Last Weekend on the 22nd and 23rd August we saw the maiden voyage on the River Barrow of the Waterways Ireland Barrow Bonanza fishing festival. Eddie Long, Naas and District Anglers, gives a blow by blow account of the fishing…
We all met up on Saturday morning in the carpark of Tougher’s restaurant on the Dublin Road, Carlow. We had our dipping station around the back of the carpark, chemicals supplied by the I.A.D.A. and as usual in match fishing no dip,no draw!
Enda Hickey oversaw the draw and made sure everything was fair and above board.This match was to be held on two match stretches. A: Knockbeg and B: Maganey.
We had two stewards keeping a close eye on proceedings, Fergal Scullier and Jimmy Murray marshalled the match and they also conducted the weigh in with the help of Declan Day and Ashley Hayden. They walked the bank on their respective match stretch and made sure there were no shenanigans going on!
Weather conditions for day one were good but unfortunately due to the lack of rain the previous week there was very little flow and the water wasn’t heavily coloured.
We had no illusions that this match was going to be easy but we were dealt the same cards and the show must go on so… On the Knockbeg stretch fishing was quite tough and the stamp of fish on the higher pegs (12-21) was very small.The dace being caught seemed to have been born the previous day but on the lower pegs some better fish were turning up with the odd hybrid and some decent perch seeing the net. The more cunning anglers were using chopped worm to draw in the perch.At 5:30 on the button the all out was called and the weigh in began.
Our very own Andrius Simbelis managed to get the winning weight of 4.260kg on Knockbeg consisting of mainly perch and dace but Andrius didnt have long to revel in his glory as rumours started to circulate of a 14+kg winning bag from Maganey. Everyone packed away their gear and we set off back to Toughers to see if the rumors were true and get the results for day 1. Upon arrival Andrius’s fears became a reality as Mark Leonard had indeed caught 14.100Kg.
It certainly looked to be an impossible task for any angler to match this fantastic weight on day 2!
Day 1 Results:
Knockbeg A Maganey B
Section Winners:
1A Brendan Collins 2.710kg 2A Kevin Hodson 4.080kg
1B Sean Beretton 2.190kg 2B Steven Howson 1.090kg
1C Ian Warburton 0.400kg 2C Attila Paldeak 1.800kg
1D Andrius Simbelis 4.260kg 2D Mark Leonard 14.100kgs
On day 2 Sunday 23rd, a serious amount of rain had fallen overnight but was it going to increase the flow add colour to the water, time would tell! Again we met in Toughers for breakfast after an efficient reverse section draw we lined up to head off to the opposite stretch of that we’d fished the day previous.It seemed a foregone conclusion that Mark Leonard had the match in the bag with his weight from day 1 and we all feared that the fish would back off the bait from what had gone in on Saturday.
Upon arrival at our pegs, it seemed the flow had increased slightly but the water colour had not improved. It certainly looked like we were in for a very difficult match. The all in was called at 12 and I’m sure every angler was dreaming that they’d land on a shoal of hybrids or bream and best Mark Leonards 14+kg bag and then some. Alas the dreams would become a nightmare. I fished Maganey on Sunday and was disappointed to hear that nobody was doing well at all. The whole stretch fished tough and most anglers concluded that the stamp of fish from day one had had their fill of bait and were nowhere to be seen.
I’m sure most anglers used every method at their disposal to try and winkle out a few fish but it seemed no matter what method, be it pole,whip,feeder or stickfloat,nothing would the trick. I myself spent far too long running a float through my swim on the pole and with 15 minutes to go decided to trott a very light stick float through with my fingers crossed(everything crossed). I managed to net four half decent roach in the dying minutes of the match that I’m sure got me my section win. At 5pm the all out was called and Jimmy started the weigh in on Maganey. As expected the figures were low, very low! Tired and bet, we packed up and set off again to Toughers for the final tally up and prize giving. Was it possible that Marks day 1 net could have been equaled or beaten?
In a word, No!
Day 2 results
Knockbeg A Maganey B
Section Winners:
1A Mark Leonard 1.500kg 2A Eddie Long 1.100kg
1B Owen Lynch 1.940kg 2B Gary Quayle 0.660kg
1C Neil Keane 0.280kg 2C Philip Jackson 1.160kg
1D Gary Doyle 1.570kg 2D Michael Kelly 1.860kg
Match winner was Mark Leonard with 15.600kg. Well done mate, nobody even came close!
2nd place went to Cathal Hughes with 5.120kg. Well done Cathal!
3rd place went to Andrius Simbelis with 4.300kg Well done Andrius!
4th place went to Kevin Hodson with 4.220kg Well done Kev!
5th place went to Chris Moore with 3.430kg very well done Chris
Including the top prize of a guaranteed 1000 Euros a total of 3660 Euros was paid out in prizes!
It was brilliant to see three of our members get into the top 5. We really hope you all enjoyed fishing the very first Barrow Bonanza, without you it couldnt have been the success we feel it was. Fishing was tough going but the fish were there. If only we’d had a bit more rain the week before things would have been much different but we cant be blamed for the weather. We hope you will all come back next year to fish the Barrow Bonanza with us albeit probably in a different format!
Eddie Long
P.R.O.
www.naasdistrictanglers.com
The Barrow Bonanza
This festival was the brainchild of Paul McLoughlin. River fishing, especially on the Barrow is Paul’s main angling passion and he wanted to create a festival which brought together like minded anglers from around the country to experience the magic of fishing a match on the River Barrow.
Our clubs ethos is all about getting out on the bank with friends, fishing and having the craic. We really hope that you guys experienced exactly that at the weekend! It was our first time to host an open eventof this size and we felt it was an excellent opportunity for anglers to come fish with us and experience the welcome of the Naas club. Where anyone of any nationality,colour or religion irrespective of their angling level is always welcome to fish with us!
www.naasdistrictanglers.com
It couldn’t have happened without…
Before I finish up I’d like to thank a few people.
Firstly I’d like to thank Samantha and staff in Toughers Carlow who made us feel very welcome and looked after us so well, thank you very much!
Secondly I’d like to thank Waterways Ireland for their kind sponsorship which allowed us to guarantee the 1000 Euro prize. I’d also like to thank Billy O Neill from Waterways for helping all weekend with the match and for awarding the main prizes and helping us with access and assistance at all times.
I’d also like to thank Manus Tiernan from Waterways Ireland for taking the time to come down and take photos and chat with the anglers.
I’d like to thank Enda Hickey and Peter Walsh of the I.A.D.A for all there assistance with staging this event, running the peg draw and donating the dipping chemicals. I’d like to thank Fergal Scullier and Jimmy Murray who gave up their time and did a great job marshaling the event.
I’d like to give massive thanks to Mark Maloney, Sean Campbell, Trev Campbell,Padraig O Riordan, Owen Lynch, Kevin Hodson,David Redmond and Niall Smyth.They got the pegs strimmed and cleared for the match, made the actual plastic match pegs and really grafted hard to get the swims ready for the match. Massive thanks to Ollie Doyle who gave his time and his boat to clear the weeds from the watersedge, he did absolutely Trojan work for our club and the match simply couldn’t have gone ahead without your help, Cheers Ollie!
Finally, Paul McLoughlin, What can I say? YOU ARE A LEGEND!!! The amount of work you put into this event was truely phenominal. From sourcing the sponsorship from Waterways, putting together the Barrow Bonanza info packs and bait order forms sent to each and every angler,to getting the venue for the draw etc. I spent two days with Paul on the Barrow after,
work. We worked until dark both nights and didnt get back to Naas till well after 11pm and I can tell you I was absolutely wrecked after this. Paul spent two full weeks going down to Carlow after work to strim the pegs,cut back brambles,cut down low lying branches etc. How he didnt keel over and expire on the bank from exhaustion I’ll never know.
Even the night before the match he was down on the Maganey stretch till after 10pm strimming the last four pegs and leaving himself no time whatsoever to get any rigs tied or rods ready for the match. I can only assume it was a labour of love for you and for this very reason you somehow managed to find the strength to keep going.
I’m pretty sure I can speak for the whole Naas and District Anglers club by saying we as a club would be nothing without you mate. You are the driving force behind us and since the clubs creation just over three years ago we have gone from strength to strength and that’s is all down to you. We really appreciated all that you do
