Good Fishing at Carrowmore Lake
So while my salmon season may have gotten off to a slow start, I’m happy to say it has certainly picked up. There has been no lack of time or effort put in while searching for fish, and I think they have been well deserved – I would say that though!
A chance meeting in the tackle shop with Declan Dooley resulted in me heading to Carrowmore Lough for the first time. The lake had been fishing well and I had been planning to get down for some time. Declan kindly put up with me in his boat for not one, not two, but three days of fishing! For many people, part of the enjoyment of a day out on the lake is stopping for lunch on the shore and taking in the scenery. For Declan though, lunch consists of quickly eating a sandwich with one hand while driving the boat to another spot with the other! Luckily I’m similar in that I will happily fish straight through from morning ‘til night while there is a chance of a fish.
Declan Dooley playing a fish on Carrowmore Lake
Carrowmore is an absolute gem of a lake. Undoubtedly you can easily go all day without catching a fish, but as is often the case with salmon fishing persistence can pay off. While we often read about the great fishing other fisheries around the country are having with 10-12 fish caught in a day, this wouldn’t be a rare occurrence on Carrowmore. The spring fishing this year has been some of the best in years, and I hear the sea-trout have just arrived.
The tackle is your standard 7 or 8 weight single-handed rod with an intermediate line generally preferred. 10 or 12lb leader with Muddlers, Green Peters, Clan Chiefs, Claret Bumbles and Sedgehogs on the end all proved to be successful. With the lake being so shallow, the fish have no choice but to jump in the air or run when hooked. Some of the runs we had when a fish was hooked were brilliant with fish taking us straight into the backing. The best day we had resulted in 7 fish boated, with around 12-15 others either lost or missed. That particular day there were in the region of 40 fish caught on the lake.
Fishing on the lake is from a boat only and with permission of the fishery manager, Seamus Henry who can be contacted HERE. I’m looking forward to getting back down whenever i can!
First of the season! Not huge but very welcome. It fell to a small Green Peter.
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- Declan Dooley playing a fish on Carrowmore Lake
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- First of the season! Not huge but very welcome. It fell to a small Green Peter.
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- Declan with a lovely fish that put up a great fight before being released.
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- Mervyn Corway about to release a cracker. (Thanks to Mervyn also for the day out!)
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- Bob eyeing up my lunch. Bob got a bit excited when his owner Mervyn hooked a fish. The fish splashed alongside the boat and in went Bob after it – he wouldn’t fit in the net!
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- Another one goes back. While other fisheries are suffering from poor catches, Carrowmore seems to be doing well. If all the fish caught were kept it would certainly not be sustainable.
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- Declan with a fine fish. This one had developed a nice tan obviously while sunbathing in the shallows!
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- After a run of several lost fish this one finally stayed on the hook, hence the smile!
Irish Sport Fishing 