Well after several trips on Corrib during the past 6 weeks my mate and i have had very little to show for it. We made contact with a few pike but no double figure fish... We mostly fished in the Maum area with a couple of days around Oughterard. The past 3 days have been blanks, bar one small jack.

We have tried many different techniques, from big 10 inch flies to smaller 6 inch flies, fishing down deep and closer to the surface.

Last weekend we fished Maum and there was a boat on the water with 3 polish chaps spinning and they didn't get a hit either, which makes me more sure that it isn't just our technique that is wrong...

Can anyone enlighten me as to where is fishing well on Corrib or where we should concentrate our efforts? Does it just not fish well in Maum this time of the year? Do the Pike move to other areas of the lake during the couple of months pre-spawning?

Any information would be much appreciated. Its too bloody cold this time of the year to be fishing in water with little or no chance of a fish..

Thanks.
JJ

Anyone got any ideas???

Cheers
JJ

Check the Corrib thread in Europe and Rest of the World updates...

In Cork I found this time of the year slow for Pike...you have to find where the bait fish, here usually its in the deeper sections.

In a few weeks when it gets a little warmer the pike will move into the shallows getting ready for spawning but at the moment in the cold I think they a staying close to the bait fish and feeding sporadically...

Thanks Stylie,
As it happens i haven't seen any signs of bait fish and i'm not too sure what to go about to find them.... I do know that the areas i've been fishing all have heaps of bait fish during the rest of the year but no signs of late. It may be that i am not fishing deep enough. I need to get a 10 weight sinking line...

Cheers
JJ

Hi
I was told by the riverkeeper where i fish that the first warmish day(12th) and change in barometric pressure would have switched the fish off a bit.
The females should be really aggressive at the mo due to spawning as long as the temp and pressures are pretty consistent.
Could be a load of old tosh but i tend to listen to the people that know the waters.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Simon

__________________
I'd rather have the bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.

You don't need to get a full sinking line. It is easier if you do, but you could just get a sink tip and put it on your intermediate to get you down deeper faster to save time counting down. It will cast a bit like a hinge, but it works and you'll soon get the timing right. From a boat it'll work fine as you don't have limited backcast.

This time of year is slow. It is slow everywhere, with just the odd fish being found. You have to strike lucky and be in the right place at the right time. When the pike are feeding avidly, you just have to be in the right place! You thought about joining the Pike Fly Fishing Association (PFFA)? They have an Irish section.

If I want to catch pike on our local lake I fish for a couple of hours with float and maggot to find roach and perch. Once found, I fish on for a while and chuck plenty of mags in to keep them busy. The last hour I change to pike gear, using whatever method I happen to choose that day. If spinning the retrieve has to be slow, they won't chase at this time of year very readily. Same with a fly, slow and deep seems to work. But never much action until the last hour.

I appreciate Corrib is vast but the theory remains the same.

Chris.

Thanks for the replies guys. Much appreciated. I know i need to locate the fish,thats for sure.. Plus i need to get deeper.. I have a sink tip i use for salmon fishing. One thing i have learned is that pike do not take when lakes are high, or at least i've never caught them when its high, and Corrib is very high at the minute so that may explain the last couple of days out...

I will join the PFFA today, although from checking out the irish section of the site, i don't see much evidence of it being active or current. None the less, for the sake of 12Euros i will join.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Cheers,
JJ

If the lough is high try fishing the areas it has crept in to. The pike will go into the new shallows to feed on frogs, and anything else they can. They are still there and active when the lakes are full, they are just in different places - like any other predator, they follow the tide in! The tide in this case being the flood.

Hi JJ.

The Irish lads are very active on The Forum but, you have to be a member to view and post.

Regards.

Ernie.
PFFA Membership Secretary