recent news...

Not a lot going on at the moment as coarse angling in Galway tends to hit a low in the summer months.

I have not been out much and match attendances are down. This is mostly due to the fact that 2 club anglers are off fishing for Ireland in Spain and Shane Dunne have gone over to watch and run the bank. Arunas has also gone over to watch and learn, not that he needs to learn too much. Best of luck to the team and to Cathal Hughes and Rory Dunne who will hopefully bag up over there. (If they fish anything like they do when at home they are sure to).

Arunas has been bagging at Woodford again, local angler Danny Collins had a red letter day when he and a friend had almost 100lb of Rudd and me, well a junior tuition on Ross lake was tough with only 3 fish caught, and a day with Cathal in Clare in glaring sunshine brought no bream and a long awaited day at woodford only yielded me about 30lb of mostly tench. I am always a week late - pictured is Arunas the Saturday before I went with part of a300lb bag and with his trophy which he eventually got for winning the 2009 league.

Latest news and World Championships Update

The club season is well underway with matches having taken place on the Joinery Stretch at Ballyquirke and at Ballyforan on the River Suck. We are back in Galway this weekend and hopefully I will have all the results to post next week. The fishing has been quite good lately, with good fishing reported on the Joinery and at Ballyforan. Arunas Mlecka has been having great results at a few venues as the picture below shows on a North Clare lake were he had great fishing last week.

Although the Galway Coarse Angling Club is small we have always been well represented on the National and International Coarse Angling Scene and this year will be no exception with 2 club anglers going to represent Ireland at the World Championships in Spain. Both Cathal Hughes and Rory Dunne will be traveling to represent Ireland as part of the squad. Cathal has fished for Ireland a number of times at Junior and Senior level and Rory made his debut for the team at senior level last year. Its an expensive commitment for anglers and it would not be possible without a lot of support. The club will be helping with a small donation of €100 towards expenses for each angler.

The Clybaun hotel have also given Cathal €500 in sponsorship towards his costs. This will go a long way in helping pay to help get Cathal and his mountain of gear and bait to Spain. The Clybaun has long been a favourite spot for club members to meet up after competitions and many of our visiting anglers use it as a base when coming to Galway to fish our matches on the Joinery as its ideally located close the city and Moycullen Lakes. Without this sort of help it would not be possible for anglers to attend international events and represent Ireland and its appreciated by the club anglers and Irish Team alike.

2010 Season Kicks off

Our 2010 season has kicked off with our first match taking place in February and the second took place last weekend on the River Suck. Results to follow, as I have not been able to attend so far this year. The match calender has been produced - email me on casperjah@gmail.com if you want a copy. Our next match is on April 4th, on the Joinery.

As always new members welcome. We are welcoming all anglers from anywhere and of any level - the club is active in encouraging proper angling, catch and release and assisting in the cleaning up and prevention of littering. unfortunately the same cannot be said of everyone who fishes in Galway as litter is becoming more and more of a problem.

The calender agreed is subject to change but looks like this: (I apologize for the poor formatting of this but its not copying over from my home computer)


Match Venue Back Up Venue Date
1 Joinery Ross Feb 21st
2 Ross Lough Down March 14th
3 Joinery River Corrib/Clare April 4th
4 Parkyflaherty Lough Down May 9th
5 Roscommon Venue Mayo Venue June 6th
6 Ryans Shore Parkyfaherty July 11th
7 Mayo/Clare Roscommon July 25th
8 Lough Down Ryans August 22nd
9 Joinery Mayo Venue Sept 19th
10 Joinery Oct 3rd
Adrian O’Sullivan Memorial Joinery Oct 17th
Fur and Feather Joinery November 28th
Draw for matches 9.30 a.m.
Club Entry Seniors - €20 juniors - €10
Match Fee Seniors - €5 Optional Pools €10
Junior (Foróige Club) Match Fee €1
Contact Details: Jason Leavy Club Secretary and Junior Officer: casperjah@gmail.com

Anyhow, here are some pictures from a recent knock-up on the River Suck; pictured are Arunas Mlecka (current club champion), Rory Dunne (Team Maver Ireland), and Shane Dunne who has also represented Ireland at International level and is pictured with part of his winning catch of 29 kilos of roach and hybrids)


Arunas


Arunas with 18 kilos


Rory with his net


Shane with part of his 29 kilos

Final results from 2009 league:

Out of 10 matches we fished 8, 2 were cancelled due to the weather. We had floods and no we have iced over lakes - the first time the bigger moycullen lakes have been frozen over in 20 years. Did not stop the lad pictured below though, someone emailed me this - he is fishing (and Catching with a hand line, which is illegal)

Anyway results wise:

1st Arunas Mlecka 128.5 points Best 6 Results 114 Points - Well done
2nd Jason Leavy 137 points Best 6 Results 107 Points
3rd martin Davitt 71 points

Congratulations to Arunas on winning the league. He deserved it and fished well, finishing high up in most matches on Galway venues. He fell down on a river match we had on the river Suck, so at the AGM this Friday I will suggesting we have more matches on Rivers :-) Seriously though, its good to see good anglers from abroad fishing well, joining clubs and getting involved. Arunas has been a great help to me in assisting with Junior tuition last year.

Thats all I have time for, have a look at the photo below - this man is fishing through an ice hole with a hand line. It may be the done thing in some places but its illegal here. Also it should be noted that the lake he is on is between 15 and 40 foot deep and also has numerous hot springs that are coming up. Anyone walking on the ice has no idea where these are and the ice over them would be thinner and would not support your weight. Nuts!

Galway Coarse Angling Association AGM

AGM this Friday 15th January at 8.00 p.m. in Kellehans Bar, Bushypark, on the N18 just outside Galway (on Moycullen Road)

All members and new members wishing to join very welcome!