Day 1
What a beautiful day. Compared to last year’s Arctic
conditions. Today was a day from God. The hopeful and the hopeless (aka Stewart
Connolly, Liam Conroy and John Ferris) assembled at Doon Shore this morning.
All bright eyed and full of aspirations of claiming the Top Prize. I always
admire the positive attitude of Fishermen and women.
Numbers were up on last year, probably due to the good
weather. Joe Tighe was decked out as if he were heading for some fashion
catwalk in Cannes whilst Derek Dooley was decked out like some North American
Serial Killer.
Within the first hour, 3 large fish were caught. Tension was
reaching fever pitch amongst the fishing fraternity. Around lunchtime, the
hopeless decided to cut their losses and get food from the wonderful
hardworking Ann and her side-kick, the surprisingly sober Jordan Maye.
After lunch they all trudged back out onto the lake looking
for that elusive catch that could make them €2,500 richer.
The good news this year is that the amount of fish caught
today was twice as high as the entire weekend last year. And there was plenty
of heavy fish caught, none though by our Mouthy Scouser, Liam Mitchell. Thanks
for the buns though, Liam.
This year, was poignant, in that it was the first year we
were without Doreen Caldbeck who sadly passed away recently. The food from the
Kitchen was given out and people were asked to make a donation to a local
Cancer Charity. A truly excellent idea.
After Day 1, Paddy O’Neill from Mullingar, leads the pack
with a fine fish of 19lbs. This can be beaten. So where there is life, there is
hope.
One thing that crossed my mind today, was that it was
unusually quiet at Doon Shore. It wasn’t until the afternoon that I clicked it.
Eamon Conroy wasn’t there. I think a search party is called for here.
Onto tomorrow, where Stewart Connolly’s inability to affect
The Leaderboard will continue……….
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