The WaterWolf is on the prowl.

The WaterWolf has been out stalking the banks again, the water came right and my old mate Archie was on a roll. Throwing some of his own lures, a couple of big girls just couldn't resist his charm offensive. Archie will be showing his WaterWolf Lures at The Ireland Angling Show 2013 this weekend, stand H1. Drop by if you get a chance.

Mark Archie Andrews, WaterWolf Lures.

Get the full "low down" on Archie and WaterWolf Lures in one of my previous blog posts, check it out here!

The WaterWolf is coming to town.

Where do I start? In reality the last fortnight or so has been a complete wash out...... in more ways than one!

The river rose quickly after the rain and was up a good five feet, heavily coloured too. On top of that I caught the most miserable bug going, in short I felt like the proverbial "sh!t on a stick". You know your not well when you can't even be bothered spool up a new reel. So, there's been large amounts of sitting by the fire, drinking tea whilst cooking up endless plans on how to snare a Barrow monster.

On a lighter and more positive note the Ireland Angling Show 2013 is just around the corner, less than a month away. The weekend of Febuary 16th and 17th to be precise at the National Show Centre, Swords, Co. Dublin. It promises to be a great weekend, almost as good as fishing itself! A chance to restock or upgrade some gear, maybe bump into a few old riverbank friends or just wander around window shopping the latest (must have) items that the industry reckons we can't do without.

If you make it to the show try and take a moment to check out the WaterWolf Lures Stand and meet Mark  "Archie" Andrews.

Mark "Archie" Andrews of WaterWolf Lures.

Archie as he is better known, owns "WaterWolf Lures" He's also a Middy 30 Plus consultant  and a regular contributor to regional PAC talks in the UK. His fishing from bank and boat has seen him all over Europe, the U.S.  and New Zealand from big wild waters to off the beaten track venues is search of Pike, Bass, Giant Eels and even Carp. Archie has a great range of lures, is very helpful, informative and a great man for a few tips which may just help increase the catch rate.

The junior piker and myself have been using some of the WaterWolf range since last summer and the results have been great, the Barrow pike can't get enough of Archie's swimbaits. He was only telling me the other day that he's got some new stock ready for the Dublin show and a few surprises too!

WaterWolf range of Pike floats.

WaterWolf hard swimbaits & large soft plastics.

Right, thats it.... I'm off. All the talk has got the better of me. I'll be back on the Barrow tomorrow even if its snowing!

A bit pear shaped.

Its gone a bit quiet the last week or so. I must admit that I (or my son for that matter) have seen very few fish of late and its not for the want of trying. One fish of about 8lb for my son comes to mind which was caught in a "pre-dawn raid" at the weekend, I thought a good early session fishing right through dawn may break the deadlock maybe even give us the upperhand. However it was not to be, sunrise was at 8:17am and the fish was caught at about 7:30am and that was all we saw for almost 6 hours fishing. Still what an adventure for my 10 year old boy, driving through the darkness in the wee small hours to chase river monsters with his pike obsessed father.

Myself and Frank (a friend who also fishes) were out on Wednesday and met with a blank having tried three different swims with deads and lures, in the end a combination of cold and lack of interest from the pike got the better of us, we packed up just after lunch. Having said that the river is in the best condition I've seen it for quite some time. I would have thought the spell of cold weather would have got the fish on the feed. Theres good water clarity and its running only a shade above the norm.
So as the fellow says "Where are the Pike hiding"? Lastest information is conflicting to say the least! I met some fluff chuckers at the river the other day and they believe the fish are still to be found at relatively shallow depths considering the time of year. Another angler I met claims they've already gone to deeper water (where ever that may be) for the winter and you need to be fishing hard on the bottom whatever method you choose.

Too much information is beginning to develop into mind games in relation to my choice of swims, riverbank tactics and overall strategy, which of late appear to be lacking somewhat. Time to re think and up the game as the hunt for my second double of the season continues. Playing cat and mouse.... with fish can be a head wrecker!

On The Double

I haven't been on the riverbank since Sunday and blanked then even still I could feel mild withdrawal symptoms setting in. I wanted to get out and about, see what was going on and what state the river was in. The weather's been pretty much a mixed bag this week but theres been a noticable drop in temperatures again especially last night, we were down to 3 deg. having said that theres not been enough rain for any flood the river is only up an inch or two. I'd noticed  from my local travels over the last few days that theres been quite a bit of activity on the river, I'd seen a few boats out trolling and the bankside brigade have been out in force too. Was anyone catching? I didn't know, I'd not heard anything for a while such are the joys of being a solitary fisherman! I wasn't going to catch anything sitting at home, the forecast looked reasonable so with any luck I wouldn't get soaked. I'd got a few new lures during the week and fancied trying them too so I threw a stripped down (lure only) kit in the boot. The mission keep moving / travel light / cover water, no exploring or new swims today as I only had a few hours. I had two places in mind both have produced jacks on a fairly consistant basis maybe there would be some bigger fish about willing to feed with the onset of cooler temps, taking the current levels into account I figured these would be as good a place as any to start.

With the school run complete I was on my way to the first swim, conditions appeared ideal a cool misty morning with the hint of a bright crisp day to follow. I wondered if it was my imagination or had the trees already turned a good deal, everything appeared distinctly autumnal this raised my expectations even further. I first went to the swim that has most recently produced fish.  A new addition to my "working lure" list the Rapture swimbait was first to hit the surface, as it came closer I could both see and feel it knocking in the water as it sent out vibrations to my unsuspecting quarry. I was sure something was going to happen at any moment.........but it didn't. Nothing, not even a knock or a follow! I went through all the lures old and new, up and down the bank I covered alot of water at all depths....... Nothing. The mist lifted and the river lite up as the sun shone through.....still nothing! This went on for just over two hours until I grabbed the gear and headed to the second swim a couple of miles downstream.

First double of the season, 11lb 7oz.

This is a very small weedy swim near a slack it could be fished thoroughly with a lure in less than an hour. I put on a Savage Gear 4Play and got down to business, after forty minutes I was preparing myself for another blank when it happened! I had twitched the lure back one more time and was about to take it out of the water when a late taker forced me to keep it in the water a moment longer, one of those takes when you see the whole thing happen under your nose (nature in action) incredible! Stealth attack, seize and retreat all in the longest split second you could ever experience.
Such was my position on the bank that two anglers in a boat were good enough to come by offering to lend a hand if I was unable to land the fish (bit of a stretch but I got there in the end)  and a passer by the name of Sean was kind enough to take a few photos. Came in on the scales at 11lb 7oz (first double of the season) and went back kick'n. Many thanks to all especially the fish!

Sink or SwimBait

The local tackle shop got a few new lures in the other week. Well if the truth be known they seem to have a never ending supply of "new lures" week after week to tempt you to part from your hard earned cash! I'm not a great believer in the adage "big lure-big fish" so it was normal for an average size lure to get my attention. A four piece jointed hard lure swimbait, the fact that it was well in the sub €10 category also helped. It turned out to be a Rapture Silent Shad Swimbait.

They come in slow sinking and floating 11.5cm and about 20gms with a decent treble hook. The action is great you can pretty much do anything with them, the Pike in my post below took it on the drop just after it hit the water and I've had others take it as it bounces off the bottom real slow. The Barrow Pike are impressed. For the moment anyway!

A morning Pike.

I had decided last night that quick trip to the river may be in order. I was curious to see the level and how clear it was running. It has slowly dropped over the last couple of weeks and has now reached its average "summer levels" having remained very high in July and August. Visability and clarity is now very good too its easy to see a lure at 5-6 feet depth.
All this coupled with overnight temps of 4-5 deg. and a brisk westerly wind prompted a rod and a few lures into the boot late last night.
I did the school run and a short drive later I was walking across the fields to my chosen swim. It was the first time out with a new rod and reel, (both of which will get a user review in the not to distant future) I was just getting the feel for things when my lure was hammered, there was a large boil in the water as what appeared to be a reasonable fish took the lure just under the surface, it went straight down, feeling through the braid it appeared to be chomping on the swimbait possibly trying to eject the supposed prey fish. Quite a fight ensued as the fish attempted the same chomping manoeuvre whilst jumping clear of the water (classic head shaking stuff) a number of times. Shortly after the white flag was raised and it came to the bank. A quick photo or two later and it was kicking its way back into the swim.

I fished the swim for another while but as is often the case on the Barrow, if you get one your as well to move on. I moved upstream to the back of a reed bed and it wasn't long before I got a knock but it was just that, as the fish came short plucking at the lure. I covered it a number of times but this one appeared shy!

It was getting late now the sun had climbed in the sky and it was getting warm, the fish had gone quiet. Time to retire for the day. I changed to a small spinnerbait and had a couple of last casts in narrow tree ridden channel. No fish-but what a great follow! just as the lure was coming out of the water there was a long golden green flash in the margin, a push of its tail and it retreated to the depths.