Galway angler lands silver at World freshwater finals

Date Published: {J}

IT may have slipped under the radar for many, but from Bushypark to Moycullen last Thursday, bonfires blazed. For local angler Cathal Hughes was returning home, having become only the third Irishman in the history of the World Freshwater Angling Championships to win a medal.

So, with a silver medallion hanging around his neck, Hughes received a hero’s welcome, as well-wishers, tri-colours and signs of congratulations lined the final stretch of his homeward journey. “They were at the Westwood there, lined up,” beams the Bushypark native, who now lives in Moycullen.

“We were driving down and I knew they had something done, but … there were just heaps of tri-colours, they had stopped traffic, and there were bonfires and signs up all the way out home. It was nice. It was organised by my wife Yvonne, and the Galway Coarse Angling Club.”

It was an emotional end to a journey that had begun nearly three weeks previously when Hughes and his good friend from Roscommon, Rory Dunne, loaded his van with fishing equipment and took off for the 57th World Championships in Merida, Spain.

Selected from trials held on Lough Muckno, up in Castleblayney, last October, Hughes – who had previously competed in the Worlds in 2000 (Italy) and 2001 (France) – and Dunne were part of a six-man Irish selection, from which five would fish on the appointed two days of competition.

This year marked a new approach for the Irish team, under manager Richard Caplice. Having lingered in mediocrity for the previous half-century, a more professional approach was embraced this time round, with the Loughs Agency and the Central Fisheries Board, along with main sponsor Prebait.com, rolling in behind the team’s efforts.

The extensive backing and preparation was to pay off, with Ireland finishing fourth overall … just missing out on the bronze medal to Holland, as England and Italy finished first and second respectively. That said, it was Ireland’s highest ever finish at the World Championships.

“Yeah, Dick Caplice (manager) took it over this year and there was no messing about. What we did, we went over three days before. The official rules state that you can only fish on the match stretch on the official practice days and on match days. Practice days are Monday to Friday before the event. In previous years, an Irish team, which was not used to the species they were fishing, the tactics, and everything, they would not arrive until practice week.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.