doon Lough \ Lake, clare

ch750536

Met someone the other day that was raving about it for Pike, anyone fished it recently?

Kess73

It is a good pike water and an easy lake to fish. Last fished there about two weeks ago. A lot of small to medium sized fish in there. Not as many big fish as some like to make out, but then again a lot could depend on what an individual thought was a big fish.

The Creamery shore side (head towards Tulla from Broadford to get there) I find best for pike. The most popular shore in terms of the number that go there is O'Donnell's shore. Nice spot but much better for bream and roach than pike. Tends to be the spot that most go to as well so you could have 15 to 20, maybe more, anglers in the one spot.


Very good water if simply catching pike (6lb to 12 lbs range) is what you are after, but average to good, imho of course, if you are looking for really big fish.

Lough Graney would be the better lake in the area if big pike are your game. Between the bridge and the dam at Sixmilebridge is a nice spot for pike as well. Plenty of nice swims, and lots of good sized pike as well as the small to medium fish.

My own favourite water in the area would be Lough Derg as there are some monster pike in the lake, but as with any type of specimen fishing you have to expect more blank days than good days.


Guess it boils down to what kind of day's fishing you are looking for.

A water with plenty of small to medium fish that rarely leaves you without runs, and comes with the off chance of a decent sized fish, then go to Doon Lake.


A water with a decent amount of small to medium fish, a healthy number of larger fish, and comes with a better than average chance of a big fish but also a bigger chance of a quiet day that Doon, then go to Lough Graney.

ch750536

Kess, thanks for that, a lot to go on. I normally fish Inchigeelagh \ Macroom but the roads to get there are killing the car. Its about the same time to Lough Doon but less hammering of the car and better on fuel. I'll start with 'The Creamery shore side' on a 2 dayer and see what happens from there.

Kess73

So how did you get on?

ch750536

Not gone yet, we may be going on Sunday, will know tomorrow night.

Kess73

Good stuff. Let us know how you did. Tight lines.

ch750536

Thanks for the tips, heading out there now. Hopefully will have some pics for later.

ch750536

No pics needed. We headed up to O'Briens Bridge first, there was a strong wind blowing in our faces which wasn't good. Moved a couple of times. Nobody saw anything, even the other 10 or 11 guys we spoke to so we moved to Doon Lake, creamery side & saw nothing there other than some guys with a bagful of perch....
A good day anyway and always good to learn these spots, will be back soon I expect.

Kess73

Main thing is that you got to find a few new spots to go to in the future. Where I mentioned in my pm to you is normally quite a good stretch of water, so I guess it was just one of them days.


Is a good spot also because most of the locals and regulars that use that area keep an eye out for each other, and they do keep an eye out for anyone who tries to fill bin bags with fish, so it is a fairly healthy stretch of water.

Quite surprised you had no action in the second location though, generally it gives a few runs per trip at the very least.

ch750536

First place had all the right ingredients and plenty of the other anglers gave good comment on it. Is a nice spot, will definitely return in a slight SW rather than a strong NE. Was also well kept & looked after as you say.
Second spot was a bit of a dump to be honest. Maybe we got the wrong place but we followed your direction till we met a car park on the left with a yellow barrier and a small 'beach' suitable for boats etc. We took 3 spots to the right of their but nothing at all. Smelt, perch & lures over 6 rods. Loads of rubbish, burnt out chairs, cans, bags etc. Real shame to see that as it looks a lovely spot other than that.
Thanks for the tips, one of the group returned to the bridge today.

Kess73

ch750536 wrote: »

First place had all the right ingredients and plenty of the other anglers gave good comment on it. Is a nice spot, will definitely return in a slight SW rather than a strong NE. Was also well kept & looked after as you say.
Second spot was a bit of a dump to be honest. Maybe we got the wrong place but we followed your direction till we met a car park on the left with a yellow barrier and a small 'beach' suitable for boats etc. We took 3 spots to the right of their but nothing at all. Smelt, perch & lures over 6 rods. Loads of rubbish, burnt out chairs, cans, bags etc. Real shame to see that as it looks a lovely spot other than that.
Thanks for the tips, one of the group returned to the bridge today.

The first spot would defo be my choice of the two you tried. Very good for pike, roach, and bream, plus you get the odd tench etc there. Plenty of good spots to set up for the day as well. Once you get used to the area you will find loads of other spots on the river within a few miles of wherre you were, and you always have the option of heading to Lough Derg which is only a ten or so minute away if you want to try your luck. If you do decide to go there, I would recommend hiring a boat at Killaloe bridge (Whelan's boathire are right by the bridge there) and try your luck lurefishing about a mile or two up the lake from the bridge on the Clare side. I rarely lurefish on the lake anymore as I tend to use a static deadbait, but when I have the godkid or nephew over, I do lurefish and it rarely fails.

The second spot is usually good for small to medium pike (as in it has good numbers) but as with a number of the spots near it, it suffers from people leaving rubbish, lighting fires etc. That kind of thing simply would not be put up with by the anglers, walkers, locals etc that use the first spot.

There is a tiny lake that you probably passed on your way from the first spot to the second spot that has had one of the shorelines ruined with rubbish, fires, broken glass condoms, used needles etc. Bloody shame too as there are still some nice carp there as well as some medium sized fish of other species. Have lost count of the number of times I tried to clean up parts of it. Used to bring some heavy duty gloves and some black bags in the car any time I was out that way, but I was fighting an uphill battle.

stevieg_irl

had to reply as i fish these areas on occasion too.
never had too much luck on any of these spots but a few good days out(pike i fish for mainly here), and the rubbish on any lake easily accessibly is a disgrace

ironbluedun

Kess73 wrote: »

has had one of the shorelines ruined with rubbish, fires, broken glass condoms, used needles etc. Bloody shame too as there are still some nice carp there as well as some medium sized fish of other species.

what is wrong with these people? have they got nothing between their ears except a big ball of shyte?
this littering is all too common in a lot of places, narrow minded selfish filthy animals, a f***ing pig would know how to behave better than these filthy, disgusting savages..........:mad: