Lough Ree, Athlone, Wednesday to Friday April 13-15
“A roaring success” is how one of the 120 anglers described the three day boat angling pike festival staged on Lough Ree last week.
And anglers taking part needed to catch a pike of 85 centimetres – a fish estimated at about 18lb – to win one of the top eight prizes each day.
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Ciara and Padraigh Corcoran share a magical moment |
All boats were launched from Coosan Point providing quick access to more than 12 miles of the massive lough and the quest was to catch the biggest pike possible, measure it on the special board provided in each boat, photograph the fish and return it alive and unharmed as quickly as possible.
There was an average of 64 pike caught each day.
At stake was a massive €18,000 including €3,000 for the biggest fish caught and this year a chance to win the Pike Angling World Cup, a competition based on the total length of the longest fish caught each day on the boat.
Local pike match fishing expert Joe McDermott from Longford got off to a great start and won both the first and second day with fish of 103cms and was looking likely to sweep the board. But disaster struck on Friday and he and his angling partner failed to catch a single fish.
When everyone handed in their result sheets on Friday evening the longest fish recorded by the anglers was a pike of 102cms from French angler Domnic Potoczny, who had travelled especially for the event with three friends.
However, when the organisers scrutinised the camera memory card they discovered that the fish was in fact 106cms – the biggest fish caught! It turned the expected results upside down.
When it was announced the room erupted with cheers and a bemused Domnic stepped forward to receive his cheque for €3000 from the Mayor of Athlone, Sheila Buckley Byrne.
And moments later another big surprise came with news the the Pike Angling World Cup had been won by 10 year old Ciara Corcoran and her father Padraigh from County Roscommon. They had a combined 262 centimetres for the three days, which included a pike of 101cms caught by Ciara in the final session that gave her second place on the day plus €700.
Our prize list based on an entry of 114 at €125 and four at €50
The total monies consist of €3,000 sponsorship from Failte Ireland, 120 entry fees of €125 a grand total of €18,000
Festival Prizes Overall (1) €3,000 (2) €1,500 (3) €1,000
Please note that the overall winners cannot win a daily prize for his winning fish
There were at least eight cash prizes every day and presented as follows
(1) €800 (2) €700 (3) €600 (4) €500 (5) €400 (6) €300 (7) €250 (8) €200
Two complimentary prize draws (€75 and €50) were made each evening for competing anglers who were present and who have not won anything on that day – you had to be at the presentation to win!
Pike Angling World Cup winners (three anglers) €125 each
The daily prize fund of €3750 over three days gives a total of €11250, plus the overall top three prizes of €5,500, plus €325 for the World Cup and €425 for the daily draw. The 100% return of entry fees and sponsorship gives a grand total prize fund of €18,000
Day One winners
Joe McDermott Longford 103cms*
1 Derek Costello Longford 96 cms
2 Barry Darby Mullingar 95 cms AND
3 John McDonough Wicklow 95 cms
4 Gerry Roach Athlone 94 cms
5 Sean Kelly Athlone 92 cms
6 Nick O’Connor Ennis 90 cms
7 Paul Fallows Athlone 89 cms
8 Olive Schmidt Germany 88 cms0
Irish angling journalist Mick Flanagan from Mullingar got off to a brilliant start in the Pike Festival.
Within a couple of hours he boated this fine specimen, photographed it and released the fish –
but he hadn’t measured it!
Day Two winners
Joe McDermott Longford 103cms*
1 Sean Kelly Athlone 102cms
2 Raymond Dowling Athlone 99 cms
3 Angela Sloane Athlone 94 cms
4 Aigars Dombrovski Waterford 93 cms
5 John Flanagan Mullingar 92 cms
6 Mick Flanagan Mullingar 91 cms AND
7 Danny Malone Longford 91 cms
8 Sean Kelly Athlone 89 cms
Day Three winners
Domnic Ptotczy France 106cms*
1 Kevin Grimes Clare 102cms
2 Ciara Corcoran Roscommon 101cms
3 Martin McCaffery Athlone 99 cms
4 Damian Grifferty Mullingar 98.5cms
5 Frank Heidthe Kerry 92.5cms
6 Michael Conway Athlone 92 cms
7 Martin McCaffery Athlone 91 cms
8 Richard Fallon Athlone 85 cms and
8 Anthony Scalley Mullingar 85 cms
Pike Angling World Cup
1 Ireland (Roscommon) Padraigh & Ciara Corcoran 262
