Catching some bonding time

GO GUYS:A father and son fishing break in Killarney offered BRIAN O'CONNELLand 'junior' the perfect opportunity to hook-up

IN THE ROOM under our stairs lie fragments of broken reels, snapped plastic rods and rusted hooks, making up a decade of cheap and unused fishing sets. Down through the years, during early autumn trips to the beach, or on short breaks to the coast, my son and I take some of these fishing rod fragments out, and an attempt is made to connect them with fish.

Last time we tried, we ended up throwing stones at the backs of mullets in Cork harbour. Suffice it to say, in our two or three attempts to go fishing, the only thing gutted has been ourselves, arriving home empty-handed and un-bonded. So, when the opportunity arose some weekends back to avail of a “father and son fishing package” in the Europe Hotel in Kerry, where the basics of fishing are taught, both junior and I jumped at the chance.

The five-star hotel has been located on the lakes of Killarney since 1961 when it was built by the Liebherr family who still own the hotel and a factory further along the shore. The hotel recently underwent a large physical and thematic makeover, including a 4,645sq m (50,000sq ft) spa and major landscaping and interior work. It’s impressive, and reminded me of El Gouna, a self-contained resort found by the Red Sea in Egypt.

We arrived on a Friday night and ate in the Panorama restaurant. The food, I have to say, was very disappointing. Parsley potatoes accompanying were too hard and undercooked while duck starter was almost inedible. Main course of sole was overpriced (around €30) and pretty dull, with the fish placed clumsily on top of mashed potatoes and little else. A table next to us didn’t seem happy either and were complaining about one of their main courses as we left. It’s an expensive menu and given the location, with great views of the lakes and mountains, the hotel is deserving of a far better restaurant.

The food in the bar was much better and we loved the library area where you could play board games and read. The only other gripe I had was with the tiles in the spa and pool area, which is a personal injury case waiting to happen. I slipped twice and although there are signs warning people, something should be done to make the area less of a hazard.

Notwithstanding these criticisms, the father and son overnight fishing package is good value at €265 and this includes three hours on the lake with instruction by a ghillie, as well as breakfast and use of on-site sports facilities, such as tennis. Next morning, we met Gordon Tagney, our expert fishing guide on his boat at the hotel pier. He was patient and professional and took time to show us how to reel and explained the art of trolling, which isn’t really an art at all – it just involves trailing a fishing line with some shiny metal at the end from a boat.

In between casts, Gordon explained how it has been a tough season for everyone locally, not helped by the fact that the American market has dwindled in the past few years. “There was a time you could close your eyes on the main street in Killarney and you’d think you were in downtown New York, there were so many American voices,” he said. “But would you believe last weekend was the first time I had Americans out on the boat all year.”

I counted five other boats on the lakes; some of them fly-fishing, and others like ourselves hoping to pull a perch, salmon or trout from the depths. Thirty minutes in and we’d caught nothing except seaweed. Junior was having to adapt to the patient build up – if this was Xbox world, he’d have tossed a few sticks of dynamite into the waters by now.

OVER AN HOUR of fishing later and our chances of catching anything were getting slim. We stopped to take a walk around Innisfallen Island, which has a lovely ruin where the Vikings dished out a few hidings several hundred years earlier. Just our luck when getting back onto the boat, a fish jumped out of the water right beside us. I couldn’t make out its head properly, but I expect it was flapping his gills and sticking its tongue out in a “na-na-na-na come-and-get-me” kind of way.

We were on our way back towards the hotel pier when suddenly I felt a little tug on the end of my line. Assuming it was another clump of seaweed, I reeled it in and was as amazed as everyone else to see a fish flapping about at the end of it. I’d caught a perch!

Now, I don’t want to exaggerate, but he must have been at least, oh, I’d say five inches long. We all had a good look at him, before setting him free again. Junior looked away in disgust. So much then for male bonding.

Guy Hotel Packages

THE LOUGHRea Hotel Spa offers a range of activities and breaks tailored for men. This includes golfing on the Lough Rea course, as well as go-karting at Pallas Karting in Loughrea, which is one of Europe's largest indoor karting arenas. Other activities include horse-riding, fishing and a range of men-only spa treatments. Mid-week and weekend breaks are on offer from €109 per person sharing for two nights BB and one evening meal, while a men's spa package is down from €200 to €150. See loughreahotelandspa.com.

AS PART OF a male package, Dromoland Castle’s School of Falconry is offering guys an opportunity to fly their very own Harris hawk (pictured) with master falconer David Atkinson. A 90-minute lesson costs €60 per person. If you’d much rather indulge in a macho spa treatment, then check out the golfer’s massage, which costs €120 for over an hour’s treatments.

Golf packages, which include green fees and steak dinners, cost €225 per person, while a special bling groom package is also on offer. It includes helicopter rides over the Cliffs of Moher, and champagne dinner.

The cost of this package is €2,450 per person sharing. See dromoland.ie.

A father and son overnight fishing package at the Europe Hotel costs €265 for a twin room, inclusive of three hours of fishing on the lake with the instruction of a ghillie, breakfast, service charge and tax. The same package in a “Lakeview Room” costs €325. See theeurope.com