PIKING ALL OVER THE MIDLANDS
Yep Status Quo may have being Rocking all over the World, but us pikers here in the Midlands will settle for Piking all over the Midlands. We had some fantastic head banging action on Lene and Derravaragh, and also took a trip to Lough Boderg, where we Hooked- Up with members of the Midland Pike Anglers. On Derravaragh we fished the Murtagh Cup, and on Lene it was pleasure fishing for pike at its best. It’s always nice to just sit back and troll to your hearts content across some of your favorite Hot Spots. Naturally it’s a big bonus if you land your personal best pike from an Irish lake, and my good pal Marty Smith done just that. First though we will cover some of the competitions that I fished in recent weeks, on Derravaragh and Boderg.
MURTAGH CUP/DERRAVARAGH. Lough Derravaragh Angling Association run quite a few club competitions for pike, and over the winter months we have some great days out on this fantastic fishery. In recent times the bigger Derravaragh pike have being reluctant to take the bait, but every now and again a few crackers come on board. The Murtagh Cup is a popular competition, and as a rule weather permitting a good turn out of Anglers venture out for this event. On competition day we were hammered with heavy rain for a few hours but thankfully it cleared and we had a few dry hours before the day ended. We set sail from Donore shore and I teamed up with Uncle Pat for this competition, and the plan was to go down into the deep water and troll a variety of colorful lures. This had worked for me last year as brother J.J. boated a cracker over 20lbs, to win the Murtagh Cup in 2013. What a savage morning, bet all over the shop with wind, and lashed across the face with rain and no pike. At lunchtime I pulled the plug on the deep-water plan, and lashed back up the lake into sheltered waters for a few hours drifting dead baits, and spinning. Once again the lake was fishing hard, and the Mobile phones were ringing out, no fish, hard going. Having done a long drift I slowly trolled back towards Donore to start another drift, and sure enough I got a good hit. It was “Battle Stations” as Pat took in his rod and got ready with the net. The pike was coming nice and handy with just an odd head bang just to let me know it was on. As it came with-in a few yards of the boat it just let go of my Lure, and we never even got a look at the fish. Ah well shit happens and we continued up the Lake and started our drift. It was hard going on Old Pat who is well over the 70 mark now, but can still hold his own in the competition scene. As we drifted Pat started sink and draw the dead bait which I had set on a float. Eventually he reeled it in and adjusted the length of line from the float, putting the float back on up side down. No not even Spec Savers would sort this lad out, and I told him it was up side down, but this fell on deaf ears. What happened next was priceless, and I was made to eat my words. The float scampered across the waves, and Pat had a good run. Pat struck quite fast and it was not a big Pike, but on a hard day worth its weight in Gold. The Pike just made 6lbs 3oz, but was good enough for 2nd place on the day. Word got around of a good pike being boated by Club Chairman Liam Gilsenan and this was a beauty of 15lbs 6oz. Lough Glore Chairman Eddie O, Donnell finished 3rd.That was it for the Murtagh Cup and we retired to Conor Murtaghs Lounge in Multyfarnham where I told the tail of Pat and his up side down float Tactics.
MIDLAND PIKERS /BODERG. I have fished a few competitions on Lough Boderg In Co. Leitrim and it’s a fantastic fishery full of hard fighting pike. This day I had teamed up with younger brother J.J. and we were fishing the Midland Pike Angling Club open boat competition. It was a 10-30 start and Boderg is just 40-50 minutes from Mullingar, depending on how the Old fish Mobile feels. We belted off nice and early and arrived at Drumod Harbour where we were checking in. It was a beautiful November Morning with bright blue skies, and just a little wind to keep you Rocking and Rolling on Boderg. Their was a nice entry and from what I could make out, all boats were geared up for a days trolling. As we set sail from Dromod Harbor I sorted out a few Magnum Bulldogs, and a few Bass Harrazers. We were not long fishing, and I started getting a few takes. It was certainly Rocking and Rolling on Boderg as I boated 4 Pike in the Morning session, best over 9lbs.I was not on my own, and Michael Dalton of Midland Pike Anglers was also in the thick of the action, and weighed in a cracker of 15lbs before lunch. Some of Irelands Top Pike competition Anglers had a quite Morning, but came out after lunch firing on all cylinders. Barry Darby latched onto a few lovely doubles where I was fishing best 12lbs 10oz. Marty Cusworth of Dring rattled the scales with a 13lbs 6oz pike to take 3rd spot. Mick Dalton had to settle for 2nd spot as Joe McDermott and Nephew Jason from Clontern Longford, boated a beauty of 17lbs 3oz.
PERSONAL BEST PIKE. Its always nice to just sit back and enjoy a few hours trolling across your favorite Hot Spots for pike, and there is always the chance of catching the unexpected prized catch. I had teamed up with Lough Lene Club member Marty Smith from England, and we planned just to chill out and troll for a few hours, with a fish being a bonus. What a few hours and if you tried to plan the day you would never match it. We simply trolled over good pike water, and they came on the feed. The rods were buckling over in the Rod Holders, and we boated 5 lovely pike in just a few hours fishing. The highlight of the day was when Marty struck “Green Gold” and his Rod was hit hard by what looked like a good fish as it lashed across the Lake surface. Sure enough as Marty enticed his prized catch near the boat, all I could see was a big green back and the odd flash of white as the fish trashed below the surface in crystal clear water. It was “Reel Deal” and Marty was stuck into a huge pike well up in the high doubles. I boated the Mighty beast first time around and we got a super shot of Marty and his personal best Irish pike to date.
PIKING ACROSS THE MIDLANDS. I will be Out & About a lot over the winter Months in search of Pike and colorful Perch. Keep an eye on my weekly reports on www.midlandangling.com or watch for daily up dates on www.facebook.com/midlandangling . If you have a club competition coming on line give me a bell on 087-2797270, and we might just catch up with you.