Angling Notes: The World Cup Trout Fly Fishing Championships is back on track following a meeting last Friday week in Ballinrobe, Co Mayo, which gave the thumps-up for the competition to continue following cancellation last year due to lack of boats.
New safety regulations required owners to declare their boats as lake worthy if reward for service was intended. Verification required signing a declaration form to confirm adequate safety standards. Unfortunately, this confirmation did not materialise.
Hired boat owners (ghillies) insisted their boats met all the safety requirements and their vast knowledge of Mask formed a vital cog in the competition.
It was a pity about the cancellation, particularly as the year 2003 marked 50 years of the world cup and arrangements to celebrate the occasion had been at an advanced stage.
None more so than the wonderful printed record compiled by Denis Kelleher depicting each of the 50 competitions. Entitled, Another World On Mask, the 150-page dossier is packed with anecdotes from humble beginnings in 1953, when 164-home based anglers attended, rising to 673 in 2002 with a strong flavouring of tourist anglers.
The year 1954 will be remembered for the Ford Popular car offered as first prize by sponsor, J. Bourke & Son, Castlebar, and in 1977, Jaws actor Robert Shaw made a guest appearance at the festival. Shaw resided at nearby Tourmakeady at the time.
Anyway, back to more mundane matters. The purpose of the latest meeting was to seek a consensus between boatmen and anglers in order to get this wonderful event back on an even keel.
Following contributions from boating and angling interests from South Mayo and North Galway areas, a motion by Tom Byrne, Partry and 2002 World Cup champion, read:
"The exemption regulation under the amended Merchant Shipping Bill is acceptable in its present format as it exempts anglers from licensing requirements and establishes compliance with safety requirements outlined in the legislation."
A proviso stated that any subsequent alteration to the current regulation would be resisted by all sectors of the angling community. The motion was then put to the floor and passed unanimously.
Organisers have wasted no time in confirming July 29th to August 2nd as the dates for this year's World Cup Fly Championships and are seeking sponsorship for the event.
Some interesting background has emerged relating to the first salmon of the season from the Galway Weir Fishery as mentioned in last week's Angling Notes.
The 9.5lb-tagged fish was reared to the smolt stage at the Western Fisheries Board Cong Hatchery in Co Mayo before release in March 2002. The microscopic tag reading of 1/47/92 signified the fish came from a batch of 10,441 smolts of grilse progeny, released at Corrib Village, Galway, on March 21 st, 2002.
Having grown from 63g to 4.3kg in the intervening two years, the appearance of the female fish so early in the season augurs well for a good spring run, according to Tom McDermott from the Marine Institute.
He added, "Our thanks are extended to Cong Hatchery manager Mat Varley, Tony McQuinn, Paul Reynolds, Marie Varley and Tom Lydon for completing the onerous task of tagging these fish.
Lough Corrib will host the first league competition for the Irish Ladies Flyfishing Association (ILFA) on Saturday, April 3rd, 2004. Competitors are requested to meet at Greenfields, near Headford, Co Galway, before the starting time of 11 a.m.
Entry fee is 60 (to cover costs of boat and ghillie hire). Closing date for entries is Thursday, March 25th.
Thanks to a kind donation from Burke's Boats, Ballinrobe, Co Mayo, the ILFA is holding a raffle for a 19-foot Anglers' Fancy boat. Tickets, at 15 per book of six, can be obtained from Julie McGeever (087) 9322138 or Jean Johnston 0044 7774 756674.
The Loughs Agency is holding its first ever angling fair in Prehen, Victoria Road, Londonderry next Saturday and Sunday. The show commences each day at 10 a.m. and admission is free. Some of the best-known names in angling will be demonstrating their skills. The impressive Riverwatch Interpretive Centre will also be available for viewing.
For further details, tel (028) 71 342100.