Blessington Lake
Blessington Lake | Outdoor Fun, Fishing And Nature Walks
About 25 years ago I heard some stories about a large lake or reservoir only a few km away from Dublin. People were excitedly talking about monster pikes, a village being flooded to create the reservoir, a church tower still being visible in the middle of the lake when the water is low and some very interesting old stories about Irish clans that used to control the land from some still visible towers. That was enough for me to make a plan and do my first trip to the mystic Blessington Lake. So I still remember now that after waiting about 1 hour for the bus, I managed to get the 65 or 65B bus from Eden Quay all the way to Blessington village. Because the bus route was in and out of many local estates, it seemed that the place was much further than it was.
On my first visit to Blessington Village all those years ago it was a sleepy old town. (Over the years, the village has certainly changed, more housing, modern buildings and a mini shopping centre were built but the charm of the village was not affected that much). I managed to find a small and very old looking fishing shop that had the licence to sell daily fishing permits for Blessington Lake so for a very modest fee, I was ready to embrace the adventure.
From the village centre up to the shores of the lake there is about a 2km walking distance. Again, things have really changed now, but at the time there was nothing around besides the main club house and bar. Nowadays there is a full resort out there and the place is really lively during the weekends.
So after about 15 to 20 minutes of walking I ended up right beside the shore of Blessington Lake. The picture was breathtaking and the lake looked huge. There was a lot of forest around and there were hardly any buildings visible on the horizon. It looked like the lake was located in the middle of nowhere. After a quick assessment of the location and the situation, I found a small road that led down to the lake so I headed that way hoping to catch one of those monster pikes I had heard so much about.
Pike fishing is not that popular where I originally come from, Romania. I had heard stories about some people catching pikes but I had never actually seen one. There are not a lot of lakes around there and the lakes that do exist are mostly full of carp and other types of fish from the carp family. The waters are very hot and with little oxygen during the winter so it is not the ideal habitat for the fierce pike.
In Blessington, I was amazed how serene the water looked, how clean the shores of the lake were and how much wild life was roaming around. I have always loved fishing, I am at my happiest when outdoors surrounded by nature and wildlife, enjoying the peacefulness of a river or a lake. I have never liked busy places so the silence and serenity was just mesmerizing. Finally, after a lifetime of travelling and exploring new areas, I was home and ready for fishing.
I found a great spot with good visibility and I prepared my fishing rods for fishing. The funny thing about this lake is the fact that even if the market was flooded with fancy and innovative fishing lures from all known brands, the word out there was that the pikes of Blessington Lake were not that much into technology and instead they loved a good copper spoon that was easy to cast and affordable to buy. A lot of doubts were passing through my head but if you don`t try you don`t know so I decided to use it. I bought 2 copper spoon lures from the nice local man that was selling daily fishing licences and he was more than one hundred percent sure that I would end up catching something. So there I was, ready to attack.
This is the pure truth. My first cast landed about 30 meters from the shores and within 2-5 seconds I had the first strike. Something bigger than me fell in love with my lure! I was pretty sure that I had caught some water bird or something else because the thing was pulling so hard. It wasn`t a fight but a straight pulling. Luckily I had about 200 meters of line on my reel so there was plenty of it to be reeled out. Eventually the pulling stopped and I managed to start reeling the fish in. I could not control my excitement. Not knowing what is at the other end of the fishing line is madly exciting. Anyway, after about 5 minutes of fighting, reeling, the fish pulling more line, me reeling more in, I managed to see what my first catch at Blessington Lake was. The biggest pike I have ever seen or known existed. The monster was about 6 kilos or about 13 pounds. I was in shock and felt a strange mixture of being too afraid to touch it but also a strong desire to touch it. It is fair to say that it was the most exciting day of my life up to that point.
That day I managed to catch 5 large pikes and a number of jumbo perch. It was incredibly rewarding and my fishing addiction has become a thing for life. We did hundreds of fishing trips around all the corners of the lake and we managed to catch pretty much any type of fish that existed in the lake. I had great fishing days and bad fishing days.
Brown Trout | The lake is packed with brown trout. There are times when no one catches anything and then out of nowhere there are record hits. Hard to say what makes the fish hungry one day and not hungry the next day but that seems to be the case. Some fishermen are catching a lot of brown trout with fly fishing systems, other fishermen are using lures while others are using maggots and worms. I had days when I caught 10 large brown trouts with red maggots and then not one trout for months. The level of the water goes up and down so that could be what affects the mood of the fish.
The Pike | The lure fishing on Blessington Lake has slowed down over the years and more and more large pike specimens are getting caught at dead bait. There was a period between 2005 and 2015 when Blessington Lake was overfished by gangs of the new EU members (myself one of them) and the stock of small to medium size pikes was reduced dramatically but over the past 10 years the fishing was less intensive maybe because the reputation of being low in stock, who knows, but nowadays there seem to be a lot of pike available for catching.
The Perch | The perch is a fun fish to catch. A small fish with a great appetite for pretty much everything. You can catch a good size perch even if you fish with an empty hook. They like anything glossy, anything colorful, anything that moves and anything that doesn`t move. In fact, the perch can be a nightmare when attempting to catch trout. The size of the perch can vary from area to area around the lake but the perch is present all over the Blessington Lake. The drop shooting is the best way of catching huge numbers of perch. They are addicted to red maggots and fishing lures that imitate perches.
The Roach | The most popular fish in Blessington Lake by far. The roach is a very hungry fish that can be easily caught with all kinds of maggots, worms and even bread. The easiest way of catching it is with a floating system of the feeder. I had days when I managed to get 100+ roaches in one day fishing with a feeder system. The roach can get pretty big and is a lot of fun to catch. It can be a great starting point for anyone looking into buying a fishing rod. If you have a decent size fishing rod, a small float, a size 12 hook and a 0.12 mm fishing line plus some maggots, there is no way you will not catch some fish.
Blessington Lake also has a lot of mixed up fish called hybrids, some sea trout, some salmon (I have never heard of anyone catching it) and other types of small fish. When you are doing feeder fishing you would be surprised what kind of fish you might catch.
A while ago I had a conversation with one of my friends about fish intelligence. Some people seem to think that the fish are absolutely stupid and only act on their natural instincts, while others seem to think that the fish are actually smart and their intelligence improves with age. Remember how I caught a lot of pikes with a copper spoon lure 25 years ago? Over the years I have invested a lot of money in the best lures and the best fishing equipment. I have started fishing all the Irish lakes and rivers and Blessington Lake was not on my priority list for a number of reasons. But a few years back, myself and one of my friends attempted to catch a decent size pike with the old copper spoon lures. No luck at all. We went around the whole lake a number of times and we did not have one single strike. Then we used one of the newish types of fishing lures and the results were phenomenal. So the fish were there but were not really attracted by the old lures. They got smarter? They got used to the look? Hard to say. But the story doesn`t end there. On another fishing trip on the Shannon River after a very poor fishing day, I gave the old copper spoon lure a chance just to see what happens and I managed to land 2 monster pikes. So it looks like the pikes of the great Shannon River were sick of all the 3D lures and were more interested in the basics while the pikes of Blessington Lake gave up the old copper lures and are only attacking the latest technology.
In a world of technology and the fast pace of life, sometimes we all forget the basic things that can really help us reconnect with nature and become part of nature. I would highly recommend to any father that has no idea where else to bring their kids over the weekends, to go fishing. Buy a cheap fishing rod, a handful of maggots and off you go into the wild. Some kids get so into fishing that they are hooked for life. Clean air, no technology and family bonding.
But the great Blessington Lake has much more to offer than just fishing….
There is a new walk and greenway that brings you from Avon Ri to the famous Russborough House. It starts right at the top of the lake from beside the club house and it goes around the lake in a zig zag, through meadows, forests, roads and farm land to end up at Russborough House. This walk is like therapy, the fresh air and forest trails really do help you to leave the stress of the world behind. From lakeshore to forest, this is a great nature walk that will leave you feeling revitalised. There is also a Fairy Forest in the grounds of Russborough House which will amaze and excite kids as they find little fairy doors along the trail. This walk is also suitable, and I am sure well loved, by dogs. The walk should take about 1.5 hours at normal walking speed and it will cover around 6 km one way.
So ……. there you are. A great country retreat only about 30 minutes from Dublin, immerse yourself in nature and recharge your batteries. Places to eat, boat hire, accommodation, nature walks, wildlife viewing and of course …. fishing. I would highly recommend Blessington Lake to anyone looking for a new weekend getaway.