The AWOL League has been running 9 years..This year the founder Alan Lawless could not commit to running the league so i took over. 21 anglers fish 5 legs and the your top 4 legs count. Before i get into what happend over the course of the event i just want to thank a few people.

This year i looked for some sponsorship from the Angling Retailers for the 5 rounds for 1st 2nd and thirds prizes. I was astounded at the response. So i would like to thank the following people and companies

Pat Nolan from Premiere Angling Supplies, Dave McBride from Southside Angling, Mary Harkin from Rorys Fishing Tackle, Donal Monahan for the Christmas Prizes, Peter Driver of Piscarifly,Kevin Porteous from FNF, Ned Maher from Adaire Springs and John and Enda from Laois Angling Centre.

I would also like to thank Michael Low from Fario Fly for sponsoring goody bags worth 45 euro each to every member of the league.

On behalf of the League thank you all.

The first round was held at Laois Angling Centre. It was an exceptional day with 21 anglers catching 207 trout. A testament to the work the owners John and Enda out into the fishery. Sean Maher took first place with 21 fish . The next four anglers caught 15 fish each which made it very tight at the top. The winner of each round gets 11 points , 2nd 9 points, 3rd gets 8 points and so on.I was lucky to come 2nd on the day.

The second round was held in Adaire and it was a totally different day with fish 84 fish being caught. Shane Bird won with 11 fish  and that man again Sean Maher was second with 8 fish.

The third round was again held at Adaire fishery. This was one of the closest matches i have been involved in. Three anglers caught 12 fish, Roger Fowler, John Bird and i, with shane bird on 11 fish. Again the gods shined on me , as i barely won the match by 1cm.

Only 16 AWOL members took part in this competition . Five anglers pulled out due to illness, surgery etc. But i filled the empty pegs with guest anglers just to ensure a good match. Many thanks to those anglers that stepped in over the course of the league.

The fouth round we were back to Laois Angling centr. Again anglers had to pull out so we fished with 16 anglers for a total of 166 fish.

Again there were some great catches, Marius Lincenicius and John Bird caught 22 fish apiece, but Sean Maher was third with 15.

ISean Maher was in the lead as he was from day 1 and it looked like the man in form could not be beaten

The final leg of the league was held at laois angling centre.  No one had won the league twice and it was all to play for.

17 out of 21 anglers turned up and caught 183 fish. An average of 10.76 fish per anglerThe . Winner was Sean Maher with a huge catch of 20 fish.

2nd was Hubert with 16 fish and Shane Bird was third with 15 fish.

Well done to all the prize winners and thanks to Enda and Johno for allowing us to use their fishery.

Ok so the overall comp was pretty tight until Sean Maher destroyed us all again on the last day, well done sir.

Sean won the overall prize , trophy and replica with 39 points.

2nd Denis Goulding 31 points.

3rd Shane Bird with 26 points.

Hubert won longest fish 72cm.

I wish to thank all our sponsors , fishery owners and you the anglers for making the league work.

Anglers that fished the league will have first refusal on entry to next years competition.

Please let ne know if you are entering asap.

Thank you all again and i wish u a safe and happy 2023 season

I will do a blog on it in the near future

I hope we can do it again next. If it suits u all Peter and i continue to run the league.