Post by SpenBeck on May 29, 2007 19:41:15 GMT
Fishing trip to Cavan, Ireland - May 2007
I picked up my son Andrew with is gear, including his two keepnets. Why would he want to take two keepnets? and drove to the California pub in Gomersal to meet the other two guy's who were going. We met up with Brian and David the organiser's, who's been organising the 'Gomersal Gozzers' trips for the last 20 odd years. After setting off mid morning we drove to the Holyhead ferry terminal, We got there at 2.15 and were told the fast Seacat ferry had been cancelled and we had to travel on the normal 'snail' ferry which took 3 hours to get to Dublin. We drove out of Dublin with the works traffic and headed north up the N3 towards Cavan. We stopped at a town called Virginia to look at a huge lake. Some guy's spinning at the end of the jetty had east european accents. I hope they don't have the same trouble we've been having in the UK! We got back on the road and continued up the N3 past Cavan to Butler's Bridge, turned right to Cloverhill and found the guest house at about 9pm. After unpacking we had a chat with a few of the other angler's staying there. 3 of them had been to pre-bait some swims and had caught a 6lb bream, by just chucking a feeder out while they 'boshed' it in (boshed - heavy ground baiting).
The following morning (Monday), we were up at 6.30am, had brekkie, made up flasks and set off to the 'banker' lake. Checking back through the records for the trips to Ireland had shown this lake to be the most consistent with plenty of bags to over the 'ton'! On getting there, Brian had noted that the water was about 2 foot down on previous trips. Brian and David dropped in the 'banker' pegs, Andrew and I tried further up the bank opposite a small headland. I got my box out into the water with the legs extended. I only took 'wellies' so it wasn't too far out. First I plumbed it with a 'depth finder float' I made years ago. It was 3' deep at 35 yards and 3'2" at 45 yards. There was some colour in the water and the wind was blowing gently into our faces. I used a big home made feeder to get plenty of feed in and would change to a smaller one later if bites tailed off. Groundbait consisted of brown crumb which was bought in 20 kilo bags and molasses. I bought a gallon molasses from the local animal feed depot before I set off. It cost £4.50. Everyone else brought bags and bags of expensive bream groundbait to mix in the brown crumb. Anyway I got bites from the off and was in roach and hybrids. Andrew on the next peg started getting them at a slower rate. Brian and David hadn't had a bite. At the end of the day, results were: Me 18.5lbs, Andrew 9lbs, David and Brian blanked. The expected bream on their pegs just weren't there. They must have spawned early and moved on.
Tuesday we went to another lake which had good weights in the past. The water here was crystal clear as far as you could see. Andrew lost a fish off and missed a bite and the rest of us blanked. We packed up at dinner time and went back to the first lake. Andrew and I fished the same pegs having baited them a bit yesterday. Brian and David dropped in the pegs just above us. Results at 5 o'clock were: Andrew 12lbs, Me 10lbs, Brian and David a couple of pounds. They were sticking to sweetcorn hoping to get bream. I'd stuck with 3 reds and a white on a size 14. Later at night we came back and pre-baited some swims where 146lb and 207lb of tench and bream had come out the day before. We 'boshed' in 25 orange sized balls of groundbait in each swim.
On Wednesday morning we were all buzzing about bagging up. We were set up and fishing in 5 minutes. I started catching hybrids again. The average hybrids we caught during the week was about 12oz! Andrew had fed a swim a couple of pegs down stream and started catching bream straight away. Average size about 4.5lb! I managed to catch a couple of p.b. tench. Both estimated over 6lb. I forgot to weigh them individually. About mid day, Andrew came and got his second keepnet!!!! Bites dried up in Brian's, David's and my peg at 10am. We had to sit and watch Andrew bagging all day. Results were: Me 18.5lb, David 12lb, Brian 3.5lb and Andrew 174lb!!!!! (The club record for Ireland was 127lb in 1992) Andrew had 2 - 4lber tench, 10lb of hybrids and 35 bream. I took some trophy pictures at the weigh-in.
Thursday we decided to give the pre-baiting a rest and fish a lake about 30 miles away called 'Gowna". When we got to the center of Gowna we were diverted around the lake because of a closed road. It took an hour and 25 miles to find the other end of the road, which also said road closed!!! B**locks, we drove up it anyway and got to the carpark. The chosen pegs were along the lake so we drove in the shallows until stopped by a gate. This time I fished the near side peg which jutted out in to the lake a few yards. Big feeder time again and 4 fish from 4 bites. Roach, perch, hybrid and a skimmer. The other were struggling a bit (or so I thought). I managed to get a bream, then another. I put on double worm tail tipped with red maggot and caught steadily all day. At the weigh-in. Brian, 1 fish, David 3.5lb, Andrew 13.5lb! He told me he'd only had 4 small perch and a skimmer. Any way I managed 29lb including 8 bream. I lost one off at the net when the hook straightened. I won't be using B520's for feeder fishing. It will be 611's from now on! On the way back we pre-baited the swims again when Andrew had 174lb. Andrew 'boshed' in 32 balls. I pre-baited the swim below where Andrew caught. I thought 'I'll get a piece of the action this time'. Brian decided to move around the corner into the lake and balled it in there.
Friday. Andrew was straight into the bream and he had had 7 before I got a bite which I hit. I turned out to be a 4.5lb tench. Andrew caught another 2 bream while I was playing it!!! After a couple of bite-less hours David and myself moved around into the lake and left Andrew bagging up again. Brian's was catching fish from the off and carried on catching them all day. David started catching too. I started again with the big feeder in 10' of water and started catching. Again it was hybrids in the 12oz bracket. At the finish, I weighed 24.5lb, David, 12lb, Brian, 62lb and Andrew 215lb!!! Yes he'd done it again. This time he caught 48 bream between 3.5lb and 5.5lb and 2 hybrids. For our last day we would come back again and see if Andrew could better 215lb. To guarantee this he 'boshed' in 52!!!! balls of groundbait. I pre-baited a swim well into the lake with 25 balls.
Saturday and our last day. I thought that I should be getting bite or liners from the off, but nothing. I decided if I hadn't had a bite within the hour I would move. No bites so I moved up the lake back towards the river. This time I had 12' of water, instead of the 4' where I pre-baited. We were all struggling. We caught a few fish then it tailed off. I tried 4 white maggots and started to get bites again. Roach and a few hybrids. Mid morning Andrew walked round and informed us he'd only had 1 bite and 1 tench, a 4lber. At 2 o'clock Andrew came around with his gear. He'd had no more fish and packed up. 4lb was the target to beat. I lost off a 8oz roach at the net, then hybrid over a pound trying to force in to the net. Grrrrrrr. I was convinced I had 3 and a bit to weigh-in. At the weigh in: Brian 3.5lb, Andrew 4lb and me with 6.25lb. Phew! We were running a points system on results to win a shield for the year. I had 3 firsts, 2 seconds and a third for 20 points. The shield was won in Holland last year with 19 points. My hopes were short lived as Andrew had 3 firsts and 3 seconds and 8 extra bonus points for his big weights. He won the shield with 29 points.
Overall I was the most consistent angler averaging 18lb of fish a day. I've really enjoyed it and can't wait to go again. It might be Holland next year. I'll try and attach some pics for you to look at. I'll be sending some to Angling Times and the Anglers Mail, so you might see them in print.
best regards, SpenBeck
Me weighing in on first day - 18.5lb
Andrew with a 9lb miixed net.
Day 3 and me with 18.5lb net including 2 tench over 6lb.
Nice pic of one of the Tench
Andrew and his nets with 174lb
Andrew again!
And again!!!!!
Brian about to cast.
Brian's 62lb
Well done sir!
I picked up my son Andrew with is gear, including his two keepnets. Why would he want to take two keepnets? and drove to the California pub in Gomersal to meet the other two guy's who were going. We met up with Brian and David the organiser's, who's been organising the 'Gomersal Gozzers' trips for the last 20 odd years. After setting off mid morning we drove to the Holyhead ferry terminal, We got there at 2.15 and were told the fast Seacat ferry had been cancelled and we had to travel on the normal 'snail' ferry which took 3 hours to get to Dublin. We drove out of Dublin with the works traffic and headed north up the N3 towards Cavan. We stopped at a town called Virginia to look at a huge lake. Some guy's spinning at the end of the jetty had east european accents. I hope they don't have the same trouble we've been having in the UK! We got back on the road and continued up the N3 past Cavan to Butler's Bridge, turned right to Cloverhill and found the guest house at about 9pm. After unpacking we had a chat with a few of the other angler's staying there. 3 of them had been to pre-bait some swims and had caught a 6lb bream, by just chucking a feeder out while they 'boshed' it in (boshed - heavy ground baiting).
The following morning (Monday), we were up at 6.30am, had brekkie, made up flasks and set off to the 'banker' lake. Checking back through the records for the trips to Ireland had shown this lake to be the most consistent with plenty of bags to over the 'ton'! On getting there, Brian had noted that the water was about 2 foot down on previous trips. Brian and David dropped in the 'banker' pegs, Andrew and I tried further up the bank opposite a small headland. I got my box out into the water with the legs extended. I only took 'wellies' so it wasn't too far out. First I plumbed it with a 'depth finder float' I made years ago. It was 3' deep at 35 yards and 3'2" at 45 yards. There was some colour in the water and the wind was blowing gently into our faces. I used a big home made feeder to get plenty of feed in and would change to a smaller one later if bites tailed off. Groundbait consisted of brown crumb which was bought in 20 kilo bags and molasses. I bought a gallon molasses from the local animal feed depot before I set off. It cost £4.50. Everyone else brought bags and bags of expensive bream groundbait to mix in the brown crumb. Anyway I got bites from the off and was in roach and hybrids. Andrew on the next peg started getting them at a slower rate. Brian and David hadn't had a bite. At the end of the day, results were: Me 18.5lbs, Andrew 9lbs, David and Brian blanked. The expected bream on their pegs just weren't there. They must have spawned early and moved on.
Tuesday we went to another lake which had good weights in the past. The water here was crystal clear as far as you could see. Andrew lost a fish off and missed a bite and the rest of us blanked. We packed up at dinner time and went back to the first lake. Andrew and I fished the same pegs having baited them a bit yesterday. Brian and David dropped in the pegs just above us. Results at 5 o'clock were: Andrew 12lbs, Me 10lbs, Brian and David a couple of pounds. They were sticking to sweetcorn hoping to get bream. I'd stuck with 3 reds and a white on a size 14. Later at night we came back and pre-baited some swims where 146lb and 207lb of tench and bream had come out the day before. We 'boshed' in 25 orange sized balls of groundbait in each swim.
On Wednesday morning we were all buzzing about bagging up. We were set up and fishing in 5 minutes. I started catching hybrids again. The average hybrids we caught during the week was about 12oz! Andrew had fed a swim a couple of pegs down stream and started catching bream straight away. Average size about 4.5lb! I managed to catch a couple of p.b. tench. Both estimated over 6lb. I forgot to weigh them individually. About mid day, Andrew came and got his second keepnet!!!! Bites dried up in Brian's, David's and my peg at 10am. We had to sit and watch Andrew bagging all day. Results were: Me 18.5lb, David 12lb, Brian 3.5lb and Andrew 174lb!!!!! (The club record for Ireland was 127lb in 1992) Andrew had 2 - 4lber tench, 10lb of hybrids and 35 bream. I took some trophy pictures at the weigh-in.
Thursday we decided to give the pre-baiting a rest and fish a lake about 30 miles away called 'Gowna". When we got to the center of Gowna we were diverted around the lake because of a closed road. It took an hour and 25 miles to find the other end of the road, which also said road closed!!! B**locks, we drove up it anyway and got to the carpark. The chosen pegs were along the lake so we drove in the shallows until stopped by a gate. This time I fished the near side peg which jutted out in to the lake a few yards. Big feeder time again and 4 fish from 4 bites. Roach, perch, hybrid and a skimmer. The other were struggling a bit (or so I thought). I managed to get a bream, then another. I put on double worm tail tipped with red maggot and caught steadily all day. At the weigh-in. Brian, 1 fish, David 3.5lb, Andrew 13.5lb! He told me he'd only had 4 small perch and a skimmer. Any way I managed 29lb including 8 bream. I lost one off at the net when the hook straightened. I won't be using B520's for feeder fishing. It will be 611's from now on! On the way back we pre-baited the swims again when Andrew had 174lb. Andrew 'boshed' in 32 balls. I pre-baited the swim below where Andrew caught. I thought 'I'll get a piece of the action this time'. Brian decided to move around the corner into the lake and balled it in there.
Friday. Andrew was straight into the bream and he had had 7 before I got a bite which I hit. I turned out to be a 4.5lb tench. Andrew caught another 2 bream while I was playing it!!! After a couple of bite-less hours David and myself moved around into the lake and left Andrew bagging up again. Brian's was catching fish from the off and carried on catching them all day. David started catching too. I started again with the big feeder in 10' of water and started catching. Again it was hybrids in the 12oz bracket. At the finish, I weighed 24.5lb, David, 12lb, Brian, 62lb and Andrew 215lb!!! Yes he'd done it again. This time he caught 48 bream between 3.5lb and 5.5lb and 2 hybrids. For our last day we would come back again and see if Andrew could better 215lb. To guarantee this he 'boshed' in 52!!!! balls of groundbait. I pre-baited a swim well into the lake with 25 balls.
Saturday and our last day. I thought that I should be getting bite or liners from the off, but nothing. I decided if I hadn't had a bite within the hour I would move. No bites so I moved up the lake back towards the river. This time I had 12' of water, instead of the 4' where I pre-baited. We were all struggling. We caught a few fish then it tailed off. I tried 4 white maggots and started to get bites again. Roach and a few hybrids. Mid morning Andrew walked round and informed us he'd only had 1 bite and 1 tench, a 4lber. At 2 o'clock Andrew came around with his gear. He'd had no more fish and packed up. 4lb was the target to beat. I lost off a 8oz roach at the net, then hybrid over a pound trying to force in to the net. Grrrrrrr. I was convinced I had 3 and a bit to weigh-in. At the weigh in: Brian 3.5lb, Andrew 4lb and me with 6.25lb. Phew! We were running a points system on results to win a shield for the year. I had 3 firsts, 2 seconds and a third for 20 points. The shield was won in Holland last year with 19 points. My hopes were short lived as Andrew had 3 firsts and 3 seconds and 8 extra bonus points for his big weights. He won the shield with 29 points.
Overall I was the most consistent angler averaging 18lb of fish a day. I've really enjoyed it and can't wait to go again. It might be Holland next year. I'll try and attach some pics for you to look at. I'll be sending some to Angling Times and the Anglers Mail, so you might see them in print.
best regards, SpenBeck
Me weighing in on first day - 18.5lb
Andrew with a 9lb miixed net.
Day 3 and me with 18.5lb net including 2 tench over 6lb.
Nice pic of one of the Tench
Andrew and his nets with 174lb
Andrew again!
And again!!!!!
Brian about to cast.
Brian's 62lb
Well done sir!
