Seasons Greetings

We would like to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Winter has truly set in here in Boyle with plenty of snow and freezing conditions. This morning I read -13C on the thermometer, and colder still during the night!

I would like to thank everybody who fished with us during 2010; we look forward to seeing many of you again during next season and of course we also hope to see some new faces too.

Hope next season will bring many fish and big ones too to all you angling enthusiasts, wherever you might wet a line!

Bodo Funke

More big pike!

The big pike are really on the move now. Yesterday we boated a nice Meter pike with an approximate weight of twenty pound. During the week some very scrappy double figure pike turned up too. Long may this sort of fishing last! The water temperature is still around 10 degrees and the pike are feeding. During a local pike competition on Lough Gara yesterday a fish of over thirty pound was caught and released.

Update October

We Just finished a very enjoyable week guiding two of our regular german guests, Martin and Wolfgang on various waters in the region. Fishing has been slower than expected throughout the last six days, but nevertheless they caught some pike every day. Sadly, what would have been the biggest fish of the week, or possibly even of the year, threw the lure back when it lunged out of the water, revealing all of it's size and glory. On one of the pics below is all what's left of the Magnum Bulldawg and the memory for Martin who had it on for about 15 seconds and clearly could see the fish before it's departure. Anyway they had an enjoyable week and are allready vowing to return next year!

Here are some of the photos:

Fishing update

The past few weeks have been pretty good as far as pike fishing here goes.
Good numbers of pike have been caught on most days allthough there were a few days early last week were things had slowed down somewhat.
Last week we had Tomek and Pawel here in Boyle who won the prize of a weeks fishing here, courtesy of Angling Services Ireland and Abbey House B&B during this years edition of Predatortour.
The two nice lads from Poland now living in Limerick braved out a few tough days but managed to catch a few pike every day along with good numbers of perch and they finished the week with good action catching over 20 pike on their last day. Sadly the biggest one of their week got away, when Pawel hooked up with a big pike on Thursday; but he got the lure thrown back at him when the fish which looked well over a meter showed himself in all its glory and became airnborne. The two avid anglers also demonstrated their love for fishing and are clearly conscious of the importance to practice "Catch & Release" with all pike.
Meanwhile we continued to catch some cracking pike up to low doubles on the fly last week, getting over ten fish per boat on most days.

On Saturday we helped out at Lough o'Flynn were the Inland Fisheries Ireland had a fisheries awareness day for kids and families. The younsters were brought out on the lake and many did indeed catch a few fish, making the day a great success for all involved. More on that later...

Discover Boyle Day on Sunday was also a great success with good attendance and interest shown on the day. It goes to show what can be achieved with some positive input and iniative.
Failte Ireland, Waterways Ireland and Roscommon County Council should indeed be commended for backing this event and equally everybody who worked so hard to put it all together.

Discover Boyle Day - Sunday October 3rd

Just a quick reminder that "Discover Boyle Day" will be held in Boyle on Sunday.
Judging by the programme for the day it's set to be a fun day with lots of activities and free events in Boyle. We too, will be there with a stall in the grounds of King House.
Hope to see you there!

For more information check: http://www.discoverireland.ie/lakelands

103cm on the fly!

Yes, finally as expected the bigger fish are starting to show. This morning we had fantastic sport fly-fishing for pike, which culminated in the capture of a 103 cm pike estimated to weigh around 20lbs. 10 smaller fish also readily came to the boat. Water temperature has dropped to 14-15 degrees C.

Good pike action

Apart from one or two bad days, the pike fishing has been great this last few weeks with catches of between 10 -20 pike per boat per day on some occasions. On top of that we also had some nice perch as a bonus catch.
The big pike should start showing up any time soon!!

Autumn Pike season started!

Finally we could wait no longer and have started this autumn season last weekend.

The first morning session brought 10 pike to the boat, biggest 92cm. All fish came to Buster jerks, we also had a lot of missed takes. Nice start of the autumn season and things are looking good. The rain of the last few days topped the system up nicely, let's just hope there won't be too much more for a while.

Pike Fishing holidays in Boyle

The end of summer is drawing near and with that it also won't be all that long before the September pike fishing will kick off again. So far at least,it doesn't look as that there will be any delay because of very hot weather.

We still have days/ slots available for individual and group bookings for pike fishing trips this coming autumn and winter.

So what can you expect, when you book your trip with Angling Services Ireland?
Here is just a few items.

• A warm welcome!
• A fishing holiday with the personal touch!
• A Guide who is knowledgeable and cares!
• Boats that are well maintained and equipped!
• Quality Fishing tackle!
• Approved Accommodation, where you will be made welcome and looked after

Oh and I nearly forgot!

Most importantly of course there is a number of good pike fishing waters close by, where you will spend your days on. Most of which offer serious potential to catch your trophy pike on and many more where you can experience great pike action, all set amidst the green wonderful Irish landscape of this region.

Also worth noting here that the town of Boyle itself, has a lot to offer to the visitor right now. Friendly people, cosy pubs, traditional Irish Life music (usually at least once a week), Good food in Boyle's Restaurants and many attractions and other activities are also on offer.

Hope to see you here some time,

Tight Lines,

Bodo Funke

July update

The summer is fully upon us now and despite the fact that the weather isn't all great, the water temperature has risen to a level that makes pike fishing not only slow, but also very uncomfortable for the pike to get caught in.
Nevertheless our most recent pike outing two weeks ago was a successfull one for clients Mike Dolan and his son Sam from New York state. During a rather windy day, well it had been windy all week and the water was well oxygenated and only at ~17degrees; they caught 14 pike between them. All on suspending lures near weed. No real big ones were caught but some feisty pike came to the boat all the same.
On their return to New York Mike wrote:

"Bodo, I would like to thank you for the great day of fishing we had even with all the wind. Me and Sam are still talking about it. When we return to Ireland we will fish with you again. Mike"

Well it is surely nice to get some positive feedback. Meanwhile we have been doing some vertical fishing for perch with some good results at times, though it can be hard at the moment to find really concentrated shoals.
Also on offer this time of the year is fairly good trout fishing in both river and lakes, where good fly hatches take place particularly in the evenings and great sport can be had on the dry fly.

Tight Lines

Update June 23rd

Fishing in the last few weeks has been fairly good, of course the really warm days were not very good for pike fishing. Swiss angler Thomas Egger was fishing with us in the second week of June and had some good fishing on some of the days with over 20 fish to the boat. Other days yielded fewer fish. Biggest fish of the trip was 98cm.

Fishing update June 2010

The pike are still very active in some of our lakes here and fight really hard right now.
Italian anglers Guido and Stefano had some good action during the week with a lot of small and some nice medium size pike. A few of the bigger variety hit the lures really hard too, but didn't connect right. But I guess they'll be there for again.
As we will be out most days during the week we will update this again soon.

Fishing Update

Despite the cool North-East winds the pike fishing is now getting pretty hot.
We were out this morning early and a short session yielded some beauties of 24lbs and 10lbs. Several other pike attacks were missed, so it looks like they are getting hungry.
Best lure today once again was the Strike Pro X-Buster. Photos will follow soon.
Water temperature today: 12.8 C

Fishing update - April 30th.

We were out on one of the local lakes this morning, water temperature today is 12.3C.
Only a few small fish to 5lbs. showed up taking jerk baits. The x-buster in perch colour worked best today.
Coarse fishing in the Boyle River is currently getting better with visiting anglers reporting bags of 20-30lbs. per session. Mainly roach and hybrids are being caught but an occasional bream up to 5lbs. was amongst the catches.

Special Offer - Fishing trips

Fishing Week B&B

6 Fishing days, Guide, Boats , packed lunches, B&B accommodation

Included are: 6 Full fishing days, one guide for every two anglers, boats, engines, fuel, use of lures, flies and tackle, 7 nights stay, Breakfasts, packed lunches (2 sandwiches, fruit tea/coffee, water).

Euro 795.- per person (based on two anglers)

Fishing weekend

Included are: 2 full fishing days, one guide for every two anglers, boats,engines, fuel, lifejackets, use of lures/flies and tackle, 3 nights stay, Breakfasts, packed lunches.

Euro 295.- per person (based on two anglers)

Offers valid for trips in the period til August 31st 2010. Must be booked before May 31st. 2010! Subject to availability!

Book Now and e-mail us info@anglingservicesireland.com

To avail of any of these offers mention "Special Offer" in the subject.

Predatortour 2010 - Lough Derg, Ireland

It is now only 2 and a half weeks to go til this years leg of Predatortour kicks off on Loug Derg.
I am looking forward to once again participate in this European Open Predator Competition.
This year I am joined by well-known Enniskillen pike angler Matt Dean, as we will represent the Irish Angler/ Dennett Outdoor Team there.

Spring fishing hotting up!

As the water temperatures in local lakes and rivers rise (currently between 9 and 13.5 degrees Celsius) the pike are beginning to be more active.
Spawning is now more or less completed in most waters and the pike are getting hungry.
The first flurry of activity saw us catching good numbers of small to medium sized pike, but a few better fish are also starting to show. I am looking forward to keep you updated here as always, but particularly over the coming weeks, as the month of May usually presents some great pike fishing in Ireland.....

Lough Ree International Pike Festival 14-16th April

The first Lough Ree International Pike Festival is set to take place in April. Many attractive prizes are waiting for the winners of this 3 day boat angling competition. The prize for the winner of this major event is Euro 3000
Lough Ree is home to some huge pike and indeed some real monsters can be caught there.
In a media test competition last October the winning fish caught by Mark Barrett of Anglers Mail, UK, weighed over 24lbs. just to give you an idea.

It is also worth while to mention that conservation measures have been put into place and the format of the event is a " Catch, Photo, Release" format, where the pike caught can be released immediately after being photographed and measured. No holding or transport of fish is required.

The organisers should be commended for adapting such conservationally minded approach to this competition.

At the moment entries are still being taken and for anybody interested,

Here is the details:

Dates:
14-15-16 April 2010
E n t r y f e e s:
The Entry Fees are €50 per day or
€125 for three days. All monies will be paid out in
cash prizes plus €3,000 first prize.
FURTHER INFORMATION: Full details of the festival, accommodation
available, inclusive packages for overseas anglers and entry fees can
be viewed at www.pikefishinginireland.com

or www.discoverireland.ie/lakelands
Telephone enquiries - 9am to 5pm
Within Ireland: 071 9642743
Within UK: 0151 324 4744
From other countries: 00353 71 9642743
Email: Contact@pikefishinginireland.com

March Update

The milder weather over the past week or so has warmed up the water in many lakes. The pike have stared to move into the shallows and started to spawn in some waters.

Happy St. Patricks Day

Best wishes for St. Patrick's Day to Everybody from all at Angling Services Ireland!

Season starting!

After what was (and partly still is) an unusually cold winter, we finally managed to get out and boat the first few pike of the year. No monsters as yet, but at least some double figures.

A half days fishing yesterday yielded 7 pike on lures with two of them over the 10lbs. mark. and three more just below it.

Not too bad considering it's still pretty cold nd the water temp currently is only at 3.9 degree Celcius. Allthough this looks to drop again during the week as another cold spell with sharp frost is promised.

Anyway the duck is broke the season is started and we are optimistic that soon lots more action will follow.

Happy New Year!

We would like to wish you all a very happy new year and lots of good fish for the season of 2010!
Unfortunately we haven't been out yet, due to ice on most venues. Hope to get out there soon and get the first pike of the year. We will keep you updated here.
Watch this space...

Til then Tight Lines!