Written By: Myles Kelly
On Date: 23/1/2017
A new year and a new beginning as we welcome 2017. My father used to say “Girl you have a head…but so has an ass ! (Ego inflated and deflated in one sentence). Well anglers have good heads, they are one with nature. They use their eyes to see and they observe. There are no ‘sacred’ fish; salmon, trout, coarse, pike or sea – each have their place. Ireland has it all from Donegal to Cork. Pass on what you know to the next generation. This is your sport and it’s up to you to keep it alive One opportunity to give a helping hand is with The International Youth Team where the manager of the National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland, Jack Tisdal and assistant manager Shane Kavanagh would like to hear from interested parties who would like to provide their assistance working with the squad in their training for this year’s championships here in Ireland. The Youth team will be attending monthly practise on a selection of venues Sat 18th March, Sat 22nd April, Sat 27th May & Sat 17th Jun and will fish for a week on Inniscarra from 12th to 16th of July ahead of this year’s World Championships which is from 5th to 13th August.
Up north the Lurgan Coarse angling club, which has just ended its 35th year in existence ran a couple of knock ups over the Christmas on the River Bann where some nice weights of roach were caught.
Coarse fishing highlights
• 35 years of success for the Lurgan Coarse Angling Club
As I write, anglers are still waiting to catch the first salmon of the year. The Drowes was busy on opening day with over one hundred anglers wetting a line but the salmon played hard to get.
In all, 73 rivers will open for angling activity in 2017 and this will provide opportunities for all to share this important natural resource on a sustainable basis. 46 of these rivers will be fully open with a further 27 for angling on a “catch & release” basis
Salmon fishing highlights
• The start of a new season on the Drowes
• 73 rivers open for salmon angling in 2017
Keady and District Pike angling club holds its first event of 2017 and it takes place this Sunday 8th January. Meeting in the square at 9am with fishing 10am until 3.30pm.
18 boats turned out for the Lough Gowna and Lower Lough Erne competition at Christmas, first place went to Marty Cosworth, 2nd to Joe McDermott with a 19 lb 10 oz pike and 3rd to Terry Brennan. While over on Lough Muckno the best fish was 16.08lb for Harry Hoyle making him the winner of the iconic Laughran brothers cup. January 15th will see the Bernard O`Reilly Memorial boast competition held by the Lough Gowna and Upper Erne Club. Best of luck to all involved.
Pike angling highlights
• Laughran brothers cup held on Lough Muckno
The Christmas turkey provided energy for the Donegal anglers who fished the Cartys Land and Sea annual competition on Rossnowlagh beach. The winner was Cathal Donnelly with Owen Gilvary in 2nd position. The longest fish went to James Cummins with a nice 37cm flounder and the best Junior angler of on the day was Billy Gilvary. Michael McGettigan won at the Killybegs Mariners league outing on December 30th and also scooping the longest fish prize with a lovely 39cm flounder.
The National Shore Club Championships was won by Bannow Bay Anglers from Wexford and 2nd place went to Rinnashark SAC followed in 3rd place by Tralee Bay SAC
Sea angling highlights
• Bannow Bay Anglers win the National Shore Club Championships
• Donegal shore angling competition won by Killybegs Mariners angler
In other news the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW) and Flood Relief, Seán Canney, T.D. has outlined a significant level of investment made by the OPW in addressing and alleviating flood risk in 2016.
The Minister said “2016 is a record year for the OPW with the full allocation of €52 million available to my Office for flood relief spent in protecting individuals, families, communities and businesses against the most serious risk and impact of flooding. The OPW has made significant progress during the year in advancing its flood risk capital programme and, at this time, there are an unprecedented 35 major flood relief schemes at various stages of advancement. 7 major schemes have commenced construction this year with a record 12 major schemes now at various stages of construction representing a three-fold increase on the position last year. Under the Minor Works Scheme, 400 projects have been completed by local authorities with funding provided by the OPW since 2009. In 2016 alone, 82 applications have been approved by my Office for funding with a combined value of €4.3 million”.
Substantial progress has also been made in advancing the Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAM) Programme*. The Minister said “The CFRAM Programme is the largest flood risk management planning programme ever undertaken by the State. Under this Programme 29 draft Flood Risk Management Plans have been published by the OPW for public consultation since July this year with feasible flood relief measures identified to provide protection to at risk properties in 300 at risk assessed areas. The publication of these draft Plans is another significant milestone in the advancement of the flood risk management agenda by the OPW in 2016. The Draft Plans under the Programme will be finalised in Spring next year when the submissions from the statutory public consultation process have been fully considered”.
To find out more about the Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management Programme – see www.cfram.ie. Inland Fisheries Ireland is part of the Shannon Flood Risk State Agency Co-ordination Working Group which aims to identify, coordinate and monitor respective work programmes with a view to managing the flood risk on the Shannon catchment.
Minister Naughton also announced recently the The Digital Skills for Citizens Scheme which is a key part of the Government’s National Digital Strategy which recognises the importance of enabling all citizens to realise the full social and economic potential of the digital world. Digital skills can empower and enrich the lives of people, giving them better access to information, culture, entertainment, social networking, eGovernment services, as well as online goods and services.
Training in basic internet skills will be delivered free of charge to more than 26,000 people during 2017. A full geographic spread of classes, engaging deeply with communities across every county, will be ensured and monitored under the Scheme. See full details at The Digital Skills for Citizens Scheme
As my old IFI colleague Paul Bourke who used to write this angling update would say “wrap up well and safe fishing” I bid you all adieu.
Safe fishing to all and tight lines, especially here in Ireland.
Nancy Hearne
Catch, Photo, Release
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Irish Angling Update