GREEN PETER & MURROUGH SEASON WILL KICK IN THIS WEEK. Weather permitting and we get a few nice mild evenings the Peter and Murrough season will kick off on Owel and Lene. On Owel last week it looked promising as I fished late into the night with David J.Quirke of Frederick Memorial Healthcare Systems in America. David was back home for a short stay here in Mullingar, and enjoyed some river and lake fishing. We had no trout on Owel, but lost a few, and boated some fine Rudd on dry fly. It was a beautiful night and plenty of small sedge were on the water surface. Earlier in the week I hooked up with Mark Ryan of Hooked Live Angling Expo. We dropped down to one of his favourite stretches of the River Boyne, and boy did we have some fun. This will be our main feature next week, as we have decided to give the World Cup a lash this week as our top feature. It takes place over the August Bank Holiday on Lough Mask, and it promises to be a great weekend. On the competition scene I teamed up with Glore anglers and we caught winner Peter Smith in full flight as he played his winning 11lbs plus pike. Also this week we have a photo of my pal Tommy Buggy from Kilkenny with an 18lbs Monster pike from Derravaragh taken on the Fly. The Macklesfield magician was back in the Midlands this week and boated some nice pike and perch. Marty from Macklesfield which is just a few miles from Manchester had a cracking time on the Midland Lakes. His best pike was just 11lbs, and was caught last Sunday on very choppy waters.
RUDD YOU BELIEVE. I spent a few nights on Owel and Lene last week well into darkness, and its only a matter of time before the lakes explode with feeding fish on Peters and Murroughs. While drifting out in front of Portloman last Thursday night along with David Quirk I latched onto a fine Rudd on the dry fly. David and I should start a new craze, Dry Fly fishing for Rudd. We had a cracking night even though we boated no trout. The lake came alive with small sedge type flies as darkness fell and fish were moving. Worth keeping an eye on in the coming week. All going well we will highlight some Peter action on our Web site as it happens. Nothing like staying on line.
HOOKED ON THE BOYNE. Last Tuesday night I teamed up with Thomas McMullan and Mark Ryan for an evening’s river fishing .The venue was one of Marks favorite stretches of the Boyne near Longwood Co.Meath. On the night we banked and released 9 nice trout including a few beautiful coloured Boyne crackers. We include just one photo of our Boyne adventure, as it will be our main features next week on Midland Angling.
WORLD CUP FEATURE. Get your entries in soon as closing date for this years World Cup is July 15th. Once again I hope to compete in this years Championship on Lough Mask, and we have a special feature on the World Cup this week. We hope to include as many photos as possible from our Gallery of pics from previous World Cup Championships. Only one Westmeath Angler ever lifted the World Cup and that was the late Cecil Gibson of Derravaragh Anglers. Hopefully in 2010 we will have another Westmeath winner.
DERRAVARAGH FAMILY DAY. Speaking of Derravaragh don’t forget the family day pike competition next Sunday July 11th, contact details in our competition section. It’s a fantastic day out, weather permitting. Last season I took the whole family, including the Queen Bee. I featured the competition in Irish Angler and included a pic of the wife with a nice pike .She nearly died when published and said she would kill me. I told her not to worry, it’s the only time you will hit a Glossy mag. The lake is producing some fine summer pike, and with any luck we will be in the thick of the action next Sunday.
THE BUG ON DERRAVARAGH. Tommy Buggy was back in the Midlands recently and boated some fine pike including a huge fish of 18lbs on the fly from Derravaragh. The fish was in mint condition and scrapped real well on the fly rod. Tommy who hails from Kilkenny is one of Irelands top pike anglers and I have had a few good days with Tommy on some of our lakes. Soon I will spend another few days fishing with Tommy and all going well we will feature the Bug from Kilkenny.
MACKLESFIELD MAGICAN. My good pal Marty Smith was back in town and was in fine fishing form. On Lene we had rainbow trout over 2lbs, and some nice perch. On Sunday morning we woke up to savage winds and heavy rain which drifted away early in the Morning .The wind never dropped, so I took Marty to one of my favourite small lakes where we could get shelter from the strong winds. What a few hours, 4 pike and a few beautiful perch including a fine 11lbs pike for Marty on a Bulldog. His first pike caught on this favourite lure of mine.
GLORY DAYS. On Saturday last July 3rd Glore Anglers hosted an open pike competition. It was a cracking day and even though the pike were reluctant to take the bait some nice fish came on line. I managed just 3 small jacks, and could not believe the size of lure these hungry chaps latched onto. Once again Trim pike angler Peter Smith was unbeatable as he boated a fine pike of 11lbs 11oz. I was some distance from Peter when he latched onto his prized catch but managed to stay focused and have a few nice shots. Joe O’ Donnell another of Meath’s top pike anglers finished 2nd. The competition finished at 4-30 and when we arrived back at the Angling Shelter some fantastic food had being prepared by Emily Cosgrove and Bridgid Reynolds. Great stuff ladies.
GONE FISHING. Next week news on the Stena Challenge Angling Festival, plus Dave Houghton of Active Irish Angling Break tells us that Bob Nudd will be in Ireland for a week, and you can spend some time with Bob out on the waters. Ian Powell of the Blackwater Lodge & Salmon Fishery is expecting some rod bending action in the coming week. All this plus reports from the Midlands competitions and pleasure fishing scene. On the competition scene we include contact details where possible. Please check with Competition captains, Club Pro, before traveling, as events may be cancelled due to weather conditions etc.
