Be aware of the Hardware

Well what am I about to do? ;) First I had some really cool lures arrived a few days ago from my friends in Denmark, Dan and Rudi from the Illex Team Anglers was that  super kind to send the new Illex 20cm UV Dexter Shads because they wasn't available just yet in the UK, so here they are the first ones crossed the boarders and landed in my tackle box.

Which means I need to get some hardware to gear up the new lures for the weekend to try them, finally after a long long wait. Well should know that I'm probably one of the most suspicious person about wire and hooks and rigs, in the last 2 years specially. The short story was basically that more than 2 years ago I lost a (possible) fish of my life time because (don't saying the brand because i'm polite) after nearly 10 minutes fight I still didn't see the pike but the hooks on the jig head is just straightened out and my fish swim away without showing herself.
So I was a little bit upset (furiously jumped up and down, rod throwing far away and first in my life cry after a fish)......but never mind as they said, but since of this happened 1.) I never touched the brand again, 2,) I determined to found the perfect, strong as possible and still finesse looking, no rusting at all so I can use on fresh and salt water as well, don't damage the shads etc.....hardware outfit to gear my lures up with. I might put my expectations high but after using this set up nearly for a year without a fault I could found in those products, I finally can say yes I found the perfect outfit! So I decided to write my thoughts down about .

Mustad Ultra Point Big Game Jighead

First place the jig heads.....lots of brands lots of different styles! In my case that jig head what I could bend with hand or pliers going to the bin. So this criteria reduce quiet a lot of options. The next one is, how the lure sits on them, I was notorious with glueing the shads to the head because I hate when the lure slips  after one take, but the problem was that the lures been raped off from the hook after a fish or two, because the glue, there wasn't any flexibility left to move just rape off. So the slim or one little gap to hold the lure type of jigs was off the cards as well plus hardly can found any in size what has the gape big enough and the weight is between 10g-25g. 

Then I came a cross with the Mustad Ultra Point Big Game jig heads! They where perfect, top quality in sizes 6/0 to 10/0 and between 10-25g. The other positive thing is that when I rig the lure up with them the lure sits perfectly, no slipping at all, super grab in the material and during the fight or have a very hard take the lure able to twist a little bit but still don't slip down at all even after a several fish landed. Of course when going home and do the usual tender loving care just take the lure off the jig head a little bit of Mend-It and off you go jigs back and ready for another good few fish to fool.

I like using jig heads even with or without  an additional small treble hook just right behind the jig hook, 70% of fish hooked in the lip on the jig hooks, so no deep hooking or harm the fish at all....easy to unhook as well.

Vision Wire Line

The next stop was to found a good wire for traces and additional treble hooks. I don't like crimps, don't know its maybe just me but i never really trusted them. Then start using heavy fluorocarbon leaders with strong knots, which i still using in bright clear conditions but I wasn't happy with the diameters and the size of the knots....just didn't look nice and tidy. Knot2Kinky.....well bought a spool but that was the worst thing what I ever see or try to do anything with ...way too stiff and most of the time just killed the action of the lures. Then started to think what is the fly guys using for pike leaders, that must be light weight so they can cast and also a finesse looking stuff because the fish seems don't bother. Yes the Vision Wire Line, it was a slightly more expensive what I expected but hell worth every penny! Open the pack see how to use it ....well it says on the packet "make a loop and twisted around 8x times  then melt it with a lighter" and that's it. I made one but didn't trust it for a first look (really that's it???) then try to pull a part with literally everything , couldn't break it a part with man power! Super stuff love it really, a bit of shrink tube to the joints and job done also so flexible the shads moves perfect on it, just could recommend.

Owner Super Needle Point ST-36BC

The treble hooks....well same story really! I usually used Owner Musky trebles in 1/0 from USA, but sometimes they not available or don't be here (UK) in time etc so found one from here to replace when I'm stuck to get some of the musky special. The Owner Super Needle Point ST-36BC hooks are near same strong as the musky version of them so I was really happy found them in here. Used in smaller size for plugs before on salt water and they are rock and rust proof, top quality, love them.

BFT Flex Heads

One of my easiest found was the BFT Flex Heads, probably because they out not very long ago. My favorite type of rig to use for the bigger shads 20-25cm such for Pig Shads, 210 Illex Dexter Eels, 250 Illex Dexter Shads. Perfect just screw in and add 1 or 2 treble hooks, keeps the big lures in perfect balance and they are literally un-destroyable too......heavy duty and finesse looking bit of kit to use. Tried one other cheaper version but they wasn't in balance with the lures, the spirals didn't hold and they just looked big because the weight.

So there is my thoughts about terminal tackle hope you guys found it useful. :)

Here is some more pictures how I rig them on the lures and how they look like on a 15cm Nitro Shad, 20cm UV Dexter Shad and 25cm Illex Dexter Shad.

   

    

Illex Warriors

Came a cross with the brand about 2 years now in the Ireland and since using them with very much success.  The inspiration to write this post didn't came from  to say how good this lures or how shiny they are....you guys knows that anyway ;)

I just found an interesting thing about they durability. When I have a soft plastic lure and I catch a lot of fish on one I like to call it a "veteran" and put it away as it's served his time very well and give me lots of fun and lots of fish.

The wears and tears on them is massive but they still together and if I wanna rig them today and make a cast they still be able to catch a fish, but to be honest I will be a little sad to loose them after all this time, so retire them nicely. The second reason is that every time I get them out of the box I get all the great memories coming back from the fish what I did caught on them.

Last year I had a 150 Dexter Shad in Rudd colour which made it to the veteran stage after over 60 pike I caught one this single lure. At the start I called the lucky lure and take care very often with some Mend-it of course, but after a while the painting stared to wear off, so that was the moment when she went to the veteran box. I think the material is now about 80% Mend-it after a while I used that much to repaired but after this lure seen hundreds of predator teeth and still in one piece it's quiet an impressive development for the material what is made of.


The other lure which made it to the box only a few days ago, is the Illex NitroShad 150 in GoldenGreen colour, rigged on the 25g Nitro Shad head. Now on this lure I caught multiple species and I had it rigged like this nearly a year.  The first fish I caught on it was a sea bass on the Channel Islands, because this lure originally designed for them on salt water and have to say this lures are the queen of the currents. Although the bass hasn't got big teeth's the little small ones are able to shred the material big time. Spinning closer to the shore I hooked and landed Ballan Wrasse on it, and the wrasse is famous to chomp your lure in half with their powerful jaw , but the lure still in one piece.
Another species of the sea was the pollack, same teeth structure as the bass , but ones you found a shoal of them  you can get a great sport and land a lots of them ....so I did and the paint coating and the hooks is still sharp, which is very impressive again when it's up to choosing tackle what is up and hold in the battle.

I moved back to Ireland and as well known in winter season the pikes move in to the deeper areas so I really need something to cut down quickly the depth and hold close to the bottom while retrieve it back, so I get the NitroShad out of the box ad clip it on. Seems perfect for the job and second cast I was in to a pike. Proudly can say in that session I manage to land on this lure 28 pike up to 16lb which is excellent fun on light gear ( rod: Illex Element Rider S230M 5-28g). The next trip after weeks we went back to the same water and without hesitation my first lure choice was the same, now the conditions wasn't good as last time but I managed to land 14 pike up 11lb on the same set up which made my day really and I was super happy.
The teeth marks as shown on the picture became all over on the lure and leave lots of damage but this lure is still gonna catch at least 20 more fish if I still spin with it tomorrow.
The decision has been made and he going to the "veteran box" as well to hold the great memories.

And of course some of them are didn't make it. :)

Tight lines ad happy fishing guys ;)

3 days Pike Fishing on Lough Derg Ireland

Took me a while to put my toughs together of my last pike fishing trip down the south direction of Ireland. Lough Derg.............to be honest it's quiet hard to find the right words to describe this lake. I can not deny I fell in love with it first sight when I arrived in Killaloe. Killaoe is a a village, close downstream from where Lough Derg empties in to the Shannon  . Stunning little village and one of those few places when people see you with rod in your hands walking down on the street not give you strange looks, instead they all ask where I have been fishing , what did I caught or give you locations to go fishing as a friendly advice, even in the small grocery shop, you are not just "next please". So the local people has the famous very friendly Irish welcoming atmosphere, and it's all about the fishing there, really, like in the pubs in the B&B's has the pictures up from recent catches and "wall of fame's " of huge pikes all over. Nice to see that the angling and the tourism is all blended in to a tradition in this village.....the proper feeling of  "hunting the mystical green Irish monsters"!!!

When I planned my trip there I decided to get a guide for 3 days, plenty of reasons behind why. It's a huge body of water and shooting in the dark with fishing spots for 3 days wasn't what I was going for. Plus you need a boat as well because very limited places available from the shore. I was going for catch a big girl and without any knowledge of this water you need a big bucket of luck if not more if you wanna do this alone! So I did my research and also listen to the recommendations I get in touch with Pierre Monjarret who is a professional guide on Lough Derg. Few chat on facebook and fix the dates, very easy going. And the date arrived to get on the train with shaking legs, I'm always getting over exited when it's up to fishing but this trip I just felt that good chance for my dream girl! Arrived early afternoon to Killaloe and take a quick tour around discover everything while still daylight. Than dinner and just sit back and counting the seconds till next morning to head out, then got a txt that I would go to the pub and join them for a drink or two with the other french guy Florian who was out with him fishing earlier. Yeah why not sounded good I love Irish Pubs but alone as a girl to head out it's not my cup of tea like so I was happy with the invitation. Wasn't long to get the conversation on the pike fishing! Like connecting with people who has a similar toughs about pike fishing with lures, but pretty quickly it was clear that a hardcore pike angler sitting across to me,  which is pretty cool. Obviously the tackle talk on the topics as well and I love lure fishing tackle! As he is in a Pro Team of Strike Pro, CWC,BFT of course made me to ask some questions about they tackle and how is the proper way to use them etc, it was super to sneak peak behind the scenes and learn a lot about the company,tackle history  and other members of the team how they developing  the gear in Sweden. And one more super exiting stuff  what unfortunately I can't talk about but I'm a huge fan! So after a few drinks and checking the weather we kinda know that by the weather conditions looks like sunday will be the day, but I was go to sleep with anything could happen tomorrow until  the lure is in the water!



Finally the morning arrived and get picked up in the marina, man that boat is super cool and if its not enough 2nd Captain Guiness on the board as well, she is a super cool dog. The weather was grey and rainy as usual with a bit of roughness on the water but let taps fire up and off we go. When turn  of the marina part that was some scenery.....the huge lake is front of your eyes surrounded by the mountains, even in grey shades it as an awesome breath taking view! As we talked a night before about conditions and this time of the year we know it will be tough, not many bites but still potential for a good day fishing and the tactic for the day will be cast, cast, cast, cast and more cast to cover much water as we can. It was a super day out even with a few showers in the neck but managed to caught 2 smaller but still lovely fish between 80-90cm. Head back to heat up dinner and get ready for tomorrow, when as the forecast promised no rain with slight cloud coverage and dropping pressure ,  which means good chance that the fish will come up from the bottom and a bit sunshine will turn them on to start feeding.



Day two morning woke up and straight up to look out in the window, yes perfect pike weather as it says in the big pike book. Get some coffee and breakfast and off to the marina again. It was something in the air that we gonna have a good day today and my theory was proofed by Pierre as well when I get into the boat so everything looked bright. Pick the first spot and start drifting and casting, not quiet end of the drift we saw that the sun will be out in the next few minutes for a while so quickly drive back wait until the sun out and start drift again, it was one of those moment when you know, I don't know how but you feel now or never! or just simply because something changed but its just a weird thing what you can feel when you fishing and make you so exited the tough that in any second your rod can slam over because everything is just perfect! And yes it was not even half way of the drift the lure stopped like stuck in something, strike and yeah fish on and the rock and roll started, the fish did a few really good runs to the deep but after the anglers worst nightmare happens when the fish start head to the surface and jump! Can feel in the deep of the head shakes that she wasn't small but that heart stopping moment when they jump and you just start pray that don't shake out the hooks and also see her in full size how big she was and concentrate the rod tip down to keep the tension on the line plus all this happens in a quarter of the second......such as Pierre shouted it's a big fish Gina and he runs to grab the net......few more runs and she was in the net. I couldn't believe we did it....she was in the net with all her beauty, i know its not nice to say for a lady but she was fat.....beautiful fat 107cm green irish monster....i was over the moon and back really just stand front of the net and kept looking her in the water in the net. One of the best moments of this year! Get her out of the net and get some photos of her.....I have to admit I struggling to hold her for the camera. Then put her back to the water.....just still looking her and don't want to let her go, I was lucky she was so peaceful between my hands and use the old trick to pet it on the side a little bit  so she didn't move but eventually she had enough and slowly slip out from between my hands and headed back to the deep where she belong to. IT WAS AWESOME!! I just sit in the boat at least 10 min it was super awesome feeling really!! Than back to casting again and not long after the rod bends again and Pierre has a super condition pike as well in the 95cm mark. Which situation is put me back behind the camera what I love as much fishing and I shoot one of my best picture ever, it's hard to get the light the background and the angle all click together to shoot a photo like that but hell when its all in right order. Still fishing away all day but in winter days like this you know it's not many shot and feeding windows opening up and specially that we had the big fish what we where after .....one bite one shot.....can't be greedy and that wasn't even on the cards. I couldn't even sleep that night, I think I can say the dose of happiness of that fish is take over beyond any tiredness.


Third day, well the weather is just became pure rough, we head out on the morning but called lunch time 2 o'clock. It was more like a rainy chatting day, pressure is off with that fish a day before and some point you need to know when to call it. I was the last of his clients for 2015 and his boat closed the season with my beauty 115th pike over 1m mark landed on the boat....how mad is that??!!!!! Hardcore cast machine!!!

I decided to move to Ireland in next year but I didn't know where.....well with this trip I secretly half decided where to now, I had an absolutely super time and be back definitely soon if not for permanent.......Thanks for read, enjoy the pictures and tight lines ;)

Large vs Small lure spinning

Last weekend managed to sneak out on saturday with the kayaks. We wasn't really in our usual "lets explore the world" mode just wanted to catch some fish, so made the call to fish one of the well known lake. It has been paid off well but was a tricky and slow day,  the air pressure was high, it was too calm and mainly sunny , but had those little windows when the wind finally picked up and bring some cloud coverage for a few minutes. When you visit a lake again what you did fished before and had a successful day on it, what you probably gonna do is, exactly the same what you did on that day. Well it shows off pretty quickly that this isn't the same situation today at all. We was far from the mad pike attacks, when the jacks hits the big lures without any hesitation and you have to battle through on them to find a bigger fish.

When i'm not after the big mammas and specially when fishing out of kayak I always choose my Illex Element Rider S 250 XH, the rod is 14-80g so this beauty lauds me to fish from small 5" lures up to 34cm shads, and one of the main reason that the handle is shorter than normal jerkbait rods, much more comfier to fish from the  kayak with a short handle. Steve decided to gear up with the big baits and big rod, as if I remember well was his motto of the day before " Go Big or Go Home"! Anchor down on the first honey spot and start throwing the big boys  mmmm 10 minutes not a single contact. Well I love catching pike in any size so i changed my lure to the smaller version 150 dexter shad in rudd colour , my favorite lure all the time  plus had a sneaky chat with a match angler who just arrived that, what he gonna fishing for today and he said roach, spot on I have that pattern in my inventory, because then is high chance that pike might feeding on the roach around that area. Clip it on and had a quick bite which wasn't aggressive at all. Next cast boom had a decent jack on. I was really happy to nail a good few up to 8lb, but suddenly they switch off or moved away from the area.

Check the wind direction and its blowing right to the other weed bank mmmm as it says in the pike fishing bible, the wind blows the bait fish away, so let's get the anchor up and go to the far side. On the way paddling up all ready saw some movement of the pikes to hammering the baitfish. Lure in the middle quickly and then realized that its super shallow might 2ft with weed all over on it. Change over to a 5g jighead what i found the lightest in my bag, cast out and reel quick as i can just under the surface then boom she is back and take my lure as it suppose to be. Very intense fight because I couldn't give a line  for her to go back between the weed, lovely and strong girl in top condition.

As the day was going on i had a few more fish on the small lures, which I was chuffed with , great day to be out and great sport . The wind turns just before lunch so we decided to move on with it , give another hour on the new spot then get out for lunch . Spinning away had a few contact but more likely looked they switched off again as it was brighten up. Wind picked up a little bit from out of nowhere and the clouds covered the sun , made a big cast out my lure just landed front of the  reeds as I was chatting away that the guys doesn't had many luck so far then boom after the about 3 turns on the reel this big mamma just hammered my lure for lunch! And off she go on my screaming

 reel, I managed to bring her up to the boat about 10 times at least but she just didn't wanna give up  and wend pretty bonkers every time when dives down in the deeper parts, but finally after a long fight she slipped in the net.....victory! Paddle out to the land quickly and take some snaps in the water and give enough time to her to recover. I basically don't use very light tackle for pike  but like keep it finesse as possible and the reason is that fight the fish quickly and let it go quickly without stressing out the fish too much , so i give a good stick for her as much as I could but I couldn't break her mind and she was really strong, one hell of a fight that's for sure. Then she just slipped out of my hands and swims away......she had some attitude, as a good girls has.

So this day was definitely a small lure day, because the boys didn't finish the day very well to stick on with the big baits all day. Well my theory is even when out for chasing the big fish with big lures, never can go wrong to put a few smaller ones in the box, because if you don't change with  the conditions you didn't tried everything and if you didn't tried everything , you didn't cover all the options what can get you fish at the end of your line. Its paid of for me on that day ;)

Some Big and the Small brothers

Hope you guys have a good season and lots of fish , Tight lines! ;)

James Smyth Memorial Pike Competition- Anglers together for the good cause

What was the event all about:

Organiser Gerard Smyth put this annual pike competition together raising money for  Suicide Awareness. The competition is dedicated to his brother James Smyth who might be gone but

never forgotten. For those who don't know the money was raised and donated to PIPS 

Programmes ( Preventing Suicide  Through Education ). It's very important to support the 

professional helping hands. Suicide takes 3 life's  every day. POPS helps thousands  of people 

and saving many lifes!

The presentation of the check to the PIPS Charity

4th October 2015, the day what we all fish for  raised successfully 950EUR which covering 

the running costs for 3 months for the Suicide Awareness . Personally I was amazed in front 

of the Spar on the morning after the registration where 50 anglers showed up with all the 

support. 

And of course there is a competitive side as well , You have to be in it to win it!

Gerard, Gerry and Tony with the fish of the day 20lb 14oz

Had a beautiful weather to start with , which some point was lovely warm and sunny. Great

day to spend outdoors anyway but this conditions makes the pike fishing very tough for

everybody. In the middle of the afternoon finally some clouds started to arrive and a little breeze

pick up as well. You could feel in the air this could be the turning point of the game for all of us .

I was spinning away not far from Gerard  when I heard his reels started to scream. 

He shouted Big Fish!! Big Fish!! Tony grab the net!!

He managed to get it close to the bank 6x times but the reel screams off every time she headed back

to the middle, then she finally gave up and slides in to the net. She was a really strong fish in top 

condition. His dad Gerry comes over to see her from the other side of the lake as well. 

Unhooking ceremony  then off she went on the scales, boom baby 20lb14oz, what a beauty she was.

I took a few quick snap of the fish first then I saw  on the screen that Tony and Gerry are half

way in the picture and i said " hey everybody closer and get on the picture now"! and I press the button again . I think with this picture above I captured a very memorable moment, the light was perfect, everybody smiles, the green monster beauty shows off all her size, patterns and 50 shades of green colours on her.

Gerry with his 18lber

The next turn was Gerry's! He has a float out and just spinning around with a lure rod to make sure 

cover all the options, then boom a huge explosion just right front off his feet. Another big lady

knock the bulldog down in the last minute. Gerry had his net right beside him in the water

and he just give a stick to the hard pulling fish that make sure she don't take any line off and run out again, "now or never" and he managed too slide the net under her. The game started to get tight 

after we saw the fish , we knew she was big ...but how big exactly she is ?! On the scale her weight was 18lb. What a beautiful fish! This is going to be a tight match between father and son  and 

probably a few jacks could make all the difference. So they did for me as well.

Little greedy jacks,they great fun too on light tackle

After i saw that two big fish just had been caught front of my nose I knew my chance to nail a 

decent size is shrinks to very slim . Few updating phone calls  shows that not many fish caught

all over on the other lakes either, so decided  to check out the pond which was just a few steps away. 

I asked what is the lake looks like he answer was " I wouldn't fish it , might be none or just jacks there, has been hammered badly for years".  Checked my watch 1 and half an hour lef of the competition , so packed the lures and went off with a blank on my shoulder....what I can loose?!

As I was in jack hunting mode put a soma small lure then on the second cast the magic happened, i got hit by a small jack , I was really happy with this small fish , made my day really . Then went quiet again, stop for a smoke and a quick think what else I have in my box. I had a few flys left from my last trip in there ....bingo jacks like flashy stuff! Clicked on with a little weight and boom I was in again, managed to catch 4 more and finish the day with 5 half decent jacks. Then it was time to head back to the presentation held in the village Inn on the Miam Street.

The local butcher and the Inn sponsored the event with some lovely sandwiches and hot food for all of us which was super nice of them because it was a long day .

Here is the final results of the event :

1st place: Gerry Smyth

2nd place: Gerard Smyth also the winner for the biggest fish category

3rd place: Ian Church

4th place: Emmet Kelly

5th place: Gina Tanczos 

6th place: Jay Cooke

7th place: Dave Moody

8th place: John Molloy

9th place: Darren Walsh

The smallest fish: Will Carney

Also special thanks for Dave Moody who helped to organise the event. For the members of the Leinster Pike Angling Club showed up in force with support. For all the tackle shops who sponsored the event with cracking prizes to win. All together it was a super social event, met with lots of anglers all around of the country......hope to see you guys next year ....tight lines;)