Congratulations to DJ Byrne who won the Corcoran Cup at the Irish Trout Fly Fishing Association’s (ITFFA) Leinster Championship with a fabulous bag of trout for 16lb 11oz. This competition was hosted by Lough Owel Trout Preservation Association and took place on Sunday 11th May 2014. Although fishing condition were unfavourable with strong and blustery north-west winds and very heavy showers, Lough Owel was good to DJ who attributed his success to hard work and many hours of practice. In excess of 100 anglers competed and the competition was very intense with anglers requiring a bag weight of almost least 8lb to secure themselves a position on the team that will represent Leinster at the 2014 Interprovincial Match.
Lough Owel didn’t only produce big numbers of trout it also produced some very large trout with the Donnelly Cup for the heaviest trout went to Dublin angler Carl Owens with a beautiful trout of 3lb 3oz. Other successful anglers included Colin Cahill (Lough Bane), Hubert Smith (Dundalk), Fergus Byrne (Ballymore Eustace), Stuart Marry (Balbriggan/Skerries), Noel Shiels (Silverstream), Pat Noonan (Lough Owel), Jimmy Cahill (Lough Bane), Roger Fowler (Lough Lene), Denis Goulding (Kilbride), James Fegan (Wicklow), Derek O’Brien (Balbriggan/Skerries), Dave Canning (Dublin Trout), Barry Lenihan (Lough Owel) and Cathal MacDonnell (Dublin Trout). These anglers will join Brendan Murray (Lough Owel), Gerry Heaslip (Dublin Trout) and Paddy Ward (Derravaragh), who retained their position from the 2013 league, in representing Leinster at the 2014 ITFFA Interprovincial Championship which will be held at Lough Lene on 30th August 2014. The 2014Leinster Team will be captained by a very experienced international angler, Mr Colin Cahill. We wish Colin and his team the very best of luck in their attempt to secure the Interprovincial Trophy.
Lough Owel will host the 2014 International Fly Fishing Match on 30th May 2014. Teams from Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales will compete for the title of best International team and we would like to take this opportunity to wish the Irish Team the very best of luck.
With 291 fished being returned this result is testament to the reputation that Lough Owel has earned as an excellent brown trout fishery. Lough Owel is well worth a visit and anglers should try fishing some cormorant type fly patterns on a DI3, and don’t be afraid to dibble the flies at the boat.
Irish Trout Fly Fishing Association
The primary aim of the Association is to organise and run Provincial competitions in order to select competitors for Interprovincial, National and International fly fishing competitions on both Loughs and Rivers.
http://itffa.webs.com/
Lough Owel
Lough Owel lies 2.5 miles ( 4km ) north west of Mullingar, to the left of the Mullingar – Longford road. It is a high pH, mainly spring fed limestone lake with an area of 2547 acres ( over 1000 Hectares ). It has remarkable water quality and can give visibility to a depth of of over 20 feet (6m) on a bright day…
