There was only one fish in it at the end of the day, with Lough Conn and Cullin measuring 15 fish over 11” to Dublin’s 14. The Dublin Bowl stayed in Crossmolina after a hard days fishing with the top performers coming from Cloghans, Abbey Shore, Castle Hill bay and Massbrook.
On the Saturday temperatures were a bit lower than forecast but the wind in the earlier part of the day was encouraging. The morning was the most productive as the later afternoon became flat calm with the occasional breeze or shower stirring things up and providing an opportunity to the eager angler. Best of the dubs on day one was Justin Clarke who measured 3 fish. There were some mayfly but not enough and not for long enough for the fish to be on them. Enjoyable fishing and conditions were at times perfect, the action, however, was less than what the local anglers are accustomed to for this time of year, with several saying that the Mayfly was about two weeks late due to the wettest March for a long time.
Day 2 was the individual competition. Conditions were far better (aside from an hour in the late afternoon) than the previous day. Gary Coakley returned two fish over 13” and was honoured with the Pratt Cup in top position. Soon to be twice Ireland capped, and DTAA Bon vivant Paul Delaney took second position. Dublin had the majority of the ten bags that were weighed in. Gary Coakley, with no shortage of well deserved pride, won the coveted Hatchet Cup from our host Padraig Traynor. This is a long standing grudge competition between Gary and Padraig and provides much entertainment to the anglers that take part in the Crossmolina weekend each year.
There were a number of DTAA members joining this weekend for the first time or who returned after a break. These included Edel and Marcus who each had a fish on either day and the O’Neill father and son team who were in the prizes on day two, and Ray one of very few anglers who returned fish on both days.
International angler, and DTAA’s most photographed angler, Paul ‘Diller’ Delaney won the Ronnie Miley trophy for the best performing Dublin angler across both days.
There were many funny moments and memories: Padraig slagging the Dubs who have 4 internationals this year including Captain Fran Nugent, for not showing up on day one! Another funny one only became evident at the weigh in and in the banter between anglers. On the Sunday, everyone thought that DTAA Captain Willie Scully has a four pound trout in Castlehill Bay. This news made it through to lads fishing over in Cullin (Diller, Colm, Stephen) and apparently the shoulders dropped, with the chance of beating that slim to none. What Willie had in fact caught was a pike of over ten pounds, which, having been photographed, was returned. Tom Timoney lost a great fish well over four pounds in Castlehill that came to a Connemara Black… the fish was on for 10 or 15 seconds before the line slackened. Somehow this beast had dislodged the hook. Tom was fit to be tied and went through the five stages of loss: shock disbelief anger regret and acceptance!
Overall an excellent weekend and the highlight of the angling calendar for many anglers. Huge thanks to Padraig and Orla for organising and hosting and for the Mayo anglers who boated many of us around the lakes and were generous with their good company and fishing knowledge. It was great too to see Johnny Warren again, the seasoned angler getting in the prizes on day two with a fish at 5.20pm. Tight lines and looking forward already to Crossmolina 2024.
