There is a cabin with blazing fire, TV, Tea & Coffee making Facilities, microwave and toilets. Joe who runs the place, is one of the friendliest guys you could meet, mad for chat. Signed in and a quick bit of advice from Joe and away I went.
Cabin & Parking
So I headed over towards the west bank as the wind was coming from NNE direction, there is a sheltered area on the very North bank so I thought I'd start there and work my way down. There is a shelf that extends about 10 feet out from the west bank but it is soft at the moment so you can only wade out about a foot or two.
View west from the cabin.
Heading up the West bank.
Was nice and calm at the north bank and 2 other guys just started while I was setting up. Straight away they were in, they seemed to be fishing with a bung suspending buzzers/bloodworms. I got set up and started with a hares ear, caught a tree, then some grass. Bear in mind that I only started this malarky about a year ago nad only got the hang of it really in the last 4-5 months. Wasn't going too well so I moved around the corner and I found the trees too intimidating for a decent back cast. The other 2 guys moved around past me, they had 2 fish each already and decided to move on down the bank. One of them confirmed the bloodworm so I switched. Fished the margins for about 5mins and got a delicate little pull, a fabulous plump fish of around the 1lb and I was off the mark, 1st fish of 2010!
Watched the other 2 guys pull in another 7/8 fish between them so their methods were really working.
I had started fishing at 11am and that was all I had until nature called at 12:30pm so I decided to head for the cabin for some tea and warmth.
Sitting there in the warm quiet room I have decided that stillwaters, commercial ones especially, are the way forward. They are ideal for beginners like myself to get the hang of the basics and build confidence quickly. I spent 2008 flapping about on Lough Ree with the fly rod with no clue what I was doing as the fish are very hard to find when you don't know what you are doing. That sent me back to pike fishing and I very nearly gave up on it altogether until I discovered a local water in Cloghan that I will be hitting in the 1st week of March and put a report here.
Refreshed and warm I headed back out and started on what I thought would be a good imitation of the Pro's setup. Had a booby on the top dropper to act as a strike indicator and put a bloodworm buzzer on the point about 8 feet away. Fished it for about half an hour with no results. The other 2 guys then went for a break so I moved up to where they were catching and switched back to a smaller gold head hares ear, was in straight away with a fish under the 2lb mark that put up an amazing fight.
Fished for another while with the same setup, had 1 pull but no hook ups. Decided to call it a day at 3pm as I wasn't set on fishing the whole day. Went back and chatted to Joe and settled the bill, €15 for 4hrs fishing and headed home. You can fish for 6hrs for €20 and 8 hrs for €25. The lake is open all year round and I am looking forward to spending a lot of summer days here.
With the right setup you will catch loads here, I did see pics of fish in the 8lb, 11lb & 12lb region in the cabin so there are big ones there. The facilities are excellent and it is fairly easy to get to, the last stretch of road to it is a nightmare though, potholes like I've never seen. It's just off the Tullamore to Edenderry road, past Ballyhugh. Will definately be going back over the summer and it is ideal for group outings, of which I will be doing on the 20th Feb with a group of 5/6.
Highly recomend If you are in the midlands area.
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