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.