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July 04
(these reports are displayed as most recent first)
28th / 31st July.
End of another month with the weather very warm not too much rain and the water levels are still very low (not as low as this time last year).
Peter has been very active these last few days on the Canal and the river at his Cottage with good catches of small fish down on the river and still managing a few Tench at Abbeyshrule.
Abbyshrule has been cut off Peter’s list for the time being because of a shocking evening last week. Peter was preparing his swim and got disturbed by Wasps so he moved up several yards and started a new swim. Again more Wasps, so another move took place, 50yds away Peter began to clear the tall grass with the aid of a pair of shears, Yes!! Straight into the Wasps Nest. Peter was last seen legging it into the Sun Set heading for Home closely followed by a thousand Wasps.
Several hours later Peter collected his gear and his Car nursing his hands and face with the aid of Calamine Lotion from the numerous stings he received, swearing never to go to Abbeyshrule again.
Meanwhile Frank has been attending Lally’s Island swim for the Tench, after days of sitting and staring at his float contacted 4 Good Tench Saturday morning and was delighted with himself after getting up early at 6am.
I joined in Saturday evening, 3 hours later “Nothing” only “Mozzy Bites”.
Things are very quiet all around with very few anglers in attendance and were wondering what and where to go next for a bit of sport.
19th - 27th July.
Not a bad week on the weather front. The odd showers and good sunshine, not a lot difference in the river conditions still very low with little movement.
I had people over and managed to have a few hours on the Canal where we had good sport at Abbeyshrule, with a collection of small Roach, Rudd, Pike and Tench which put us right after a few long sessions in Lizzy’s Pub to celebrate the Winning of our Counties Gaelic Football Final.(West Meath) It seems that the whole county was celebrating for days.
Brian and Debbie were here for the festivities and the music and made plenty of it into the early hours. In between parties Peter managed 2/3 trips to the river below his cottage with good catches still of Roach, Skimmers and good Rudd and trips to the Canal proved he still can catch Tench and he duly made sure I knew of it.
A report came in from Mark Egan of an angler having a good catch of Bream off of “Yellow Island” 180lbs or so, after sounding them out and prebaiting he enjoyed the great sport.
12th to 18th July.
Weather much the same, heavy showers, Warm.
River conditions slightly improved on the flow, although, all of the rain that has fallen has been taken up by the land with very little going into the river.
Still with all the bad news Peter and Frank are still battling it out with visits to “Lally’s Field” this is right opposite Paul Foxe’s driveway on the “Cut”, here there’s 5ft. of water and a Haven for Tench. Early starts and evening sessions has brought not one Tench, plenty of small Rudd / Perch. This venue was becoming a Choir and was to be crossed off of the List until Tench showed themselves rolling within the swim taking the Mickey for want of a better word, still no Tench caught though.
Peter had 2 visits down the river at his cottage for a few hours and was very successful with a good bag of Skimmers, Roach, Hybrids and Perch (20lbs plus) all on the smallish side but at least it is Fish.
Frank has gone off the river fishing until the levels are higher and has taken to Jam Making to pass the time. Meanwhile, Peter landed at my doorstep Sunday evening to report that Abbeyshroule is still producing good Tench fishing with a helping of fine Roach and Rudd, with the aid of the said Rake and small amounts of Crumb, Maggot and chopped Worm. Peter went about the task of Raking and Baiting, with a good full Pipe of Tobacco sat back and waited. Results - 4 good Tench, some big Roach and some fair sized Rudd all within 3 hours. Not bad for an easy Sunday evening.
There were reports that a few fish were taken at “White Bridge” these were small Hybrids and Roach. One lone angler from Dublin fished Tommy’s this weekend only to find small Perch for his efforts.
3rd - 11th July.
Mixed weather all this week with heavy showers and strong winds, warm.
Mike and Mark are not having too much success on the river so they had a boat out to try their luck with Pike fishing out on the Lake for a few days. They did meet with success with a good few small Pike, best being around the 8lb mark and were very happy pottering about on the lake.
Peter and Frank were at their mission on trying to find fish around the Islands near Portlick Wood, armed with a fish finder and a rod they set about their task. Lots of odd fish showed up off “Winning Point” and a collection of fish around “Yellow Island” where they stopped and had a dip only to find the fish weren't having anything to do with feeding. Further trips produced nothing although there were fish showing up, so back to the river to see if fish were in residence alas this proved to be much the same.
Peter had a few hours one evening at “The Gravel Bank” (22) only to spend time catching Perch. Even a visit to “Malady’s” opposite Peters House produced nothing more than Perch.
I myself have been fostering friends, over for a rest so the Fishing was out because of the weather Still we had a great time Chilling Out. It's the time of the year now that anglers are thin on the ground and not too much to report but there is always another day tomorrow.
1st July.
Heavy showers and wind from the West.
Anglers Mike and Mark Yardley started their holiday on a high note fishing pegs 22/23 at the “Gravel Pit” to find Bream in their swims with a catch of 7 good size Bream and odd Hybrids.
Now lets hope for more of the same in their 9 days stay.
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