Closing 2017 Season in Ireland

Well 2017 was a many of "my first catch" year.....started with some beautiful Irish brownie on the lure and managed to master a little bit craft of the dry fly fishing for them on the River Boyne too.

Then not long after got my first salmon as well. Holly molly they are some crazy fish to fight with, the power of them is incredible and such a beautiful fish to hold and watch swim back with that big silver back on them. Next year my target to get one on fly .....if possible hahah well hope for the best I keep practicing my cast until the river opens again ;)

Then in the middle of all this was really nice to meet with Christopher Defillon and Nico Vindre.

Chris get me my first salmon and brownie because I was total rookie for the craft to catch them , excellent teacher and he knows his spots inside out on river and lake. Check him out on https://www.evasionpecheirlande.net/ he also put his costumers to a big fish.

Then he drop me a line "heyy Nico my friend comes to Ireland for a few days fishing you wanna hopp in a boat?" Ohh hell yeah Im glad I did we had awesome laugh in those few days and lots of Illex talk....it was cool nice meet you Nico ;)

Crushing some PB,s on perch as well, manage to get a few very nice one this year.....now mostly because im very happy when I landing them and wanna put back fast as possible after photos etc.....I have no idea what weight or lenght are they, one is fatter but short the other one is longer but not that fat.....well at the end I dont really care, for me is 2x super duper nice perch, so yeah one of them is my pb perchy :D

 I also met with another lady angler Sandrine Marmilloud this year, and had a chance to fish with her also a few days , have to say we are pretty much on the same page and pretty lucky on the boat together.....we smash some trout on Sheelin it was super fun she is like Rambo hunts and everything , sometimes I wish so much to speak french ......but in this case we had our special language together ;)

And I had a chance to meet with David Gauduchon freelance journalist and crazy fishermen from france. He travels the world all around his storys are incredible and his photography work truly inspirational, also runs a guiding agent check him out here: http://www.lepoissonvoyageur.fr/

This year pike wise ......well......somebody gives me the trout fever (yes you responsible for this Chris)!!!! :D As you see mostly early season and summer I was after trout and salmon mostly....but ...... late autumn and winter manage to nick a few nice ones and im very happy with them :D

Meet with Damien Willis as well end of this year, one of the nicest people seriously and he is master of a fly for pike and trout over here in Ireland, he has some crazy knowledge from lots of water....super nice to meet you Damien and I hope we will catch up in future some more fishing it be awesome!

So yeah my move to Ireland was crazy at the start but hell mannn totally worth it .....learned a lot its insane! I had an amazing year and meet with so many amazing people, thank you so much my friends for all those lovely memorys I appericated very very much and hope we can spend time together next year also.....cant wait!!!!

Happy New Year and Tight Lines for 2018!

Gina

Salmon fishing in Ireland

So yeah the season for salmon is closed end of September. I would say it takes a million cast to get one if you don't really know what you do, just like me. Never caught a salmon before so didn't really know where to start or why everybody is on about this mysterious fish.

This year decided to catch some of those species what I haven't caught yet in Ireland. Such as wild Irish Brown trout at very early this season......and then the light bulb lights up. Christopher Defillon, he promises me brown trout and gets me one, so let's chat about this mysterious salmon business. Bingo!! I hit the jackpot because turns out he is pretty much master of this craft as well, on the fly and on lures. To start I was put in my place very well on the river bank that this is not every cast a salmon and they could be really tricky sometimes, explained the conditions that are very important,  the color of the water, the water levels and the light and weather conditions etc they all critical to choose the right lure, the movement, the colour of them.....so thanks for that I had a basic knowledge now what to look for.

So the educational part of the journey was done ....let's go fishing! As I can title myself "extremely lucky".......second cast booom.....didnt take long. Rod bent in half straight and I strike like an animal to set the hook and this thing like a torpedo start running upstream. The only one thing I have forgotten to ask "how to fight with them"? It was a very quick course......"Lose the drag!!!" I heard him shouting.....then "Keep it to the left.....now don't let him  there is tree under the water, hold the rod up there are rocks!" And eventually, she was in the net, she had beautiful slightly brown color because already in the river system a few weeks, camouflaged like a giant brown trout....she was so pretty to be my first salmon. Crazy fight they so powerful it is incredible I was super happy.

I can lose that fish at least 100x times if was alone so many things possibly could go wrong just to start with I dont know the river at all.....I ask "So you know this river like your hand?"......."Oui, fishing for years for trout and salmon"......that explains a lot! It was a super experience and I learned a lot about this awesome fish habitats.

Salmon fishing is a kinda mind game with the fish.....to be honest love it and on the bonus side, the fight is just pure bonkers.

To figure it out what they like on an actual day is crazy, so many things you need to put under concern and need a bucket of luck as well to land them and hook them because they don't give up themselves easy at all. Sometimes going dedicated salmon fishing and all you can catch is trout , other days you just think oke I pop down this evening for a bit of trout fun and boom you hook a salmon.

I know the Eging Special S240M not exactly designed for salmon fishing, but its a perfect crossover with her sensitivity to fish for trout and power to stop a decent silver bar as well. And both species loves a bit of action from the Tricorolls , 2 in 1...job done :D So at the end had a pretty good season on the river this year nailed some lovely fish and hope next year will be as good as this one. There is so much more to learn this type of fishing I love the concept its never still the same always changing and allways have to adapt that knowledge what I have .....challenging!

 Ohh I almost forget I had a beast of a perch as well out of nowhere in the shallow rocky part booom smashed the good old Tricoroll.....it was very surprising, maybe my PB or close to it, I don't know haven't measure it but it was huge :D And if you tempted to fish Ireland after this super fish get in touch with Chris he is a fishing guide and he has access to many private stretches on the river https://www.facebook.com/christopher.defillon....highly recommended ;)

Well I hope you guys enjoyed it and tight lines for the next adventures.

Here is some more pictures from the beautiful Boyne Valley ......keep casting!

https://www.facebook.com/christopher.defillon

Illex S240M Eging Special from the Pepper Series

You guys probably know by this time I have a thing for the M rated rods from Illex. 

I think to buy a rod is like pretty much the same when you buying cloth for yourself, very personal and most likely nobody like wearing the same stuff so no point to argue about it......

I don't like stiff rods at all, however, sometimes some method requires a little poker action from your wand. I do love my S230M from the Element Rider series, lovely rod just the way I like it lots of flexibility in the blank and has a backbone when it's up to big fish, first class all around soft plastic rod.......but to cast a hard lure with it way too soft, unfortunately. So my mission was to found a rod with the same action just a little stiffer to fire tricorolls out for trout earlier this season but still sensitive and gentle enough to fight those jumpy and fast moving trout what I was after. Also wanted to use the rod for perch as well in future so the research begun.....

I knew it has to be from the Pepper series.....but which one??!!!

The Akoya Pearl looks unbelievably stunning but I found it too light, the Finesse Symphoni was a little too stiff.....then came in my head a rod what I was hunting forever long and it was discontinued ages ago.... the old Eging Special 35g and M rated. Well, I was lucky enough that it's returned in 2017, in the brand new construction. Also, Illex introduces the new X5 Japanese Carbon in the Pepper, Artist and Element Rider Rod Series. This new 5 layer carbon material reduces the weight of the rods by 15% and make the blanks stronger 35% plus the sensitivity is incredible. Now, these rods was a beast before anyway but now.....just purely insane! The new Eging Special weights 122g, the casting rate 2,5-25g total length is 240cm. Designed for Offshore Squid fishing.....but I'm a little crazy and I use saltwater rods for my lure fishing mostly, the reason why because of they way more flexible than most fresh water rods. In my theory loose less fish when your rod is flexible...just need that little giving and I don't like when I have a slack line if the fish moves fast and especially trout famous of jumping a lot and head shakes, fast turns. Also, I found it important the rod action how you want animate the lures or plugs, I fishing quite soft and slow most of the time so you can't really do the same with a fast action rod.

Now since March when I first got it in my hands I managed catch some very nice Perch, some crazy wild big Irish Brown Trout, Mackerel, Pollack , hooked a really nice Salmon and of course when you give it to your friend to try it boom a monster meter+ Irish Pike (some trees and a shoes was in the inventory as well) ....so yeah basically we caught everything with this rod except squid at the end. But especially for trout with the Tricorolls is my favorite, perfect long distance cast, the animation of the lure are way slower and smoother than with any other rods and some day yes this really made a difference in the boat. To fight with a trout is magical really I only lost so far 1 but that one was fail hooked in the tail. It just simply feels like everything moves together smoothly, the pressure is on but the not too hard.....you playing with that 5-6lb "freshwater  ballerina" the most enjoyable way really.

#evasionpecheirlande
https://www.facebook.com/christopher.defillon

For perch also extremely sensitive and soft so with a 1g jighead in the shallows can feel every movement of the lure and don't raping the hook out of the mouth when the perch shaking the head.

Christopher accidentally hooked a monster with it when we were fishing for trout....what a fight it was!! The rod is just locked down and with a perfect drag set up on the reel wasn't any problem to land it , this rod has a serious backbone which the other reason why I love fishing with saltwater rods, when it's up to big fish boom you absolutely have a chance to land it , but because it's a light category rod its very important to set the drag properly. I had a Salmon run on it as well, it was crazy such a powerful fish incredible but hooked while spinning after trout.....I was so close to land it but those little hooks in that huge bony mouth came out, there was nothing I can do about.

So at the end, I just simply can recommend the Eging Special, one of the nicest light category rod I have.....keep casting and tight lines! ;) 

Warm Up - Predator Battle Ireland 2017 Killaloe

Last year first time I entered this international competition over here in Ireland. If the pressure wasn't enough I was the first women who entered. I been in Killaloe before and fished Lough Derg for the last 3 season, but every time falling more and more in love with that beautiful village and stunning lake, surrounded by mountains. Have to say sometimes I missed bites because every time I looked up while fishing the scenery just simple taking my breath away......

And of course the lake is world famous of of the monster Northern Pikes and Ferox Trout, I manage to catch a few trophy fish over the past years and have to say my favorite place to fish for them, they not only big......they fight so hard and the takes on lures stop your heart every time......every take could be a monster.......

So after all the beauty of the geographical location  where you can stay and enjoy not only the fishing but also the excellent hospitality of the local people in the village .....this competition became my favorite so far to enter again, a real jackpot to be there.

And if you think you skilled enough to catch 4x pike 3x perch and 1x trout dont hesitate to enter.

With a hint of luck you can walk home with a brand new Aluma Craft boat and trailer or a super holiday with your team mate for example a dream musky hunting for a week in Canada or a trophy catfish in the warm and sunny Spain and so on many other super cool prices you can check out on http://www.predatorbattle.ie/welcome/

 There are so many cool and skilled fishermens entering every year, I met with so many nice ppl some of them representing tackle brands like Biwaa, Fox Rage, Illex, Strike Pro, Savage Gear and also local tackle shop owners and of course the local fishermens .....so its a real challenge and need to register in time because only 25 team can enter. 

 I happily can announce our team are already in the game......and we are the youngest team so far but already did a bit of pre team fishing and so far doing well.....so however it will go on the 3 days we dont gonna give up at all and will looking forward to the pub every night to share all the good fishing storys beside a beer and meet with all the people who will be there! 

So common ladies and gentlemen send those entrys in if you want to be a part of an awesome time and hope to see you there...tight lines. ;)

Brown Trout Lough Sheelin Ireland

Struggled with this write up a little time wise ....but get there. I decided give one more go after the trout, so far I only caught sea trout and 3 years trying for rainbows and brown trout.....cant say I didnt try haha but never actually managed one to land, I do like my pike fishing too much.

Where to start ...well of course with my massive trout knowledge I knew I cant go very far alone on this one.....so lets found a guide. Thats how I bumped into Christopher Defillon, I remembered he helped me out with some technical details before the last Predator Battle...lets go fishing then! And he is fully kitted with Illex......lots of cool stuff, like the 250 Stream Master the new BlueShadow, new Nitro Shad Colours, Pepper and endless amount of Tricorolls!

To be honest it was very cool to catch up with someone who use Illex from over here on the fresh water screen....great chat for sure! And of course then conversation about trout in the car on the way , I got so much info thrown to my head ......I listened, but secretly I was like oke if I got one happy days because the weather didnt looked very good, but didnt have much faith in the fishing .....I have to admit I might started this trip with a little negative attitude deep down that I just gonna hook one and get off again so another fishing day wasted on trout......however it changed early on the day :D

The water was very milky tea coloured as well, just didnt look good, but we manage to found some clear areas but still need it a plug with high visibility so i put my HW Tricoroll  in Black Yamame colour on and just drifting and casting around.......then boom she just smash my lure! Then straight decided to swim quiet fast towards the boat so didnt give me much time to wake up of the "yayy I got a fish".......and of course rookie mistake give a slack line even only for a second i thought thats it gone ......"some swearing" ........but no, she was come up and boom in the net! i was so so happy and angry at the same time, that fish give me a mini heart attack......and at the same time just look at it in the net swimming around with those beautiful spots and blue metallic scales. When we did the photos and let her back I started to understand a little why my french friends are so passionate about trout fishing in they culture  ......it was new to me so but I like learning.

So hold on all the stuff what i thought blah blah blah ....trout.....it is working,how look for the points and all the details work I just caught one like that!

Really really cool day on the water , half way I didnt give up but just sit back and float around Sheelin........I caught a beautiful trout I was happy, enjoy the freedom and Sheelin is really pretty all around , green of course but thats Ireland for you with all the hills and rivers, lakes while you get there, the grey and green colour chart is just endless and stunning!

And yeah since we did some training for the Predator Battle Ireland 2017.......because we entered and so far I know we are the youngest team.......if we keep going like this im positive so here is some more pics :) And if you looking for a same trip get in touch with Christopher Defillon :

https://www.facebook.com/christopher.defillon?fref=ts

Tight Lines Guys ;)