NEWS FOR "JANUARY 2005"
FROM THE IRISH FEDERATION OF PIKE ANGLING CLUBS



ARDEE WINS ALL-IRELAND INTER-CLUB PIKE COMPETITION

The All-Ireland inter club team event was fished on Sunday the 21st of November on four lakes in the Kingscourt area. 26 four-person teams competed for the 2004 title. Fishing was considered quite difficult on the day. The best individual bag of twenty pounds fell to Pat Sheenan of Dun Na Ri angling club and Sean Dimbylon of Whitewood Pike and Coarse Angling club caught the heaviest pike of the day at 12lb 14oz, however it was the "A" team from Ardee that took the honours this year.

The full results were as follows:

First: Ardee "A" 30lb 11oz Paul Martin, Maura Martin, Robbie Mc Shane, Martin Carroll.
Second: Cootehill "A" 28lb 14oz Brenton Sweeney, Sean Markey, Benny Markey, Ronan Murray.
Third: Whitewood Angling Club 24lb 02oz Mark Kiernan, Emma Kiernan, Sean Dimbylon, Darragh Mc Kenna.

The presentation was held in Murtaghs Bar in Kingscourt, where anglers received soup and sandwiches and a bottle for the raffle. The Federation would like to express our thanks to Paul and staff for their hospitality.


4TH WORLD RECREATIONAL FISHING CONFERENCE!

Trondheim in Norway is to be the location of the fourth World recreational fishing conference. It will take place between the 12th and 16th of June 2005. The three previous conferences were held in Dublin in 1996, Vancouver, Canada in 1999 and Darwin, Australia in 2002.

The conference targets everyone dealing with recreational fishing: people working within, NGOs, management and administration, research, tourism and tackle and product businesses. It is hoped that a large uptake in participation in the conference will take place by NGOs and the commercial sector. The conference aims to highlight trends, recent findings and interesting experiences across continents and within the angling community.

The conference is also an avenue to highlight the significance of recreational fishing to the quality of life for people of all ages, independent of social and cultural background, to society, to ecosystems and economies. It aims to strengthen and enhance the multiple benefits from recreational fishing and the 2005 conference hopes to focus on the need to build new and develop existing partnerships, both across geographical, political, resource and mental boundaries.

The conference program consists of indoor sessions with plenary and parallel sessions, as well as outdoor activities. There will be a one-day outdoors session on the 14th June. On this day, delegates and participants will take part in fishing activities in the surroundings of Trondheim, including salmon fishing, sea fishing, and visit relevant projects on recreational fishing.

The social program includes a conference dinner, opening reception and exhibition activities. It is planned the following trends and challenges will be among the issues addressed:

Trends in recreational fishing across the world:
o Trends and changes in recreational fisheries and angling tourism across continents and countries: observations and findings from business, science and NGOs
o How to attract and recruit young generations, women and new user groups to angling
o The angling business sector: tackle and travel, trends and possibilities
o Status, trends and challenges in competitive fishing:

Resource management challenges:
o Sport, commercial and subsistence fishing: allocation decision-making in the face of scarcity
o Worldwide decline in major fish stocks - how it affects recreational fisheries
o Management and cultivation strategies: can we learn across species and continents?
o International fisheries management and highly migratory species (marine, anadromous and diadromous fishes)
o Recreation fishing as a source of over fishing
o Aquatic protected areas: panacea or new management tool
o Catch and release

Development challenges:
o Angling tourism and rural development
o Ways to finance recreational fisheries management and enhancement - private or public responsibility?
o The role of fishing tourism in developing countries and among indigenous people
o Building partnerships between science, business, management and NGOs Public opinions against recreational fishing - what is it and how to address it?

Further information can be found on the Website: http://www4.nina.no/WRFC2005/


IFPAC AGM 2005

The date for the 2005 AGM has been set for the 6th March. It will take place in the Greville Arms Hotel in Mullingar, County Westmeath commencing at 2.00pm sharp. Each affiliated club may send as many representatives to the meeting as they wish but only two nominated delegates may vote on motions, resolutions and the election of the committee. In order to have a vote, clubs must be fully paid up affiliated members. Affiliation runs from AGM to AGM.

New clubs that wish to affiliate to IFPAC can easily do so by contacting our Treasurer Terry Sheridan on (087) 2899249. An application form will then be forwarded to the club. New and existing clubs are also reminded that IFPAC offers public and employers liability insurance cover and also a separate personal accident policy from our insurers, Royal and Sun Alliance. For further details on club insurance, please contact Chairman, John Chambers on 086 6057306.

While on the subject of clubs, at this time most will be holding or have held their own AGM. It is also a time when the greatest drive to recruit new members occurs. It is often difficult for clubs to retain members and to get other new members to join but in the future a strong united voice will need to be heard for the protection of our waters and fish stocks. For this reason it is important that anglers become more conscious of local or national issues that will ultimately affect them and the first step to addressing these issues is to join or to form a local club. The Federation would be delighted to advise anglers on how to set up a club. Please contact Chairman, John Chambers for further information.



KINGSPAN NATIONAL PIKE CHAMPIONSHIP 2004-05

49 anglers fished the 9th heat, which was held on 5th December on the Grand Canal outside Monasterevin. 47 pike were caught and released, the heaviest of which fell to Michael Smith at 6lb 12oz.

The anglers who qualified to fish next April are as follows:
1st Pat Cooper, Dublin Pike Anglers, 3 fish for 16lb
2nd Michael Smith, North Longford AC, 3 fish for 13lb 4oz
3rd Jimmy Conway, Athy/Kildare, 4 fish for 12lb 13oz
4th David Roche, North Longford AC, 4 fish for 11lb 11oz
5th Tommy Winder, Newbridge & District AC, 4 fish for 11lb 8oz

43 anglers braved poor weather conditions to fish the 10th and final heat of the championship, catching and releasing 42 fish. The best fish at 8lb 12oz was caught by Kenneth Mc Gearty.

The anglers who qualified to fish next April are as follows:
1st Michael Woodlock, DPA, 5 fish for 14-15
2nd Kenneth Mc Gearty, Camlough, 4 fish for 14-05
3rd Brendan McCabe, Newry, 3 fish for 12-01
4th Jerome Fisher, Newry, 3 fish for 11-12
5th Francis T Rafferty, Slieve Gullion, 2 fish for 9-13

NOTE: Heat No. 11, the Stewards Heat will be fished on Holybank Lake, Arva, Co. Cavan on 6th February.

For further details of the Kingspan National Pike Championship, contact John Chambers on 086 6057306 or Ibar Condron on 087 2488648.



January 2005

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