The 2025 All-Ireland Master Angler Competition was hosted by Killala Boat & Shore Angling Club over the weekend, and by all accounts the host club ran a brilliantly well-organised event. With unfavourable weater conditions making some chosen venues unfishable, the club came up trumps with backup venues that proved both fishable, and productive, ensuring a fair contest between all the competitors.

Saturday morning saw the competitors, all of whom qualified through their own club master angler leagues, fish Enniscrone, with a good surf running. With very few blanks recorded, it was competitive, and there were zone wins for Dave Coleman, Jim O’Brien, Chris O’Sullivan and Anthony Scanlan, with Alison O’Sullivan leading the ladies.

The Saturday evening session was held at Claggan beach in Blacksod Bay, fishing into darkness. Zone wins again put Dave Coleman and Chris O’Sullivan into the lead with one session to go, while Barry Connolly and Tim O’Sullivan also topped their zones. Fiona Ryan won the ladies session, leaving herself and Alison O’Sullivan also tied.

Day 2 saw the final session fished at Doolough beach near Gweesala, with all to play for – one fish could mean the difference between glory and a long drive home pondering what might have been. Fishing was tough, with a lot more blank cards, and most anglers struggling to eke out a fish. Zone wins for Pat Keating, Ryan Blair and Lar Mooney saw them climb the leaderboard, but it was the nearly man of the last few years, Chris O’Sullivan, who took top honours with a third zone win in a row to seal his first Master Angler title, after second, third and 3 other top 10s in the last 5 years. Chris adds the Master Angler title to the World silver medal he picked up in Spain last November, a most successful year for him!

And it was a family affair, with Chris’s sister Alison taking the zone win on Day 2 to take the Ladies Master Angler title back to Tralee. Well done to both on fantastic fishing.

The Killala club deserve great credit for hosting a brilliant event, with great stewarding and hospitality acknowledged by all the anglers.