ANGLING NOTES:THE GREAT HALL in the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, Dublin, was packed to capacity last weekend at the annual presentation of awards for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) Ireland.
The ceremony was for the lifeboat service to thank the many individuals, clubs and associations who volunteered to collect funds for this worthy charity.
RNLI council member Peter Crowley said lifeboat volunteer crews launched 980 times last year and rescued 905 people. However, “Today I want to single out our fundraisers. Thanks to them, income raised reached €65.2 million across Ireland and the UK in 2011,” he said.
“In addition to the total raised by our fundraisers, legacies reached €122 million last year, thanks to those who remembered the RNLI in their wills. We estimate that six out of every 10 lifeboat launches are made possible through this.”
The guest of honour, RTÉ’s Bryan Dobson, presented the fundraising awards, which included bronze, silver and gold badges, service awards and supporter awards, including one to the Howth Angling Centre. It was the first time Howth AC received this award and followed a generous box collection and boat competition proceeds. On behalf of the centre, Derek Evans and Nicky Byrne accepted the award.
* An informal and constructive meeting attended by the Minister for Natural Resources, Fergus O’Dowd, took place at the fish counter at Islandbridge on the River Liffey in Dublin, last Monday. The meeting explored the possibility of getting Dublin District Salmon Anglers back fishing, albeit on a restricted catch-and-release basis for the 2013 season. A submission is to be sent to the Minister outlining the anglers’ position on the matter.
Those in attendance representing Inland Fisheries Ireland, were: Greg Forde, head of operations; William Walsh, director, Eastern River Basin District and Martin Kelly, inspector; Dublin and District Salmon Anglers John Horton and Declan Briggs, and David Whitren, observer.
* On Lough Conn, fishing out of Pontoon Bridge Hotel, Steve Wright, Dublin, had five trout on the Grey Wulff and Jean Regis Tarasewicz, France, also had five on a dry Mayfly. Geoffrey Cooke, Lincolnshire, enjoyed his week, boating 54 trout over six days with boatman Vinny O’Boyle, all on dry Wulff, best 1kg (2.25lb).
Stewart Lyon, Scotland, had six trout on his first day, with numerous smaller fish returned, all on dries. Finally, from Pontoon Bridge Hotel, Chris Watten, London, had four on his first day, best 0.9kg (2lb), also on dries.
* The Red Sedge or Murrough (below) is the largest of our sedges and easily identified due to its size. Sedge flies have two pairs of wings which, when at rest, are held along the body in the form of a ridge tent.
A characteristic is the long antennae, sometimes more than double the body length. The body is about 2cm in length and has a wing spread of approximately 5cm. On a moonlit night the sedge can provide great sport with a good buoyant artificial fly.
“As all sedge patterns are unmistakable with their roof-like wing over the top, it can be downsized to imitate a number of patterns,” says fly-tyer Jimmy Tyrrell. See irishflycraft@gmail.com and 086-8451257.
* Congratulations to the Irish team on winning the Home International Fly Fishing Competition on Lough Sheelin. In a hard-fought competition against strong opposition from Wales, Scotland and England, the team emerged victorious to claim the Graham Munroe Hall Memorial Cup for the first time since 2004.
This was one of the strongest Irish Trout Fly Fishing Association teams for many years, with the majority having previous international experience. It was also evident during practice sessions that the determination within the team could result in success.
Ireland’s team of 14 accounted for 34 trout, two fish clear of Wales, their nearest rivals. Arden Pollock achieved the best Irish basket with six trout. Results: 1, Ireland; 2, Wales; 3, Scotland; 4, England.