Reader's Stories

A Day to Remember
A Day to Remember By Andrew Mcilhone   The weather is starting to improve with arrival of spring, the mornings are brighter and there is a stretch in daylight in the evenings, a very welcome sight that a lot of us have been waiting on all winter.....       Sunday’s weather looked promising, So David, John and I arranged to meet at a lake in the midlands for one last bash at fresh water before the real fishing starts with the good weather approaching. I loaded the...

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When is a salmon not a salmon? by Mark Corps
When is a salmon not a salmon? Glancing at Facebook the other night I was somewhat surprised at the avalanche of abuse flying around over the capture of the first Irish salmon of the year. Gerry Looney was the lucky chap to have landed the fish on the 17th of January at 8.35 a.m. from the Long Range in Killarney, a stretch of water between the lower and upper lakes. The salmon weighed in at 10lb. Apparently the fish was confirmed by Inland Fisheries Ireland staff that were in the area as being...

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Weather or not! by Mark Corps
Weather or not!   It is likely that most people if asked would understand what was meant by a wind force of 8 - a gale.   The fact that it is part of a scale, the Beaufort scale, would, I suspect also be a concept recognised by most of the general public and certainly anyone who had ever taken part in water sports.    However few would have any great understanding of the scale and certainly know nothing of the man who gave his name to the scale (and to be honest not car...

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A Day For Doubles by Karl Bohan
A day for the doubles For various reasons I had hardly wet a line since September but over the holiday period I intended changing that, and knowing that I would be spending the new year in Leitrim I penciled in the 2nd and 3rd to get out for some pike fishing. I was to be joined by a friend of mine David O Connor who had taken up the sport maybe two years prior and now also suffers with this affliction. So I chose a venue and we agreed to meet on the morning of January the 2nd.    ...

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My December pike bash in Monaghan By Andrew Mcilhone
My December pike bash in Monaghan Well as usual, the kayak strapped on the roof and car packed ready to go on Friday night. Many of you that know me probably won’t believe me, but I was out of the house for 5am Saturday morning and on my way to meet up with David and John in the midlands for another bash at the pike.       If I said it was freezing that would be an understatement, so with a quick stop at McDonald's in Newry for a coffee it wasn't long before I found my...

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Float tubing- learning a new method by Andrew Wolsey
Trying a new method Float tubing It was whilst on a perch fishing adventure back in the spring I had my eyes opened to the advantages of the float-tube. My friend Glenn Drennan had brought his float-tube along and he was kind enough to let me use it for the day. I was able to explore the entire lake in a stealthy manner and I managed a few fish in the process.     When bank fishing there always seems to be that reedy bay you just can’t reach, which of course must hold all t...

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Rainbow Trout, getting taught a lesson by Graham Smith
Rainbow Trout, getting taught a lesson Hi everyone, hope you’re all still catching as the weather gets colder and wetter. I have been giving it a go when I can and my first winter session of the year at the Oaks Fishery in the maiden city happened the other week. It was a lovely mild clear morning with coolness in the air that screams fishing the minute you walk out the door. You know the type; it's normally when ye have to go to work. What a sight, I landed at the Oaks and got my kay...

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Johnshaven - Cod Heaven by Peter Foster
Johnshaven-"Cod Heaven" When top Scottish Rod Alan Combe, maestro of the north-east coast gives you a call to say the fish are in, you don't ignore him, to do so means you run the risk of missing out on some prime time cod action so with a red letter day on the cards I headed East to meet up with Alan and a couple of mates from this years World Championship Shore Squad, Lindsay Wilson and team manager Drew Higgins.     The brief was to meet up with Lindsay and Drew just South of Gl...

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Australian Visitor
 ‘Where can I fish in Ireland?’ As a former Inland Fisheries Ireland Angling Advisor I regularly got some strange and occasionally interesting requests crossing my desk. The frequently asked questions could be divided into two basic groups. Home grown anglers wanting to know about specific fisheries or pieces of legislation. The other group from foreign anglers planning to holiday in Ireland and so wanting to know how and where to fish.       Over a per...

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Does size matter? By Mark Corps
Does size matter? Right! A good place to start is with facts: Irish pike grow large, and quickly because they eat a high protein diet. As all good school boys know, the main-stay of this diet is fish. Though, as we have shown previously from research carried out by Dr Martin O’Grady, pike have no problem feeding on a smorgasbord of smaller creatures, if and when the opportunity arises.   When starting to fish for pike with the fly, (now a decade ago) I brought with me a key philoso...

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