Crossmolina 2024, C’mon the Dubs!

Weather conditions are close to perfect, if a little chilly, for this May bank holiday’s annual weekender with the Lough Conn and Cullin Anglers. A score of eager DTAA members have been looking forward with great optimism to what for many of us is the best fishing and craic weekend of the year.

It didn’t go our way last year (you can read it about it here) so the Dublin side has been in training all Winter, tying flies, discussing tactics, renewing gear and day dreaming about Lough Conn.

As usual we are grateful to our generous hosts Padraig and Orla who really push the boat out (excuse the pun) to make us feel most welcome and to the Conn and Cullin anglers who guide us around the lake for the weekend, putting up with our lies and excuses and putting us over fish. We appreciate the effort they put in and we can only hope that our good humour and company can in some way reward their patience! DTAA International angler Dave Canning captains the Dubs this year. C’mon the Dubs!

Anna Livia Cup 2024

Fished again this year at Bohernabreena rather than the traditional River Liffey venue, 15 DTAA members took part in the Anna Livia Cup

Plenty of stockies to be had as well as wild browns. Gary Coakley finished in top place with 2 fine fish for 5.24 Lbs, Gerry Heaslip came second and Alan Doherty in third place. Special weight prize went to James Doyle. Variable winds made fishing difficult at times, and there was little fly life till later in the day. Overall the fishing was good with two over 3Lbs.

This win puts Gary into joint 2nd place (with Eoin Dunne) on the overall leaderboard for Angler of the Year with two competitions down and five more to go. DTAA Secretary Cathal McDonnell has a nice 4 point lead at this stage but there are many more opportunities for other competitors to shorten the gap over the remainder of the season :

Corcoran Cup: 6 DTAA Anglers through

The Leinster Qualifier, also known as the Corcoran Cup was fished yesterday in bright sunshine and no wind on Lough Owel. DTAA member Brian Conway had an amazing fish in excess of 10 pounds and took top position (10.3 Lbs). Also qualifying were President Fran Nugent, John O’Neill, Willie Scully, Dave Canning and Secretary Cathal McDonnell.

Well done and congratulations to Brian, Fran, John, Willie, Dave and Cathal.

Pasker 2024: Eoin Dunne is back!

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.

Lough Owel Map from IFI

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:

Great turnout for 2024 AGM to celebrate Gerry’s 4th Angler of the Year Win!

37 of us attended this years AGM last Friday 26th January at the Spa hotel. It was an opportunity to catch up with club mates and friends, to celebrate the angling and winners of the previous season’s competitions and to look forward to the season ahead. This was the highest turnout for an AGM since 2017 which is very encouraging. Pictured below are Sean Goulding and Noel Ross.

Outgoing DTAA President Gerry Heaslip chaired the meeting with DTAA Honorary Secretary Cathal McDonnell taking us through the agenda, previous minutes, motions and nominations for committee members and officers for then coming year. As Gerry has served his term as President, Fran Nugent was selected as incoming President. We thanked Gerry for his commitment to DTAA and his outstanding leadership as President.

Brian Coghlan, (Research Officer with the IFI National Barriers Programme) gave a very informative presentation on the topic of artificial barriers in Irish rivers and their negative impact on the river ecosystems and the fish in particular. This presentation is available here.

DTAA Competitions Secretary Tom Hipwell was unable to attend the meeting and Gary Coakley very ably delivered a short address on behalf of Tom, recognising the value and importance of the DTAA competition calendar to the social life of the association.

Having taken on the position during the AGM, DTAA President Fran Nugent awarded the trophies to those DTAA anglers who won the competitions during the year as well as the honours of angler of the year, best juvenile angler and the Ronnie Miley trophy.

Gerry Heaslip was the angler of the year. This is Gerry’s 4th time winning the David Ring Cup and steps into 2nd place in DTAA folklore on his own now. Fran Nugent had an amazing 7 wins with Gary Coakley and Paul Dunne on 3 wins each. This competition has been running since 1985
and the first winner of this coveted trophy was the one and only
Noel Ross.

Full details of competition winners and other laureates can be found in the 2023 Annual Report here.

John O’Neill, Heaviest Fish
JP Johnson, best Juvenile
Angler of the year, Gerry Heaslip
Declan and group
Ronnie Miley Trophy Winner
McCarron Winner Cathal McDonnell
ElveryRyder Winner Gary Coakley
ElveryRyder Winner Gary Coakley
Ian Rowand Trophy Winner Gerry Heaslip
LM Byrne winner PJ O’Driscoll
Pasker Cup winner PJ O’Driscoll
The Silverware

As we anticipate the opening of the season (March in most cases, but mid February for those brave souls who will head out on Conn), you might be interested in the DTAA fly tying group on Whatsapp which is busily sharing patterns and techniques and inspiring us to get the vice out and get the fly boxes stocked for our planned outings. If you are interested in fly tying be sure to reach out to Tom Smith or Tom Hipwell.

Christmas Outing 2023

DTAA had our annual Christmas outing in Laois Angling Centre yesterday with 14 anglers catching and releasing 53 fish. The weather wasn’t too bad with only a small drizzle shower during the day. Our winner on the day was Brian Conway with a tremendous 15 fish, while Matt Clarke took the second spot with 11 fish and 3rd place for DTAA President Gerry Heaslip with 7 fish.

A big thank you to all who took part to make it a very enjoyable day. Also a big thank you to John at the angling centre for his prize voucher which was won by Alan Doherty in 4th place.
Looking forward to seeing you all in the new season tight lines for 2024  Gerry

Fran looking very comfortable in this last picture while John works on tempting the fish.

Boating Safety

For Biosecurity information and guidance please see this article:

Boating Safety

Always wear a life jacket when boating and ensure that it is working correctly and serviced as per the manufacturers guidelines. (see also https://watersafety.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Personal-Flotation-Device-Leaflet.pdf)

The most important advice we can give is that you should know the lake you are going out on.  Do not boat on a lake if you are unfamiliar with the area you are going to. Always take a person with knowledge of the lake with you before you set out.

Secondly, try to avoid emergency situations before they can occur by acting sensibly.  Once an emergency occurs on the water it can quickly become very serious and life-threatening.  Bad weather is a major contributor to boat accidents, do not go out in bad weather or if bad weather is forecasted.

Always be prepared for engine failure. If you would not be able to control the boat on the oars, then it is not suitable to go out.

The main dangers:

  1. Man overboard: This is a serious emergency; it is almost impossible to retrieve a fully clothed adult into the boat without the danger of capsizing.  A person who has been in the water is in serious danger of hypothermia.  Once the person is saved, leave the lake and seek medical treatment as soon as possible, no matter how minor you think the situation is.
  2. Capsizing: Will normally result in a man overboard situation as well as putting the boat out of action – this is extremely serious and the best advice is to avoid situations where a capsize is even remotely possible (bad weather, falling over when moving in the boat, overloaded boat, collisions etc.)
  3. Collision with submerged objects (rocks mainly): Can cause serious injury to occupants or capsize the boat.
  4. Hypothermia: leave the water if any occupant is shivering from the cold or becomes wet.
  5. Propeller injury:  Engine propellers are deadly, do no cruise around persons in the water!  The only safe engine is one that’s switched off.

Before you go on the water:

  1. Make sure that you consult the weather forecast, especially the wind strength.  Be aware of weather warnings that may be active. Check inland lakes forecast on www.met.ie .
  2. Check water conditions before you launch – definitely do not go out if you see spray being blown off the waves, but do not wait until conditions get this extreme.  Met Eireann issues a small-craft warnings for Beaufort Scales 5 and above (wind greater than 30km/hr) and it is recommended that club members exercise extreme care well before the weather even approaches these conditions.
  3. Ensure that you are warmly dressed and that you wear appropriate footwear
  4. Make sure that someone knows where you plan to go and how long you will be on the water
  5. Make sure you have some means of communication (mobile phone), it is charged and waterproofed.
  6. Ensure your engine is properly serviced in good running order
  7. Ensure that your engine is securely attached to the boat and that you have used a safety chain.
  8. Make sure that the engine kill-switch is attached to the helmsman.
  9. Make sure you have sufficient petrol, and it is of the correct type (e.g. 2-stroke oil), make sure that your fuel tank bleed valve is open.
  10. Essential boat equipment:
    1. Set of oars
    1. Bailing bucket
    1. Length of rope (preferably a floating rope )
  11. Bail out the boat and remove any slime from the floor of the boat to prevent slipping
  12. Make sure that there is no rope trailing from the boat which may catch in the propeller. Use rope secured to the bow of the boat that is no longer than the boat so it can not catch in the propeller.
  13. Pack things neatly in the boat to avoid tripping over your equipment
  14. Make sure your boat partner knows how to use your engine; you may need them to take over in an emergency.

As you go on the water perform the following initial checks:

  1. Ensure that your engine is working correctly, if you suspect any issues with your engine return to shore.
  2. Observe that engine cooling water flow from the impeller is working.
  3. After a few minutes, recheck the engine clamps just in case engine vibrations may have loosened the clamps.
  4. Make sure that you have read water conditions correctly from shore and return to shore if it is worse than you first thought.
  5. Ensure boatman and partner keep the boat trim, particularly when motoring the boat in heavy weather.

General boating advice:

  1. Do not overload the boat, generally we should not have more than two anglers in the boat.
  2. Do not stand up in the boat unnecessarily.  When moving in the boat, keep your centre of gravity low.  Warn your partner if you intend to move or lean over the side of the boat so they can counterbalance if necessary.  It is best to bend over and make sure you are holding onto the boat with both your hands and then only move one of your four limbs at a time when moving in the boat.
  3. Ensure weight is distributed evenly in the boat.  Avoid too much weight on one side of the boat as well as having weight too far forward or too far back.
  4. Travel slowly, particularly in areas you are not familiar with or when approaching shore. ‘If you think you are travelling slow enough – slow down!’
  5. In high waves, try to travel into the waves, and do not travel along the waves.
  6. Take care when you are travelling downwind in heavy waves as the waves may cause the boat to broach (turn sideways) and capsize.
  7. Adjust your speed when in heavy weather do not go too fast or too slow, concentrate on meeting each wave at the correct angle, speed and under the correct power.
  8. If stopping on shore for a short while, make sure that your boat is properly secured, particularly if the wind is blowing away from the shore.
  9. When underway, make sure that you are on constant lookout for other boats or markers indicating underwater hazards, a good way to do this is to move the boat slightly from port to starboard and back as you travel as this allows you to scan the water ahead.
  10. When possible, always approach a shoreline from the leeward side of an island or a point.

When you get back to shore:

  1. Secure the boat properly:
    1. Make sure that you have pulled it up sufficiently
    1. Ensure that the boat is securely tethered
    1. Support the sides of the boat with tyres and ensure that the boat cannot bash against other boats.
    1. Ensure that the boat and oars are securely locked and the keys stowed
  2. Remove all your belongings, litter and discarded fishing line.

Beaufort Scale – Water Conditions

Wind ForceStateAppearance on the Water (Lake Conditions)Wind km/hrWind Knots
0CalmWater surface smooth and mirror-likeLess than 2Less than 1
1Light AirScaly ripples, no foam crests3-61-3
2Light BreezeSmall wavelets, crests glassy, no breaking7-114-6
3Gentle BreezeLarge wavelets, crests begin to break, scattered whitecaps12-197-10
4Moderate BreezeSmall waves 25cm. becoming longer, numerous whitecaps20-3011-16
5Fresh BreezeModerate waves 35-50 cm taking longer form, many whitecaps, some spray31-3917-21
6Strong BreezeLarger waves 50-75cm, whitecaps common, more spray40-5022-27
7Near GaleWater heaps up, waves 1m, white foam streaks off breakers51-6128-33
8GaleModerately high >1m waves of greater length, edges of crests begin to break into spindrift, foam blown in streaks62-7434-40
9Strong GaleHigh waves 1.5m, water begins to roll, dense streaks of foam, spray may reduce visibility75-8741-47
10StormVery high waves (2m) with overhanging crests, sea white with densely blown foam, heavy rolling, lowered visibility88-10248-55
11Violent StormExceptionally high (>2m) waves, foam patches cover sea, visibility more reduced103-11756-63
12HurricaneAir filled with foam, waves over 2.5m, water completely white with driving spray, visibility greatly reducedGreater than 11864+

Please see these additional safety resources:

Angling safely
Angling

Biosecurity

Guidance for members

Biosecurity prevents both the introduction and spread of diseases in the environment. We strongly recommend that all DTAA members familiarise with these Biosecurity guidelines and practice good Biosecurity when angling or enjoying our fisheries.

What is it?

Biosecurity is the prevention of disease-causing agents or invasive species entering or leaving any place where they can pose a risk to plants, animals or humans. Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) are easily transferred from one watercourse to another from angling tackle, boats, protective gear and clothing. The main causes for concern are the unintentional introduction of disease, invasive species plant or animals, which could lead to the watercourse becoming infected with the spores from an invasive plant or animal pathogens. Both pose different implications and are hard to remediate and eradicate completely – thus dramatically changing an area that may become unsuitable for recreation activities, such as fishing.

Biosecurity in the field

Biosecurity is paramount when out in the natural environment, especially on our watercourses. The transfer of diseases or invasive species from one location to another can happen easily. For example, by an angler fishing on one watercourse who then moves on to a different watercourse without disinfecting his/her gear. The likelihood of cross-contamination is high.

How to protect our environment

Avoid touching your face or eating food when fishing. It is important to clean your hands properly after fishing activities and when around stagnant water for at least 20 seconds under warm, soapy water. If this is not possible on site, use anti-bacterial gel or hand sanitiser with at least 60-90% alcohol to be effective.

To ensure the non-transfer of Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) and harmful fish pathogens into our watercourses, please make sure to INSPECT all your angling equipment, wellies, waders, and boots for attached plant or animal material before you leave any inland watercourse. If found, REMOVE and safely DISPOSE of such matter and material. Always CLEAN and DISINFECT your equipemnt (e.g. 1% solution of Virkon® Aquatic or another proprietary disinfectant product) at the water’s edge or as soon as possible after leaving. If no disinfectant is available, make sure all your equipment and clothing dries fully for at least 24 hours before you return to a watercourse. The use of felt soles is discouraged because they are known to transport aquatic nuisance species between waterways. There is no way of disinfecting them properly due to the material with which they are made.

Following a biosecurity routine before and after your every visit shows good practice to other anglers and naturalists, who visit such natural places regularly.

Remember: always Inspect, Remove, Dispose, Clean and Disinfect before entering and exiting a watercourse.

Note: this post was copied from the IFI website from this address:

https://www.fisheriesireland.ie/what-we-do/education-and-outreach/safeguarding-and-governance/biosecurity

IFI provide excellent information and other resources. Please visit their website at www.ifi.ie

McCarron Cup 2023

29 DTAA anglers set out in good conditions on Lough Owel last Saturday for the final competition of the season.

Aside from a squally wind at time, conditions were near perfect and 25 anglers return fish. 34 fish were weighed in.

(the following map is from IFI at fishingireland.com)

We set out from Tullaghans with the south easterly wind giving the opportunity for several boats to drift down onto Srudarra. Fish were pitching and coming to the presented flies (predominantly wets) and some anglers caught here in the first hour. One or two boats moved into the bay inside of Srudarra Island while others continued to drift towards Dolan’s where there was a good showing of trout in the first half of the day. In fact, fish were caught all along the western shore down past the graveyard and into the corner at the Cornfields.

DTAA Honorary Secretary Cathal McDonnell won the day with 2 fish for 5.79 lbs, safely ahead of Brian Conway who measured 2 fish for 4.885 lbs who was just ahead of Tony McGrattan. Gary Coakley was in 4th place and Gerry Heaslip in 5th. Full results are in the table below:

The fishing was followed by the results and prize giving in the Greville Arms hotel in Mullingar with those who could attend staying on for the meal afterwards. The running order was different from last year with Ireland taking on South Africa in the Rugby World Cup in Paris from 8pm.

The hotel set us up for dinner in the main dining room where many of us where delighted to be sat in front of a big screen to enjoy Ireland’s nail biting and gruelling victory over the Spring Boks. Thanks to Martin McGorian and Brendan Murray for the use of their boats on Saturday and to Kilbride Angling Clubs for the use of boats throughout the season.

There was no upset in the Angler of the Year leaderboard, with DTAA President Gerry Heaslip successfully defending his advantage and achieving a stunning 14 point lead over closest rival Tom Hipwell.