Anglers cast off for some winning fish
THE 42nd Lough Melvin Open was a great success recently, once again attracting anglers from all across the island of Ireland and beyond to the famed lough’s waters.
The long layout of the lough had plenty of room for the anglers to spread out in the cross-border body of water, with its eastern flank in Fermanagh inviting local and visiting anglers to do their best to land some of the salmon and trout that Lough Melvin is particularly famous for.
With generally decent weather and choppy but not wild waters, conditions were good when The Impartial Reporter called to take in the sight of determined men and women in boats dotted over the lough’s surface at this year’s event, which ran from August 24 to August 28.
For the full list of winners and categories, see below.
Coming in at first place were Sean Maguire and Edwin Wills; 2nd, James Doherty and Sean Bowen; 3rd, John Allen and Michael Polin.
In 4th place were Kevin Bradley and Gerard Feeney; 5th, John Walsh (Mayo) and Paul French; 6th, Kevin Curran and Ronnie Chambers; 7th, Patsy Tracey and Maurice Willis; 8th, James Cox and Mark Colton; 9th, Brendan Heaney and Gerry Barnes; 10th, Marc Mulligan and John Mcbride.
Rounding out the top 15, taking 11th place were Terry Mcgovern Jnr and Stella Mcgriskin; 12th, John Johnston and Paul O’meara; 13th, Robert Reilly and Andrew Spiers; 14th, Mark Paul and Martin Mcgarian; and 15th, Ricky Connor and Peter Green.
In the Heat Winners category,
Wednesday was won by Brian Stanfield and Colin Harte; Thursday by Damien Walsh and Paul Miller; Friday by Joshua Parkyn and Margaret Rooney; and Saturday by Joe Butler and Tom Sweeney.
Mystery Weight was won by Kevin Bradley, while Margaret Rooney won the Heaviest Fish category.
Winning anglers
Other titles landed by winning anglers this year included Best Overseas Angler, by Tom Winters; Best Southern Angler by Margaret Rooney; Best Northern Angler by Patsy Tracey; Best Junior Angler by Joshua Parkyn; Best Lady Angler by Margaret Rooney; Best Club Angler by Patsy Tracey; and Best Committee Angler by Freddy Boyd.