Gerry McStraw Chariman of Carlow CAC reports on the Irish team qualifiers which were held recently on the River Barrow
The first round of the Waterway’s Ireland NCFFI Irish Team Qualifiers took place over the weekend on the River Barrow in Carlow. The event was extremely well supported 26 anglers fishing the Float event on the Saturday and 20 anglers fishing the Feeder event on the Sunday. The venue was used for practice on the Friday with 20 anglers fishing the river in good weather conditions.The Float Qualifiers which will be used to select Ireland ’s three international teams for 2013 fished very well with mainly Dace, Roach and bonus Hybrids being caught all along the match stretch.
Winner of the first round was Vincent Walsh (Erne Anglers) from Raphoe in Co Donegal, Vincent fished the pole at 13m to catch 55 fish for 6.150 Kgs. Runner up was Glen Lawlor (Erne Anglers) from Co Armagh who also won his section with 40 fish for 6.030 Kgs, in third place was Dave Slater (BSI AC) from Enniskillen who also won his section with 40 fish for 4.500 Kgs. The final section was won by Finton Brennan (Ballinakill AC) who caught 28 fish for 1.150 Kgs.
The total catch of fish taken was over 42 Kgs. a big improvement on the 6 Kgs caught in the first match in 2011. The Feeder Qualifier which will be used to select the Feeder team for the World Championships in South Africa in 2013, was fished on the same stretches of the river on the Sunday.
Vincent Walsh completed a remarkable double also winning this event with 40 fish for 7.700 Kgs, runner up was Colin Martin (East Belfast AC) with 52 fish for 6.450 Kgs., with David Herron (Erne Anglers AC) in third place with 33 fish 3.750 Kgs.The Ireland team manager was extremely pleased that the new qualifier format was a success, he thanked the sponsors Waterway’s Ireland for their support and the Carlow Coarse Angling Club for their help with organising the venue above the weir at Knockbeg.
