IFI/Ballymote & District Angling Club Perpetual Cup 2 day open competition held on Templehouse Lake, 18th – 19th August

Ballymote & District Angling Club in conjunction with Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) hosted a two day Coarse Angling competition on 18^th and 19^th of August. Templehouse Lake in Ballymote was the idyllic and tranquil setting for the competition. The competition was run under the guidance of the Irish Anglers Development Alliance (IADA) with a strict “no dip, no draw” policy in place. Both national and international anglers traveled to take part in the competition with a total of 24 anglers signing up to fish the competition.
 
The draw for pegs took place in the Coach House Hotel, Ballymote with anglers travelling the short distance to the shores of Templehouse Lake afterwards.
 
On Day 1 most of the 24 anglers landed quality bream and hybrids with those on pegs16-24 producing the top weights for the day. Larry Parks led the field at the end of day one with 32lbs of fish, with Arunas Mileaka in second having landed 23lbs. It was still all to play for, as the competition was run on a cumulative weight system over the two days of competition. Later that evening when anglers met to discuss the days fishing Cathal Hughes, a world silver medalist, stated for his days fishing he had one bite for one fish of 1lbs when fishing mid-section. Cathal, on seeing the high quality of bream over 5lbs in weight landed on day 1 said “one good hours fishing on Sunday would leave it all to play for”. These words provided encouragement for all who were taking part in the competition.
 
Sunday morning, day 2 saw Cathal Hughes drawn peg 1, an end peg with leader Larry Parks drawing peg 20, one lower than on the previous day. From the off, almost all anglers were catching at a steady rate, with bream, skimmers and roach holding in every swim. Within the first hour Larry Parks lead was now under pressure as Cathal Hughes landed a quality bream after another as he got off to an exciting start. Michael Fitzpatrick, no stranger to the match angling circuit was enjoying an eventful morning two pegs up from Cathal Hughes and the pair exchanged some good natured banter which entertained most of the field! Weather conditions on the day were kind to anglers with only the occasional downpour which failed to dampen spirits. As the all out approached at 4pm, Cathal Hughes was still busy landing fish after fish on Peg 1. The tension was now mounting and anglers in the lower sections were curious to know if Larry Parks had done enough on peg 20 to maintain his lead and claim the IFI/Ballymote & District Angling Club Perpetual Cup.

At the weigh in Larry Parks recored a day 2 catch of 47lbs 15oz, a fantastic bag, one was a fine bream weighing 5lbs 4oz. However Cathal Hughes had produced a stunning display on day 2, to land 112lbs 10oz of fish in 5 hours of competition and this was enough to secure him the IFI/Ballymote & District Angling Club Perpetual Cup. Larry Parks was not to leave empty handed though, as the fine bream of 5lbs 4oz was the biggest fish landed and he won a Colmic seat box. After the weigh in, anglers returned to the Coach House Hotel, Ballymote where invited guest Roderick Perceval, Templehouse Estate, Ballymote presented the prizes.
 
Overall results for the completion were as follows;
1^st Cathal Hughes (Galway) – 113lbs 2oz
2^nd Larry Parks (Carrick-0n-Shannon) – 79lbs 15oz
3^rd Michael Fitzpatrick (Boyle) – 70lbs 2oz
4^th Arunas  Mileaka (Galway) – 57lbs 4oz
Heaviest Fish: Larry Parks with a bream weighing 5lb 4oz.