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May 04

(these reports are displayed as most recent first)

Monday 31st May.

Two new lads were at the Canal today at Abbeyshrule and had a great day with 13 Tench, Rudd and Roach and were delighted with their day, they plan to return to the spot tomorrow.

Ray and Nigel fished Drum Lake where Nigel netted his first Irish Tench of 5lb-8ozs but Ray struggled fishing away from the mark that I pointed out to them, Peter was in attendance this dinner hour with more advice!!

Weekend 29th & 30th May

Cooler conditions with light rain showers wind in the SE.

New anglers have moved in Paul Foxe’s this weekend only to find things are not great on the river. The reports from the Canal make it seem like the best bet at the moment with Tench and Roach, the main quarry.

Peter wood and Frank fished the Big Pond on the “Cut” and managed a few Hybrids.

The boys who were fishing at Ballykeran over the past few days are having reasonable success on Hybrids, I viewed the White Bridge conditions to find the river has dropped somewhat but there are still fish under and around the bridge. Peter was at “Drum Lake” Sunday and had success with three Fine Tench, 1 of which was around the 9lbs mark 2 others of 7-8 lbs.

I Travelled miles over the weekend with the sounder only to find the odd fish here and there out in the lake, up the river I had little success around Malady’s with lots of small Roach and Hybrids, not much elsewhere on the river.

Sunday 23rd May.

Weather still fine, overcast, warm with late sunshine.

All things are very Sad here on the river at the moment, dare I mention we could do with a little rain. The West country Boys fished the Canal at Abbeyshrule behind the Pub!

How convenient, and did reasonably well on Roach and Rudd. Brendon had a Tench of 3lbs and followed up on the “Inny” at Malady’s from 6pm-10pm also here there were small fish to be had which made for a pleasant day out.

I myself went looking for any signs of fish elsewhere but failed to find a one, finally calling in on the entrance for the last hour I managed small Hybrids and one of around 3lbs.

There were plenty of fish topping towards dark, all good fish but the light got the better of me in the end. Pat Rattigan from Ballymahon and a friend spent time on the Lake after Pike and did very well, best Pike came in at 20lbs, one at 14lbs and a fine Trout of 3lbs besides many small Jack Pike, I take my hat off to these boys as all fish are returned to the lake.

Two of Paul Foxe’s lads fished the Canal at Mullingar and pulled out, spent time at Streven’s Lake in the afternoon only to find it a waste of time. The other 2 lads had better form from the Canal and seemed to loose more fish than they caught on Poles with the Elastic taking the blame after good Tench were burying themselves in the thick weed.

The Proper place for elastic is in your knickers not on Irish Tench.

Note: A good Rake is essential as part of your Kit when fishing our Canals.

22nd May

A Heat Wave has hit the region what can you Do? With bright conditions, low water levels and High Pressure no fish for miles, just sit in the sunshine, relax and enjoy the wildlife.

The last day for the senior boys and they chose Mullingar at the Round-about, with the Brollies up and sun block on, they had a great session with 9 Tench, Rudd and Roach which rounded off their holiday on a high note, all enjoyed the stay at Tommy’s.

The Scrumpy Boys managed to get going around dinner time and fished Malady’s, here they found the fish don’t like sunshine, but on the last few hours fish had come out to play and they good sport up until dark with Hybrids, Roach and Perch, with one eel for Brian.

Then they found their way into Lizzies to quench their thirst on the Porter.

I spent time looking for fish all the way up to “White Bridge” only to find the Roach have gone and the whole river is on Stand By, “The Ponds” now are rapidly overgrowing with Pads as is “The Cut”

New anglers have arrived and are full of enthusiasm to get into the fish, let’s hope they do!

21st May.

A Lot warmer after an overnight frost River has dropped a few inches leaving it rather sluggish winds are good SE. Light.

There’s not too many anglers around at this time, all must have returned home but there will be more coming in. The Cold snap had put the fish off for the time being, very hard to get a bite on all venues, but you have to keep trying. Four West Country boys tried several spots and had very little.

Peter Wood made himself a Swim on the Canal near Mullingar to be fished early in the morning. The senior anglers were out at White Bridge but found it hard going in the fast water so they moved on to the Canal for some easy fishing at Abbeyshrule Airfield section, Results were good; Tench, Roach and Rudd.

19th /20th May

Rather windy and veering to the North, a lot colder with good sunny spells.

Two more days gone but the fishing up at White Bridge continues with great bags of Roach, the odd Bream and Hybrids. Anglers from Essex have done well with 1 Bream of 6lb 4ozs and a second of 5lb 8ozs foul hooked in the dorsal fin (what a fight that was) and good catches of Roach with 40-50lb bags….The senior anglers from Tommy’s b/b also had a great day on this stretch - 1 lad had a 70lb bag with the others not far behind.

My boys were still hunting for Pike - a couple of small Jack Pike was their reward and so they returned to catching fish in the fast water at White Bridge and had great sport.

The lower stretch at Tom’s is going through a Lean Patch with only Bits and pieces, fishing in the entrance towards dark is improving by the day, I had good Roach, Hybrids up to 3lbs but it’s rather cold of late and we had to call in to Tom and Vera’s for a “Hot One” and a warm up along side of the cooker.

I found on Thursday 20th that the Roach were thinning out after a great Spawning Spree and that a lot had moved upstream to recoup but still leaving the late comers below the bridge to provide good sport in the fast water.

Reports from the Canal are still good and the Tench have returned to “The Harbour” in Mullingar after someone decided it needed Dredging (Why?) More info on Mullingar sections of the Canal can be found at David O’Malley’s Tackle Shop along with good bait supplies, located in the middle of the Town.

17th / 18th May.

Weather slightly changed with stronger winds SW. mild, perfect conditions.

The fishing throughout is still very good in the upper reaches (White Bridge) Tommy’s has been slow with the odd small bream early in the day and the canal is still producing bags of Tench, Roach and Rudd but the wind here does not help.

Dave Diment and Gregg had a trip to the “Sand Bank” and found the fish to be scarce, seemingly they’ve moved to the faster water below “White Bridge” although fish were had and Dave had a Pike of 15lbs. with a larger one that pulled out.

Tommy has 4 senior lads in that have been coming for years and they enjoyed themselves down on the Gravel Bank with Hybrids and the odd Roach.

Peter Wood had an early trip to the Canal at Abbeyshrule had managed good Roach and Rudd and 3 Tench; Plenty of anglers at this venue all with good results.

18th May, Loads of anglers fishing away at “White Bridge” hauling in Roach and the odd Hybrids. On looking over the railings, there were millions of fish doing their thing and what a sight to behold.

Tom’s boys had a trip to the Canal early, and secured 5 Tench and a good few Roach along with good Rudd, this made them really keen. 4 Lads from London at White Bridge ended their day at 4pm with outstanding catches of Roach on their first outing to “The Inny” I think we may see them in the future.

My boys were at it up the river, Dave was determined to capture the Pike that got away, but the Pike won. Returning to the entrance of the river to see if the Hybrids were coming in (as they do on the evenings) but no big rush here. Reports from our local eel man are that there are plenty of fish out in the lake all heading towards the river, let’s hope so!

15th / 16th May

Slightly late on parade this morning - my boys set off for the river in summer type weather,
light winds SW. hazy Sunshine warm.

Fish are in abundance in the upper reaches with many anglers getting good bags of Roach, small Bream and Hybrids. Dave and Gregg tried the Ponds for any signs but nothing doing so they moved up the river to enjoy catching plenty of Roach.

There were the odd Bream at “The Bog Hole” and good Roach from Robbie Marsh and wife to be Evelyn from Kilkeel Co. Down . They enjoyed a great weekend at Tommy’s with bags of 60/70lbs then a move upstream to enjoy good fishing with large Roach and Hybrids and a specimen Rudd/Bream Hybrid (3lbs.)

Sunday we had a trip to the Canal at Abbeyshrule Airfield, this is a very popular spot as there were lads fishing away and catching. My boys raked out the swims and fished away until 8pm. Fine Roach and Rudd with only 1 Tench, all fished in bright sunshine and very warm just the day for R/R.

Robbie Marsh and Evelyn fished White Bridge for a couple of hours and heaped in a great bag of fish including many Male Roach, which weren’t showing yesterday, to finish off the great weekend on The River Inny.

14th May.

Weather as it should be, warm, and light winds SW slightly overcast.

It’s all singing and dancing at this moment with anglers by the dozen, all catching good bags of fish from the upper reaches of our river Inny to Lanesborough, Mullingar on the Canal and the river Suck at Ballyforum-Ballygar sections.

Dave Diment and pal Greg landed at my house yesterday 12 noon and were hauling fish by 1pm in the upper reaches with Roach around the 2lb mark and good Hybrids from the boat.

Then to celebrate their good start, gallons of Porter in Lizzy’s.

There were Bream reported at “The Bog Hole” by 2 anglers camping in the swim and weights of 70lbs plus from the moorings at Lanesborough (opposite the Hot Water stretch) - Abbeyshrule Air Field section was a good venue for the Nottingham brigade with their last day here and they came away with good catches of Tench, large Rudd and Roach and a shortage of Pole elastic with a few Crack Off’s to say the least.

All rebooked for next year at Tommy Foxe’s

The Sheffield lads had a better last day also and fished the upper reaches to find their share of the fish and finished on a high note, also rebooked for their holiday next year.

13th May.

Graced with another fine day, overcast, mild and light winds backing SW.

Things are much the same upstream, Black with Fish, wall to wall with Large Roach, Bream and Hybrids. The Leeds Boys Terry, Jack, and John had their final day on the river with great catches of mostly Roach; Terry with 77lbs. (Man of the match) John with 74lbs (Who did pull his Socks up today) and Jack the Lad with 40lbs (who is said to have had pulled muscles after yesterday).

Rodger Burrows and gang has found it hard going after putting in a lot of energy for the Bream which didn’t show during their stay but they stuck at it. Bernie, Phil and Shane tried their luck on Lake Strevin’s near Mullingar only to find this was not their day after having good sport on the River Suck yesterday with up to 40lb bags in a few hours.

Bill "The Drifter" did well on miles travelled, with more miles than fish but he enjoyed it just the same.

Frank and Peter did a few hours up at Shamus Delaney’s this evening and did very well on the Roach and Hybrids. A good few anglers were at the “Down stream from White Bridge”swims and were still Bagging Up into the late hours.

This is the time of the week for the change over with new anglers coming and the leaving of happy anglers who made the grade and looking forward to next year, with a great final Binge at Lizzy’s to round off their holiday.

11th/12th May.

Weather holding very well, still overcast but very pleasant with light winds N.

Rodger Burrow’s crew were out in “The Ponds” and found it hard to find fish, I had jaunted over there to see what’s what and wet a few maggots, It was not on Fire!! So Chris and I went to the upper reaches around “The Sand Bank” and the whole place was Black with Fish. A few hours of that was enough when 2 lads from Sheffield - John and Terry turned up and took on board what they witnessed and made plans for Wednesday.

Further round the corner were lads lined up hauling in fish by the dozen (these lads had walked down from “White Bridge”) 1 left-hand bend 1right-hand bend and a 100 yds downstream.

Wednesday 12th - It was like The Normandy Landings with boats heading for the Upper reaches this morning; all the anglers from Paul and Tommy’s were on their way upstream. The results were... everybody had fish and were happy, “Grumpy” Jack Dodsley had 25lbs yesterday but today had a second wind and produced 68lbs (mostly Roach)….Terry Merrion had a smile on his face for a change with 101lbs…John Houseman (Numpty 2) only managed 25lbs (Could have tried Harder) but was happy.

Rodger Burrow’s boys were there and all had good bags of Fish after their early morning visit to “The Ponds” where they said to have seen fish moving in the reeds, this has very promising prospects.

10th May

Overcast but Mild, good fishing weather with little wind.

River conditions are good and clean.

The Nottingham boys fished Ballykeeran today, on the point and had a reasonable catch of Hybrids and Roach…. At “John Malady’s” 2 Lads from Essex fished all day and had a terrific catch of Bream, Roach and Hybrids ending up with a 150lbs and a 120lbs bags.

It seems that the water temperature has increased from the warm spell and put the fish in a better mood…. Two anglers at “Red Bridge” were having a good spell with nets in the water anyhow.

Chris and Sommer wanted to see the Islands so we spent time out to oblige and toured the Lough and on returning to Tommy’s heard the Good News. Chris and I rushed up to Malady’s and sure enough the river was “Alive with Fish” within minutes we were into some of the finest Roach you’ll find and large Hybrids of 3lbs+ and plenty of small Bream. A big Pike ended the session when it took off with Chris’s tackle and a Hybrid.

Rodger Burrows boys had time in “The Ponds” today and found the fish were slow in biting, but managed to get Hybrids.

9th May

Overcast and cooler, light winds Northerly.

Fishing is on the slow side at most venues. Ray and Liam from Dublin with a 5am start proved that getting up early prodcues fish with a good bag of Roach, small Bream and Hybrids (Roach upto 1lb 8 ozs) Later fishing the ponds found nothing moving there.

The Nottingham boys had a reasonable session at AbbeyShrule Airfield.

Meanwhile the Sheffield Boys found things slow at the entrance with small bags of fish.

Chris, Sommer and Myself found great sport again opposite the BogHole fishing the float at 14ft. With 4 small Bream, Large Roach (including Male Roach at last) and Hybrids upto 3lbs, which made their day.

A Large Roach and Smallish Hybrid caught by Chris.

8th May

Glorious weather, full Sunshine, winds light NW.

There's a whole flood of anglers landed at Tommy's "The Nottingham Mob" "The Sheffield Boys"
and "The Poachers" from Dublin.

Dave Benson and Eric had their last session before returning to the UK, early morning on the Inny Mouth with catches of 4 Bream and a good helping of Roach, Hybrids…With an afternoon stint on the Canal at Abbeyshrule Airfield, Tench, Roach/Rudd and Hybrids were plentiful.

The Nottingham Boys were also at this venue and enjoyed bags of around 40lbs of Tench, Roach/Rudd and Hybrids with a good supply of Booze from The Rustic Inn. The Sheffield Lads spent time 'checking it out' and Prebaited the "Ponds".

Ray and Liam from Dublin turned up for a long weekend firstly trying "The Ponds" only to have 1 large Eel, they met up with Chris and myself up the river, we were enjoying great fishing with a few Bream, Hybrids and Perch. On mooring alongside, they were soon into good fish; Large Roach and Hybrids, they finished on a high with a terrific run of large Roach.

Meeting up later at Lizzy's to swill the dust down and discuss further tactics for tomorrow.

7th May

Weather much improved, light winds from the North.

Dave Benson and Co had a great early session with 6 large Bream up to 7lbs. with a helping of Hybrids and Roach.

John Hunter and Co! did not do too well up stream but Bagged up on returning to swims 2 and 3 this evening, with catches of good Bream, Hybrids, Roach and Large Rudd.

Chris and myself found good sport at swims 39/40 with a good bag of Bream, Roach and Hybrids and were entertained by a Large Pike. Things are looking much brighter with the weather improving daily.

6th May

An improvement in the weather at last, little rain, wind still in the North sector.

Dave Benson and John Hunter's party fished Lanesborough on the Mooring side and did well on Roach and Hybrids, fishing on the Poles.

First time out in 5 days I ventured out with Chris, "The Ponds" were on the menu and I was encouraged by fish showing up on the Finder only to be disappointed that they did not want to feed. Next move was to go to the upper reaches of "The Inny", here the river looked inviting but alas no fish. Dropping back downstream we fished all know spots only to end up with the same results. Our final spot was "The Bog Hole" where we had bites straight away and were soon hauling fish in, Roach, Hybrids and small Bream to finish the day off well pleased.

On the way back, John Hunter, Dave Benson and Eric were at swims 1, 2 and 3 where they enjoyed good fishing up until 9pm, John having landed 4 Large Bream. Dave and Co were quite happy with their lot.

All information was supplied before a Great 'Music Night' at Lizzy's.

5th May

Weather still Grim, NW winds Strong, Rain and Hail.

Never the less 4 anglers from Teeside, Trevor, Dave, Graham and Chris all members of Thornaby Angling Association braved all and fished Malady's. In gale force winds they managed 102lbs. of good Roach Bream and Hybrids.

Elsewhere things are very poor due to the conditions. My party has not left the house yet.

3rd - 4th May

Wind from the NW and strong, with some sunshine mixed with rain and hail.

Conditions at Tommy's are bad, few anglers with few fish. Red Bridge much the same.

Over at Lanesborough, opposite the Hot Water stretch, John Hunter, Dave Benson and friend had good catches of roach, Dave bagged up with 70lbs+.

Young Daniel Hodgeson from Huddersfield showed his father how to catch Pike with great Specimens of 19lb+, 11lb+ and 9lb.

The father however was doing well with large Roach and the odd Bream. The four remaining lads also had good sport with fine catches of Roach.

1st - 2nd May

Weather is wet with the Wind in the North to North West.

Fishing has been very slow, the weather has been making conditions difficult to say the least. A few determined anglers have been down at Maladys and out at Tommy Foxes but the catches have been predominantly small bits and pieces.

The Wind has finally begun to swing round to the west so perhaps the outlook may be getting better.

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