Dan O’Neill reports on guiding a young angler to his first Irish fish:
With current conditions in most areas being less than ideal, the show must go on as they say. This week saw me meet two very keen anglers from Michigan. Casey and Cooper Carnahan have been fishing in some areas of the world that I dream of. Cooper reminded me of my son and eldest apprentice, Anthony. Very keen and all about fishing, walking along the bank to the fishing spot, we shared stories of some of our fishing adventures, which I really enjoyed. Cooper, aged 11, was a very accomplished young fisherman and matched any fishing story I told.
Getting closer to the lake we spoke of the species in the lake and what we had hoped to catch today. It was quite breezy, so we groundbaited two spots on the lake, one in the shaded area and one 50m to the left. I had 3 rods with me today, my trusty Cadence 10ft Pellet wagglers; the plan was to spread out a little, find the fish and concentrate on that area. We cast in each rod, and the wait began. I was tying some hook links during the wait, which wasn’t very long. Cooper’s float slowly disappeared, and before I could get the words out of my mouth, Cooper had hit his first fish. A lovely, good-sized roach came to the net. After this fish, me and Casey re-baited and cast back in, feeling we would get a roach also. Cooper, however, had other ideas and hit another roach and another, and, yes, another. What really baffled me was Cooper took my rod, cast it in, and caught a roach on it just to prove to me my bait was ok.
The wind picked up a little, and the rain started to get a little heavier, so we moved to the sheltered area and put the brolley up. We cast in the 3 rods, and need I say who caught the first roach in the new spot? Another nice palm-sized roach, and another point to Cooper.
As the wind picked up, we found ourselves getting further and further under the brolley and talking about our daily lives, fishing trips and Crubeens!! Casey and Cooper were great people, and sharing stories under the brolley for the last 30 minutes of our trip was an absolute highlight. Exceptional angling from this young man, and I have no doubt I will see him again someday, where he will have many more tales to tell me.
Go Fishing…
Over Easter I have two course days available will cover fishing with polyleaders, sinking lines, leader construction and casting styles. For information contact me on the details below,
