Larry Moley won the National Championship Cup as well as the Deacy Cup for the longest fish –both were presented by Stan McKeown, president, ITFFA.

Moley wins at Irish Trout Fly Fishing Association National Championship

Published: Fri 9 Jun 2023, 4:38 PM

One hundred and 25 competitors from the four provinces of Ireland made their way to Lough Ennell on Saturday week last, May 27, in the hope of catching the elusive wild trout that reside in its waters.

They were in Westmeath for the 88th Irish Trout Fly Fishing Association National Championship, organised by Lough Ennell Trout Preservation Association (LETPA) on behalf of Irish Trout Fly Fishing Association (ITFFA).

Under the new qualification system, 14 places for next year’s internationals were available on the day.

ITFFA secretary Michael Monaghan, international secretary Michael Callaghan, and ITFFA chairman Brendan Spillane, calculating results.

On the morning of the competition blue skies and no wind greeted the anglers, conditions are never good for wild trout fishing – but as the lake is renowned for its sedge hatch, called a Welsh Man’s Button, spirits were high as wild trout can feed in such conditions.

The competition started at 10am and finished at 6pm. Organising such an event is a huge undertaking, especially the task of making sure there are stewards and boats for the competitors.

Brendan Murray took on that task and did an outstanding job, stated the PRO for the ITFFA (Irish Trout Fly Fishing Association), Denis Goulding.

Denis said: “On behalf of the ITFFA, I would like to congratulate Brendan Murray, David O’Malley, Niall Kenny and the Lough Ennell committee and club for all their hard work in preparing for the event and for all their work on the day itself.

“I would like to also thank everyone that gave up their day to act as stewards and boatmen. Without those 63 individuals, this competition would never have taken place.”

As the scores were calculated, it turned out that only 13 fish were caught, measured and released back into the lake.

The winner was Larry Moley with a fish of 3.5lbs weight and 43.9cm in length. Larry also won the Deacy Cup for the longest fish of the competition.

The other results are: 2. Michael Twohig; 3. Nathan Creaven; 4. Nigel Greene; 5. Eamon Gavin; 6. David Daniels; 7. Joe Ferguson; 8. Daniel Forrest; 9. Sean Ronayne; 10. Fergal Fitzgerald; 11. Ronan Meghan; 12. Terry McGovern; 13. Daniel Brewster

Denis congratulated the 13 qualifiers and wished them all the best in the 2024 international.

Brendan Murray, lead organiser for LETPA, said: “We were delighted to host the event and are so grateful to the boatmen and stewards from near and afar who we couldn’t have run the event without.

“Conditions were tough. It was a flat calm, so to actually get 13 anglers weighing in fish was brilliant.”

Brendan congratulated the winner, Larry Moley, and all the qualifiers for the 2024 internationals, which will also be held at Lough Ennell next summer.