Congratulations go to Dylan Ennis on winning a 19’ McA boat in the Irish Trout Fly fishing Associations (ITFFA) youths fundraising competition, which was held at Lough Owel on 27th April 2014. Seventeen year old Dylan, who is from Moate in County Westmeath, was always going to be a hot favourite having represented Ireland at juvenile level on numerous occasions.

With a 19’ boat, an electric engine and many other fantastic prizes up for grabs this competition attracted eighty two anglers and raised much needed funds for juvenile anglers. Angling conditions were only fair with a moderate easterly wind and a lot of extremely bright sunshine. Dylan and his partner, Sean Dempsey, concentrated on the “kettle” area of the lake and managed to boat in excess of 25 trout between them. Dylan also boated the heaviest fish which weighed 1.54 kg, but because he finished in the top three he was precluded from claiming the prize for the heaviest trout, which went to Liam McKnight with his trout of 1.27 kg.
As usual Lough Owel lived up to her reputation as a great brown trout fishery and produced hundreds of fish, most of which were returned to the water unharmed. This is a fantastic venue and is a must for visiting anglers who should try fishing shallow water with a team of wet flies comprising of some fry type patterns. The olives are also beginning to make an appearance on Owel and there is bound to be some great top of the water action.
Other Results were as follows:-
1st Dylan Ennis (Juvenile Angler) 3.230 kg 9th Stuart Marry 2.260 kg
2nd Paddy Ward 3.130 kg 10th Sean Dempsey 2.235kg
3rd Mark Dunne 2.270 kg 11th Cathal Rush 2.180 kg
4th Jimmy Cahill 2.520 kg 12th Chris Butler 2.155 kg
5th Liam McKnight 2.460 kg 13th Chris Meadows 2.075 kg
6th Ciaran Reilly 2.440 kg 14th Owen Dunne 2.045 kg
7th Eddie Harte 2.375 kg 15th Brian Stanfield 2.040 kg
8th Declan Smith 2.285 kg
Prize for Heaviest Fish Liam McKnight
Prize for Secret Weight Owen O’Droiscall
The ITFFA Youths Committee would like to extend their gratitude all who supported this event including Lough Owel Trout Preservation Association, Inland Fisheries Ireland, the participants and those who sponsored prizes; all funds raised will be used to support juvenile anglers.
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/
If you would like more information about this topic, or you would like to arrange an interview, please contact Joseph Keena at 086 8722449 or e-mail [email protected]