A young Donegal angler is preparing to represent Ireland on both European and world stages over the next week.
Colm Coyle (16), from Crossroads, Killygordon, is a member of the highly skilled Irish Trout Fly Fishing Association (ITFFA) team.
He will head off to Warwickshire in England this Saturday as part of the youth fly fishing team to compete in the Four Nations Championship.
However, Colm won’t get much time to relax and unpack when the competition is over. He heads off again just four days later with TAFI Ireland Youth Fly Fishing Team to compete in the World Youth Championships in Czech Republic.
This will be Colm’s first year to represent Ireland at World level and, no doubt, will be the first of many more to come. What an honour for Colm to represent his country on the world stage, an amazing achievement for a young Donegal angler.
Last year, Colm and Team Ireland came home with a Gold medal after beating England, Scotland and Wales in the Four Nations.
Fly fishing is a highly skilled form of angling that uses a lightweight lure – an artificial fly – to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel and a specialised weighted line. The light weight requires casting techniques significantly different, and more difficult, from other forms of casting.
A son of Anita and Kieran Coyle, Colm is a student at the Finn Valley College in Stranorlar.
His love for fishing stems back four generations – Colm’s late great grandfather, Peter Coyle, was a very keen and highly skilled angler. Peter would spend hours fishing on ‘The Steps’ private fisheries, the deep holes and sand beds of the River Finn, which flows just in front of the family home at Blairstown, Castlefin.
He passed down his love for fishing to his four sons: Seamus, Aidan, Pete and John who in turn transferred it to their sons and grandsons. Colm is a grandson of Seamus Coyle, Monellan, Killygordon.