Archive for category: News

World class lure anglers arrive at Lough Erne

The 15^th edition of the FIPS-ed World Championships Predator Boat Angling with Lures takes place next week and anglers from across the World have arrived to Co. Fermanagh in Northern Ireland.

The Upper Lough Erne is the venue chosen by the National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland, NCFFI honoured to be hosting the competition for the World Freshwater Angling body FIPSed Fédération Internationale de la Pêche Sportive en Eau Douce. The destination for the championships is the Share Discovery Village just outside the town of Lisnaskea in County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. And here several of the teams who have arrived a week ahead of the championships for familiarisation are busy sampling the magnificent angling Lough Erne offers to predator seekers.

The NCFFI is delighted to support Share, a registered charity promoting social inclusion, education and the environment through water and land-based activities choosing its unique location on the tranquil shores of the Upper Lough Erne as the base for the competition.

Speaking at the launch event, Councillor Warrington said:

“I am delighted that the World Championship Predator Boat Angling with Lures is taking place on Upper Lough Erne this year. The vast expanse of waterways in our District provide excellent opportunities and facilities for water recreation activities including angling. The Council is pleased to support this event to showcase all that our District has to offer and provide a welcome boost to our local economy. I extend a warm welcome to all the competitors and wish you every success for the competition.”

The championship programme includes two days official training ahead of the three day competition to take place on Wednesday 3^rd to Saturday 5^th of October. The cream of the worlds lure anglers will represent 15 nations coming from across the globe to include the USA and Ukraine. Teams will consist of 4 anglers from each nation fishing in pairs for pike and perch from boats using only artificial lures.

The event starts with an official opening ceremony on Tuesday 1^st October at 6pm with fishing activities arranged for young anglers along with a BBQ ahead of the opening ceremony at 6pm. Spectators are welcome to the village to witness the anglers returning from fishing at 3pm daily.

CEO of Share, Darragh Collins and his team are putting on a warm welcome for the anglers throughout the week. Darragh says:-

“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome the 2024 World Predator Lure Fishing competition to Share Discovery Village. This prestigious event highlights the very best in sport fishing and brings together top competitors from across the globe. We are honoured that Share has been chosen as the destination for such an important occasion in the fishing calendar, and it is a testament to the incredible natural beauty and world-class facilities we offer. On behalf of the entire team at Share, I extend our warmest welcome to all participants and wish every competitor the very best of luck. We look forward to an exciting and memorable competition and express our deepest thanks to the organisers for selecting Share Discovery Village as the home for this year’s event.”

For more information, please visit https://www.ncffi.ie/world-predatorlure-2024/

World Club Champions Lurgan CAC defend feeder title and come home with Silver!

Just over a year ago two clubs made history at Lough Mucko; and this month they stood together once again to represent Team Ireland and defend their titles in Portugal.

The 7th edition of the championships was played out on the Odivelas dam in Alvito, Portugal where the teams undertook five days of training in temperatures reaching 35’ fishing for carp, Carassius, catfish, barbel and bleak.

CM Lakelands Feeder Club the 2023 bronze medallists finished day one of the competition in 10^th position with the current World Champions Lurgan Coarse Angling Club finishing in 12^th, just half a point between the two teams. It was a great day  A great day for Steven Whyte, who achieved a section win at his first overseas championships against a field of the best feeder anglers in the world. James O’Doherty also won his section for CM Lakelands and David Herron was second in section for Lurgan.

But it was a fantastic performance from Lurgan CAC on day two that saw them win the entire leg 2 match with 18 points that catapulted them to the podium and the runner-up position.

LURGAN VDE SQUAD

David Herron, Philip Hartin, Kevin Maguire, Jim McAllister, Johnny McKinley, Geoffrey McKinley, Willy Gracey

Sponsors: FIELDMOTION, Numac Fabrications Ltd, MRL Architects

CM Lakelands finished the championship in a very credible 10^th position with 33 points against a field of 28 of the world best feeder clubs.

CM LAKELANDS SQUAD

Darren Fairhurst, Steven Whyte, Piotr Horbinski, James O’Doherty, Brenton Sweeney, Paul Leese, Mariusz Kilian, Adrian VD Heever

Sponsors: Tormey Crash Repairs, Windsor Car Sales, Marcel Van Den Eynde Ireland

It’s the first time two teams have participated in the championships overseas and the NCFFI is proud to support the entry costs of over €3000 plus qualifier entry fees of €1000. The clubs are delighted to have the additional support of local businesses lowering the cost of travel for all taking part, some of whom were fishing on the world stage overseas for the first time.

A great day for Irish angling as NCFFI Feeder Team Ireland win the World Championships and Individual Gold in Mérida, Spain. Team Ireland smashed their way to the podium and are World Champions ten years on from the team’s silver medal finish on Inniscarra Lake, Co. Cork. In a double victory Michael Buchwalder achieved individual world championship status just two years on from his silver medal in Belgium 2022.

NCFFI Feeder Manager Brenton Sweeney’s squad, currently ranked 8th in the world includes individuals at the top of their game, Michael Buchwalder, Johnny McKinley, James O’Doherty, Charlie Richards and Rory Dunne who made his debut on the team this year. Team Ireland faced some of the World’s best match anglers from the 20 nations teams including top ranking  teams England, Hungary and the Netherlands.

Brenton Sweeney says:- “It has long been my ambition to achieve a medal for the team overseas, a first for Team Ireland, and thanks to the dedication of the squad, and the hard work of Assistant Manager Nigel Houldsworth and our runners on the bank it’s a dream come true.  Thank you to the NCFFI, sponsors Van Den Eyne Ireland and all our supporters back home.”

The efforts of the NCFFI and all involved in Irish angling are starting to pay off. This is the first Gold medal for Team Ireland and the first medal achieved overseas. Only a year ago on Lough Muckno in County Monaghan NCFFI clubs representing Team Ireland, Lurgan AC and CM Lakelands became Club World Champions and Bronze medallists in feeder fishing respectively. Prior to this it was 2010 when the float fishing club team Triana Image Dublin took Bronze in Portugal.

NCFFI Chair, Jack Tisdall says:- “Congratulations to our manager Brenton Sweeney and his feeder fishing team on this truly historic occasion, winning team and individual gold in Spain.  Over the past number of year’s Brenton has dedicated himself to raising the profile of feeder fishing in Ireland and the NCFFI are delighted to have played its part in supporting our teams.  This result is just reward for all the hard work and personal sacrifice made by the team management, bank support and the team members over a number of World Championships which had already seen Team Ireland Feeder rank in the top ten while competing against fully funded nations with professional anglers. Brenton all I can say is that we are all really proud of your achievement, may there be many more to come.”

Individually, Michael’s Gold medal comes 50 years on from when Bobby Smithers famously became Ireland’s first World Champion in 1984, followed only by Charlie Richards who became the Under 20 World Champion, float fishing in 2022.

Squad members Charlie Richards and Michael Buchwalder are now Ireland’s only anglers to hold the gold medal in both individual and team categories. Johnny McKinley is the first ever recipient of two gold team medals in Irish coarse angling sport.

The venue, the Rio Guadiana at Mérida has been good to Irish anglers, Ireland’s Cathal Hughes previously won the Silver Medal here in 2010. This fish filled river produced plenty of carp and carassio in weights of 20 to 40kg for the anglers in competition. The odd catfish was caught with bleak and barbel also present.

Team Ireland finished day one with 30 points and a total weight 150.540. Rory Dunne making his debut on the team finished second in sector B and the youngest member of the squad at 19yrs Charlie Richards had 57 fish for the team’s top weight of 36.900 finishing 5^th in Sector A. 2022 Silver medalist Michael Buchwalder finished 3^rd to two former World Champions in Sector B. James O’Doherty Sector D and Johnny McKinley Sector E finished 4^th and 16^th respectively. A second impressive day saw Michael finish first in sector D with James 4^th and Charlie 5^th in sectors C and A. It was a better day for Johnny McKinley as he finished 7^th in E sector and Rory Dunne 12^th in B resulting in an overall points score of 59 and a total weight of 315.340kg. Lithuania finished just one point behind with 304.320kg for Silver and in the Bronze position, Germany 62pts and 303.670kg.

The National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland, NCFFI as the Governing Body for Coarse and Predator Angling, as members of Confédération Internationale de la Pêche Sportive and FIPSed Fédération Internationale de la Pêche Sportive en Eau Douce (www.fipsed.com) are the designated body for freshwater angling sport on the island or Ireland and present teams in several disciplines to the world stage annually. Playing an important role in Irish angling tourism the federation bids to host World Championships, having successfully run 6 world and 1 European championship on home soil since 2014.

A non-Olympic sport coarse angling is not recognised by the high-performance units of our governing bodies. The NCFFI Committee therefore raise funds to support the entry fees which alone came to €13k in 2023. Otherwise, participation is largely self-funded with costs on average of €1200 per angler.