Paul Waghorne was back in Ireland for his annual fishing holiday.
I’ve just completed almost three weeks in Ireland again. Only saw two tourist anglers in the whole time I was there.
Fishing was very poor over Easter and the following week due to rivers flooding and cold lakes. I was with another English angler who I produce YouTube videos with. The first has been published, filmed on a typical Irish April day with showers and sunshine. We had loads of Tench (14) between us in just under 3 hours. Other sessions were less productive.
Total number of Tench for myself was 55, none over 5lbs, in fact the best was 4lb 10oz although Steven Keogh from Navan had one at 4lb 12oz.
On our first trip to Mask we had upwards of 40 Bream to 6lb 6oz.
Closer to home I spotted what I thought were a small shoal of Chub on a stream. Although we didn’t fish that time, on our return a week later (Sun May 4th), Steven caught a 2lb 4oz Chub which surprised both of us.
Chub
The chub is widespread across Europe, but it is not native to Ireland. In fact, they are a very recent introduction to Ireland’s fish fauna. In 2005, fisheries staff confirmed anglers’ reports of chub caught in the River Inny. An eradication campaign in the Inny captured 30 chub, but after no sightings for several years, their presence was confirmed once again in 2020.
Chub have a sturdy body, with brassy coloured sides, dark fins, a blunt head and a large mouth. Their scales are distinctively large and dark-edged, and they also can be distinguished by the dorsal fin on their backs and anal fin on their bellies, which both have a rounded, convex edge. Adult chub are a shoaling fish and are voracious predators that will eat almost any prey they can get their mouth around. For this reason, introduced chub threaten native species either by eating them, especially smaller juvenile fish, or by competing with them for food. They prefer to inhabit large lowland rivers with a moderate flow of water but are sometimes found in tributaries or deeper pools in rivers.
Inland Fisheries Ireland is closely monitoring the occurrence of chub as an invasive species in Ireland’s rivers. Anglers are asked to report any catches of chub to Inland Fisheries Ireland’s 24-hour hotline number 0818 34 74 24 without delay.
