How time flies. Almost a year has passed since I first read The Sound of Many Waters. I remember the occasion well. While on holiday in Spain I took time to read and enjoy the recollections of one man's adventures through a lifetime of angling.
Because, as I said in my review then, I too have enjoyed 50 years of angling and lived through much the same experiences as Peter Powell.
From the early crab catching days in Dublin; progressing to the little trout of Lough Dan in Wicklow; down south for the conger and mackerel at Dunmore East; on to the magic of Mask, Sheelin, Corrib; settling for his beloved Lough Derg and all the while interspersed with family life and his working career.
The 20 chapters reveal how Peter Powell felt compelled to put pen to paper and tell of his experiences. He has succeeded admirably. As the first 1,000 copies have all but gone, Peter has decided to have a second run printed. The Sound of Many Waters is published by the Fieldgate Press and retails at £9.95. To obtain a free copy, see Reader's Offer in today's Irish Times.
Enough is enough. Members of the Irish Pike Society (IPS) are up in arms about the serious decline in pike numbers, and say there is evidence to suggest pike will be extinct in some Irish waters within five years, unless a united policy is formulated to tackle the crisis.
Meetings at ministerial level, messages on Websites and talks about talks have yielded nothing. The IPS feels the time for action is now before the situation becomes irretrievable. It has called an Open Pike Forum in the Greville Arms Hotel, Mullingar, next Saturday at 2 p.m. For seating arrangements, please contact Pat Byrne at 087-237 7350 or Julian Terry at 061-921843.
The new-look beach at Bray in Co Wicklow produced some good sport for 17 members of Howth SAC last weekend. Recent refurbishment work has seen the "propping up" of the promenade with 175,000 tons of sand (taken from the nearby Codling Bank). This, in turn, has attracted a wide variety of species and some quality fish.
Gerry Clarke took top position with 18 fish. Species included codling to 49 cm (about 4 lb), turbot to 29 cm, flounder to 34 cm, whiting, coalfish and rockling.
The first salmon of the season on the Moy was caught on Monday by Albert Bradley Attymass on a worm at the back of the boxes in Ballina.
The 10th and final pike championship qualifier was contested on Lough Ramor last Sunday. Thirty fish were returned between 113 anglers and the top five now join 45 previous qualifiers to compete in the final on Sunday, February 25th.
Results: 1, L. Mulvanny (Virginia), 6 fish; 2, S. McDonald (Ardee), 2f.; 3, P. Rodgers (Trim), 1f.; 4, A. McKenna (Keady), 1f.; 5, P. O'Flynn (DPA), 2f.
Correspondence and fishy photographs to The Irish Times, D'Olier Street, Dublin 2. Fax: 679 1881. Email: angling@irishtimes.ie