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River in flood. How To Proceed?

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Post  Roly Fri Jun 08, 2012 8:30 pm

Hi folks,
My name is Roly, I'm in Ireland. Getting back into pike fishing after a break of 15 or 20 years. I used to fish the big lakes in the west (Mask, Corrib etc....) and some in the midlands of Ireland.
It was all lake fishing by boat and shore. However I now live in the south east of Ireland and my only real potential is river fishing - I'll cut to the chase, I live very close to the Barrow, its one of the "Three sisters" along with the Nore and the Suir.

The Barrow is the second longest river in Ireland next to the Shannon and its track record for Pike is second to none - but I cannot find them !!! My son and I have worked hard with various methods for the last month or more but just keep blanking. 3 small Jacks in the 1lb-3lb range is all we've seen. OK so we never fished rivers before and yes its a big change from lakes but it has my heart broken to live so close to a great resource yet find little or no sport. I've done a good deal of research, lots of recon, local ear to the ground stuff, adjusted my game and have watched so many Mick Brown Youtubes that my laptop ended up with a dose of screen burn! We've tried various deadbait methods static, pop up, trotting etc..... deep, shallow water, slacks, bends, over hangs, weed beds and even rooted around the adjoining canal system. Lots of lures (hard/soft/jigs/ big/small ...... even tried some of my vintage stuff ie Toby and his Mepps friends.

Plenty of days we've not even had a take!.......not one.... Zero.... Zilch!

At risk of boring everyone to the teeth with my first post and getting thrown off the forum here folllows my query which may seem like a stupid question but having come from an "only lake" backround I do not know how to proceed.

There is a big flood just come on over the last 48 hrs ( 3/4 days of rain, level is up by about a foot or more) and the water looks like drinking chocolate - I was wondering how long do I wait before I can fish in this type of water?
Do I need to wait for the water to clear? if so by how much?
How clear or coloured does it need to be?...........to be productive after this type of wet spell?
Does the level need to drop?

Finally am I wasting my time deadbaiting at this time of year? should I stick with lures till September/October or so?

I be thrilled to hear from anyone that may have some information which may help or advice/tips. In fact even some old fashioned encouragement would be good at this stage taking the last month or so into account!!!

Regards to all and "tight lines"

Roly ..........





Roly
Roly

Posts : 45
Join date : 2012-06-07
Age : 56
Location : County Carlow, Ireland

http://riverbarrowpiker.blogspot.ie/

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Post  Eric Edwards Fri Jun 08, 2012 9:43 pm

Hi Roly, I do a lot of river fishing for pike and the first thing I would say to you is that all rivers are different. Some will produce in coloured water but most won't and you're definitely better to wait until the water clears somewhat. A rise in level of just a foot isn't exactly what I would call a flood, most of the rivers I fish will rise twelve feet or more after prolonged rain but I wouldn't bother with them in that condition. The colour of the water is far more significant than the level though and you may find that some stretches are coloured while others aren't. One river I fish has a feeder that carries a lot of silt down with it. Below the point where the feeder enters it's always coloured after rain and not worth fishing for pike but above it can be superb.

Once the water clears you need to be looking for the pike in specific areas. I would start by looking around the bends in the river. Here the current will be very variable with areas of slack water. Fish the slack water and don't worry too much if it's quite shallow. Another place to look is anywhere where a culvert or feeder runs into the river. Sidestreams often carry tiny food items which attract the prey fish and in turn the pike.
Weirs are good, the bigger the better and don't be afraid to fish even quite close to the weir if it can be done safely.

Look for signs of preyfish, the pike won't be far away and if you know of places where kelts hold up on their way back downstream then there's a chance that a big pike or two will be close by. If you can't see the preyfish then look for other predators such as cormorants or goosander, if they are working one area hard then there must be something there for them to eat, and so the pike.

Above all, stay mobile. Sitting in one spot on a river for a full day is usually a mistake, you need to be able to fish lots of areas through a day, lots of bends, lots of weirs, lots of culverts
Eric Edwards
Eric Edwards

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Post  Roly Fri Jun 08, 2012 10:34 pm

Hi Eric
thanks for the reply and information its much appreciated.
I must admit that I've not tried under the weirs and theres quite a number of them on it too! I'm not sure of the depth of water under these weirs does it need to be deep or a very large area??
Will investigate them once the colour fades somewhat.
My voice of inexperience re flood! its the first time the level has gone up in over a month, a couple of feet overnight and still rising, maybe I got a little over excited but it certainly is very coloured. Will have to hold off for a few days by the look of the forecast.

Will look into finding prey fish too as a lead to the Pike.

This is a new ball game compared to the big loughs in the west - but we'll get there.... ever the optimist!

Thanks again

Roly cheers
Roly
Roly

Posts : 45
Join date : 2012-06-07
Age : 56
Location : County Carlow, Ireland

http://riverbarrowpiker.blogspot.ie/

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Post  Eric Edwards Fri Jun 08, 2012 11:03 pm

If the river's navigable then there will probably be bypasses to the weirs with locks on. These can be very good indeed if the river's in flood, the pike can pack in there to escape the worst of the current.

The area in weirs doesn't need to be deep at all but it needs to be quiet water, sometimes the quiet water is invisible, it can be boiling at the surface but much quieter down below.

Had a stack of good river fish last season, here's an example to whet your appetite.

River in flood. How To Proceed? WyeFeb20122505007
Eric Edwards
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Post  Roly Sat Jun 09, 2012 1:12 am


My goodness Eric, that really is a superb fish! and its in great condition, many congrats.

Your upsetting me now Smile

I'll go on a reconnaissance trip tomorrow or Sunday after work, will bring the camera so you'll be able to see what I've got here to work with.

A number of the weirs do have reasonable access with locks nearby, maybe this could be a way forward.

Best

Roly
Roly
Roly

Posts : 45
Join date : 2012-06-07
Age : 56
Location : County Carlow, Ireland

http://riverbarrowpiker.blogspot.ie/

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Post  fatcaff Sat Jun 09, 2012 1:41 am

I dont do much river piking myself but i think this link might help you a bit.
http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/coarse-fishing-articles/pike-fishing-rivers.html
fatcaff
fatcaff

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Post  Eric Edwards Sat Jun 09, 2012 9:52 am

Not much on location there. The old trick of studying the match results does work, I use it myself, back in February I had a 19.05 first cast from a swim where 30lbs of small chub had been taken in a match. That doesn't help you catch fish from the areas that aren't match fished though.

The article doesn't mention lure fishing either. Had most of my river fish on lures last season in cluding the one in the pic above.
Eric Edwards
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