N.C.F.F.I. Affiliated club's match Carlow & Portobello

Carlow C.A.C. and Portobello

N.C.F.F.I.

Affiliated club's match Carlow Town

Sunday 26th Feb 2012

Sunday 29th Feb saw anglers descend on the Barrow from the Carlow Coarse Angling Club, visitors and the Portobello Angling Club. A good turn out was evident from the amount of cars arriving at the draw and sure enough we were gonna have a good turn out to test run the venue for the Irish Team selection qualifier to be held in April on the river Barrow in Carlow Town. Special thanks must go to Henry Norton and the lads for travelling to Carlow.

Myself with a few nice Roach

All in attendance caught fish with the winning weight going to Gary(Gazza) Doyle from Carlow who weighed in 20Lb. A lot of different methods were used on the day, personally I set up the Pole, Whip, Feeder rod, float rod with my oul trusty home made Peacock Quill and Abu closed face and a waggler set up on the 14ft Trabucco match rod. After I watched Tadas in the peg next to me net two or three Hybrids I decided to switch to the feeder but I was too late and ended third in the section with 4Lb 12oz. We made new friends and chatted fishing and swapped stories etc. sure that's what it's all about. Three of Tadas's friends from Lithuania visited and enjoyed the craic we were having and now wanna join the Carlow C.A.C.

Gazza below with his winning bag

Tadas below with his end weight

Henry Norton (Portobello) presenting Prize to Brendan Collins (Portobello)

Angling Council of Ireland Water Safety Course

Instead of my usual fishing day out on a Sunday myself and several members of the

Carlow Coarse Angling Club teamed up with members from several angling clubs and Federations within the Angling Council of Ireland affiliation, to complete a Water Safety course being ran by the A.C.I. near Clonmel.

Attendees at the course near Clonmel

A great day out was had by all in attendance at the course which was held in the community centre in Kilsheelen, Co.Tipp and on the river Suir for the afternoon session. We all learned how to fill in and use safety assesment forms amongst other vitally important fields and situations which could arise. I particularly enjoyed the outside coaching and learning how to use a throw rope which hopefully I will never have to do for real but still it's good to have the training and be able to take control of a situation should it arise.

One of the A.C.I. banners

Angling Expo in Dublin

Had a very busy weekend at the Angling Expo in Swords, Dublin. I was on stands with http://www.Irelandscoarsefishing .com

The angling Council of Ireland and the N.C.F.F.I. who were at the Dublin Initiative stand.

I had several chats Mr John Wilson who was on the Anglers Paradise stand where the I.C.F. were based over the weekend promoting his new book. Brian Bohan was also with us promoting his new book based on the Lakes around Leitrim and Cavan.

Jay's wee woman with Brian Bohan's new book 

Myself and John Wilson

We all had a good weekend at the show and there was a good turn out by people from all over the country. The Federation decided to split the committee to different stands over the weekend rather than being in the one place, seemed to work better that way as more people are now aware that the N.C.F.F.I. are the leading body for coarse anglers in Ireland.

Me trying to tie my first fly on the A.C.I. stand

Monday 6th Feb 2012 river Barrow, Dace bashing

We had decided that due to the fact we had loads of left over bait from Sunday that we would hit the river again on Monday and see if we could do a wee bit better. After a not so healthy breakfast me and Noel headed out to the river for a days fishing. When we arrived at our destination the watercraft skills again came into use and it was decided that we would fish in close for the Dace on the edge of the flow with a Stick float.

Noel at his peg

After I had lost three stick floats due to an unseen snag I decided to switch to a waggler float and straight away I was into Dace after Dace. Most people would rather sit fishing for the Roach and get a few however that particular day I was happy enough to just sit, take it easy and fish away for the Dace as you can never practice enough on them and they do win matches on the Barrow if the Roach are not on show. Noel had set up the 8mtr whip and the feeder rod and after an hour decided to fish the waggler and after I let him know he had to loose feed a lot he was soon into the Dace himself

Below: Noel with his catch of Dace for the day

Below: My catch of Dace for the few hours we were out on the river

Sunday 5th Feb on the Barrow in Carlow Town

We had a scheduled match due to take place on the river in Carlow Town on Sunday however due to the Barrow levels being high we decided to cancel the match. Whilst other people decided to go and fish canals etc. Myself, Tadas and Noel decided we would fish feeder only on the graveyard stretch of the river where the match was due to take place. I put on an 80gm feeder whilst Noel and Tadas decided to opt for a 40gm feeder (I will go into it again) the reasons are beyond me but seemed to work for Tadas.

Noel off for a walk up the bank

I posted the pics on the carlow cac Facebook page and had some comments on the pic of Tadas with his fish and the rod in a loo ball behind him due to the 40gm feeder. Dave Harrell a well known angling celeb. posted something like "you've another one on behind you" as you will see from the next pic he is more than justified as were the others who posted.

Tadas pictured below with a nice Barrow clonker

The day was cold the bites were few but as always we had a good day out and plenty of chat with passing river users and still managed to get a few.

Myself below with a few wee Roach caught on the tip

With loads of bait left over me and Noel decided to out on the river again on the Monday making it a long weekend, we were not dissapointed.

Bumping into the Irish Angler at Southern County Fishing Resort

I was out at the Southern County Fishing Resort http://www.southerncounty.ie/ with Noel during last week. The resort is situated at the foot of Mt. Leinster some 250 foot above sea level which offers truly spectacular views of Carlow, Kilkenny, the Wicklow mountains and the Blackstairs mountain range. The lakes have now stocked some Salmon as well as the hard fighting Rainbow Trout offering some pretty good fishing on a fly rod. The resort breed their own fish at the on site hatchery making the resort the only site in the country to provide such a service.

Noel went off to bait fish the big middle lake whilst I was chatting to mr Pat Foley who owns and runs the family business. After chatting to Pat for an hour or so I headed off to find Noel and bumped into a chap who was fly fishing on the top lake. After introductions and fishy talk I learned that the chap I was talking to was Mike Shanks from the Irish Angler magazine. I stayed with Mike for a wee while and watched as he caught and netted fish after fish and picked up a few wee tips as Mike was very curteous and informative so much so that he gave Noel tuition on his own fly rod complete with a Hardys reel.

Mike Shanks (Irish Angler magazine) giving Noel tuition.

Below: Mike releasing one of the many Salmon he caught

You could be forgiven for thinking that the day couldn't get any better, Well after all the fishing and chat related to fishing off course Mike's lift arrived and we headed up to the car park and he came over to Noel and gave him a couple of free magazines. A truly nice and 100% genuine chap altogether would be my guess at the character of the man I met fishing that day. Fair play Mike, well appreciated.

Below: Mike giving Noel a few free Irish Angler magazines.

On the Barrow with Shay and Lorraine Sat 4th Feb 2012

 I travelled down with Carlow Coarse Angling Club member Noel Jenkins to the beautiful picturesque village of St. Mullins on Sat 4th Feb to meet up with clients Shay and Lorraine from Dublin.

The view as you look up the river

 As the Barrow levels are up at the moment we tried the canal again above the lock gates bearing in mind the risk of not catching anything as happened three weeks previously on the very same canal. I mixed the groundbait and fed a few loose maggs and after around twenty mins or so Shay was into the resident Dace with a five Mtr whip I had shown him how to use.

Shay with his first Dace, they got bigger.

Lorraine was busy using the pole I had shown her how to set up and within minutes she also was as they say hopping the fish outta it! Both Shay and Lorraine seemed to have a good day learning the basics and there was even talks of going out and buying new rods etc.

Noel fishing away beside us

Below: Lorraine with a Dace

So what did the visitors Learn? Well Shay and Lorraine learned how to set up and use a pole and whip, how to handle fish properly and release back alive, how to use a disgorger, use basic watercraft when searching out fish, how to mix and use ground-bait and lots more tips throughout the day which will better enhance their chances of getting a good haul of fish whenever they decide to go again. Personally I had a good day and Noel had a good day he told me as did Shay and Lorraine as the extreemly generous tip they gave showed.