NUMBER OF LARGE PIKE UP 100% ON 2000
Anglers here at Portarra Lodge boated 65 pike of 10lbs and over during 2001 - the vast majority caught in the month of September. This is almost double the figure for 2000 which stood at 33 although the number of fish of 20 lbs and over was down 66%. The fall-off in the number of 20 pound pike was due to the fact that certain very good areas were not fished due to the close proximity of farm animals and the fear of anglers introducing the deadly Foot & Mouth disease. However by next season we hope that things will be back to normal and those large pike will have grown even bigger. Great pressure is being presently put on those in authority to recognise the Pike as a sporting fish and not the demon as we were led to believe. Honest scientists will agree that nature should assisted and not interfered with, and that the pike play an important role in the ecosystem where it is present.

Aidan McCarthy and the look on his face tells it all "I Told you Boy"

  

 

 

 

 THE McCARTHYS FROM CORK

Aidan and Jim Mc Carthy (no relation by the way) had a very enjoyable time with the natural May Fly Dap and their best day, the 27th May, resulted in NINE beautiful trout. Who actually caught what I cannot say for sure, but one thing I know for sure is that neither one blanked (the term used if you fail to catch a fish) as on one occasion, not only did they hook trout at the same time, but also managed to get their lines crossed and tangled. However, as the saying goes "all's well that ends well", the two beauties were duly landed by Aidan and his head remained on his shoulders as a result.

NEW JUNIOR RECORD

Tobias Thoma, from Germany, while fishing with his father Uli and myself as their guide, not only surpassed his personal best in the Pike category but also created a new junior record here at Portarra Lodge. Tobias played and landed a beautiful fish of 20 lbs 2oz at the top of Annaghdown Bay, and received the applause of fishermen nearby on boating his record pike.

Tobias Thoma, Germany, with his record Pike.

WOULD YOU BELIEVE?
Benno Dreier from Austria, a regular visitor to Portarra Lodge, went back home with a story that even his closest friends will find hard to believe. While fishing in the Lower Corrib area he was about to land a pike, one of the many he caught on the day, when it broke free taking his favourite Rainbow Rapala Lure in the process. Benno was very upset and sad to have lost the lure that he had caught so many fish on over the years. The loss of the lure was the topic of conversation all that day, the next day and most of the following day until Benno caught a pike and when the fish came close to the surface of the water I immediately went for the landing net - it is the norm to land pike by hand - as I saw what appeared to be a lure hanging from its mouth. We landed the pike and it was the same one that two days previous had gone with Benno's Rapala. In Benno's own words it was "unbelievable".

Martin Lehner, Austria with his 4Ibs Corrib Brownie

RESERVATIONS FOR 2002

It is now 7 years since my wife Maire (Moya) and  I opened Portarra Lodge and each year has seen the number of visitors grow to such an extent that it is now necessary to make your reservation, especially for angling, well in advance. Actually some reservations were made for 2002 while people were here with us this year. For the busy periods Ð last 3 weeks in May for trout fishing and from September to November for pike fishing - preference will be given to reservations of 7 days or more. Weekly reservations are usually from Saturday to Saturday.

Prices for 2002 will be in Euros and due to the increase in running costs (oil etc) we have to charge an extra 5% this year.
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