29 anglers from the Fire Services National Angling Section have enjoyed their annual pilgrimage to Enniskillen in County Fermanagh to fish several locations on the Erne.  The week started with warm & sunny weather reaching 20' ending with the wintry conditions of wind, rain and hail.  

The size of the catches reduced in line with the weather but nice nets of quality hyrbids and roach were enjoyed by everyone with some bonus bream catches.  The Erne is coloured at the moment and very high.

After a few days pleasure fishing several locations to include Airport, Cornagrade, Protura and Cleenish a two-day competition took place.  Congratulations to Team Herts and Individual winner Adrian Hunter who were awarded trophies at the presentation held at the Killyhevlin Hotel.

A great week's fun was had by everyone accommodated side by side in the self catering chalets at the Killyhevlin Hotel. Situated on the River Erne this accommodation makes for the ideal anglers holiday with flexible self catering and the added benefit of 4* hotel facilities on site. More information here

The roach are in town and double figure catches are being caught by the anglers fishing group competitions on Lough Erne in and around Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh.  Mid way through the Mini Mahon's festival run from Mahon's Hotel, the legendary match angler Kevin Ashurst leads the 35 anglers with 46kg.

Meanwhile our Fire Services group of 29 are enjoying their own mini-matches on several locations braving the battering wind and frosty mornings to catch good daily weights of up to 10kg with Cornagrade topping the venue bill.

The Festival season started in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland today with anglers fishing an Open match in preparation for tomorrow's Mini Mahon's Festival running Mon to Fri.

After a cold start the river was in good condition and the Sligo Road produced some nice weights.

1st Frank Slater 23kg, Sligo Road Peg 1

2nd John Potters 20.600kg, Ely Forest Peg 15

3rd Andy Insley 19.650kg, Sligo Road Peg 2


Mahon's Hotel has a long history with the anglers and is host to several competitions during May.  Check out the full list of Irish Angling Festivals here

The 2014 Waterways Ireland Classic got off to a sometimes wet and windy start on Monday on the shores of Lough Erne.  Weather conditions were variable to say the least, with spells of sunshine interspersed with heavy rain showers.  The colder temperatures did not have an adverse affect on the fishing however, with most of the sections fishing well.  In addition, some excellent weights were recorded from the consistent Lough Acrussel, Rossahilly and Cornagrade sections.

The top weight of the day, 28kg 330gms from Peg 14 at Lough Acrussel, earned previous Classic winner John Potters from Lisbellaw the daily overall top prize of £500.  Second with 23kg 880gm was Classic regular Dickie Carr from Cheshunt, netting him £350 for his day’s fishing on the improving Rossahilly section.  In third place was another Classic regular Matthew Hall from Nottingham who landed 20kg 320gm, also from the Lough Acrussel section.  Completing the top four was Jimmy Messer from Durham with 18kg 920gm from Peg 15 on the Cornagrade section. 

As is often the case with the Classic, the top thirty on the leader board contains anglers from Ireland, England and Germany.  This year the Waterways Ireland Classic has an entry of 234 anglers in total, a very encouraging increase in numbers.  The long established fishing festival has again attracted a group of dedicated anglers from Germany with one of their number, Heinz Keil achieving 15th place overall today.

Once again the waterways Ireland Classic is wide open going into the second day of the competition on Wednesday.  The expected higher temperatures could have an interesting effect as the week progresses and the draw on Wednesday morning will be eagerly anticipated by all the anglers competing in Ireland’s biggest angling festival.

The Classic is sponsored for the twelfth year by Waterways Ireland, with additional sponsorship from DAIWA and is organised by Fermanagh District Council in conjunction with the Inland Fisheries Division of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure.

Sam Merry from Leicester got his first Irish Festival placing at the Ballinamore Angling Festival this week. A five day festival fished entirely on Garadice Lake, Ballinamore, County Leitrim.

Sam and Graham travelled to Ireland with us specifically to fish the festival and stayed at Hamills B&B ideally located in the centre of town and a favourite amongst our match anglers

Great hospitality, a superb breakfast and they will even fill your flask for you each morning.

Drying facilities, bait storage, off road parking and free WIFI is available to complete your Irish angling holiday.

For details of Hamill's B&B and our range of accommodation in Ballinamore click here

A new edition to the Irish Festival calendar in 2013 this festival is still getting off the ground and its relatively small compared to many making it an ideal match for your first taste of the Irish festival scene.

Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim boasts the magnificent Lake Garadice on it's doorstep where angler have the luxury of being able to park right behind their peg and fish.  The festival borne from the anglers competing in the World Pairs Angling Championship which highlighted the good fishing in the area was sponsored by €500.   This coarse angling match only in it's second year was fished entirely on Garadice Lake for ease of all entrants.  A five day match with four rotating sections on both Haughton's and Church Shore concluded with an open draw on the final day ensuring the end result was less easy to predict. The upper pegs at Haughton's Shore and D section at Church produced the top weights of 26lb and 33lbs yet the catches were fairly consistent all round. The wet and windy conditions experienced all week made it difficult for the anglers who were mostly fishing the feeder with the pole only coming into play when the wind was low.  Nets were full of Hybrids, with a few quality Roach coming in on the pole and several anglers netting Bream.

The festival was won by Roscommon angler Dara Finnegan, Ballyhaunis AC with 101lbs 07 oz.  In second place with 98lbs 2oz was Peter Jones, Cork fishing the match for the second year followed in third by Enniskillen angler Gary Drew with 91lbs 8oz. Brian Bohan, Mohill gained a very respectable 4th place with 90lbs 15oz followed by Sam Merry, Leicester, UK who was very happy with his fifth position and 86lbs 3oz.

If you would like to attend this relaxed and enjoyable festival in 2015 please call + 44 7711 607200 or mail us at [email protected]

The Munster Coarse Angling Council hold a three day St.Patrick's weekend festival each year at the Inniscarra Reservoir, Coachford, Co.Cork.  The first of many held on the reservoir throughout the summer season.

39 competed with anglers coming from across Ireland and the UK. Fishing was mainly for Roach on the feeder with weights improving throughout the weekend.

The sections of the reservoir fished were 'Garden Centre', 'Graveyard' and ''Concrete and not the new match stretch which is currently under construction ready for the World Feeder Fishing Championships in July.

Cathal Hughes from Galway produced 16kg on the final day to become the festival winner with 28.700kg. In second place was Will Freeman, Suffolk, England with 27.550kg and in third Julian Kendrick, Edenderry, Co. Offaly with 26.250kg.

Now available to download, your own copy of the Irish Festival Calendar compiled by Ireland Travel Plus.

Registration is now open for the 2014 Waterways Ireland Classic Fishing Festival which takes place in County Fermanagh from Monday 12 to Friday 16 May 2014.

The 39th Waterways Ireland Classic Fishing Festival, Ireland’s premier fishing festival, welcomes more than 240 anglers, including several previous World Champions, from Ireland, the United Kingdom, Germany and Austria every year.

This year the Festival prize fund is worth more than £20,000 with section, daily and aggregate prizes also on offer.

English angler and Classic regular, Pete Vasey, lifted the crystal trophy and the £5,000 winner’s cheque in 2013.

The ‘Waterways Ireland Classic Competition’ takes place on the Monday, Wednesdayand Friday with the ‘King of the Erne’ competition completing the Festival on Tuesdayand Thursday.

The 2014 Waterways Ireland Classic Fishing Festival is organised by Fermanagh District Council in association with the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure Inland Fisheries Group and sponsored by Waterways Ireland.

Helping to launch the 39th Waterways Ireland Classic Fishing Festival, Chairman of Fermanagh District Council, Councillor Alex Baird, said:

“The Classic is one of our longest established events in County Fermanagh and we are delighted to welcome both new and returning anglers to the 2014 Festival.”

Sponsoring the Waterways Ireland Classic Fishing Festival for a 12th year, Dawn Livingstone, Waterways Ireland Chief Executive, confirmed:

“The Classic has proven to be a major contributor to both the tourism economy around Lough Erne and the awareness of Fermanagh as an international standard wild fishing competition venue. Waterways Ireland is happy to support this event for the 12th year and to welcome more international anglers to Lough Erne to compete and enjoy the wonderful assets the area has to offer."