There is a tiny window of opportunity to sneak out for a day’s fishing between lockdowns. The government have lowered travel restrictions for Christmas so I am taking this chance to attempt to catch a fish in another one of the 32 counties. I won’t be meeting anyone so I pose no threat of spreading the contagion.
It’s the night before and I am sipping a whisky in front of a fire. The thoughts flow through my mind about what I am going to do come the morning. It will involve coarse fishing and this alone is enough to peak my interest. My increased enjoyment in all forms of angling has been driven by my new found love of all things roach and perch. That alone would be fine, just fine. The thing is my mind is now buzzing with all kinds of ideas about other forms of angling. It is like someone has strapped me up to a couple of jump leads and tuned the key in the ignition. I am energised and have found a clarity of thought which I have not seen for many a long year. Learning new techniques and methods, experiencing new waters and catching different fish have stretched me and this in turn has opened me up to new ideas for my game and sea angling. Suddenly I am back to being this wide-eyed and open minded being of my youth, wanting to find out the things I didn’t know and to bring my own slant to the fishing. Esoteric? Possibly. But it is how I feel these days and I don’t believe that is a bad thing. So the whisky may be opening up my mind but there is an underlying and ultimately fundamental change going on in me. I am really enjoying my fishing now, much more than I did even last year. And now I am going to county Westmeath in the morning.
The obvious venue to fish in this midlands county is Lough Sheelin. Sheelin is home to a stock of large brown trout and is a mecca for dedicated fly anglers. The thing is, for my purposes tackling a difficult water like Sheelin was a chancy option with a high probability of failure. Sure, if I boated a good trout it would be great but I have blanked on Sheelin too often to take it lightly. The other great trout loughs of Ennell and Owel are very demanding waters too, so instead of waiting for the trout loughs to open again next spring I decided to fish the Royal Canal now and try to tempt some coarse species. Closer to Dublin there are some very productive stretches of the canal but in Westmeath info was a bit patchy regarding hotspots. There is good access just off the M4 motorway near Mullingar which was tempting but in the end I settled on a stretch at Ballynacargy. At this point I have to confess I had pencilled this trip in for late spring next year and not the week before Christmas. Only the temporary easing of lockdown has tempted me out.
The Royal Canal apparently holds bream, roach, hybrids, perch, tench and pike. Not sure if there any rudd if there too. I read that local anglers were deeply concerned about plummeting stocks of fish due to poaching but it sounded like there were still some fish there to be caught. I packed a float rod, a leger rod and a spinning rod in the car, hoping that would cover any possible eventualities. The rough plan in my head was to travel light and keep moving with just the float rod, hoping to run into some bream or roach. If that did not work then I’d switch to the feeder and if that failed to produce the goods I’d try the spinning rod for pike and perch.
As usual, I had a back-up plan in case Ballynacargy was a failure. Along the road to the east lies the town of Mullingar and the canal passes through there too. It has fished very well in the past so I planned to head over there if Ballynacargy was blank. To be honest, I was expecting a tough trip this time. I am still very much a beginner at canal fishing and I would be guessing where the fish might be at either location. Added to that the time of year and I was certainly going to be stretched this time around.
Yesterday I poked around in my relatively new compost heap to see if there were any worms to be had. I was none too hopeful as it still looked woody on top but as I got near to the bottom of the pile I found some lovely worms. I gathered about 30 of them and left the rest in peace (for now). All the worms were the same size, around 3 – 4 inches long meaning I would get two baits out of each by simply cutting them in half. Enough to last me for the duration of this session I figured. There is always a tin of sweetcorn in the bag in case of emergencies.
The new rucksack/stool would get its first airing. This exactly what I bought it for, roving along a towpath with the minimum of gear. My trepidation at fishing canals, while still very real, has abated somewhat on the back of success in Offaly last autumn. There is nothing like catching a few small fish to settle the nerves and the snippets of knowledge I am gradually picking up have given me a sort of platform to work from. Just having the basics to set up and know broadly what to do is comforting. I am no expert, nor will I become one anytime soon, but I am learning as I go and thoroughly enjoying every minute of it. I have planned as much as I can so I head off to bed.
Light. It is light. I waken slowly and am disorientated. Why didn’t my alarm go off? Probably because I forgot to set it! OK, so I am starting later than planned but that is alright, there is no great panic. While it is a fair distance to Westmeath it is not the longest of my trips. I’m hoping against hope the roads will be quiet for a Monday. It’s very wet and the temperature is hovering around freezing as I set off into the grey gloom.
The usual road east along the N5/N4 brought me to the long straight between Rathowen and Ballinaleck. Here I turned off on to the L1902 and followed this road, across the river Inny, down to the village of Ballynacargy which is right on the Grand Canal. This part of the country is rarely visited by tourists. It is prime agricultural land but it lacks the grandeur and romance of the west, the history of Ulster or the city life in Dublin. Here there are cattle chewing the cud, lazy rivers and canals winding amid low lying green fields. Large tracks of the land around here were devastated by Bord na Mona as they ripped the peat bogs apart to fuel power stations in the last century. This practice has largely stopped and there is a degree of remedial work being carried out on the damaged bogland. It will take generations for that effort to come to fruition but at least a start is being made. Hamlets and small villages dot the middle of Ireland, places where the pace of life has barely altered for a hundred years. Those within commuting distance of the city can tell a very different tale though as thousands of people flocked to live within striking distance of the well paid jobs in Dublin. Today I was beyond that belt of blighted towns, out in the silage scented air of Westmeath on the banks of the Royal Canal.
Truth be told there is not much too the neat little village of Ballynacargy. It consists of two streets, a fine church, one shop, a petrol station and a few pubs. I ducked down a lane beside the church and parked near a small stone bridge over channel which fed the canal. Mallards were noisily poking around in the shallow water, untroubled by the rain. Beyond, the wide basin looked pretty desolate in the watery vista. I am afraid I know little about canal construction but I am guessing basins like this one were built so boats can turn around. To think that these canals were dug by men with just a pick and shovel amazes me. An hour digging for worms exhausts me so how men could keep it up hour after hour, day after day seems to be superhuman. Working the barges which used the canals was dangerous, low paid work too and many men died transporting goods across the country. This article gives some insight into the conditions at the time:
The mist was drenching from the moment I stepped out of the car. This was going to be far removed from my day dreams of balmy summer days on the towpath. There is a lock at one end of the basin so I decide to start proceedings immediately below it. First I put the light leger rod together and cast half a worm out. Setting up the float rod next I plumbed the depth. I mucked up this process by putting on shot which were too heavy and it took me a while to cotton on to my mistake. Split shot sizes and weights utterly confuse me but I need to learn about them to avoid wasting time again. There is a steady flow here and the float trots nice and slowly down into the basin before I wind in and recast. A small rivulet feeds into the basin at my feet, the muddy water gradually discolouring the canal. Will this put the fish off? I nip back to the car for something or other and as I return I see a mink on my bank. He is too quick for me and he escapes before I can reach for my camera (a gun would have been better). Taking a look around me I see the pike anglers have been a bit careless with their casting. I feel very safe as there is nobody around here. The small village behind me is quietly going about its business but nobody comes near me at the canal.
I have been fishing for about half-an-hour when the leger rod gives a slight rattle. Letting it develop, I finally lift into a small fish which quickly comes to hand. A nice 6 ounce roach to start with and he is released after a snap. It doesn’t matter what else happens today, I have my fish from county Westmeath and I am delighted.
It goes quiet again so I start casting in different directions. I flick the float ‘upstream’ towards the locks and almost immediately it disappears. I miss that one but the very next cast produces another firm take and this time I set the hook. This is a much better fish and it fights really well all the way to the net. Out of the water I am unsure of exactly what I have just caught. Initially I figure it is a good roach but the colour is golden, like a rudd. I check the mouth (up for rudd, down for roach) but this just adds to the confusion, both mandibles are the same length. I invite you experts who read this blog to put me right but I think this fish is a roach/rudd hybrid? I am happy to hold up my hand and say I don’t know and I look forward to you guys enlightening me. I popped the fish back and it swam off strongly. I reckon it weighed around a pound.
Now the perch show up and I land a couple of small lads. Perch in Irish canals don’t seem to grow large, unlike some in English canals. I don’t care, it is always lovely to see these aggressive little fish in their brilliant colours.
It all goes quiet for a long time and I try searching along the bank but without success. Returning to where I started I pick up another three roach over the next hour, hardly scintillating fishing but hey, I am out in the fresh air so I don’t mind. All the time the mist gets heavier and heavier, soaking everything. In the end I decided that the return for getting so wet is not worth it and I pack up. Four roach, one roach/rudd hybrid and two perch for the session. I have had a lot worse days!
I toss the sopping wet gear in to the car and head off on the long road west. Back at home I returned the unused worms to the compost heap where they can do what worms do for the next few months. The wet tackle is given a rudimentary drying but I will sort it out properly in the morning. For now I want nothing more than a bite to eat and to unwind after the drive home. Oh, and there is the little matter of writing this post to be taken care of.
We can expect a severe lockdown to come into force almost immediately after Christmas Day and not the 6th of January as previously stated. My take on it is that this next lockdown will go on for many weeks so there will be no fishing for me in the near future. Added to the lockdown, I have taken another interim management role which will last for the first 3 months of 2021, meaning I will be kept busy making some money instead of angling.
Taking stock of where I am on the 32 journey I see that I have caught 49 fish in 8 counties to date, exactly a quarter of the total. I am well pleased with this, given the horrible year we have all had. Here is how it looks so far:
| County | venue | fish caught | method | km travelled | |
| Antrim | |||||
| Armagh | |||||
| Carlow | |||||
| Cavan | 5 | Garty Lough, Arvagh | 6 x Roach, 4 x Perch | 5 on touch leger, 5 on waggler | 262 |
| Clare | 4 | Cloondorney Lough, Tulla | 3 x small Rudd, 1 x skimmer | float, fished shallow | 274 |
| Cork | |||||
| Derry | |||||
| Donegal | |||||
| Down | |||||
| Dublin | |||||
| Fermanagh | |||||
| Galway | |||||
| Kerry | |||||
| Kildare | |||||
| Kilkenny | |||||
| Laois | |||||
| Leitrim | 3 | Drumgorman Lake | 5 Roach, 2 x Perch | feeder and ledger | 200 |
| Limerick | |||||
| Longford | 7 | Shannon, Lanesborough | 1 x perch, 1 x hybrid | trotted float and feeder | 280 |
| Louth | |||||
| Mayo | |||||
| Meath | |||||
| Monghan | |||||
| Offaly | 6 | Grand Canal at Shannon Harbour | 3 x roach, 3 x perch | trotted maggot and legered worm | 216 |
| Roscommon | 2 | Cloonahee lake | 1 pike | feeder | 184 |
| Sligo | 1 | Lough Talt | a dozen Brown trout | fly | 100 |
| Tipperary | |||||
| Tyrone | |||||
| Waterford | |||||
| Westmeath | 8 | Royal Canal | 4 x roach, 2 x perch, 1 x roach/rudd hybrid | float fished worm | 286 |
| Wexford | |||||
| Wicklow | |||||
| 1802 |
A few fish landed on the solstice felt like a fitting end to 2020. From now on the days will very slowly lengthen, the darkness gradually retreating as it has for the millennium. Maybe the strange times we are living in heighten our appreciation of the simple things in life we all took for granted before the lexicon of new words ruled our every day – covid, pandemic, lockdown, furloughed and all the others. I know I am grateful for every outing with the rods now and cherish the sights and sounds of a day on the bank.
As 2020 ages and withers I want to say ‘thank you’ to all of you who have taken the time to read my rambling here on this blog. I hope you found something to entertain, inform or amuse you. Stay safe out there.
Claretbumbler 
Firstly, that looks nicer than I recall the Midlands looking. Coincidentally, somehow peat digging came up at the last conservation session and I struggled to explain to the others both how Mrs. Sidestream’s relatives still dig small amounts of turf for fuel and also how grim the commercial peat extraction areas used to look. I’m not sure they believed me about the narrow gauge railways in the peat fields but hey ho.
As you know any advice from me needs to be treated with caution, but assuming the Irish canals see boat traffic probably the boat channel will be the deepest area and therefore in the winter the best place to try first. If you look at the The Angling Revs blog you’ll see about a month or so back he was doing quite will fishing close to the bank by brickwork. Further in to winter I notice he is now targeting the boat channel. The following link might be of some use:
https://www.anglingtimes.co.uk/advice/swims/articles/anatomy-of-a-canal
To be fair though the canal you were fishing looks a lot wider than the average English canal, so different factors nay come in to play for you.
Our perch are bigger than your perch? Maybe. Or maybe English anglers hold their perch at arms length for the camera. I think though perch size and population are hugely cyclical – in my lifetime we have had perch disease which has meant at times perch were a rarity but yes we may be in a boom at the moment, so you may be right on current size.
Hybrids! To be honest it gets a bit too anorakish for me, but you could watch the following:
Personally I’d say it might not be a true roach or a true rudd, but that it is a nice fish you caught and leave it at that.
A good read as always and best wishes to you and Helen for the festive (or not so festive) season.
Clive
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Hi Clive,
Yes, I found a very pretty spot to fish there. It’s a bit off the beaten track and is much nicer than most of the midlands! The last of the big peat burning power stations shut down this month so the mass destruction of Irish bogs should come to an end. A lot of politics around the rights of small holders to cut peat is still rumbling on though.
I picked that spot as it is a basin, about three times the width of the normal canal. I hoped the fish would congregate there and there did seem to be a few around alright. I plumbed the depth and it was very even (around 4 feet) in all the spots I tried. The water was colouring up quickly even when I was there and I think that was unsettling the fish.
I suspect that perch size varies over the years. They are susceptible to disease and we saw them virtually wiped out here a few years ago. Now we see lots of small fish but that could change into fewer but larger ones.
I’m pretty sure that good fish was a roach/rudd hybrid (dorsal fin far back, 39 lateral line scales, mouth shape and fight).
Best wishes for the holiday period Clive, stay safe over there!
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A basin makes sense as a choice. I live a fair way from a canal but when my parents were alive I used to pass the short Chichester Canal and the basin, which is in the city centre was rated for winter pike. And where there’s pike there must surely be prey fish?
Clive
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It was a pity the weather was so wet that day, I had brought along a spinning rod to try for a pike but it was just too miserable to fish on any longer. Judging by the pike lures stuck in the overhead wires other anglers were fishing for the toothy critters there.
There are two more basins in that area, one at Culnahey and the other in Mullingar known as ‘Piper’s Boreen’. Apparently a piper used to play whenever a barge came into dock there. It is a famous spot here in Ireland and is reputedly a great swim for tench. I might get around to trying it next summer.
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