The three-day Waterways Ireland Classic Fishing Festival 2007 came to a close on Friday last with an exciting finish between a few top anglers.
In the end, it was Ross-on-Wye angler, and first day winner, Richard Hoskins, who emerged victorious with a total of 71kgs 700gms.
His 7 kgs catch on the final day clinched the Classic title for 2007, landing him a prize of £3,000 and a crystal chalice.
Close behind in second place was Allan Reid from Omagh, with 65kgs 950gms.
He collected £1,500 and a crystal trophy as a reward for his efforts.
In third place was another Northern Irish angler, John Walker, from Lurgan whose 64kgs 760gms total for the week netted him £1,000 and a crystal trophy. In fourth place overall was Nottingham visitor, Matthew Hall, with previous winner, Simon Young, from Doncaster in fifth, and four-times World Champion, Bob Nudd, in sixth place.
Last Wednesday, the second day of the three-day Waterways Ireland Classic, saw a change in the weather as the bright sunshine of Monday was replaced by the more typical 'soft' Fermanagh weather, that is warm and damp.
This 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' were 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 that day was young Enniskillen angler, Ryan Kersley, who netted 14kgs 700gms at faraway Boa Island.
Wednesday's action brought very little change to the overall leader board, with Monday's winner Richard Hoskins still in pole position for Friday.
At the end of the second day, the Ross-on-Wye angler was just over 15kgs ahead of his nearest rival, Matthew Hall, who zoomed to second place overall, thanks to his performance on Wednesday.
At this stage, Kevin Locke from Kesh was 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 organisers are confident that the early Spring and warm weather of the past few weeks affected the fortunes of the 250 anglers taking part in the 2007 Waterways Ireland Classic.
In the run up to the competition, it became obvious that the roach population of Enniskillen had spawned and departed for the deeper waters of Lower Lough Erne.
This forced the Classic organisers to make significant changes to the sections being used for the event, introducing new venues outside of Enniskillen town.
And it was one of these, Phil's Bay, at Tamlaght, that produced the top four weights in the final day of the competition.
Two Lurgan anglers, John Walker and Brian McShane, caught 61kgs 760gms and 46kgs 480gms, respectively, from adjacent pegs 14 and 15, on this picturesque and productive lake.
Organised by Fermanagh District Council, the festival was sponsored for the fourth year by Waterways Ireland, the North/South implementation body which is responsible for the management, maintenance, development and restoration of the inland navigable waterways system.
