Inniscarra Lake TDL reports on the Feederfest competition…
Anglers from England, Ireland, Holland, Italy and Denmark braved Storm Brian to travel to Inniscarra for Ireland’s premier Feeder Angling Festival last week. The 94 feeder experts included several world champions, expert tip anglers and newcomers to the area keen to fish on Inniscarra Lake and the world class venue, the Coachford Greenway. The aftermath of Hurricane Ophelia was evident in the water levels on the reservoir and the match organisers had a difficult task to make some of the areas accessible; this was overcome with the help of the ESB and after some last-minute pegging all was ready for five days of match fishing with the inclusion of venues such as the Garden Centre, Graveyard and Inishlena.
The fishing was challenging under current conditions, with differing water levels and cooling temperatures. It was quickly evident that this was going to be a roach match with the shoals of skimmers harder to target. Bonus hybrids and large perch (up to a 1.5kg in weight) proved invaluable with a mixed net of these securing a win.
The close match saw County Offaly angler Julian Kendrick go into the final day in 5th position and finish with 154 fish at the Graveyard to include three large perch for 14.310 kg and a final weight of 50.830kg. Runner Up Drennan International angler Dean Barlow once again fished a consistent match throughout finishing under 2 kilos behind Julian with 48.660kg. Preston Innovations Michael Buchwalder was favourite going into the last day but had a tough match at the Garden Centre for 7.300 kg finishing just 80g behind Dean in third place.
- 1 JULIAN KENDRICK, Ireland 50.830kg
- 2 DEAN BARLOW, England 48.600kg
- 3 MICHAEL BUCHWALDER, England 48.580kg
- 4 JOHN FLETCHER, England 45.100kg
- 5 ROB WOOTTON, England 44.500kg
- 6 STEVE RINGER, England 43.920kg
- 7 ARNOUT VD STADT, Holland 42.600kg
- 8 SEAN ASHBY, England 40.980kg
Julian says; “I love Inniscarra Lake and am lucky to be able to frequent many of the series of festivals on the venue. I was fortunate enough to fish alongside Steve and Phil Ringer in 2016 and learnt a lot from them and after much practise my efforts have been rewarded this year. I used an open feeder for most of the match, feeding chopped worm and Sensas Black Lake and Gros Gardons; adding caster for the bonus fish, on a single red maggot hook-bait. Taking no chances, I used a size 10 Sensas hook and a 0.18 hook length on a braid direct running Dean Barlow feeder-link.
As a Sensas angler I am particularly pleased to have won this event and I would like to thank all the sponsors and to Inniscarra Lake TDL for the smooth match organisation, including fresh bait deliveries from Irish Bait and Tackle Limited and to everyone in Coachford and the surrounding area for their hospitality. My congratulations to all the winners and everyone who took part – it has been another great festival!”
Fantastic sponsorship from Guinness contributed to a massive prize fund of €21,920 along with €5,000 of tackle from Sensas Ireland rewarding the top eight winners with super cash prizes on top of daily and section wins. Julian’s name will now be negraved on the custom-made trophy and he returns home with the unique hand-crafted feeder hallmarked in Cork silver commissioned by sponsors Jackie Lennox Chip Shop. O’Callaghan’s and O’Riordans Bar,Coachford once again looked after the anglers from the draw to the evening entertainment which saw different nationalities enjoy the local craic.
The organisers would like to thank sponsors Noel Healy, Guinness for their support of this event and the sport of angling for which it is always difficult to attract a commercial sponsor. Thank you too to Gavin Walsh, Sensas Ireland and Duncan Lennox, Jackie Lennox Chip Shop for their continued support of the festival which is dominated by the visiting angler and of great benefit to this rural area of Ireland.
Report courtesy of Inniscarra Lake TDL, an affiliated club of the National Coarse fishing Federation of Ireland www.ncffi.ie. You can follow them at www.facebook.com/inniscarralakeTDL
