Fishing Gurus loving Lough Ree!

Day two of the Fishing Guru’s Ireland expedition has seen the deadly duo of Pemb Wrighting and Steve Ringer tackle the glorious Lough Ree in the Lakelands district for a big weight of fin-perfect bream and perch.

Fishing the 25-mile long Ree is a challenging prospect on paper but the plentiful stocks of big slabs were straight onto the pair’s groundbait and feeder tactics with Steve’s bait being picked up just ten seconds after hitting the bottom on his first cast!

Time spent spodding bait out at 45 metres was worth the effort as the bream came steadily throughout the day to worm, corn and caster hook baits, with both anglers opting for 12-foot Daiwa Tournament Pro feeder rods, 0.10mm Pulse8 braided main line and simple-but-strong rigs featuring a cage feeder buffered with a medium Super Tight Line Stop, plus 0.17mm N-gauge and a size 14 MWG hook at the business end.

The Guru Pulse8 braid both anglers opted for is a brand-new eight-carrier braided main line due for release this autumn, and Ireland’s rugged loughs and big bream proved to be a good test for the 0.10mm version.

Needless to say, after months of testing and refining by the Guru product development team, Pulse8 passed with flying colours. Zero stretch and its ultra low diameter helped magnify bites from the bream and hybrids whilst allowing accurate casting with less effort than mono.

Accompanying the Pulse8 braid release will also be the Pulse mono – a tough, low-stretch main line designed for demanding situations, larger fish and heavier feeder work. It’s the perfect material for a shock leader too, and both Steve and Pemb opted for two rod lengths of Pulse mono to act as a shock leader.

The pair’s session was followed by Dean Macey for an episode in the sixth season of Fishing Gurus, to be broadcast on Sky Sports in a few months. The episode will cover the team’s trip across the Lakelands district, which is a haven for coarse anglers with dozens of lakes, rivers and loughs to tackle.

Lough Ree is part of the Shannon navigation system and is 21 miles across at its widest. Despite the size of the waterway, the huge shoals of bream, roach, perch, pike and hybrids provide great sport throughout the year and it’s comparatively lightly fished.

At the northern end of the lough lies the famous ‘Hot Water’ stretch of the Shannon Navigation – home to a power station that pumps out warm water, attracting big shoals of fish of all species.

For more information on the region and the various angling opportunities along with details on accommodation and travel arrangements, go to www.discoverireland.ie