NEWS FOR "JUNE" FROM THE IRISH FEDERATION OF PIKE ANGLING CLUBS


"PURE FISHING" ALL-IRELAND JUNIOR PIKE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Rossmore Coarse Angling Club hosted a heat of the competition on Rossmore Park lakes on Sunday 18th May. 21 juniors competed, catching and releasing 31 pike for a total weight of 80lbs. All anglers who caught fish go through to the final.
The top anglers on the day were:
Under 18:
1st - Phillip Kavanagh, Inchicore & District, 3 fish, 12lb 7oz.
2nd - Andrew Dempsey, Inchicore & District, 7 fish, 12lb 2oz.
3rd - Stephen Quinlin, Inchicore & District, 5 fish, 9lb.
4th - Darren Tierney, Rossmore C.A.C, 1 fish, 8lb 6oz.
5th - Ben Cusworth, North Longford, A.C 3 fish, 7lb.
Under 13
1st - Laura Markey, Inchicore & District, 4 fish, 9lb 15oz.
2nd - Greg Mc Nally, Rossmore C.A.C, 2 fish, 4lb 12oz.
3rd - Ciara Fallon, North Longford A.C, 1 fish, 3lb 9oz.

The dates and venues for the next heats of this competition are as follows:-
Ballyjamesduff Angling Club 14th June Lackan Lake
Tullamore & District Anglers 22nd June Grand Canal
Kiltimagh 20th July Venue to be announced
Dun na Ri / Cootehill Clubs 20th July Avaghan Lake
North Longford Anglers 17th August Gorthamore

The final will be held on 17th September in Arvagh, Co Cavan.

KINGSPAN NATIONAL PIKE CHAMPIONSHIP 2003
The first heat of the 2003 competition was held on the Grand Canal at Cloghan, Co. Offaly, on Sunday 27th April. This is the first time we used this stretch of the Grand Canal for one of our heats. Fishing was patchy in places but the 56 anglers managed to catch 71 fish. Gary Quinn had the best fish at 12 lbs 10 ozs.
The results were as follows:-
1st - Gary Quinn, Doms Pike Anglers, Donore, 4 fish, 21 lbs 4 ozs.
2nd - David Boyle, North Longford Anglers, 1 fish, 11 lbs 14 ozs.
3rd - Tom Crickley, Doms Pike Anglers, 3 fish 10 lbs 7 ozs.
4th - Paul Martin, Ardee Pike Anglers, 5 fish, 7 lbs 3 ozs.
5th - Michael McKenna, Keady Pike Anglers, 7 fish 7 lbs 2 ozs.

The second heat of the competition was held on Lough Egish, Co Monaghan, on Sunday 11th May. The venue was switched from the Barrow because of a clash with a competition being held by a local club. 89 anglers landed 160 pike. The best fish of the day at 12 lbs 12 ozs was caught by Maura Martin, Ardee, followed by fish of 12 lbs 02 ozs to Mick Woodlock and 11 lbs 14 ozs to Benny Markey.
The top 5 anglers who qualified were:
1st - Frank Leonard, Drogheda & District Anglers, 7 pike, 34 lbs 07 ozs.
2nd - John Marshall, Keady Pike Anglers, 8 pike, 20 lbs 05 ozs.
3rd - Derek Mohan, Dom's Pike Anglers, 6 pike 19 lbs 08 ozs.
3rd - Oliver Martin, Ardee Pike Anglers, 4 pike 19 lbs 08 ozs.
5th - Robbie McShane, Ardee Pike Anglers, 8 pike 19 lbs 05 ozs.

The next heat will be held on the Barrow at Athy on Sunday 8th June. Check-in at the Smugglers Bar. The venue for the July heat has been moved from the Newry Canal to Camlough Lake. The local Council is undertaking bank restoration on the Canal at present in preparation for the 2004 European Coarse Angling Championships, hence the move to Camlough.

DO FISH FEEL PAIN?
A furious debate is taking place at present mostly in the British and European media on whether or not fish feel pain. The subject was brought up at the General Assembly of the European Anglers Alliance in Leipzig where the host nation presented a paper, delivered by Prof. Kurt Schreckenback, on the conclusions made by Professor D. Rose of the University of Wyoming on whether or not fish can feel pain. Rose is of the opinion that fish don't have a necessary and specific region of the brain to enable them to feel pain. Recently a team of scientists from the Roslin Institute and the University of Edinburgh headed by Dr Lynne Snedden made a counter-claim that research carried out by them indicates that fish can indeed perceive pain. Their conclusions follow work performed on live rainbow trout in which the fish's mouths were injected with poisons (bee venom and acetic acid) after which their behavior was monitored. After the injections, Dr. Sneddon said, "fish demonstrated `rocking' motions strikingly similar to the kind of motion seen in stressed higher vertebrates, and the trout injected with acetic acid were also observed to rub their lips onto the gravel in the tank and onto the tank walls. This "profound behavioural and physiological changes" showed by the trout after exposure to these noxious substances is comparable to those seen in higher mammals. Professor Rose rubbished this claim saying that " the paper by Sneddon is seriously flawed and does not provide any legitimate evidence that trout are capable of feeling pain. The crux of the matter is that the authors used an invalid way of attempting to identify pain and that the paper only shows that fish respond unconsciously to toxic stimuli".
The animal right anti-blood sports organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have been quick to join in the fray. The Sneddon paper is like manna from heaven to them and because of it their views are widely reported in the media. They don't stick to rational thinking as is evidenced from their web site fishinghurts.com.
The president of the European Anglers Alliance, Harm Minekus, put the whole situation into perspective: "The world remains the same as it was before the Sneddon study. Europe's 25 million anglers can carry on fishing content in the knowledge that there is no new evidence that fish can feel pain. We will continue to campaign for unpolluted water, rich and varied aquatic habitats, healthy fish populations and the right to enjoy our pass-time in peace". We can only hope that this will always be the case.

SHANNON BOARD PERMIT
The Federation's campaign to get the permit abolished continues. 7,000 flyers have been printed and are being distributed at the moment. 106 tackle shops have received an allocation of flyers as well as 129 angling accommodation providers in the Shannon Board area. All members of the Shannon Board received the flyer this week. Next week leaflets will be sent to all T.D's. and Senators along with a cover note explaining our reasons for the action.

PIKE POLICY REVIEW
The next stage of the Central Fisheries Board`s review of its Pike Policy will be the workshop forum. As part of the consultation process some organisations and individuals who made written submissions are being invited to make verbal additions and to view the submissions already presented. Among those attending will be several pike anglers travelling from England and the Continent. This will be held on 12th June in the Knockranny House Hotel in Westport. The Federation will be sending along 4 delegates, John Chambers, John Crudden, Ray Bergin and David Hamill. If you haven`t seen our written submission you can access it by going back to our homepage at www.angling-in-ireland.com. If you think that we have missed out on anything please let us know. Your constructive thoughts would be welcome.

CLUB COMPETITIONS
North Longford Angling Club held their annual two-day pike fishing competition on Lough Gowna over the May bank holiday weekend. 35 boats fished the competition, landing 137 fish, the heaviest being 14 lbs 6 ozs to Frenchman Francis Muller with Dom Gallagher, Duleek, landing one at 14 lbs. The Dring section of the lake produced the best weights on the first day which saw Marty Cusworth in a clear lead with over 40 lbs of fish which he maintained on the second day to take the overall prize.
The final results were as follows:-
1st - Marty Cusworth, North Longford Anglers, 20 fish 79 lbs 8 ozs.
2nd - Michael Mc Garry, Camlin Anglers, 8 fish 61 lbs 8 ozs.
3rd - Pauric Corcoran, Camlin Anglers, 12 fish, 61 lbs 6 ozs.
4th - Ollie Reilly, Duleek Anglers, 10 fish 61 lbs 5 ozs.

Ballyjamesduff Angling Club will hold their annual festival competition on Lackan Lake. This year the competition will be a boat-only event with the check-in at the car park from 10.30 am and fishing 12 to 5 pm. Anglers are reminded to come early because of limited launch facilities and all boats must be equipped with suitable tanks to hold fish. Half time weigh-in from 2.30 to 3.00 pm.

Reminder -
If you haven't yet had the opportunity to complete the "Member Club Contact Details" Sheet, circulated with last month's Newsletter, perhaps you could complete same and return to Ray Bergin, PRO, as detailed on the Sheet. Thanks.

June 2003

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