Mark Flynn had this pike out of the Barrow on Saturday. Mark had spent 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 had seen a few baitfish shoals scatter on the surface, he had not even had a follow. Mark called time as it was getting dark and raining hard and on his way back home he stopped to chat to some coarse anglers who were also packing up. They told Mark that they been plagued by pike all afternoon and invited him to have a cast. And this was the end result. A Salmo Slider at close range was the winning lure. Unfortunately Mark’s digital scales was soaked through and they couldn’t weigh the pike, but it was estimated at 17lb.

pike
Mark Flynn with a 17lb pike from the River Barrow

There’s a few extra feet in the river since the weekend’s rain. Mark tells us that the news from Match angler Paul McLoughlin is 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.