Garryhill Lakes, Co Carlow

I had initially planned to go to Lough Aisling in Edenderry in Co Offaly this morning to get some practice in for the next T.A.F.I. Leinster Bank Qualifier but I decided not to travel, because of the road conditions and the reports of  black ice. So to avoid cabin fever setting in, I decided to go to my local fishery in Co Carlow, Garryhill Lakes which is only 15mins from me.

I arrived at the lake at about 11am and there wasn't an angler to be seen, so basically I had the whole place to myself. The morning was cold and cloudy with intermittent breaks of sunshine. There was a bite in the air from the overnight frost, so it was vital to have a few layers of clothing on, to keep warm and dry.
A day fishing ticket is €20 and you get to keep one fish under 3lbs. Overall a productive day was had at Garryhill Lakes.

The wind was quite strong from a Northerly direction and there was little or no fish or fly activity on the surface. Using a 10ft 6/7 rod, I geared up with a Di5 sinking line, 12 foot leader and roach minky. After about 10mins of unsuccessful fishing, I switched to a size 14 gold headed damsel with a marabou tail. First cast at a depth of about 10ft I was in.... I continued to fish around the 4 acre lake using the damsel with good results, again trying different depths. The Di5 sinks at a rate of .5ft per second..

While I was fishing the North side of the lake, there is a little sandy beach. This area is well shaded from the wind by some large trees. Most of the time, it is actually dead calm with little or no breeze disturbing the water. I fished this area with a damsel and caught two trout. The first fish was about 4lbs. This part of the lake is quite shallow, only a few feet in depth..this seems to be the key to success, establishing the right depth when the fish are lying..

A successful fly on this fishery is for sure a yellow beaded  Damsel fly marabou pattern. I think I caught about 18 fish in total and all were released safely.

Please remember to use barbless hooks...

"Why fish barbless in the first place"? For starters, it’s easier on the fish. Assuming you’re practicing catch and release, backing a barbless hook out of a trout's mouth is far less harmful than the tearing of mouth and jaw tissue which commonly occurs when using barbed hooks. Furthermore, since hook removal is so much easier with barbless hooks, it requires that much less handling of the fish and can often be accomplished without removing the fish from the water. The cumulative effect is better survival rates for trout and other species of fish.

Many anglers feel they will lose too many fish by going barbless, and this may well be true. But look at it this way…you’re doing the fish a big favor. If you need to harm a fish in order to catch it, maybe you need to work on your hooking and playing skills.