The original Frank Holding Memorial Match saw 111 anglers fish the Grand Canal in his memory on Saturday last. Reminiscent of the days of 300 peg Prosperous AC Festival it was fantastic to see such a turn out! Congratulations to Brian Kane who is the 2018 King of the Canal and to all the winners including those who picked up some top raffle prizes.
The roach were not back yet with catches consisting mostly of skimmers, hybrids and baby tench.
1st Overall - Brian Kane - 19lb 1oz
2nd Overall - Dara Finnegan - 15lb 15oz
3rd Overall - Jeff Stiratt - 15lb 10oz
4th Overall - Ewan Weed - 11lb 1oz
5th Overall - John Jurj - 10lb 6oz
6th Overall - Peter Keenan - 9lb 15oz
A super event with plenty of sponsorship from many to include Waterways Ireland and Sensas Ireland.
Four Times World Champion Bob Nudd comes from 7th position on the final day to win the 2018 festival. 124 skimmers on the pole at Lough Scur saw him pip runner up and Irish International James O'Doherty by just 800g for 1st prize. Wayne Fuller who had the top match weight of 17kg from Kiltybarden on Tuesday finished in 3rd, followed by Barry Smith 4th and Dave Stewart 5th.
The five-day coarse angling competition was fished on Loughs Garadice, Scur and Kiltybarden over five hot and sunny days; as with the conditions all over Ireland at the moment the fishing was tough.
Joe Carass tests a bait additive that has become a must-have in his opinion. Every now and again I receive a product that I just don’t really ‘feel’. Perhaps a product that just doesn’t get me excited or I can’t see a place for it in my fishing. I must admit when I saw the Dynamite Baits Swim Stim Pellet Soaks for the first time that was the feeling I got.
Joe Carass gets his hands on the brand-new Arco-Tech rods from Middy.
As far as commercial feeder rods go, Middy takes some beating. Rods such as the 4GS and XK/XZ are firm favourites with thousands of anglers and are a common sight no matter what the venue.
Middy has always had a knack of producing great rods for a great price; the 4GS in particular has been an unbelievable rod range.
We check out the brand new and super-stylish Frenzee Precision FXT luggage.
Frenzee’s previous luggage range was a huge success story for the brand. It established the luggage range and its many fans have been waiting for the next, updated range. The new range features new Frenzee logos and updated branding,Using quality materials and innovative design throughout but still offering excellent value for its performance level & specifications.
Venue: Lac au Duc, Ploermel, France
Date: Saturday and Sunday, May 26th and 27th
Only a few weeks ago I was competing at the Anglo Dutch Classic festival in Holland and managed to frame once again out of the 115 competitors. A 44kg match win was the highlight of the festival for me. Straight back and I was getting prepared for another high-profile European event.
Last weekend saw the second year of the Rive Masters, which was held in the Brittany region of France.
Match Fishing reveals the new IM7 range from bait giant Sensas.
Sensas has an incredible history in manufacturing groundbaits and is quite rightly incredibly popular all over Europe. So when it launches a new range of bait you have to check it out.
IM7 is a new range that consists of groundbaits, pellets, additives, dyes, boilies and pastes – everything that you need for commercial fishing.
Joe Carass gets his hands on the World Champion Feeder Rods designed by Browning’s Jens Koschnick.
I was certainly intrigued when the Jens Koschnick rods were announced late last year. Jens is a formidable angler on the Feeder World Championship scene and does well right across Europe, including a World Pairs victory in Ireland. His credentials are certainly there so Browning decided to team up with him to produce a rod that he wanted.
Joe Carass gets his hands on the new flagship Xitan pole from Browning – the Z16L.
Browning’s Xitan Z12 was a watershed moment for the company, in my opinion. Of course Browning has an illustrious history when it comes to making incredible poles, but the Z12 was a game-changer for the modern era.
The pole made the whole trade stand up and take notice.
Monday 14th May
The 2018 Waterways Ireland Classic Fishing Festival got off to a steady start on Monday on the shores of Lough Erne in the Fermanagh Lakelands, with the sun shining brightly on the 240 anglers occupying fishing sections from Bellanaleck on the upper lough to Boa Island on the lower lough.
The days top weight of 32 kgs 530 gms was caught on the Cornagrade section by Andrew Hampson from Chapel Allerton, which earned him the top daily prize of £500. Second was another Classic regular, Tony Hopkins from Gowna with 28 kg 120 gms, caught from peg 1 right in front of Enniskillen Castle at the Broadmeadow section. In third spot was Stuart Harford from Worcester, who landed 25kgs 750gms from peg 14 at Rossahilly, with double Classic winner John Potters from Lisbellaw in fourth place with 23kgs 850gms, also on the Rossahilly section.
