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Pike Fishing In Ireland

On this page I am going to talk about my own experience with fishing in Ireland for pike, and further down the page I am also going to give you a short list of good locations.

Ireland has become a favourite destination for international pike anglers.

Lough Nafooey, County Mayo, a great place for pike fishing

Many international pike anglers will tell you that Irish pike will give you a more spirited fight than their cousins from abroad. It’s an exhilarating experience to feel a big wild Irish pike peel line from your reel as he tears off on run after run, leaping through the air and tail-walking on the water. If you hook one, you have a battle on your hands as I did with the pike seen underneath.

I’ll never forget my first pike. It was on the Owenmore river in beautiful Templehouse in County Sligo. It grabbed my bait ferociously, right underneath the tip of my rod, under a patch of water lilies, at the edge of the riverbank. He was only around 3 pounds weight, but to me he was a whopper. He had been lying in wait in the weeds, as pike typically do, waiting for an unwitting meal to swim by. Pike are designed for quick bursts of acceleration. They are stealthy opportunists who usually  prefer to bide their time, rather chasing after  their prey. This is especially true of the larger females.

I was to return to Templehouse many times for more exciting pike encounters.

The internationally renowned  Templehouse Lake is just upstream from the river, where many big pike like this one here have been caught.

I’ve never caught one of these monsters, but I’ve seen two.

One is mounted in the hallway of the Templehouse Estate House where I used to hire a boat from the charming Sandy Perceval. The other was washed up on the bank of the river, left there after a flood had receeded. A lamb had become lodged in his throat, but he was unable to swallow more than the head and front legs, and died having bitten off more than he could chew. I had no camera of scales with me at the time, and he was in the early stages of decomposition, but he was easily in excess of 20lb, by my  estimation.

Locations For Pike Fishing In Ireland

Pike fishing in Ireland is a great thrill! If you love pike fishing, consider a fishing holiday in Ireland. We have many outstanding locations for pike fishing in Ireland. Let me tell you about the few I have sampled. I have the good fortune to be living beside one of the best of them, Lough Corrib.

Annaghdown Bay which is five minutes drive from my house, has thrown up some pike over 30 pounds in recent years. Close at hand is the Clare River, Ballyquirke Lake and Ross Lake in Moycullen, which are a 20 minute drive from Galway City, so I have no need to venture too far.

Growing up in County Sligo I cut my pike fishing teeth on Templehouse Lake, Cloonacleigha Lake and Lough Gara. Lough Key in Boyle, County Roscommon was just over the border from Gurteen where I grew up.

More About Fishing in Ireland

Other Articles

I am sharing with you here a short list of some of my favourite pike hotspots that will guarantee a good pike fishing experience:

• River Shannon, Portumna, County Galway.
• Lough Key, Boyle, County Roscommon.
• Lough Gara, County Sligo/Roscommon.
• Lough Allen, County Leitrim.
• Lough Ree and the River Shannon, Athlone, County Westmeath.
• River Suck, Ballinasloe, County Galway.
• Lough Nafooey, County Mayo.
  

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Thanks so much!

Tight lines and I hope you will have a great time pike fishing in Ireland! Regards, Colm

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Warmest regards, Colm & Susanna

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