WHITELAKE RAINBOW CUP & BBQ: Whitelake club members in North Westmeath had a wonderful day out on Saturday 24th August and Noel McCabe sent in full results from this senior and junior competition. Some cracking rainbow trout were caught with Pat Finnigan of Duleek topping the senior section with a huge fish of 5lbs 4oz. 2nd was Tommy Fagan of Agher with 3lbs 8oz and Jody Fagan of Athboy was 3rd with another fine rainbow weighing 3lbs 6oz. Jack McCrossan of Baileborough won the junior section, 2nd was Trim angler Colin Doyle, 3rd was Archerstown angler Joshua Smith McCabe, with Moya Molloy of Longwood taking 4th.
CLONHUGH CUP & OWEL ANGLER OF THE YEAR: Lough Owel Trout Preservation Association hosted their last club competition of the season on Sunday September 1st. Also up for grabs was the Angler of the Year award, presented to the club member with the best gross weight of trout in club competitions. The Owel anglers dug deep and some lovely fish were presented at the weigh-in at 7pm at Tullaghan Angling Center. The Owel McKeon brothers, Chris and Stan, really produced the goods on the day with Chris landing a super brown trout of 1.9kg to win the Clonhugh Cup. Chris and Stan have been the pillars of L.O.T.P.A. for years as Stan is the clubs Hon- Secretary and Chris is Treasurer. Chris got a huge round of applause when Chairman Brendan Murray presented the cup. Mick Frances also did well and finished 2nd with another nice trout of 1.195kg and Tony Grahan came 3rd with 1.190kg. The Competition Captain tallied up the points for Angler of The Year and Owel Chairman Brendan Murray announced that Ken McCarty was top angler for 2019 and presented Ken with the beautiful Cup for Angler of the Year. The evening finished up in the Angling Center where all anglers were treated to fantastic finger food and light refreshments. It may be the last club competition of the season on Owel but on Sunday October 6th the club host their annual open trout fly fishing competition, with all proceeds going towards stocking Lough Owel with quality trout. More on this in the coming weeks.
SHEELIN: Reports of a few nice trout being caught on Sheelin had many anglers out on the lake last weekend. I spent a few days on Sheelin with my pal Marty Smith and we had one nice fish for the two days. The scenery around Sheelin is really breath taking and the changing weather we fished in was unbelievable. At one stage the lake was covered with a huge grey sky and the water colour was frightening, as if the world was going to end, and then 10 minutes later we were basking in bright blue-sky conditions. Only in Ireland! Or is it climate change starting to set in?