CLASSIC MATCHES

Waterways Ireland is the elusive title across the water – only one angler has won it twice...

The tough Irish festival that every angler wants to win

MATCH fishing’s archives are crammed with great stories, and over the years Angling Times has been on hand to bring you the lot!

Delving into our back issues, we bring you the next part of this brand-new series of Classic Matches.

Here, one angler did the double in what’s seen as one of Ireland’s biggest and most difficult festivals to win.

So popular is the Irish angling festival scene at the moment that it would be possible to fish an event every week from now right through until the end of July – that’s if it wasn’t for Covid-19 ruining the show and effectively wiping out a packed spring of big matches across the Irish Sea.

Of all the events that run throughout April and May, there’s one which stands out in terms of gravitas and history, one that everyone wants to win but which some surprisingly big names in match fishing have yet to notch up after decades of trying.

Currently called the Waterways Ireland Classic, this three-day festival held on the River Erne and Lough Erne around the Fermanagh town of Enniskillen has, down the years, been sponsored by ferry company Sealink and tobacco giant Benson & Hedges. It’s seen the great and good have a tilt at winning it and the big cash prize that accompanies the title.

Many are still going over to try some 30 years after their first foray into the Classic. but of all the winners in the event’s 44-year history, only one angler has managed to achieve what’s been considered the impossible – to win the Classic twice.

And it wasn’t a household name or some big-shot with a trophy cabinet rammed full of plaudits that did it. No, the man to do the double was a quietly-spoken 50-year-old from nearby Lisbellaw in Fermanagh, John Potters. Victory in 2011 was swiftly followed by more of the same in 2014, leading him to jokingly suggest the hat-trick was next!

“You need a lot of luck to win something like the Classic – you can only catch what’s in front of you!” John reflects.

“I’ve been fishing the Classic since my early 20s and have been close a few times, but for one reason or another I have never got over the line. I would have been happy with winning just the once three years ago, but to do it again is amazing and I suppose my next aim is the hat-trick!

“The way that both venues were fishing was always going to produce a potentially close result as there were few bream about, so the chances of a freak big weight were minimal. Even so, I don’t think anyone realised how close it would be!”

John totalled 49-450 across the three days to finish just over 2.5kg in front of Wiltshire rod Kevin Rowles, and he had quite a varied week of fishing to see him on to the podium, including a net of rarely-seen Irish tench!

Day one – it’s tench city!

“Despite it only being five minutes from my house, Lough Acrussel is a lake that I rarely fish, but that’s where I was off to for starters. It’s a classic tench lake with lily beds and quite shallow water, and I ended up at the shallowest end where the angler fishing it the day before had blanked!

“I was bit concerned, to say the least, but it turned out to be a brilliant day and I landed 19 tench for 28-330 which was the best weight of the whole match.

“To show how strange fishing is, the peg blanked again the next day. I fished maggot and worm over chopped worm and caster at 13m and I think the fish averaged around 4lb. To get off to a great start like that, with a good bit of weight on the board, took a lot of pressure off Wednesday’s match.

“That was just as well, as I was to draw a real stinker of a peg!”

Day two – a real grueller

“I was on the lower lake of the Manor House section of Lough Erne, which is normally good but that year had been fishing hard, Even so, I still drew what I thought was a good peg and was happy, but it just didn’t fish and I had to scratch about on the pole and feeder with worm and maggot, mainly for perch, and had just over 4kg.

“That sent me from first place to out of the main money and I thought at that stage that it wasn’t going to be my year.”

Day three – pike trouble

“Every angler fishing the Classic hopes for a great peg on the last day, as it’s do or die – and it certainly was for me. I hoped for the town stretch in Enniskillen on the river, fishing for the big roach, so I said a little prayer and got what I was after on the Sligo Road, right in front of the tackle shop!

“The area had been consistent through the week with a best weight of 10kg, and while I didn’t think I could catch enough to win outright, I thought there was the chance of getting back in the top six and earning some money.

“To cut a long story short, the peg was much better than I thought, and after two hours I’d caught 60 big roach and thought I could be on for 20kg – but then I had pike trouble and the fish only came back in the last 90 minutes.

“I ended up with 95 roach for around 16kg on maggot and caster fished at 13m over groundbait and caster, and after a bit of adding up I realised I had finished the festival on 49kg. Now it was time to wait.”

The results come in

“After I’d packed up I went to the pub for a meal and a beer and the jungle drums started banging. I had calls and all sorts of information coming in about how others had done, and when I left the pub at about 7pm to get changed ready for the presentation everyone thought there wasn’t a weight that could beat me – but I didn’t want to believe it until it was confirmed.

“I was pleased for Kevin Rowles to come second, as he’d come from nowhere on the final day, just as he’d done the year before.”