Paul Waghorne is back once again on his annual angling pilgrimage to Ireland…
I’ve
never started my Irish spring campaign with that elusive ‘ton’ but last Wednesday that is exactly what I achieved. Enroute to Lanesborough, I caught 30 Tench to 4lb 11oz plus 52 Rudd on a little fished (un-named) lake near Longford.
Total Tench weight – 100lb 11oz plus about 8lb of Rudd. I weigh and release all fish individually so that total is very accurate.
It maybe all downhill from now on [Hopefully not – Ed.] but I managed to add a further seven the next morning in a short two hour session before the wind made conditions on the 9m pole very difficult.
On Thursday afternoon, I arrived very tired at Lanesborough to find the water temperature an attractive 9.4°C. I didn’t fish but some friends from the Tuam area were catching Roach up to well over a pound, the best, although un-weighed was probably 1lb 8oz. Pike were quite aggressive taking the Roach whenever possible.
My first Shannon test the next morning saw just 3 Roach and a Trout in horrendous conditions and since then I haven’t seen a fish! The water temperature dropped to 8.8°C and has since recovered to a shade over 9°C. For now at least, I’ll have to wait for the seasonal Roach run to commence.
