gorton

Would really appreciate any information on this venue, possibly there end of May. Many thanks in anticipation.

Bradford Angler There is only one place called Shannonbridge, have been going to Ireland in late May for the last 15 years based in Athlone but always manage to get to Shannonbridge at some time during the holiday. Fishing still good whether above the roadbridge (about 300 yards up upstream right bank) on even on the Suck where it joins the Shannon(excellent for tench, bream, rudd and lots of pike)plus also hot water stretch below the power station fantastic for tench you can expect fish certainly up to 7lb. Although this venue has been spoilt due to some anglers misbehaving on the farmers land (why is it always the few who spoil it for everybody)and you can now only fish a few swims directly at the end of the road by the railway bridge. We travel from Liverpool on the supercat (far better than the ferry) taking a minibus and it costs us about £200pp including the b&b in Athlone. Killeen's is still there and a good place to start as guests fill in a visitors book and it can give you a good idea of wheres fishing. Maisies next door is also excellent for eats and the black stuff. There is tackle sold at the local store in Shannonbridge but it certainly wont satisfy all your requirements and is no good for bait either. Bait should be preordered and some suppliers will even deliver it to your digs. Anyway it doesn't matter if you dont catch its worth going just for a proper pint of Guinness.

One by river hopeless for bait and most coarse tackle but excellennt for pike and trout gear. Guys who run it are brilliant, never pay the price but barter with them.

If you wander the river between Rye House and St Margarets you should do reasonably well to lures or baits. St Margarets excellent if you are not after monsters, lots of fish up to five pounds. But if you are prepared to walk away from the well fished areas you can do well from Hertford all the way down to Cheshunt.

A good b&b in Athlone is Mrs M Linane Burren Lodge Dublin Road Athlone Excellent accomodation and access not only to River Shannon but also Lough Ree, River Inny and many other waters. No tackle shop though, best to preorder bait and collect on day of arrival. Sean Egan in Athlone is excellent and also offers accomodation. If you require any more information let me know

I've been going to Ireland for the last 14 years sometimes twice a year mostly in and around the Athlone area. Unfortunately I have not fished Carrick or Rooskey for over ten years but if you want any information regarding Athlone, Lanesboro, Inny mouth and the Inny, Hudson Bay and any other Lough Ree waters in that area please contact me on: graham.orton@marshallsecurities.com These waters are a fair way from Carrick but ShannonBridge is even further nonetheless I know most of that area reasonably as well and can also try to give you more information. Please remember not everybody goes to Ireland and catches 100lb+ bags, it is not as good as it was but you can still have some great days if you put some work in and look for the fish. Even if you dont catch loads of fish the people, the guinness and the craic are second to none and you will have a great time. I cant wait for May again be lucky

For Somerset try http://www.somersetbythesea.co.uk they do quite a nice little brochure concerning fishing and accomodation

Fished Royalty on Hampshire Avon from Saturday August 3rd to Friday August 16th. Not the easiest fishery in the world unless you know the right swims and methods. What species are you interested in, where do you want to stay? Far too much detail to type here but if you want more info give me a call. Chris Holly is an excellent guide but it is an expensive way to fish especially as you may also require a "Parlour" ticket There is also a very good web site of the Royalty run by Davis tackle of Bargates which gives you a map and a up to date weekly catch report. If looking for somewhere to stay Royalty View run by Joe & Tina Harrop is second to none plus Joe is a superb fisherman and will put you on the barbel.

In my local River Lee some streches have been rendered useless by the amount of American signal crayfish in them and they have driven the native species out completely if not to extinction. They have one good use though which is as good barbecue grub or using the tail meats in curries etc. A few weekends ago some friends and I caught 446 in the space of 2 hours with only four nets. We have had a few run ins with the local baliff who has told us that we are not allowed to fish for them and in the next breath informs us how dreadful the fishing is now because of them and how he no longer sells any daytickets for the fishery. The EA is now putting up notices prohibiting crayfishing on a food poisioning scare, this is a nonsense I have been eating them for the last 3 years and I dont seem to have grown an extra head on any new limbs, could it be they would like to charge for the priviledge of fishing for them? That I could understand if somebody was fishing for them commercially but not when it is being done for fun. Its about time they stopped spending money on notices and tried to eradicate them from the Lee system, they are spreading like wildfire and soon no one will be fishing the river and we all know what happens to rivers when they are neglected, ten years ago you would not have got a swim on this stretch of the river after 07.00 on a summer weekend now you can have your pick I wonder why, I for one do not want to spend my time fishing carpholes alone. Come on the EA get your act together and do something about it.

Has anybody heard of a carp mix and additive called Frost& Flood and if so who makes it. I'm told it is a superb bait for barbel.