Lewy's Lines

Day 5 and the team scores were tight with myself, Paul and Bernard tied in first individual placings.  Today would be a deciding day. We had arrived at Garadice on the Church shore stretch of the lake for todays sport. Pegging was a further apart than previous days so I could only just hear the craic from the other guys.  Paul and I certainly made up for it and he was pegged to my right. My swim looked very fishy with stick up reeds to the left, fish topping at long waggler and feeder range.  The water was crystal clear, the weather was overcast and there was a good ripple on the water. The Set-up Pole Line at 14 metres with 4 foot depth straight ahead Pole Line at 14 metres in the stick ups with 3 foot depth Feeder Line at 40 turns Large Waggler rig at 30 turns The All-In I had decided today that I would not groundbait my pole lines, so instead I cupped in a pot full of maggots, sweetcorn and casters on both the line ahead and the 'stick up' swim. ...

Day 4 and we arrived at Trinity Lake cut to see Francis McGoldrick doing a feature with Dave Houghton from Active Irish Angling . Directions to the cut at Trinity Lake can be found on this link. While chatting to Francis, he had netted 10 hybrids with very simple methods.  Those methods I would get to try for myself and end up having the best day so far in Ireland. We found 6 swims for us all, Paul and the lads had kindly pegged me to the left of Francis where the cut meets another channel. The Set-up Pole only today, just as Francis was doing, so it was 12 metres of pole coupled with a very light float to trot down the swim and fish shallow. I did set up a maggot feeder to try and plunder the far margins for any Irish tench... The All-In Francis was feeding caster and his hook bait was a single red maggot and as I didn't have any casters with me Francis kindly gave me a pint to feed with. First couple of trots down and feeding about 15 caster every time ...

Day 3 and a new venue to try.  Town lake at Killeshandra.  Driving back from Foxholes the previous evening we had all checked out this venue, although nobody was fishing to give us an indication of form there were 6 available swims to the right of the boat ramp with easy access for the old boys. The lake had a light breeze and ripple on the water and looked very fishy, so onto the draw and out with the tackle. The Setup Pole at 13 metres, depth was top 5 sections!!! Pole Top 3, end of the keep net swim... all will be explained later!  Feeder at around 40 turns I was using a Sconezone Berweemz , 1.5 gram pole float for the deep pole line and it was the first time I had ever fished this deep. The All-In I cupped out 4 balls of groundbait on the pole line and as with previous days, decided to rest this swim for at least an hour.  That waiting time would be spent on the feeder. No bites on the feeder materialised, even after casting around the sw...

Day 2 of the mini Irish fishing festival.  Surprisingly we were all looking rather refreshed after sampling two nights of Guinness at the Anglers Rest. We had decided to come back to Foxholes in the hope that the bait we had put in on the previous day would have bought some fish to the area. Today I was fishing on the peg that Glynn was on yesterday and my partner for the day was Fred. The Setup As the previous day, I went for the same set-up: Pole at 12 metres with 5' depth 10' Bomb Rod with a running cage feeder at 40 turns Waggler rod to fish shallow at beyond pole range The All-In I balled in 2 large balls of groundbait packed with red maggot and sweetcorn and would let this swim rest for at least an hour.  While waiting I went out on the feeder baited with double red maggot. I had decided not to bait as heavily today on the pole line so as not to disturb any feeding fish. Meantime the feeder line had produced a couple of fish, but still w...

My first trip to Ireland I was in the hands of Paul Colins (Animal) and his Uncles.  What a great group of guys they were and we would be staying at the Anglers Rest in Ballyconnell run by Francis and Pauline McGoldrick.  Francis is also in the Irish International Team. The first day the group had decided to fish within Killykeen Forest Park at a spot know as the Foxholes. Paul and the rest of the group had fished here before and the lure of some irish tench proved too much. Foxholes is accessed via a forestry road which can be closed without notice, so be warned. The Setup I opted to set up the following to tackle my swim: Pole at 12 metres with 7' depth (top 3) 10' Bomb Rod with a running cage feeder at 40 turns Waggler rod to fish shallow at beyond pole range We had decided to fish in randomly drawn teams of two and I was paired with Glynn today.  The winning team would get 1 point, second team 2 points, third team 3 points.  The angler over t...

Day 2 of the Withy bash.  The previous nights outing in Salisbury was pretty much as the friday night, a little drunken, although we did end up in a cracking curry house! Today I was pegged on the Snake Lake, outer ring, low peg numbers or cyanide straight as the lads call it. The Draw I drew peg 14 and had WithyBagger and McPikey for neighbours on the day. The Set-Up Today would be pole only, no need for rods and with 14 metres across a relatively easy day to fish the far bank.  My lines were: Far bank Down the track (10 o'clock and 2 o'clock positions) Margin swim to peg 15 The All-In I cupped on the two track lines, one with meat and the other with pellets and went straight over to the far bank with a 4mm expander pellet and kinder pot with 4mm and dampened micro's.  I was told to fish tight up against the bank and the float soon buried due to a small skimmer.  The action then started, repeating the process but with a 6mm expander pellet the first...

Day 1 of the MatchFishing-Scene two day Withy bash in aid of the Steve Ramsey charity.  After a big night out in Salisbury we were all feeling pretty hungover and tired, mainly due to the copious amounts of cocktails we had all had in YOYOs (Your Only Young Once) My section I would be fishing Selwood Lake today and then the outer snake lake low peg numbers, also know as cyanide straight the following day.  Nick who organises the day scores the two days by sections and points for your section placing.  The final day placings are dependant on points scored and in the case of any draws weight will determine placing. The Draw I drew peg 4 on Selwood and had Jamie and Bez for neighbours.  Peg 4 had an island chuck but also a large bay that I would be sharing with Jamie. The Set-up Method feeder to the island Pellet Waggler rod 12 metre pole line 14 metre pole line to Peg 3 Inside pole line Bait for the day was 4mm & 6mm expander pellets, corn, ...

A pre-Witherington Farm match organised by Sconey,  who makes those great SconeZone floats . I've heard a lot about Rolf's Fishery  particularly the big match weights, large fish and the need to use powerful elastics and heavy line to get the fish out. Having never used my red hydro elastics I didn't know what to expect to be honest. The Draw Scone gathered all the usual suspects and John, fishery owner provided him with a mega phone which of course was used to great effect by Ian. I drew peg 14 which was on the opposite bank to the car park.  Having packed my gear that morning, I was horrified to find my barrow had a flat tyre which made getting my gear from my 4th floor flat to the car a right royal pain!  Luckily John had a pump and I was soon getting the gear to the peg. The Set-up John had told me to set up a long pole line and also two margin swims under the bushes on my left and right side. Does he really need a megaphone? 13 metre pole li...