Angling Advice: Coarse & Pike Fishing in Ireland

ANGLING TIPS FOR THE VISITING ANGLER

This section of the website is designed to provide the visiting angler with hints and tips on the correct tackle and tactics to use and the preparatory steps you should consider taking prior to and during your fishing holiday here.

COARSE ANGLING

For a coarse angler to have a fruitful fishing experience, some guidelines should be applied for best results. This is especially important for the angler visiting for the first time as the correct tactics are integral to success.

Before you arrive you should plan carefully to select the venues you intend to fish. If you are fishing for bream, hybrids and roach etc several days will generally be needed to allow pre-baiting sufficient time to work. One consideration could be to contact your accommodation provider/bait stockist to arrange pre-baiting prior to your visit. This way the venue will be well prepared for you so that on your arrival and you can get into the action straight away. The only down side to such an arrangement is the possibility of another angler taking over the swim you have pre-baited. Of course this doesn't arise where a fishing stretch has private access and you have sought permission from the landowner.

On a river or lough careful plumbing should be done beforehand to find features where fish are likely to congregate to feed. Pre-baiting requires a mix of brown crumb and some continental ground baits laced with casters, hemp, squats etc. It is important to have sufficient quantities of ground bait and bait for the fishing period.

Irish waters have very big shoals of fish which require a lot of ground bait to hold them in a swim. When this has been done with a shoal of bream, several keep nets may be needed to hold the catch. Once large bream are encountered it is not unusual to get bags of 150lbs to 250lbs. Please do not attempt to photograph a large catch of fish such as this spread over the ground at the end of the day. It is better to select some of the bigger fish for a photograph and quickly release the others to the water unharmed. If you would like a large bag photographed you could consider spreading out on a plastic sheet at the waters edge and then quickly releasing the fish after photographing.

Some shore venues on our lakes can be rocky or uneven, please come suitably prepared with a levelling platform for your comfort. The following tips should be considered prior to and during your visit

1. Only try a few venues, trying too many venues is a mistake. When a venue/s are selected pre-bait for a number of days.

2. If your quarry is bream, three venues over a week is enough

3. Pre-baiting is essential for best results. Put in about 10lbs of ground bait the night before you fish. Ground bait should be well laced with caster, chopped up worms. Maggots serve little purpose as they bore into the mud to bury themselves.

4. Before you pre-bait, check the water depths. Many Irish lakes have a ledge where bream normally patrol in search of food. Once located the feed should be placed at the bottom of the ledge in the path of the fish.

5. Shoals of Irish fish are usually much bigger than overseas and therefore you will need extra feed to keep them interested. Steady feeding over the fishing session is necessary to keep the fish interested and ensure a large catch. Infrequent feeding will not allow the fish to settle and you are likely to lose fish from the swim.

6. Please do not hold large bream and smaller fish such as roach in the same keep net. Large and small fish don't mix well and should be kept separately. (Large fish often kill smaller fish)

7. Respect and observe our fisheries laws and respect all landowners property, leave no farm gates open and do not leave litter.

GOOD COARSE ANGLING PRACTICE

We advise anglers to ensure that fish are handled with extreme care. The following are recommended guidelines to avoid fish stress or even mortality.

·        Do not hold too many fish in a single keep net, instead come prepared with a number of  nets and  release fish carefully as soon as is convenient

·        Do not hold fish for long periods in keep nets, especially in warm weather when water temperature is high

·        Do not mix larger and smaller fish in the same keep net, as larger fish such as bream may damage or even kill smaller fish such as roach, use two nets if accommodating mixed bags.

·        When placing keep nets in the water, please ensure the net is completely submerged, as a lot of fish held in a shallow net may quickly become stressed and could even lead to mass mortality if fish are held for too long

·        When photographing fish, do not hold up a very large net of fish as this may crush and damage the fish held at the bottom of the net, instead try and spread the fish along the net and place on the bank or shore side for a  photograph - better still take a sample of the better fish and photograph on a sheet of plastic close to the bank/shore edge and release quickly.

Visiting anglers coming to Ireland are encouraged to disinfect keep nets and other landing nets and fishing gear etc. 

Information on suitable disinfectant products which can be used by to disinfect nets and fishing gear are currently being investigated. Presently we have received information of one product which would be regarded as suitable. We will let you know of other suitable products in due course. 

Product Name: Iosan Farm Disinfectant

Iosan is manufactured by Novartis Animal Health Ireland, Ltd. Industrial Park, Cork Road, Waterford.  It is a common disinfectant and is probably supplied by numberous companies. It is suggested  you contact them for a list of suppliers around the country.  One such supplier is Magenta Direct, Unit 3-4 Dockrells Complex, Upper  Ballymount Road, Dublin 24.
    
Please note suppliers are obliged by law to provide a Material Safety Data Sheet  with any chemicals they supply - (usually you have to ask for it). Based on the best available advice, we recommend this product,  but please request the MSDS.  It is important to note that high concentrations will damage aquatic life, so therefore rigidly follow dilution ratios and other relevant data before use. The product  is corrosive in its pure form and even when dilute is a very mild corrosive so do check that it is not damaging to the material you are disinfecting at the recommended dilution ratios.  Dilution Ratio - Iosan:Water -  1: 240 

RECOMMENDED BAIT

There is no need to bring your own bait as there are a network of Bait Stockists around the region, see our Services Finder to get listings.  If you do plan on travelling with your own bait take due care that it is not packed in soil or vegetable material which is prohibited by law. Maggots are best packed in sawdust and worms in damp shredded newspaper.

Coarse Fishing Tackle

PIKE FISHING

Fishing Tips: The Shannon Fishery Region is one of Ireland's most prominent pike fishing areas. Pike thrive in the large undisturbed waters with large stocks of fodder fish such as roach, rudd, skimmer bream and perch. Best results are achieved by fishing on the surface/subsurface along weed banks in the summer, while deeper fishing will yield good results in the cooler winter months. The River Shannon holds large stocks of big pike as does Lough Ree, Lough Derg and Lough Allen, while in Co Clare, Doon Lough and Ballyline and the River Suck Valley have produced excellent pike fishing in the past. During spring time concentrate near the riverbank and lake shore margins using dead bait. or spinning/trolling plugs or spoons. On the large lakes dead baiting from a drifting boat can be very effective.

BROCHURE REQUEST

Brochures on Pike and Coarse Fishing can be ordered from the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board by contacting Mr Brian Mc Manus at the Angling Section Tel: +353 509 21777 Email info@shannon-fishery-board.ie