Anglers bait up for Five Nations Fly Fishing Championships
The Five Nations International Fly Fishing Championships opening ceremony was held at the Mills Inn, Ballyvourney last Monday evening with the competitions set to take place this week in the Cork/Kerry region. A total of seven teams will take part in what is the third year of the championship which was held at the same locations last year.
Anglers had two days of practice on the River Allow in Kanturk and on the Killarney Likes prior to starting the competition proper on Thursday.
Competitors will fish four three hour sessions over two days on a catch and release basis. Two sessions will be fished on Lough Lein with one session each on Gougane Barra Lake and the River Allow in Kanturk. Each competitor will have a controller with them who will measure each fish caught and then release the fish back into the water.
The result of the competition is based on a points system devised by the International Angling Federation ‘Fips Mouche’. Last year’s winners were Scotland with Ireland close runners up, and Belgium in the bronze medal category. This year Ireland will be hoping to go one better, and with a strong experienced team of anglers drawn from the four provinces, they are very confident of doing well.
The Irish Team is captained by Michael Twohig from Kanturk who is a very experienced international Angler. Other team members are John O’Keeffe (Kiskeam), Tom Ankettell (Boherbue), Tom Beecher, John Buckley, Albert Adcock, Gerry Kenny, John Quilligan, and Paul Hanley (Munster). Harvey Hutchinson and Mel Campbell (Ulster), Declan Conlon (Leinster), and Tom Carroll (Connacht).
During the opening ceremony at the Mills Inn, which is the base for the championships this year, a minute’s silence was observed for the late Jimmy Coyle from Scotland who recently passed away. Jimmy who was a much loved angler and competitor was a member of the Scottish team that competed in Ireland last year.