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April 2003
(these reports are displayed as most recent first)
30th April.
Thunder and Lightning was the order of the day with heavy showers and the river has risen some what with a good pull.
This is the second day for the Inny Festival, which turned out much better than Monday with the top weight at Tom Foxe’s of 47.5kg by Steve Russell and at "Red Bridge" the section was won with 35kg.
My Boys fished “the Ponds” this afternoon; the start was poor until we moved to another section. here the sport was good with Hybrids, fishing at a depth of 2ft. Where we seemed to find the fish in a sporting mood.
Two anglers who fished the “First pond” seemed like they may have had fish. The party staying with Tom/Vera paid a visit to Lanesbourgh on the “Hot Water stretch” and were quite happy with there day out.
29th April.
Typical April showers today, mild with moderate winds SE.
Devon Boys were into a all night session which proved to be not so rewarding over the last 2 evenings with catches of 60lbs. and 40 lbs. but produced good Roach of specimen size one of which weighed in at 2lbs. More of which were 1lb 12ozs. 1lb 14ozs, more of their group fished “ Houlahan’s Hole” for the bream which they found to be very obliging with a catch exceeding 200lbs.
My anglers arrived mid-day and settled in whilst Paul Hopkins was mad to get going with the 'New Rod' to break it in, sure enough on visiting “The Ponds” he was into a big bream on the first cast 6/7lbs. Followed by 3 more and Hybrids, I sat there only to catch 1 Perch.
28th April.
Not such a bad day as forecasted, with light winds and showers heavy at times.
Again the Devon Boys were in good form with big catches of Bream Roach and Hybrids throughout the night (No weights as yet) but throughout the day fish were very elusive and very hard to find.
The first of The Inny Festival was fished at Tom’s and “Red Bridge" with very disappointing results - only managing a couple of pounds between them. In fact the whole river was on Hold today with no signs of fish in the usual places, there were anglers out in “The Ponds” with very little to talk about, the odd Hybrids came from the First Pond” in the “Cut” but there were fish seen to be making there way up the river this evening.
Reports from Athlone told of plenty of Roach below the weir in “The Meadows” no reports from outside the district yet.
27th April.
April showers and strong winds greeted the new anglers.
Good catches from the river mouth throughout the night by the dedicated Devon Boys with 220 lbs.of Bream, Roach and Hybrids. Through the day time the fishing was poor with only the odd spots producing, further up stream beyond the “Red Bridge”
Susan and Andy Scaife had a good day after starting on the slow side, they moved into a spot that had them hauling fish out non-stop to finish up with 80lbs of Roach, Hybrids and a sprinkling of good Bream only to be halted by starvation and had to head back for their evening meal.
North London Boys are on the scene today but they need the rest so I’ll look forward to seeing what they can do!! When they manage to pull themselves together.
25th/26th April.
The wind has gone to the South today 25th with Gusty heavy showers a typical April at last.
This Saturday 26th the wind is in the right quarter SW. with Showers.
The Birmingham boys have left on a high note, all were very happy with there stay and also the Sussex boys they to were very pleased with their Holiday at Tom & Vera’s / Paul & Deirdre’s.
There was good fishing to be had in the “First Pond” in the “Cut”.
Mark Hart had a good catch of Hybrids (50lbs) in a few hours before he left, The Devon Boys had good catches of Bream early in the morning at the Mouth of the Inny; Vic and Frank journeyed to the “Ponds” with little success but enjoyed every moment.
Saturday, An angler and his wife were at the “Top Entrance” early and had Big Bream and Hybrids. 2 boys from Dublin, Jason and Andy had a terrific day on the Roach/Hybrids fishing from one of Tom’s many boats he has to hire, they fished the upper Inny beyond “Red Bridge” with a Fish every cast.
We have now got the pleasure of Rodger Burrow’s and his party of anglers for there annual bash so lets hope we get some good reports.
Must say a Big Hi! To Deirdre and Chris from over the Big Pond (Boston USA) looking forward to your stay at Tom / Vera’s - we’ll save a few fish for you?
23rd./24th.April.
Rain and wind has come with vengeance and colder than of late, afternoons have brighten up for a few hours sport each day.
There have been fish caught in a few spots for those who stick it out with some reasonable catches, Andy and Jason had an early morning bash just up inside the river mouth with Andy netting 7 Bream to weigh in at a staggering 60lbs, whilst Jason had a good share of Bream but not the weight.
Barry had several sessions at Shrule Bridge over the 2 days with catches of Roach and Perch, “The Cut” has had it’s moments in patches with Bream, Hybrids and even good Rudd of 1lb,8ozs. In the first Pond, Frank has been in attendance for an evening trial and had a early morning stint and produced good results of Hybrids, Roach.
The Midland boys had a visit to River The Suck at Coreen Ford, here they found fish but they were on the small side. Plenty of anglers coming in from outside, The Devon Boys, Vic and Frank from Birmingham, and the 2 Lads from Yorkshire, all managing to catch fish but nothing too exciting at the moment. There’s been a little movement out in “The Ponds” this evening with the odd big Roach, let’s hope things improve shortly. I myself was at it this evening over in the entrance by the Willow same again fish starts to come in at dusk, far to cold for me to stay too long, I had a good share of prime Roach.
21st/22nd April.
Rain greeted us on Monday all day and the curse of NE. Winds
Tuesday was a great day full sunshine and little wind in the S.
Everyone is chasing few fish at the moment with fish in small pockets with just a handful of anglers being successful, Andrew Ashcroft and friend Jason found fish up “The Cut” good Bream and Hybrids; Martin from Birmingham had a good bag of Roach at Shrule Bridge (Downstream) over the 2 days and Andrew and Jason had good fishing on the river just up from the entrance of the lake at dusk and into darkness with the help of a couple of chemical lights on their floats here they had Hybrids ever cast.
Two anglers fished Malady’s and found sport slow, as for the Sussex Boys they spent some time on the river above Shroule Bridge and a lot of time propping up a Bar (no reports from them) Myself; I went out to the “Ponds” with Martin with not a fish to be found, finally we fished at the “Willow” just inside the river mouth and had good sport on the Roach up until dark which saved the evenings outing.
20th April.
Cold East wind brought despair to the angling today, although it was sunny.
Barry, Diane and little Crystal Richardson had a good night (well Barry did) with a good catch of Bream Roach and Hybrids, not as many as the night before but still very pleased overall.
Last evening Andrew Ashcroft and friend fished “The Ponds” by chance and found Bream in a feeding mood, here they took 10 good fish (Earlier than previous years) This morning they were off early out there once more to find the fish weren’t so obliging but still managed a couple. They moved after thing went quiet over to “The Cut” after trying a couple of spots moved to mid section out of the wind and found fish milling in the old reeds beds, they took several Bream but the fish were preoccupied in Spawning.
There’s boy’s from Sussex fishing the river above the “Top Entrance” but here too the wind got the better of them, they all caught fish but that was early on, top Bag weighed in at 50lbs. Hybrids and good Roach… Not much going on elsewhere, we could do with a wind change to get things up and running.
Late press; Andy fished the “Ponds” late this evening and turned up a bag of Hybrids but No Bream…..Martin from Birmingham spent time at Shrule Bridge this afternoon and did well on the Roach.
19th April.
Weather has changed to a colder day, with the wind gone back to the East, Strong.
The anglers from England are still there camping out for Night sessions, Barry and Diane Richardson with daughter from Yorkshire had a great nights fishing with a grand catch of 120lbs. Big Bream, Good Hybrids and a good sprinkling of Big Roach.
The Birmingham Boys were out early this morning, 3 fished “The Cut” to find the fish weren’t having it! 2 brothers Fished “Malady’s” and had a good show of Roach only to find the wind was a draw back and the fish were difficult to hold…. 2 Fished “The Top Entrance” and found Bream and Roach, here too the wind was in the wrong quarter but managed to have good sport.
The 2 brothers moved out of “Malady’s” and drove to Abbey Shroule to view the canal on finding the venue they decided to have an hour, 1 good Tench of 3lbs fell to a maggot bait, this spot is surely on there list for this holiday.
18th April. (Good Friday)
Still the same summer like weather, very warm, slight haze.
And what a Good Friday it’s turned out to be, a Good number of anglers turned up for there fishing holiday and a Good number of fish was caught at Tom Foxe’s on there first day. Bream were had at “The Top Entrance” all Big fish (Not hundreds at this stage) but a good beginning,
Good Bream at the “Short Stretch” fell to an angler from England.
The Birmingham Boys have landed for there annual Bash and all signs are good, look out for further reports these coming weeks….2 Local Lads were on a Pike sortie and found the Pike in a favourable mood with a total of 10 fish (5/6lbs.) all fish were returned to the water alive!!
A Good Friday?
17th April.
The weather is still holding out with light winds SE.
Good sunny day, Warm. Peter and Frank had a session this afternoon 4-30pm. to 7pm at “The Bog Hole” 8 good size Bream were caught Hybrids and 1 good Trout, all taken on Worm/Maggot (no rush of Roach yet)
I myself fished “The Cut” in the Big Pond, here I found fish to be had on Float tactics and loose feeding. Many Hybrids came to the net, with fish up to 3lbs. No Bream but I sure there were Tench on the move, with several Good fish felt but failed to make good contact.
16th April.
The wind is veered to the S. the weather is like “summer”, river on the low side but looking good.
Things have looked up from the dismal weekend with fish moving once again, Bream were reported up “The Cut” by a reed cutter coming in through from the lake.
Frank took time out to fish “The Bog Hole” this afternoon, I followed later with a visitor, on reaching Frank we saw him land another good Bream… this was the second he had along with Hybrids.
The first Bream was the best fish he’s had this year all of 8lbs. But no “Camera” sorry to say, we nestled in just below him to fish with a feeder baited with worms and maggots. Frank continued to have good sport with Hybrids, my friend was into Hybrids, and I sat there looking on without even a bite: and I had the camera.
12th/ 13th. April.
Weather still very cold, dull mornings with sunny afternoons wind still in the East. All change!!
The fish has seemed to be having a rest, I was out in the boat to fish different spots up the river, in the “Cut” and a dip in the “Ponds” Frank and Peter gave it a rest and watched the Golf.
Wherever I stopped and dropped in the fish weren’t having any of it, I had a few odd Taps but only to find they didn’t want to know.
Up in the “Cut” I managed to catch 7 Hybrids this Sunday only 1 was a good size (2/3lbs.) I then tried “The Ponds out in the Lake” for an hour to find that the fish are not in yet. Towards dusk it gets rather cold so I turn towards the harbour and may my way back to have tea with Tommy/Vera.
Reports from Lanesborough “Hot Water Stretch” there’s plenty of Roach to be caught, English anglers were said to have had 100lbs. Bags. This is a part of the Shannon where the Power Station takes in water to cool down the power process And discharges back into the Shannon warmer than it went in, hence the name.
This is a well-fished spot by visiting anglers in the spring/ early summer and gets rather crowded at times so one needs an alterative venue to search out.
9th. April.
The wind is still in the East and very cold at night yet the days are summer like.
We had an evening session down at Malady’s, Peter, Frank, and myself, here we found the fish very obliging all evening with great catches of Big Roach and plenty of good Hybrids. This is a classic Float fishing stretch with a depth of 5ft. with a good to medium flow, size 10 hook loaded with 4/5 maggots on a 4lb line (you have to be on the lookout for the big fish).
After loading in ground bait and some lose feed the fish were just waiting to be caught, it ended up a fish a chuck up until dark.
5th/6th April.
With the weather still very good, Saturday, misty start but all day was sunny and warm, little wind.
All the fish you could catch at Malady’s (this is upstream from “Red Bridge”) and is the Float fishing Mecca, with the river running steady and a depth average is around 5ft. weed is not a problem at this time of the year.
Peter, Frank and myself had the whole place to ourselves and there were fish every where, Roach up to 1lb.8ozs, Bream to 7lbs, Hybrids to 3lbs, Perch and the odd Trout.
Peter managed to hook into a Big Pike and duly lost it on light line. Frank and I were into fish all evening until dusk, very satisfied with the session.
Sunday:- more mist and a lot colder with a nasty wind from the East blowing downstream which proved to be the difference from Saturday. Frank and myself returned to this venue via the boat and Found that the fish weren’t so forthcoming this afternoon, still we managed to get fish but they were in dribs and drabs.
Good size Roach fell to Maggots and Hybrids were in attendance giving good sport when there were about. I managed to catch 2 good Trout as a bonus and returned them to fight another day.
There were local lads out for the Pike in a boat: - results were 3 Pike all returned to the river. 1 boat Fly Fisherman landed 2 Trout of 3lbs out in the Lough. Not much news from elsewhere due to the lack of anglers.
At Tom Foxe’s the sport here has not taken off yet just the odd Roach and Hybrids, things will improve this month!!
Tuesday 1st.
There’s a change in the weather this day with strong winds from the NW. And rain overnight leaving this day a bit showery and windy.
Peter and Frank were on an evening session with good results 8 Bream small Roach and Hybrids and 2 good Trout.
Reports from the upper Inny around Lough Derravaragh gave to have plenty of small Roach. Hopefully this is the month that the fish will start to come into the river, as they’ve done for the last 6yrs that I’ve been here let’s hope they oblige!!
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