Paul McLoughlin reports on the I.A.D.A. IRISH OPEN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS fished at Lough Muckno on Saturday…

Junior development is at the heart of the ethos of the IADA and we believe the every young angler should be encouraged to fish at every possible opportunity that presents itself. All clubs and organisations accommodating young anglers should be commended as breaking into match fishing is difficult without help and support at this age.

Hence we were delighted to welcome anglers and their parents and club officials from as far away as Leitrim, Kildare, Navan and of course some more local from Carrickmacross and surrounding areas.

All in!
All in!

Novices

The novice section featured 4 young men who had never fished a match before and all caught fish on their first try at Ireland’s premier match venue.

  • 1st Dean Dowling
  • 2nd Gary Fox
  • Joint 3rd Ciaran Martin and Eoin McDonagh

All received tackle prizes from Maver.

Under 14

The under 14 section was hotly contested with 8 anglers making up the field. Roisin Bohan and Charlie Richards fished a great match and finished 3rd and 2nd respectfully but couldn’t hold off the young man from Ardee , Eoin Rogers. Eoin has shown great form again this year and not only did he win the U14 Section but he had the best overall weight on the lake. Eoin got a maver pole while Roisin and Charlie got maver rods.

Under 18

U18s had 4 in section. The ever consistent Liam Hubbock picked up 3rd place for the second year running and Luke O’Malley fished well for 2nd. Aussie Conway is having a great year and hot of his win in the feeder championships the week before he was over the moon to pick up the Irish Open title for the first time and take home a maver seat box and gold medal.

Under 25

Jamie Edwards took the U25 section and won a tackle voucher for Anglers Choice in Carrickmacross.

Once again thanks to all that helped organise the event and you the parents and club members who helped get the young anglers to the venue. Special mention to Padraig O’Riordan who made a round trip of 5 hours driving to get one angler to the event who had no lift.

Many thanks to Maver and Richard Caplice who facilitated us with the wonderful tackle prizes.

We look forward to this event again next year and some more exciting junior events in the calender in 2017.

Paul McLoughlin
P.R.O.