Twaite-shad

Anyone going down to St Mullins this may

were is st.mullins

carlow - mate was down there last year - dont know if the sport is amazing - its mainly after specimens for the 2-3 weeks that are in it

hoping to give a shot myself all going well.it's hard to fit everything in.

for those in the complete dark, ie myself, could some1 pls expand a little further on what these shads are, am i correct in assuming they are a sea species that move into fresh water for spawning or something??? also are they easily caught etc etc etc

Some more here
http://www.cfb.ie/fisheries_research/SHAD/index.htm

I remember they were common enough in the Slaney maybe 30 years ago. Recently all that was netted was a twaite/allis hybrid, and that is a sign of severe population depletion.

oh yeah i forgot were it was ! me bro fished a comp for them down there last year or so !! i would love to catch one >

tazzie devils seem to be the best bait, in blue and silver, the only problem with fisging st mullins for them is that it can get a bit like balscadden in the mack season, have seen it shoulder to shoulder. caught one or two to add to the species list.

cooke has had good fish from there, he might be able to sdvise better than me

for those in the complete dark, ie myself, could some1 pls expand a little further on what these shads are, am i correct in assuming they are a sea species that move into fresh water for spawning or something??? also are they easily caught etc etc etc

thats it paul they come into spawn and arent seen again til next year - hopefully :?

Shad run up the southern rivers of the Barrow (St Miullins ) and Nore (Inistiege)throughout May but generally coinciding with the big tides. Mostly these will be twaite shad.

6lb main line (or braid equivalent ) and a good spinning rod are required to cover the width of the river.

Tasmanian Devils are the best lure, about 18g, particularly the blue and silver model, fished low and slow. The trebles that come with the lure should be replaced with a chemically sharpened model such as Owner Stringers. Other tricks are to reverse the lure or get rid of the central wire mount completely, letting the lure run free on the line. Shad are vigourous fighters, twisting and turning, shaking the head and leaping clear of the water. Poor hook holds are regular to land 1 in every 5 hooked is not uncommon. Water depth will vary from 2 - 10 feet depending on the tidal conditions. Tides are roughly the reverse of Dublin but the tide rises dramatically for only about two hours and begins to fall almost immediately.

It does get very busy over the month and is not everybody's idea of fun but the location and the fish themselves are spectacular.

There is one more lure that works well the Lofty Cobra a little longer and slimmer than the tas but just as good..