Today saw the start of the long awaited Lakelands and Inland Waterways World Pairs Coarse Angling Championships 2012. At Lough Muckno in Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan, forty six of the competitors signed in to battle it out on the two sections located at Concra Wood and Toome Shore. There is great excitement amongst the angling community about the ongoing angling access development works at other sections on the lake and today 23 anglers had a chance to fish on the newly developed stretch at Concra Wood.
Following the implementation of bio-security measures including the dipping of gear and footwear the draw was held at the Old Coach House in Castleblayney. Anglers then headed off to set up and prepare for the start of the event at the Toome and Concra sections. Water levels in the lake are currently high and temperatures have dropped a bit on the previous weeks temperatures. The water was quite murky at Concra Wood this morning but clear all along the Toome shoreline.
When the all in was called at by Richard Caplice at 11.30am, some anglers were straight into the fish at Toome shore, with feeder proving top choice in the early stages. Rory O’Neill and Liam O’Brien were quick off the mark taking fish consistently on the feeder. Fish were also beng taken at intervals all along the section with some pegs proving quieter than others. The majority of anglers switched between pole and feeder.
Catches consisted mainly of quality roach as expected but some skimmers, hybrids and occasional bream were also in evidence. A gentle westerly breeze put a light corduroy ripple on the surface of the lake and fish were observed topping on the pole line and beyond. However, pole anglers generally struggled and the early flurry slowed to what turned out to be a tough day which required very high levels of concentration. Anglers were required to draw on every single piece of skill and experience obtained over the years.
Pike were also in evidence at one or two of the swims and a number of anglers had to fight hard to keep their catch in tact. Fish were hard to come by so no one wanted to surrender a single fish to the apex predator.
The rain arrived around 12.30 and anglers were well settled in by this stage. Leo Kool and Tony price were working hard and building their swims nicely. Fishing was fairly tough at Toome and anglers had to work very hard to pull a net of fish together and some nice weights were acheived. The weigh in saw the section produce a top weight of just over 11kgs with the next eight top weights varying between 7.070kgs and 9.900kgs.
At Concra Wood fishing was also tough but some nice nets of fish were weighed in. Anglers again switched between feeder and pole but one or two anglers did very nicely on the pole. Top weights at this section were circa 12kgs, with other notable catches of 11+kgs, 10+kgs and a number of 9’s and 8’s. Good quality roach made up the majority of the bags at Concra. Sections are sure to improve as the week progresses.
