Eagle eyed anglers and DTAA committee members were watching Met Eireann all week to get a sense of what conditions would be like on Saturday 13th April on Owel. With the original slot of 6th April cancelled due to storm Kathleen, hope and expectation were in abundance as we counted down the days to Saturday morning when many of us could finally get out for the first time and for the first DTAA club competition of the season: The Pasker Cup
The large turnout and the enthusiasm from DTAA members added to the excitement despite the blustery conditions with a south-westerly, later coming more westerly, of 30-35km making it challenging at times. It was a case of hugging the Western shore and finding a bit of shelter to make it possible to fish while avoiding frustrating knots, tangles and flies stuck on the hull or in the back of your boat partner’s hat.
27 anglers set out from Tullaghans at 11am with the weigh in at 6pm. Irish international Eoin Dunne was back and took top spot with two fine fish for 5.875 Lbs. Second position went to DTAA Secretary Cathal McDonnell with his bag of two fish coming in at 5.22Lbs and Hubert Smith in third at 4.8Lbs. The special weight went to Sean Killeen.
With the wind the way it was, most anglers stayed close to the western shore from Srudarra, to Dolans, the Crannog, the Graveyard, the Kettle and the Corn fields. Fish were caught everywhere but nothing was really showing and the overall numbers were modest with only 8 of the 27 anglers returning fish, and many of the more experienced DTAA anglers blanking for the day.
Competition secretary Tom
Big thank you to the Competition sub committee: secretary Tom Hipwell, Boat manager Gerry Heaslip, Treasurer Declan McKibben and Trophy manager Clive Mills.
There will be 6 further DTAA competitions over the season. The next of which is the Anna Livia to be fished this year at Bohernabreena at the end of the month.
Interested in joining DTAA? Application form and details are here: https://dtaa.ie/membership/
Full table of results below:
