad specimenMost anglers use a lure called a Tasmanian Devil or Tassies as they are commonly known to target Shad with many other small metals and hard lures also very effective an often overlooked, do not forget to debarb your hooks. A light or ultra – light spinning outfit is ideal for casting small lures across the river to cover as much water as possible. A long handled landing net is ideal especially during low water levels.

Above is a picture of a specimen fish which was released after some quick photos and scale samples. As always when fishing take care when landing fish and ensure correct equipment is available to hand to ensure the fish returns to the water unharmed. Taking the time to revive any tired fish is important also.

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Gerard Doran,

South East Angling Services

Web: www.southeastanglingservices.com and Facebook page: Southeast Angling Services Facebook

E-mail: [email protected]

Phone: 086-3769727

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