DOONER IS TOP ROD: Ollie Dooner was the popular winner of the Lakeland Anglers end of season competition last Sunday October 2nd. On the day, anglers ventured out on Owel and Ennell, with some cracking trout being presented at the weigh-in in Caffrey’s Lounge at 8pm. Derravaragh was included in the Lakeland competition, but no Derravaragh anglers ventured in on the night. I opted for Owel and had a lovely day out with L.O.T.P.A. Chairman Andy Boyle. Even though we both blanked, the crack was mighty in the boat and it’s always a pleasure fishing with the Nodger. Ollie Dooner teamed up with Declan Murphy and the Ollie boy rattled the scales with a lovely Owel trout of 3.336lbs. I had lunch with the lads at Portloman and got a lovely photograph of Ollie with his prized catch. John Plunkett finished 2nd on Owel with another fine fish of 2.082lbs and Brendan Murray was 3rd with 1.368lbs. On Ennell, top Lakeland angler Tony English was on song and produced the winning fish weighing 3.146lbs, Alan Tyrrell was 2nd with 2.722lbs and Willy Horne over from Scotland was 3rd with 1.324lbs. John Tyrrell, Lakeland Competition captain, thanked all who fished the Lakeland Competition and the Caffrey family who presented the top Lakeland Angler with a beautiful prize. As in 2015, Tony English defended his title and picked up this beautiful prize. On hand for the presentation was Niall Caffrey and his son Conor.
TROUT SEASON CLOSED: The likes of Lene and Lough Bane along with Ree are all closed for trout fishing from September 30th. It’s not the end of the world for anglers as many lakes are open all year round for coarse fishing, we also have some splendid rainbow lakes dotted across the country where trout fly anglers can wet a line. I did a few days on Lene before it closed for trout fishing and it was a nasty few days with blustery winds and heavy mist. I hooked up with Lough Lene vice chairman, Frank McKeon and we had some lovely brown trout on the troll. Frank was taking a break from the golf and we had a wonderful few hours on Lene.
PIKING ALL OVER THE MIDLANDS: Now that the trout season is winding down, anglers will turn their attention to predator fishing. We have some of the best coarse angling in Europe but unfortunately the permit to fish our local lakes and rivers is keeping many anglers away from the greater Mullingar area. This is an issue our local politicians should tackle and it’s killing tourism angling in the midlands. I have contacted some big tourism agencies from Europe and when they add up the sums, it pays to fish elsewhere. No matter, we will keep plugging away. Last weekend, I also dropped into Brian Conlon of Wild Total Outdoors. Brian is really pushing out the boat for this winter’s predator season and has a huge range of Savage Lures in stock, I was like a child in a sweet shop last Saturday and it is really worth checking out.