At the recently held World Youth Fly Fishing Championship in Donegal and Tyrone, Mallow Trout Anglers juvenile member Josh Lane was the proud winner of a gold medal as part of the Irish team under the auspices of the Trout Anglers Federation of Ireland (TAFI) which came out on top among teams from ten countries from around the world.
As if that wasn’t enough for this talented young angler, Josh went on to qualify for the Four Nations Championship between England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales under the auspices of the Irish Trout Fly Fishing Association (ITFFA), and to his immense credit he won another gold medal as part of the winning Irish side. This championship was fished on Lough Lene, Co. Westmeath, on 23rd July.
Both international contests were fished under very difficult conditions due to the extremely hot temperatures over the past number of weeks.
For Josh and his team mates this has been an unprecedented achievement by any standard in any sporting event. In angling terms, under the World Fly Fishing body of FIPS Mouche, this would be the equivalent of the Olympics for anglers from all over the world and was introduced for juvenile anglers as far back as 2003.
The Four Nations Championship for England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales goes back decades for juvenile anglers.
All International competitions have strict qualifying rules for countries participating.
Munster Youth Championship
Following the recent Munster Youth Championship held on the River Bride, club members Will Fitzgerald, Josh Lane and Anthony Buckley qualified to fish the TAFI Nationals on the Clare river on Saturday, 15th August.
President of the club Kevin Healy said he wished to convey many congratulations to Josh, Will and Anthony on behalf of all the members. He also felt that with young anglers such as these coming up through the ranks that the club looks to be in good hands for the future.
Fly-casting tuition
Mallow Trout Anglers is currently holding fly-casting tuition for young boys and girls on the local river in the town. The fly-tying classes will restart later in the year when the fishing season has closed. The club welcomes all interested juveniles accompanied by a parent or guardian. Enquiries to Sean Bowen at 087 694 2205.