Joe Kenna of Irish Trout Fly Fishing Association reports that Ciaran Reilly had a great day at Lough Bane on Saturday 13th September when he finished in 1st position during the 1st round of the newly introduced ITFFA Youths International Team qualifier. The new selection process requires competitors to accumulate points from two qualifying competitions from which the top 14 anglers will be selected to represent Ireland at the 2015 Youths International Fly Angling Match.
The word was out that the trout had been feeding near the surface and most anglers opted for the tried and trusted sedge and daddy combination. At 11AM the horn sounded and these young anglers set off for a challenging days fishing in the deep, clear, spring fed waters of Lough Bane. Competitors didn’t have to wait for too long to get a taster of these hard fighting browns and rainbows with boatmen barely getting a chance to take the center seat before they had to scramble for their landing nets. Lough Bane provided non-stop action all day long and when anglers returned to the shore at 5PM there were many stories of large trout that had been lost. The daddy and sedge combination proved very successful for competition winner Ciaran Reilly who had eight trout for 3480 points and Conor Murray who finished in 3rd position with five trout for 2060 points. However, it was Stephen Ryan of Macroom Anglers who decided to think outside the box and fish deep for the bigger fish. This method certainly worked well for Stephen who had the two longest fish, both exceeding the 50cm measure. Stephen finished in 2nd position with six trout for 2740 points.
Lough Bane Anglers have been great supporters of juvenile angling for many years and the Irish Trout Fly Fishing Association (ITFFA) would like to thank them for their ongoing support. We would also like to wish these young anglers the very best of luck as they prepare for the second stage of the selection process for the Irish International Team.
If you are less than eighteen years of age and are interested in participating in fly angling, you can contact the ITFFA Youth Officer, Mr Frank Dempsey on 087 235 1830.
Joe Keena
Irish Trout Fly Fishing Association
