A pretty wild morning in Foxford. I don’t know about you but that big full moon is not doing much for my sleep pattern. We are in Spring tides at the moment and I have an experimental bit of fishing planned, I’ll report on it here soon. Last weekend was a busy one for us. On Saturday we attended the unveiling of a memorial picnic bench which I will also give a full report on soon. On Sunday we were on Lough Carra at a Pike fishing competition organised by The Lough Carra Trout anglers.
Our day stared of a little rocky, well very rocky to be more exact. It was nothing to do with wind or waves as we had not even got out of Foxford, no, it was shaky trailer wheel. The bearing which like my fishing reel last week has not seen grease or oil for a long time gave up the ghost and exploded. For those of you who have not had the experience or don’t know what happens when a wheel bearing disintegrates, I’ll tell you, the wheel falls off. Luckily for us we had not even left the back yard and were nowhere near a public road and our speed was slow. Just a sudden bit of rocking, bumping and a bang. This was followed by a few expletives and a bit of quick thinking. The easiest way around the problem was to abandon our boat and trailer and go get our friends boat and trailer, he was fishing with us. It was a delay but we had plenty of time, it was now 9am and fishing was not due to commence until 10.30 and it would take us about forty minutes to get there. By 9.15 we had the new outfit hitched up and were on the road. On the trip to Lough Carra there was plenty of talk about techniques and tactics and by the time we got to the lake shore we had ourselves pretty convinced we were going to win.
We were not the first ones there and i’m also sure we were not the only ones feeling confident. There was a lot of banter and good humour and although we were not club members we were welcomed and made feel part of the occasion. A few of the other anglers gave us some tips on where to fish and pointed out some of the local obstructions including a sunken boat near our launch place. Their parting words were “We will be on Church Island at one O’clock for a bit of lunch, see ye there”. We already knew where we were going to fish, a deep channel close to an Island which a friend had pointed out to us on Google maps. He assured us that with dropping water temperatures this is where the bigger Pike would be and the way to catch them was to use dead baits. Two members of IFI staff were on standby on the shore. The idea was that when an angler caught a Pike they would call a number which they were given. The IFI lads would head to the location and after measuring and recording the fish would make their way back to the shore where they had a very professional looking oxygenated tank on a trailer where the Pike were held until they recovered before been transported to their new home. All very well organised and a credit to both the club and IFI.
We launched the boat and got to work setting up our rods. Three rods set up with a variety of spoons and plug baits for trolling and three rods with dead bait rigs. We all agreed that to give the Pike a sporting chance to survive in their new home it would be better if they were not suffering the effects of being hooked deeply as often happens when dead baiting. We crimped the barbs on the treble hook and agreed a quick strike as opposed to letting the Pike have time to swallow the bait was the way to go. By now the other boats had left the shore heading to their own Hot spots. We set off, trolling our way to the Island where the big ones were waiting!
One thing was for sure, it was cold and the East wind was going to bite. By the time we got to the Island I was feeling it and the hand I was using on the throttle of the engine was stinging.We caught no fish on the way over but we were not disappointed, trolling was for the small ones and we were going to win this on Big Fish, that was the plan.
Plunk, plunk, plunk and three nice Juicy Mackerel were set in three different locations. It was just a matter of waiting for the bites and that we did. Yes, we waited and as we did we chatted and dreamed about the big Pike we were going to catch, soon. It was not long before we spotted the IFI boat shooting out of the Bay and up the Lough, someone had made the call. We cast and re cast, the IfI boat returned and departed a few times but still the Big Pike had not obliged. They would though, we knew it and we were still confident, cold but confident. It was now 12.15 and time to make our way to the lunch venue. We would troll, perhaps pick up a couple of small ones on the way, just to get off the mark. We trolled our way out to meet the others and although we did not know exactly where they were it was just a matter of following the smoke signals.
We arrived, without fish and again we were welcomed. We warmed our hands at the big turf fire the others had lit. We thought we were well prepared with our pot of chicken stew but it was nothing compared to this group, frying pans, steaks, onions, potatoes, wine, it certainly was not their first day out. Listening to the conversation during lunch, it certainly was not some of their first outing. The competition has been on the go for forty years although I’m quite sure back then the catch and relocate model was not employed.
Word on the shore was that one boat has three Pike, one of which is large. This brought the conversation around to catching large Pike “I caught a 26lb Pike and a 27lb Pike within ten minutes a few years ago” was one of the comments I heard. This really boosted my confidence and having had that boost, eat and warmed up I was ready to go again.
We started the second half of the day at a new location but by now the wind had freshened and our chosen location was a little uncomfortable and the wind was cold. It was nicer back at the Island was the consensus, the fish had just not switched on yet. Off we went, back to the Island and the deep channel. We fished hard and had three baits in the water all afternoon but by 5pm we knew it was not our day. One last try at a Pikey looking reed bed on the way back to base but again, no joy. We headed for shore and the prize giving which was held in a local pub, as I said these lads have done this before!. Twenty two anglers had boated nine pike, the largest 18lbs. Our friend who gave us the info on where and how to fish was the winner, interestingly, he fished the other end of the lake and caught his fish trolling a spoon 🤔 . We will be wiser for next year and I actually look forward to it, no fish but an enjoyable experience in good company. Those Pike are now living in a new location and we have thawed out.
