Team Ireland with Mallow trout angler Aaron McCann, 3rd from left in front row.
The 32nd Four Nations Youth International Fly Fishing competition took place on the stunningly beautiful Lough Lein in Killarney on Wednesday August 3rd. This comp-etition is fished from drifting boats with two anglers in each boat and a boatman controlling the boat. The competition is fished from 10am until 5pm, and Aaron McCann, who is a member of the Mallow Trout Anglers, earned his second cap for his country.
This competition is contested between Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales each year. The four teams arrived at the Randles Court Hotel in Killarney on Sunday afternoon, July 31st. Monday and Tuesday were the two official practice days on the lake before the competition proper on Wednesday. This was greatly helped by the co-operation of boatmen who were mainly from local clubs in the Munster region.
Each team consisted of 14 anglers, all under 18, including two girls on the Welsh team and one girl on the English team. During the two days of practice, each team worked out their tactics, flies and preferred fishing areas. On Monday and Tuesday evening all teams were busy tying flies for the competition and preparing their fly lines and tackle boxes. Team coaches worked late into the night before the competition to make sure that all anglers had the right flies in their boxes for the task at hand.
A boat draw was held on Tuesday evening in the function room of the Dromhall Hotel which is next door to the Randles Court and owned by the Randles family. This was attended by all coaches, anglers and supporting family members. Many of the visiting teams’ families took this opportunity to make the week their main summer holiday. When each angler was drawn with his boat partner, the two of them came to the front and shook hands.
On the morning of the competition all the teams marched down to the lake, led by a piper, where they met their boatman and loaded their fishing gear into the boats. However, it was touch and go whether the competition would go ahead as it had gotten very windy and a meeting had to be called with the boatmen to see if it was safe to proceed. After checking with Met Éir-eann, it was established that no small craft warning had been issued and it was agreed to go ahead. How-ever, each boatman was advised to use his discretion as to which part of the lake was safe in the event of the weather deter-iorating. The knowledge and judgement of the local boatmen was critical in this respect.
After the boats had pulled away from the shore it was a waiting game to see who emerged victorious. The competition was run on a strictly catch-and-release basis with the boatmen carefully measuring each fish with the measures provided and recording the size on the angler’s score card, with only brown trout over 22cm to count. At around 4.30pm the coaches, managers and family members started to assemble at the shoreline, anxiously waiting to see how their team got on.
At 5pm, with all anglers and boatmen safely back on shore, they assembled for the weigh-in where each angler individually handed in his score card. The scores were recorded under the watchful eye of a scrutineer from each country. When all scores were totalled up, it was the Irish team that emerged as winner. There were great scenes of jubilation when this was announced, with the winners going for their ‘customary’ dip in the lake.
Results were: Ireland – Gold with 82 trout,
Scotland – Silver with 64 trout,
England – Bronze with 52 trout and Wales received the wooden spoon with 35 trout.
The top rod was Ciaran Flaherty from Co. Galway with a total bag of 12 trout. Biggest Irish fish prize went to team captain Jack Egan from Cavan. The overall individual and winner of the coveted Brown Bowl was the top Irish angler, Ciaran Flaherty. This was a fantastic performance by Ciaran who was earning his first cap for Ireland. Local angler Aaron McCann performed very well with six fish on his card. The competition was fished under very difficult conditions due to the strong wind.
The Irish team had spent several training weekends on the lake over the months preceding the competition. Team manager Frank Dempsey said that a huge effort had been put in by all involved and that it couldn’t have been done without the help of many local anglers from the Cork and Kerry regions who loaned their boats, engines and their valuable know-ledge and experience and who volunteered to boat over these training weekends. Indeed Frank said it would have been impossible to hold such a competition without the help of locals, especially the boatmen in such difficult conditions. He also mentioned that Susan Randles from the Randles Court Hotel and the Dromhall Hotel had left no stone unturned to make sure that all of the teams were extremely well catered for.
The gala dinner on the final night was a spectacle to see with all teams led into the banquet hall by a local piper. When the dinner was over, each country’s team captain made a short speech and presented the medals to their team mates. Then all the individual prizes were awarded for each country’s top angler and biggest fish. Irish team manager Frank Dempsey said that there was a great camaraderie between the countries and the feedback from visiting teams, managers, coaches and families was extremely positive. Next year, Wales will be the hosts with Ireland defending their title.