After a long delay, the North Kildare Trout and Salmon Anglers Association got to fish their August Cup / Ger Dunne Competition. Eleven competitors turned up at 8:45 to draw for beats.
The forecast was for the mist to rise, some sunny spells and a chance of thunderstorms – and the forecasters got it spot on. The morning mist rose and gave way to blue skies, around 12pm this was to change with heavy showers and the sound of thunder in the distance. By 1:30pm most anglers were in the midst of a Thunderstorm.
As anglers took shelter, they reviewed their mornings fishing and hoped for better fishing for the afternoon. Some anglers had a few rising trout ahead of them whilst others did not see a fish rise all day. Dry fly and nymphs seemed to be the preferred tactic. With the fishing very hard, every fish was gonna count.
David May reported that he got his last fish minutes before having to leave for the measure up. At the measure up, it seemed like the river didn’t give up its bounty of trout easy – but those that were landed were proper, butter-bellied, wild Irish trout. More talk was about the downpours then catching, it was gonna be a close call. In the end, only two anglers only had the bag of 4 fish measured and it was Robbie Winder who won the competition, this was Robbie’s 1st competition to win although he has been very close in the past.
The final results are as follows.
- 1) Robbie Winder
- 2) David May
- 3) Joe Winder
- 4) Alan Lawless
The club runs competitions on a catch, photo and release basis. They are open to all adult members and are a great way to improve your fishing.