Dutch anglers dominate at Ireland’s largest feeder festival

Inniscarra Lake TDL reports on the Feederfest competition…Inniscarra Lake hosted a continental field of anglers for the fourth edition of Feederfest with contestants travelling from Denmark, Sweden, The Netherlands, England and Ireland. It was a close competition that saw Henk Roskam from Oostvoorne nr. Rotterdam in the Netherlands see off some strong challenges to win the prestigious 2019 title.

It was an interesting week for the feeder fishing enthusiasts as Inniscarra Lake was sitting at unusually low levels. The Autumn light led to some stunning vistas and misty mornings on the lake nestled beside Coachford village and the hub of the competition. The week started with the Fountain House Cup on Sunday with 81 anglers eager to fish ahead of the main match and get some bait in. It was a win for England’s former Feeder manager, Tommy Pickering, back on the international circuit himself who fished the Graveyard section at 15m for 220 fish and 16.570kg.

The main Feederfest event was split into five sections and was fished by rotation saw over 50 anglers on the world championship Greenway section daily supplemented by pegs renowned Graveyard and Garden Centre sections plus Rooves Bay and the Concrete. It soon became apparent in the flat calm conditions that it was to be a roach week across each of the fair sections and no one was going to run away with the match.

Sensas anglers Sean Ashby and Rod Scott led the match for the first two days but it was clear from the beginning that the Dutch anglers were strong contenders. Inniscarra regular John Fletcher won the match on Tuesday and moved from 6^th place to top of the leaderboard on Wednesday. It was a conservative start for Henk Roskam with consistent fishing on the greenway for the first two days when a daily win of 230 roach for 15.730kg at Rooves Bay on Wednesday moved him onto the leaderboard. Philip Jackson who had joined the field from day two was joined by Willem VD Helm in the race for the top spot.

With Henk 3kg ahead Philip Jackson who was lying in second place on Friday set out to catch as many roach as possible on the Greenway soon to change to catching skimmers and hybrids for 7.560kg. It wasn’t quite enough for the Northern Ireland angler who finished as runner-up just 480kg from the title. With fellow Dutch angler John Roubos finishing in third place there was only slightly more than a kilo between the top three.

A delighted Henk Roskam, Sensas Mondial said:- “It was a brilliant weeks fishing! I came fourth in the competition last year and I am delighted to have won the title this time. I shall back again for more next year!”

1            HENK ROSKAM, Netherlands 46.770kg

2            PHILIP JACKSON, Northern Ireland 46.290kg

3            JOHN ROUBOS, Netherlands 45.600kg

4            JOHN FLETCHER, England 44.700kg

5            SEAN ASHBY, England 53.920kg

6            WILLEM VD HELM, Netherlands 43.650kg

7            LEO KOOT, Netherlands 42.170kg

8           ROD SCOTT, England 38.710kg

There was fantastic sponsorship from Guinness, O’Riordan’s Bar and O’Callaghans Bar & GuestHouse in Coachford and Jackie Lennox Cork contributed to a massive prize fund of €23,000 along with €2,000 of ground bait from Sensas Ireland rewarding the top eight winners with super cash prizes on top of daily and section wins.

Congratulations to Henk who returns home with his very own unique hand-crafted feeder hallmarked in Cork silver as commissioned by sponsors Jackie Lennox Cork. The organisers would like to thank O’Callaghan’s and O’Riordan’s Bars in Coachford integral to the event which saw them provide cash sponsorship as well as looking after the anglers from the draw to the evening entertainment. All the different nationalities thoroughly enjoyed the local craic. Organiser Tommy Lawton of inniscarra Lake Tourism Development Ltd would like to thank the sponsors and all those who helped throughout the week and during the year to support the angling product so that it benefits this rural area of Ireland.

The village of Coachford in County Cork is at the heart of the angling in the Lee Valley, less then 5 minutes from Inniscarra Lake and less than half an hour from Cork City. It has good accessible fishing and a range of festivals throughout the year which provides for both the match and leisure angler. Inniscarra Tourism Group Ltd have released a series of events for 2020 which include a unique ‘continental’ style Feeder Pairs competition followed by the new Sensas Float Pairs weekend event. The calendar includes a wide range of festival fishing including those specifically for the club angler. The leisure angler can fish at Inniscarra independently with keys available from most B&B’s and O’Callaghans to part behind your peg on the Greenway. For more information on fishing and accommodation in the local area visit www.ncffi.ie/inniscarra-angling.

PDF of Final Scoresheet

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