On Saturday, 6th July 2024, 26 avid anglers gathered at Tullaghan’s Shore, Lough Owel, for a friendly fly fishing trout competition: The Ian Rowand Trophy. The day was marked by highly variable weather, truly a case of “four seasons in one day.” Anglers faced heavy, biting rain showers with gusty winds, which later transitioned to calm, balmy, and sunny conditions, adding an extra layer of challenge and excitement to the event.

The competition kicked off at 11:00 AM with a 2 fish bag limit and a minimum size of 14 inches. By 6:00 PM, participants were ready for the weigh-in at Tullaghan’s

Winners:

• First Place: Declan McKibben, secured the top spot with two nice fish weighing a total of 6.025 lbs. Declan caught his fish after lunch on the Dolan’s side of Srudarra, and about an hour on the Lady’s side.
• Second Place: James Doyle, with a great bag of two fine fish weighing 5.755 lbs.
• Third Place: Dave Canning, who landed two fish weighing 5.590 lbs.

• Special Weight Prize: Willie Scully (1.8 Lbs)
• Heaviest Fish: Jim Keeshan, caught the heaviest fish of the day, weighing 4.685 lbs, caught very late in the day.

Winning Fly!
The winning fly was a silver daddy, one of John O’Neill’s unique creations, which proved to be highly effective during the competition.

Overall not a bad fishing day:
Out of the 26 anglers, 15 successfully caught fish, which was considered a good result for the day, reflecting the excellent conditions and skill level of the participants.

Gary Coakley officiated with the prize giving.

Full results below:

Eoin Dunne’s 2 fish and 4 points now takes him into first place on the overall Angler of the Year leaderboard with 22 points. With just 3 competitions remaining this season, it’s still all to play for with Cathal on 19 and Gerry on 18 points:

Thanks as usual to Gerry Heaslip for arranging the boats and to Declan and Tom for organising. Tom was not able to join us for this competition but we look forward to seeing him at the next one on 27th July.