WEDNESDAY 16TH MAY
WATERWAYS IRELAND CLASSIC FISHING FESTIVAL 2007

Changing conditions for Fishing Classic

The second day of the three-day Waterways Ireland Classic saw a change in the weather. The bright sunshine of Monday was replaced by the more typical 'soft' Fermanagh weather, that is warm and damp.

The change in the weather seemed to also bring a change in the fishing, with the previously productive Tamlaght section not performing, but other sections such as the newly introduced 'Phil's Bay' throwing up very significant catches, including the top two weights of the day. Matthew Hall from Nottingham landed a net bursting 47kgs 670gms from Peg 9, while in second place Swindon angler Alan Brown extracted 41kgs 660gms from the neighbouring Peg 10. Joint third overall today went to former World Champion and Classic regular Bob Nudd, along with another regular visitor Mick Bull from Warwick. Top local today was young Enniskillen angler Ryan Kersley, who netted 14kgs 700gms from far away Boa Island.

Today's action brought very little change to the overall leader board, with Monday's winner Richard Hoskins still in pole position for Friday. The Ross-on-Wye angler is just over 15kgs ahead of his nearest rival, Matthew Hall, who zoomed to second place overall thanks to his performance on Wednesday. Kevin Locke from Kesh remains top local overall, no doubt hoping for a repeat of his 50kgs plus catch, landed under the gaze of the BBC TV cameras during Tuesday's 'King of the Erne' competition.

The action continues on Thursday with the second and final day of the King of the Erne competition and the final day of the Waterways Ireland Classic takes place on Friday, when all eyes will be on the draw box.

Organised by Fermanagh District Council, the festival is sponsored for the fourth year by Waterways Ireland, the North/South implementation body responsible for the management, maintenance, development and restoration of the inland navigable waterways system.

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Further info from:
Eddie McGovern, Fermanagh District Council on 00 44 28 6632 3110; or
Aoife Morrissy, Marketing and Communications, Waterways Ireland, 00 353 71 9650787 or 00 353 87 9918412.

Date: 16.05.07
PR07009

Angler Richard Hoskins from Ross-on-Wye, leading the Waterways Ireland Classic Fishing Festival going into the second day of fishing with a catch of 63.100 kg.