What a road trip.

Hi everyone.
It has neared the end of the year and with some holidays left it was time for a road trip.
We had a Stealth kayak demo day in skerries on the Saturday so I went down a few days early for some pike fishing.
So with the car jammed to the roof with all sorts I was on the road.

Stupid O'clock.
It was Thursday morning and I was up at stupid O'clock [5.30am] and got the breakfast in me as it was going to be a long day.
I headed for Monaghan first with pike on my mind. I had 9 fresh herring and 3 mackerel. I was expecting to get the 2 days piking out of that lol.
Well I hit the road and the dam fog and frost slowed things to a snails pace at times and you can imagine what I was like I was busting to get to the lake. As there isn't much day light is at this time of year. But thankfully I wasn't overly late on the water.
I got to my venue a small lake near Monaghan.

That didn't take long.
It was a fantastic sight the sun was still very low and the lake was flat calm and very cold. I geared up and had the 2 rods set up for slow trolling dead baits. I pushed onto the water and set the floats about 20ft above the baits and began to slowly head across the lake.
I was going nicely out about 50 yards but one float was right so I reeled in to set it and the other got a good thump. I put the other rod out of the away gave the pike a second and the float started to head across the lake, I reeled down and struck and but he hadn't got a great hold of it.
2 floats set again and I went another 20 yards and whollop a pike nailed it properly this time and a great lively fight ensued, But unfortunately the bugger came off. This happened a few times, As I was fishing a single treble. So I changed to a double treble set up and on I went.
Things went quiet for a little while and later I got a hit and I was in to a good sporty fish that was not coming off [ hopefully].
 It's be a long time since I pike fished and I had forgotten how hard they can go when they want to.
Not a monster but great fun and a nice start to the day after a few losses.

I was delighted a nice fish in and it was in nice condition.

Things went quiet,
Yes it was quiet after that and initial warmth the sun brought as it rose was no gone and it was bloody freezing. So after 2hrs of nothing I paddled in to the shore warm up a bit and got chatting to a local and a bailiff,  They where all chat and very help full and reckoned what I was doing was as good as anything for that venue.
The day was cracking on now so out I went and near enough the same spot as most of the other hits I got a dead stop take.
As if I hit a branch so I watched the float for a second and off it went heading away and bobbing across the water so I reeled down and struck hard. I was on again and she was a great fighter. She stormed around the kayak and didn't give up easy. In she came and I was delighted a low double of around 12lb.

I was delighted and that had me warmed up nicely.

So off I went again and done another lap of the lake with out a sniff. So of course I couldn't resist trolling over the spot that was producing hits all day.

 

Oh yes in again.

Again as I came to the spot I was trolling the baits again.[ It was a raised shelf that went from about 14ft to 6ft in a short distance]. So this time I decided let the bait sink down trough the water as I set the other rod up with a lure to see how that would work. I unclipped my dead bait and started to pick a lure when my float kept going. I was waiting for the bait to settle, but it didn't get the chance. A pike took it on the drop and kept going. Again as the float went down I struck hard and it was a powerful fish. When I struck it was solid and went on like a tope, where you strike and she strikes back and keeps going. Oh it was great and I was expecting a monster.

She was a great fighter and poured line off the reel a few times and near caught me off guard as she came along side the kayak.  As she eased up and I got her under the kayak I slightly tightened the drag to get her up and she went ballistic and dived like mad. A short time later up she came and she wasn't as big as I expected but was still a fine fish of around 15lb.

Not a great pic I know but she was a well conditioned fish.

That was the last fish of day one and I was over the moon with my day.

 

DAY 2

Day 2 was on another and I was meeting Dave24 off the Irish kayak angling site.

He had a lake in mind and had high hopes of big fish. Also with this lake being a whole field away from the nearest road. So that was the plan a little lake  again near Monaghan that had no road to it.

I met Dave at shops and after a bit of banter he lead the way . We soon where at the unreachable lake just as it was getting bright and what did we see but 3 of our  foreign  friends that had drove down the field to the lake.

I have to say my heart sank I had serious doubts about launching there. Myself and Dave mulled over our options and as we did one of the lads drove the car back up to we where and parked up.

Dave was on the ball and politely asked how they where getting on.

He then told us they had 24 pike the weekend before. To say I was miffed was an under statement. But he swore they returned them all and don't kill pike.

Your probably thinking what I was thinking, but we went out and they where catching away at jacks and myself and Dave where like 2 seagulls watching them and sure enough they returned every one of them thankfully. Fair play to them I was relieved.

I still couldn't catch one.

The foreign Lads where catching away at jacks and I hadn't a sniff on the dead baits. I had anchored up in some deep water while Dave trolled all over the place.

We where out about 2hrs now and Dave came by me trolling a dead bait and casting a lure. A bit of slagging from the as he casted around me and, ye you guessed it he  caught one from near under my kayak lol. A double bonus for Dave lol.

Now if that was bad enough. about 15 mins later he done the same thing and nabbed a pike very close to me. He was laughing his arse off and I was freezing mine off lol. As the dead baits where doing nothing I put a large prologic lure one and start casting that around the place. It was like a dolphin landing in the water each time it was that big a lure lol. So anchor up and I worked the lure while the dead bait did its own thing behind me.

At last a take.

 Oh yes I  finally got a take as Dave had just landed his third.

I was surprised it was on the monster lure too. It wasn't a big pike either. Probably around 4lb lol.
The lure must have been half a pound lol.
Agh it was a fish and I was saved from a blank. It was dam cold out there so a bit of trolling was in order. But no sooner had I started to paddle again I got a hit on the dead bait. I struck again and he was hooked and in she came after a decent scrap. A fish of about 8lb.

After that it was very quiet for a while and I tried various lures big and medium sized to no avail until I tried a large copper spoon and little bugger nailed it. 

 

 

 

 That left myself and Dave 3 each but with Dave not happy with a Donegal sea angler drawing level with him he fished hard and managed 2 more pike in the last hour . The jammy bugger lol.

So the score was Dublin [Dave] 5 pike and Donegal [Graham] 3 pike.

A re-match is on the cards soon lol.

Great to meet you Dave and no doubt you'll bash me the next day we are out again lol.

Fair play to you and  thanks for the guide around a new venue for me.

 

Action packed Day 3

Action packed sums it up nicely. Again no rest for the wicked off I went to meet Stealth Pro Team mate Anthony in Dublin for a wonder around the famous south side angling centre. I met most of the lads that worked there. Now I know I should not be let loose in a tackle shop with out the wife being present lol. But sure needs must, I was like a child in a sweat shop .

Its a spectacular shop. With all you need and all you don't need too. To make it even more inviting I had 2 vouchers that I won that South side Angling sponsored for fish of the month. I was unusually restrained in my spending, well not really. I spied the new waterwolf camera and accessory kit behind the counter and sure I had to buy it.

With that it was off to Skerries for the Stealth kayaks Demo day and meet up with Eric Devois who organised it.. Yes Skerries was bloody freezing to and myself and Anto would be on and off various kayaks all day.

Now we where in dry suits and feeling the cold at first, then we met some of the lads that wanted to try the Stealth kayaks out and low and behold here comes Adam in a pair of shorts. No bother to him out he went like an Olympic paddler and was flying around in the Stealth kayaks.

Lots of lads turned up from all over the place some from Kerry and Belfast to.

We had a great day and thanks to all the lads for making the effort to come and try out the kayaks on a bitter cold day.

There's Adam away before I could even get a pic. Fair play to him.

Here is Peter deciding which kayak to take out first.

Here wait for me lads.

Here's Adam again. If he robbed a bank they would never catch him on the Profisha 525. She's a flying machine.

Anto finally got ago of his favourite coloured kayak. He liked the colour so much he took it home.

Here's Tony from Belfast again flying around in a Stealth kayak. This one is the Evo  495.

In the pic above from left, Eric Dvois, Peter, Anthony Byrne, Tony Powell, Anto's brother, Kevin Murphy, Anto's dad and far right Mike Henry.

We had a great days craic and the lads all got to see what myself and Anto where talking about.

 

Oh the day wasn't over yet.

It was back for a scrub up and back into Dublin to Humphrey's Bar for Irish kayak anglings awards night and Christmas knees up.

Now if you haven't been to Humphreys bar you should get in there some night for a great night out.

As always we had a great night and I think every one had a prize from some aspect of there years kayak angling. I was spectacularly lucky and on a face book vote I won first and second fish of the year. With my Blue shark and my common skate. I have to say a big thanks for all that voted I really appreciated it.

There where lots of sponsors that gave fantastic prizes. From Darrens kayak, Fishing Fever Ireland, Shamrock Tackle, Bantry Bay Canoes. I hope I didn't leave anyone out.

Now the prizes they sponsored where exceptionally generous in these tough times.

But I received a very special memento that night Sponsored by Joe Stenning.

It was this clock with all the details of my blue shark from this year. I am delighted with it and it now hangs pride of place in my sitting for all to see, Thanks a million Joe.

 

 

Well thanks for reading everyone, I hope its a while before my next road trip as I am knackered lol.
So until next time tight lines and stay safe in the coming days, the weather over the next 10 days looks like it's going to be a rough.