Last Sunday saw young anglers from the four provinces of Ireland converge on Mallow to fish the All Ireland River Competition, otherwise known as the Inter-Pro. The draw for zones having been done on Friday, all that remained to be done was for Munster Council Youth Officer John Willis to welcome the anglers and their parents and have them draw for their stretches. Each angler had to bring a steward with him who was then picked to steward an angler from a different province.
Saturday evening saw the anglers meet at Mallow bridge to decide if the competition could go ahead. The river was high and coloured due to all the rain that fell on Wednesday. As levels had been monitored throughout the day, the river was seen to be falling and clearing, so John Willis decided to let the competition go ahead.
Fishing of the first session started at 10am with the young anglers trying with their favoured patterns to catch the wily brownies of the Blackwater. Each trout caught was measured for length and then returned to the water as fast as possible. Only trout 20 centimetres or longer were to be recorded. 12.30pm saw a break in proceedings, with the anglers heading for their second stretch and grabbing a bite of lunch on the way. 2-4.30pm was to be the duration of the second session.
5pm saw the anglers and their stewards in the Bridge House where their score sheets were handed in and a result was arrived at. With the mathematicians getting to work to figure out the results, everyone else partook of some refeshments. John Willis thanked all the anglers for their co-operation. He also thanked the stewards for being so helpful. Clubs and riparian owners as well as farmers whose water was fished over were thanked also. John then announced the result. Kevin Healy was called on to present the Mark Healy trophy to the winner, Chris Fehilly of Macroom Trout Anglers and Munster, 2nd Fergal Armstrong of Ulster, 3rd Gerard McLoughlin of Leinster. Fergal Armstrong also had the longest trout. Alan Barrow was the top Mallow angler and along with Aaron McCann and Stephen O’Connor of Mallow TA was part of the victorious Munster team which was the top province on the day.