29 junior anglers from all over the country including several from Northern Ireland competed in the Junior Canal Championships on Saturday. The Grand Canal at Daingean was the venue; a great canal location and the rain stayed away for most of the day. However, an easterly wind blew in and the weights were not as good as they would have been with a little better weather.

And the winners are...
And the winners are…
Gently does it...
Gently does it…
A helping hand
A helping hand
Concentrate
Concentrate
A nice catch
A nice catch

The NCFFI believe juniors are the future of our sport and watching their efforts and their commitment on the day, even from the youngest of anglers, makes this event so worthwhile. This makes everyone a winner in our eyes and almost everyone caught; here are the top three results from each of the age groups;

Under 18s

  • 1st Darragh McKenzie
  • 2nd James O’Doherty
  • 3rd Dean Murray

Under 14s

  • 1st Harry Whitehead
  • 2nd Liam McEvilly
  • 3rd Lea Sutton

Novice

  • 1st Rhys Walsh
  • 2nd Daire Flynn
  • 3rd Rosie Connolly

The match also served as a qualifier for the NCFFI U18 Team Ireland.

The NCFFI would like to thank Waterways Ireland for their sponsorship and continued support of such events. A very big thank you to Southside Angling with their generosity with the tackle prizes, especially Dave, Des & Karl – shopping in Southside is an absolute pleasure and Castle Barna for their hospitality.

Also, the NCFFI members who gave up their day; John Connolly for event organisation and sponsorship, Shane Kavanagh for walking the bank, organising the draw and weigh-in, Sean Ward for all his hard work in obtaining the trophies and venue, Eoin Schweppe for his coaching and general assistance on the day and these photos of course and especially under current circumstances Julian Kendrick for pegging the venue, his assistance and great coaching. It’s people like this who make these events possible for our juniors.

The National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland

The NCFFI is responsible for a wide range of angling matters and focus on all aspects of coarse angling including management of international teams that fish in World and European championships according to CIPs rules, improving facilities for all coarse anglers, introducing young and old alike to coarse angling, protecting our fish stocks, and involving all people regardless of background, sex, religion or angling ability.

www.ncffi.ie

Content and additional photography is available on our Facebook page at  wwww.facebook.com/coarseangling