Blackwater Canoe Expedition - The big day

After a week of planning we finally made it onto the water. No thanks to some builders at Blackwater Town, the slipway was made inaccessible so we had to chuck the canoes in at a fly tippers paradise a bit further upstream. Once onto the water everything started to go smoothly.

I had measured the trip using a bit of local knowledge and some common sense, this had lead me to underestimate the length as 3 miles. In the end it was more like ten but somehow we managed to cover it in the time predicted.

As Paul hadn't been in a canoe for about twenty years I took it upon myself to coach him in my softly softly manner, luckily I've known Paul for some time, so he didn't cry after being shouted at for the first half an hour. I would have tried to teach him some more strokes and techniques but he had stopped listening to me after five minutes. Ian needed no such encouragement, an avid sea kayaker in his youth he was happily zipping up and down the river in no time. It wasn't long before we tried to harness his enthusiasm by tying him to our canoe and getting him to tow us.

As usual our progress was hampered by our constant need for caffeine and nicotine, this meant plenty of stops to get the trusty stove and camp cow picnic bag out. Also as I had remembered a camera this time every time a photo opportunity presented itself, five minutes had to be spent rummaging in the waterproof bag to get the camera and then a further five minutes extracting ourselves from the foliage which we had drifted into.

Going at the speed of a one legged tortoise enabled us to appreciate the wildlife and we saw a great many different species such as kingfishers, herons, buzzards and a dead cormorant.

The luckiest animal conversation was brought up shortly but only to get Paul up to speed with the standard of chat.

Luckily we all managed to end the day without any major injuries although Paul nearly received some after leaving one of my life jackets at a lunch spot.

All in all we had a great day and i would recommend this canoe trail to everyone. We wouldn't be of the highest level of fitness, in fact we probably wouldn't even be at the lowest level of fitness, but we covered a good distance and were able to walk afterwards and by the time we reached Bonds Bridge we looked like seasoned pros.

Lower Bann Canoe expedition

The Lower Bann flows from Lough Neagh at Toome and out to the Atlantic at Coleraine. It is about 30miles long. Ian and I had planned to paddle a very small fraction of this. Originally we had planned to explore Lough Beg from New Ferry, but one look at the strong current and the wind here put us of. We had a trial run in lough Neagh about a month before and the conclusion was reached that paddling into strong wind and currents wasn't that pleasant. In the end we put in at Portglenone marina and planned to head upstream for a couple of hours and come back with the current.

After a brief fight with the canoe trolley we were finally in the water and on our way. Our first obstacle was the bridge over the Bann at Portglenone, the current was bottlenecked here and very strong, we began to panic that it might be like this all the way up but once through the bridge the current calmed down.

We paddled on for an hour discussing what was perhaps the luckiest animal, this started as the heron as it can swim, fly and walk. After half an hour we had agreed that a heron doesn't swim and the duck became the new luckiest animal.

Finally we reached a spot that we could disembark and have some lunch. After a couple of poses, some coffee on my wonder-stove, some cocktail sausages and a quick pee, we were off again.

We had brought a small pike rod with us (with only one lure!) so we were having a quick little fish when disaster struck. After struggling to fix the anchor mount, Ian's patience gave out and he head-butted it. I'm not too sure what happened as his back was to me but that's what i think he did.

This of course lead to moments of concern and then onto piss-taking, Ian had been previously telling me how he was going on a date the following night. He really could have done with not picking a fight with a solid lump of metal.

After the blood was cleared up, we decided this was as good as time as any to turn around and head home. This was on part because Ian was injured, we had eaten all the food and our single lure was stuck in a tree.

All in all, a very successful trip.

Ballykeel Lougherne 18th march

Struck out yet again. I'm starting to think that it might be just too damn cold for fishing.

Ballykeel Lougherne is a great place, it's hidden away in Co Down near Hillsborough and i've been there on and off for a while. I like it more for the wildlife than the fishing, its fishing pontoons are a bitch to get to and i've yet to find the secrets of the place but every time i'm there i'm treated to something new and interesting. My first otter sighting was there and there are always beautiful grebes messing about on the water. This time we discovered a herd of deer in the adjoining field. After thinking about it for a bit, this is worrying me, that field wasn't the most secure the last time i was there as cows kept coming over and harrassing me. I don't fancy ending up on the antlers of a curious stag.

The water was flat calm today, with the occassional trout swirls far out. We stuck mainly to buzzers changing them whenever we fancied something a bit different. There did seem to be a sporadic hatch coming off, but the fish didn't seem to be taking them from the surface.

The DCAL sign has been changed from saying boats not allowed to saying hire boats may be available. this is good news as I have a feeling the fish are deep in the middle. Although at present there are no boats there, i'm hoping i might be able to get the canoe here for a visit.

*update* cheers to andrewgmurphy for the piccy, i forgot you had brought a camera with you

16th feb craigavon

Just out for an hour, trying to break the deadlock that pimps have over me. using goldhead montana, not a bit of fish. though quite well about where to fish. fished into wind pushed spot. although, i did start off with suspended bloodworm. will be back later in year as it's the only water that dcal has that i can use the canoe on. it is very shallow though. blanked again but i wasn't expecting much.