Return to the Emerald IsleFORGET THOSE GIANT carp in French waters, and those huge Spanish catfish if you want the holiday of a lifetime, and something completely different, and instead set sail on southern Ireland’s River Shannon to Lough Derg or Lough Ree and its Inner Lakes.That is, of course, if you want more from a holiday than just catching fish.
What could be better than living in a luxury caravan at the side of a beautiful lake that holds a good head of big fish? Not much, but a floating caravan, one that can be moved from one swim to another with the mere lift of an anchor is so much better. And that is exactly what a cruiser is, a floating caravan, or bivvy, that sits as close to the swim as you like, even if that swim is in the middle of a massive lough. The journeys from swim to swim are a great experience in themselves too. Just as it says in that famous old book, ‘The Wind in the Willows’, There is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. The Gang of Four It was 12 years or so since the old gang of four (and ‘old’ is the right word!) – me, Eric Barnes, Eddie Bibby and John Charlesworth – last cruised the Shannon and its inner lakes (something we did every year for two decades or so) in search of big bream, rudd and pike, so we thought it was about time we did it again.
But there was another reason we decided to get together and relive some fabulous old memories; Eric, 69 now and an ex professional footballer with Crewe Alex, had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease and this year may be the last one he would be well enough to make the trip. Everything had to be Right It was important we did everything we could to make it a good one, so we decided that only the best would do. That meant booking the trip through Liverpool’s Leisure Angling, incomparable for arranging Irish holidays, travelling on the NorseMerchant Ferry from Birkenhead to Dublin (an overnight crossing that included evening meal, breakfast and a very nice cabin) and hiring a cruiser from none other than Carrickcraft, and they don’t come better than CC for cruiser choice, good service and reliability. To top that off we hired (off Carrickcraft) a TV with DVD player, and boy was that a good move; we took some movies with us and had plenty to watch when the weather forced us indoors and when we wanted to just relax with a dram or two….or three….
The holiday started well, with excellent food and accommodation on the ferry, an uneventful drive to Banagher where we’d arranged to sail from, and a warm welcome at Carrickcraft. The cruiser was in excellent order and we spent little time in moving our stuff on board and setting off up the mighty Shannon so that we could get through the locks at Athlone before they closed for the night. The weather was sunny if a little cold, but at least it was dry.
Straight to Coosan We headed straight for our favourite hunting grounds, Lough Coosan, which is one of the inner lakes off Lough Ree. It may have been a dozen years since we’d fished it but we knew many of the productive swims like the back of our hands and we didn’t want to mess around this week trying to find anything new. We tucked the cruiser right into the margins of one of the swims where we’ve had hundreds upon hundreds of pounds of bream and rudd from in the past, and then set about feeding the swim before nightfall. That way the fish are usually primed and ready for us when we make our first morning casts. Of course, we didn’t expect to catch anything like we’ve caught before. The march of the roach shoals, hybridisation and zebra mussels have changed all that. And besides, the weather was at least three weeks behind and needed to raise the water temperature by several more degrees before it would fish to anything like its true potential.
The clarity of the water was also like nothing we had seen before over there. To say it was crystal clear doesn’t cover it as you can see in the picture of the casters thrown into a depth of about 10ft. Luckily, our hookbaits would lie a few yards farther out in a depth of 18 -20ft so it wouldn’t matter too much, but it was an indication of how little the fish had been feeding. Big Bream no longer in Big Numbers The vast shoals of big bream we used to catch are no longer there in the numbers they once were along the Shannon system. Which doesn’t mean you can no longer make big catches, just that the target species is now roach and hybrids in the 2 to 3lb bracket., And I mean big catches; we had no trouble at all, even in the relatively poor conditions, catching plenty of decent hybrids and many fish that looked a lot like true roach but which I have my suspicions were roach x rudd hybrids rather than roach x bream. Still, what’s that got to do with enjoying some great fishing that gives you a bite every cast from fish weighing up to 3lb-plus when you’ve got them going?
They were as easy to catch as ever for those who are prepared to bait a swim and wait for the fish to find it. We used self-locking sliding floats in that deep water, small feeders or bombs on the terminal tackle to 4lb lines with 12s or 10s hooks. Bait was a bunch of 4 or 5 maggots; they’d take anything but maggots were the easiest to use and you could catch three or four fish from one bait-up. Our biggest problem was that we couldn’t catch anything small enough to kill and use as bait for pike. The smallest fish we caught was over a pound in weight. We didn’t worry about it too much though as were enjoying what we were doing and it was great to be able to sit and watch a good movie at times and partake of a few bevvies. Time for a Move One thing we wanted to do that week, as well as fish, was to visit a few of the places we’d sailed to in the past, including the famous L-shaped bay in Coosan, the scene of many a catch of big tench by those famous anglers who used to stay at Fred Carter’s place, including Ray Webb, Barrie Rickards, our own Ron Clay, Steve Crawshaw and many others. We went to the Inny Bay and the River Inny and just enjoyed cruising across the choppy waters of the main lough, spotting the islands like the huge Hare Island and the smaller ones with strange names like Inchbofin and Fathead. Whilst moored along the Inny Ed went for a walk. The rest of us were watching something on the TV with the sound turned up quite loud. The next thing we knew, about 40 minutes later, this bang, bang, bang came from outside. It was Hopalong Bibby stumbling through the door. “Couldn’t you hear me, you b*******s? He wailed, “I’ve been lay out there shouting for help. I’ve tripped in a pothole and done me ankle in. I’ve had to hop all the way back!”
Honestly, we didn’t laugh. Well, not then, but we made up for it later. Old Ed, AKA Sage of the Empire, AKA Crank of Crank Road, had made a hell of a mess of his ankle that rapidly turned all shades of blue. When he had it checked out on returning home he’d done a ligament as well as fracturing a small bone. The weather turned foul on the third day, with rain and even lower temperatures, but still the hybrids came thick and fast, including one or two bream around the 3lb mark. Friday, the last day we could fish before setting off back down the Shannon came only too quickly, but that last day was a lovely, bright day and lent itself well to the sightseeing on the five hour journey while we fought for the attentions of the ladies on a Viking boat that didn’t want to rape and pillage us.
Back at the moorings in Banagher it seemed like only yesterday when we’d set off, full of hope and bursting with nostalgia. All we could think about was how quickly we could get back and do it all over again. Cruising the Shannon and fishing its waterways is a fantastic holiday and one that can be shared with non-fishing family and friends who will enjoy it just as much as the anglers in the party. If you’re thinking of taking a cruiser holiday then don’t hesitate, get it booked, you won’t regret it. We never have. Thanks to: Leisure Angling for making it all possible with a great service second to none. NorseMerchant Ferries for providing an easy and very comfortable crossing over the Irish sea. And to Carrickcraft for great cruiser choice, good service and reliability. |
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