Young anglers take on world in Coachford

OVER one hundred local volunteers joined with members of the National Course Fishing Federation of Ireland, Inland Fisheries and international judges to run the biggest event on the River Lee since the building of the dams almost 90 years ago.

The 2017 World Youth Angling Championships run over seven days was a tremendous success. Teams from 14 countries came to the Lee Valley to fish the bountiful waters of the Inniscarra reservoir. Coachford Village was the HQ for the world event and the hundreds of visitors created a festival atmosphere in the locality.

The Greenway was the main location for the fishing championships and was full of young anglers from dawn each day as the teams trained for the big event on Saturday and Sunday.

Members of the local camogie and Foróige clubs carried the nations flags and countries names and the Ballingeary Pipe Band led the parade through the village and on to the GAA Hall where the official opening ceremony took place.

When the competition started in earnest on Saturday morning 180 anglers began fishing the river Lee in Coachford and Dripsey and showed the locals the skills of pole and rod fishing as they hauled thousands of fish from the reservoir each day.

The French team were declared the 2017 World champions.

“We were delighted the way the whole week went and there was some great fishing on the lake. We are indebted to the ESB and the Inland Fisheries for their partnership and commitment to these championships and to angling on the river. These events are a huge undertaking and we rely on the support of so many people and groups to carry it off successfully,” Tommy Lawton, chief organiser of the World Championships said.