Tyrone Hull has just returned from an enjoyable week’s fishing in Ireland on the Belturbet Festival. Here’s his report and the important lessons he learnt along the way.

I normally compete in a couple of White Acres festivals each year, but instead this year I decided to make the trip over to the Emerald Isle. Ireland has been enjoying something of a resurgence in recent times. Although the fishing has improved, gone are the days of big bream bagging. Now it’s mostly a smaller stamp of fish consisting mainly of hybrids, skimmers, roach and perch. The fishing is action packed and this particular festival favoured the pole angler. Odd larger fish could be found on the feeder but a weight of pole caught fish would be needed to frame.

When we arrived on the Friday it was a case of unpacking the gear and sorting the bait. We then had a few pints of the ‘black stuff’ in the evening and a good feed in the local pub. We were staying in Church View Guest House in Belturbet town which specifically caters for anglers, providing a cold room for bait and a drying room for tackle. Breakfast is fantastic and they cannot do enough to accommodate you!

Saturday and Sunday we had booked into two matches held on the venues we would be fishing in the festival; Killykeen and Glasshouse. This would enable us to see how it was fishing but also get some bait in, which can be important to ensure quality fishing.

Well, to say both matches for me were a disaster would be putting it mildly! I was next to the winner on the Saturday who caught big skimmers on the feeder. On Killykeen on the Sunday it fished absolutely abysmal with 3kg winning the match. I therefore wasn’t particularly confident going into the first day of the festival and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking I should have gone to White Acres instead! What I did learn from these two days though was depths, rigs and feeding technique. Oh, and a good draw will help!

Day 1 – Glasshouse

I drew peg 5 in the middle of the section which was an average draw. I needed to be on either end of the section really as this is where the better stamp fish live. 10 anglers in each section and the festival is decided on weight, not section points, so a good weight each day is essential.

I decided to set up two feeder rods. One at 25 turns and one at 55 turns. It was at 25 turns that most of the fish seemed to be caught on Saturday. I also set up a pole line at 11.5 metres with a 0.6g rig in 5ft of water and a strung-out 4×12 (0.2g) rig to catch on the drop.

At the all-in I kicked off the pole line with six cupped-in balls of groundbait laced with plenty of casters and chopped worm. The lad three pegs down was balling it in at 16 metres! He was clearly going for it!

I then picked up my 25-turn rod and plopped it out. This had a 20g feeder with a 3ft tail tied to a size 14 Kamasan B560 hook. Bites came almost immediately, but some were hard to hit. The problem with this type of feeder fishing is I don’t do enough of it. As a result I started to fall behind! I chopped and changed with different length hooklengths, hooks and feeders but on reflection it was my technique that needed fine tuning.

I probably should have fished to my strengths and fished the pole further out! I did try the pole line and had a few on it but it wasn’t enough. I finished the match with a disappointing 3.65kg for second from last in the section. Not a great start.

What I did learn though was to keep casting the feeder regularly and look for bites on the drop. Most of the fish are up in the surface layers of the lake and follow the feeder down. Once you’re waiting for bites for any length of time you’re in trouble, which is what I did. It was important to keep busy. The section winning weight came from my traveling partner and Drennan Bordon team mate Mick Elyatt, who had nearly 8kg on the waggler, so I was somewhat off the pace!

Day 2 – Killykeen

I drew peg 30 in this section, which was again in the middle of the section. Not a bad draw, though, as 4kg had come off it the day before.

I decided on a pole-only approach. It was incredibly deep, up to 30ft on the pole line, and the shelf drops off just at the front of everyone’s platform, so it’s essential to not fall in!

I had 20ft at 8m and in practice we found that this is where the fish wanted to be. A top 5 on my pole I set up three rigs: 2g, 1.5g and a lighter 1g rig with a strung No8s shotting pattern. Hooks were Kamasan B511s in sizes 16 and 14, fishing either double caster or maggot on the hook.

I fed eight balls of groundbait slightly short of where I was actually fishing. It was also essential not to squeeze them too tight or they would disappear down the shelf and into the murky depths! Plenty of loose feed in the groundbait was also essential to hold the fish as catapulted loose feed wasn’t particularly effective due to the immense tow on the water.

I had a good start catching a few 6oz roach and a decent hybrid in the first 20 minutes on my 1.5g rig. The fish seemed to back off from here and so I switched to the 1g rig for a slower fall of the bait. This seemed to produce a few more bites.

Midway I hooked a 3lb hybrid that scrapped like a 5lb carp! There’s definitely something special about fishing in 20ft of water and playing big fish on a top 5!

I fed small balls of groundbait short of my float regularly and the odd large pouch of casters to keep the fish on the deck. At the scales I weighed in 5.1kg which was a respectable weight as 5.6kg won the section and 8kg won the match. Considering this section can produce weights of 20-35kg, however, it fished hard.

Interestingly I found out later that anglers caught at 6ft on some pegs, which made me think I should have set up a rig to accommodate this. If I had done this when it switched off, I possibly could have sneaked the section, so it was something to remember for next time.

Day 3 – Rockfield

This was considered the hardest section of the festival and end pegs had dominated proceedings. So, to my joy I pulled out peg 10, which was an end peg! Mick also pulled out the other end peg, so we were both confident of a good day’s fishing.

My good friend and festival regular Tony Kersley put me right as he had fished the peg the day before. When I got to my swim it was about perfect. A nice depth of around 7ft at 9.5 metres and the wind pushing into the bay to my left.

I set up a 1g rig with an olivette, plus a 0.8g, 0.6g and a 4×12 with strung shot for fishing shallow. I also set up a 12ft Acloyte Ultra Feeder for a 35 turn chuck, as there was the chance of skimmers given the conditions. Hooks were again B511s in 18 and 16 and on the feeder the faithful B560 in a 14.

I started the day with six balls at 9.5m and had eight chucks with a big feeder at 35 turns to get some bait down should the skimmers want to feed.

Straight over the top of my pole feed with a 1g rig I was in to fish immediately. They were mainly small skimmers and roach up to 4oz but at least fish were going in the net. It was busy but enjoyable fishing.

Single pinkie on an 18 B511 was the best combination with regular loose feeding. I found that if I topped up with a ball the fish would back off initially, but a lighter rig flicked out past my feed kept them coming.

I had a cast on the feeder mid match for 15 minutes which resulted in two skimmers for around a 1lb but no more bites followed.

I finished the match with 140 fish, plus the two skimmers, for 6.35kg which won the section. Mick had a better day on the other end for 7.5kg to win the lake. He had a better last hour at 6m where he had been feeding most of the day. This was food for thought and is something I should have done myself.

Day 4 – Derryskit

Armed with all the knowledge I had acquired over the last five days I was determined to have a good day to see the festival out. This section had been fishing consistently well and a weight of 5-8 kilos was needed to do well. End pegs were dominating again so I could have done with one of these. Instead I drew the middle of the section on peg 5. Mick drew another end peg, so was undoubtedly in for another good day. Again I had some good information from Tony and his son Ryan who had been on the peg the day before.

This had to be my favourite venue of the week. The match length was perfect, everyone was in a line, we could see each other and the depths everyone had seemed to be a consistent top 4 in depth, sloping away gradually. Target species were roach, hybrids and perch and the stamp of fish was slightly bigger than the day before.

The shelf began right at the end of my keepnet and I had 6ft here. Tony had won off peg 2 the day before by fishing just a top kit, so it’d be rude not to plumb a line here! I also set up three rigs for 9.5m where I had 9ft. A 1.25g olivette rig, a 0.8g and a light 0.4g rig for fishing through the water. Hooks were again B511s in 18 and 16 and hooklengths were 0.10mm Supplex Fluorocarbon.

I kicked off the swim by balling in 10 balls of groundbait packed with casters, pinkies and worm. Bosh! Bosh! Bosh! There’s something about balling in groundbait. It must be a primeval thing! Anyway, closer in I put six small balls and would regularly loose feed by hand over this.

To say I had a great day’s fishing would be an understatement. It was fantastic! Everyone was having a fish a chuck so it was going to be a case of trying to get the odd bonus fish. I swapped between the top kit line and 9.5m line to amass 170 fish with the odd 8-12oz bonus hybrid or perch thrown in. This won me the section and was 3rd in the match overall on the day, with a weight of 10.15kg. A great way to end the festival.

My best rig on the day was the 1.25g olivette rig just flicked out in front of my feed. This would get me a bite almost every drop in. Regular topups of groundbait by a pole cup were essential to keep the fish interested. When I came short properly in the last hour I upped my loose feed and managed to find a better stamp of fish averaging 4-6oz apiece. The section averaged 8-9 kilos on the day, so it fished really well and surprised everyone.

This was a great week’s fishing and I met some great characters along the way too. Although the weights were not massive by Irish standards the organiser Paul runs a good festival. The atmosphere between anglers was superb and everyone was friendly and willing to share information. It was a privilege to fish with top anglers but also legends on the Irish circuit such as Kevin Ashurst, Baz Smith, Tony Kersley, John Potters, Phil Mcaffrey, Wayne Fuller etc.

I just missed out on the top-eight payout by one kilo! Undoubtedly the first day cost me massively and I must brush up on my tip fishing for next year. Reflecting back on the week I have learned so much in such a short space of time that it is sure to improve my fishing. It also further solidifies my enthusiasm for returning to Ireland to give it a go again next year!