The current news from Lanesborough, courtesy of Paul Waghorne of www.lanesboroughangling.ie

20 April: Two Tench were banked this morning by Fran McCormack and Richie Gilligan from Mullingar both weighing males of 5lb 1oz and 5lb, but more a more significant catch has been made by Gerry Judge fishing the gusher. He currently bagging up on quality fish with some large Hybrids (mongrels).

Richie Gilligan and 5lb tench
Richie Gilligan and 5lb tench

21 April: When I last spoke to Gerry on the gusher yesterday, he was well on his way to a 100lb of Hybrids with odd Rudd and Roach. I’ve commented many times about the apparent lack of mongrels at Lanesborough in recent years, but every so often, they come and go seemingly overnight. Well, they’ve vanished again as visiting anglers from Navan and Mullingar found this morning.

A few more Tench are showing, Richie and Fran have a combined tally of 10 over their marathon three day session, which on reflection is not a great number but more than adequate reward for sitting it out for that long. At least it hasn’t rained.

Fran McCormack 5lb 1 oz tench
Fran McCormack 5lb 1 oz tench

22 April: Richie and Fran finished with a total of 10 Tench from their 72 hour session. When they left, Flano and Paul Ryan fished the same area into the night, failing to land a Tench, but catching lots of Bream to a pound. They also noted the water was very warm at 2am when they packed up leaving the stretch was deserted.

23 April: Yesterday afternoon, Aiden Dooney, currently having a superb run of form in the Tench department, added four more to his yearly total with fish up to 4.02lbs. There were a lot of casual anglers on the hot stretch and also two Dubliners on the disabled swims. They were not so fortunate as Aiden and failed to lure one of those brown beauties.

25 April: Just before dawn, a good bream shoal rolled through his swim, and Larry caught two between 5-6lbs before adding a further four female Tench, three of which were barely a pound. What was strangely noticeable, the male fish all had red marks on the underside. I would presume this to be spawning damage, but the largest female had no evidence of this.

Larry Kelly had this, his biggest unweighed Tench on Monday
Larry Kelly had this, his biggest unweighed Tench on Monday 17 April. Fish like these are the only know cure for tincaritis

I now think I have all the symptoms of tincaritis, a rare disorder affecting the nervous system, the only cure is to sit patiently until I’m better. There is an antibiotic known as Rutilus, and this is currently available on the river Inny below Ballymahon where the annual Roach run has just started.

22:00 – That was a bitterly cold day, and god knows why I went out this evening. At least my perseverance was rewarded by a young lady of just over 2 lbs. Aside from two late arrivals who were on the hot stretch, there was only one Piking angler earlier today. I was far too frozen to bother investigating who the late comers were, but the amount of good sized Bream or giant mongrels turning below the bridge would suggest they may have a good session if they can bare the cold.

26 April: There are loads of tench all along the lower section and although some are babies of less than two pounds, there are odd fish to five. The total caught today was 17 including Tim’s early session. I blanked this evening, despite introducing my magic mix of particles earlier in the afternoon. Dubliners Barry and Pat shared the best of the catch with 13 Tench including one identified as being one I saw last week. I can but speculate, but with numerous males being weighed in at 5.01 or 5.02, there could actually be a low population at the moment, but with many repeat captures?

Perhaps the hot stretch also has a good number present? There several big fish turning at dusk and I presume these to either very large mongrels or Bream.

With the holiday weekend almost upon us, any visitors should pre-order bait to avoid disappointment, and if anyone requires bait before the shop opens, call me the night before and I will arrange to open the shop as early as 06:00 if required.

Keep up to date…

For daily updates on the fishing at Lanesborough see Paul Waghorne’s website: http://www.lanesboroughangling.ie/

Biosecurity

Due to the biosecurity risks posed by the Asian Clam populations anglers can only use the specially provided keep-nets, available both sides of the bridge – from the Daybreak Filling Station, Ballyleague and Bridie Holmes Fishing Tackle Shop, Lanesborough.