Mark Flynn had this pike out of the Barrow onĀ Saturday. Mark had spentĀ the previous six hours lure fishing a stretch of the river near Athy with no sign of a fish. The river was low as the rains hadn’t hit yet and although he hadĀ seen a few baitfish shoals scatter on the surface, heĀ had not even had a follow.Ā Mark called time as itĀ was getting dark and raining hard and on hisĀ way back home heĀ stopped to chat to some coarse anglers who were also packing up. They told MarkĀ that they been plagued by pike all afternoon and invited himĀ to have a cast. And this was the end result. A Salmo Slider at close range was the winning lure. Unfortunately Mark’sĀ digital scales was soaked through and they couldn’t weigh the pike, but it was estimated at 17lb.
There’s a few extra feet in the riverĀ since the weekend’s rain. Mark tells us that the news from Match angler Paul McLoughlin isĀ that the silverfish had only started shoaling up there last week. So all the signs are that the Barrow is about to kick off for both match and predator angling.
