River serves up superb Feederfest

The Inniscarra Reservoir was in excellent condition to host Feederfest Ireland over the last five days. Almost 100 anglers from Ireland, England , Holland and Italy took part in the competition. Coachford village was the base for the visitors and the organisers and the place was awash with fun and craic for the week. O’Callaghan’s  and O’Riordan’s Bars were tremendous hosts and catered for everyone with courtesy, kindness and a real Irish welcome for everyone.  The competition was exciting and went down to the wire on the last day with the result in the balance right up to the last hour of competition. However the eventual winner of the Guinness, Sensas and Jackie Lennox sponsored event was 2014 World Champion Steve Ringer who  bagged  over 52kg of fish over the five days of angling on the river Lee. This was Steve’s first visit back to Coachford and to the Inniscarra Reservoir  since his Gold Medal victory at the World Feeder Championships two years ago and it proved to be a very worthwhile one seeing him bagging over €5,000 in cash and another €5,000 in equipment. Feederfest 2016 was run off superbly by the Inniscarra Lake Tourism Development Ltd and the NCFFI .  The competition was run in a very good humoured fashion and the craic in the pubs and on the river bank throughout the week was greatly enjoyable.

The event brought a very welcome influx of visitors to the Lee Valley Area in the off peak tourism season. The new improved Coachford Greenway is fast becoming the venue of choice for many Irish and overseas anglers and great credit is due to all involved in maintaining this world class amenity.2017 will see the Junior World Feeder Championships and there are many more international events planned for the lake over the coming years. Investment in tourism along the river should be a priority for the area and  upgrading of the facilities must continue on the Greenway. Locals should also be encouraged and supported in catering for visitors to the area  who wish to avail of what  the river can offer and also the huge tourism potential  of the wider Lee Valley area .

A huge crowd attended the final presentation of prizes on Monday night in O’Callaghan’s Bar where the daily prize winners and the overall Feederfest prizes were presented by the sponsors .Music was provided by the always wonderful Aghinagh Comhaltas.

Congratulations to all the winners and the organisers of Feederfest Ireland 2016.The fish can relax again for a little while or at least until Steve Ringer decides  to pay another visit to Coachford and the Greenway!