A major angling tournament dubbed "the Olympics of fishing" is taking place in Co Monaghan this weekend.
Twenty-eight teams from 18 countries are competing in the World Club Championships for Feeder Fishing at Lough Muckno in Castleblayney.
Each of them will be hoping to reel in the top prize, with the winner announced at a closing ceremony on Sunday.
Jan Van Schendel of FIPSed (Fédération Internationale de la Peche Sportive en Eau Douce), the world governing body for freshwater fishing, said that this is a major competition for clubs.
"With a little bit of fantasy, you could say it is the Olympics of our sport, that's how significant it is, there is no bigger tournament," he said.
Mr Van Schendel said that fishing is one of the biggest participation sports in the world.
Two Irish clubs are taking part - the Cavan Monaghan Lakelands Feeder club and Lurgan Coarse Angling club.
Lough Muckno is set in 900 acres of scenic parkland and fishing will take place along five sections of the lake on Saturday and Sunday.
James O’Doherty, 24, from Enniskillen has been practicing on the shore of Lough Muckno all week, hoping his team, CM Lakelands will be able to land a spot on the podium.
"This is massive for us, we definitely feel we are in contention to do very well," he said.
The competition has attracted some of the biggest names in the world of fishing to the scenic shores of Lough Muckno and is hosted by the National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland.
But this has not put James off. "Well, we have a couple of good anglers too!", he laughed.
He said the team knows the lake very well, although conditions are not very favourable at the moment. Those cold and windy conditions are also a challenge to even the big fish of this competitive sport.
Tamas Walter from Hungary, is taking part with his Marosz Walterland club.
"We are very happy to be here, but the wind arrived too, it makes our fishing very difficult," he said.
Tamas and his team have been practicing all week and said that they are not used to these conditions, or the type of fish swimming around Lough Muckno.
"We are not used to the roach fish. But then we got used to the roach and how it behaves, and then the wind came so it’s difficult again," he said.
The Marosz Walterland club placed first, second, or third in the last three world championships. Tamas said he would be surprised if they were not in the top ten this year, but that getting on the podium would be hard.
"We have some chances, yes, but these conditions are very different to ours at home," he said.
Each team’s catch will be weighed on both days, with the highest weight awarded the lowest points.
The winning team will be the one with the lowest aggregate points and will be awarded at a closing ceremony on Sunday.
Monaghan hosting such a major competition is the reward for a lot of investment and development in Lough Muckno.
"An awful lot of work went into this," said Aidan Campbell, cathaoirleach of the Castleblayney/Carrickmacross municipal district.
"Monaghan County Council has developed the lake and installed pegs around it for fishing," he said.
He said he hopes they could bring more competitions here and attract keen anglers to Castleblayney and the wider Monaghan area too.
Cllr Campbell said: "Monaghan has fantastic potential as a destination for angling tourism, boasting superb venues such as Lough Muckno, as well as excellent hospitality.
"Monaghan County Council is delighted to support this international festival and to welcome visiting anglers and their support teams to this beautiful part of Ireland and particularly to the town of Castleblayney."
The host town has also had an economic boost with the arrival of the competitors and is also hoping it might catch some visitors over the weekend too.
More than 2,000 "bed nights" have been sold in the area over the course of the week, while restaurants, cafes and other local spots are reaping the benefits.
Martina Quinn from the Castleblayney Regeneration group said that they had been working to put Castleblayney on the map for a long time, and the angling competition has done that.
"It’s been massive, the town is buzzing," she said.
She said that even her own florist business has seen growth, as some of the anglers came in to buy flowers for the people hosting them.
"Hopefully they’ll all return and holiday with us in Castleblayney," she said. "There’s always a bit of banter and a bit of craic, and they love the music."
Áine McDonald is the owner of Crafty, a café and shop just a stone's throw from the gates of Lough Muckno.
She is also anticipating greater footfall this weekend as people come to town to check out the fishing competition.
"It’s an opportunity to show case all that’s brilliant about Castleblayney," she said.
Áine is even offering her customers the chance to win a chocolate treat with their coffee if they can name the fish that swim in Lough Muckno.
She said that other businesses have also changed their opening hours to facilitate the greater number of people in town.
Organiser Jack Tisdall of the NCFFI (National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland) said it was the "ultimate competition for club teams fishing the feeder discipline" and that both the local teams "will present a healthy challenge to the visiting club teams".
He urged people to visit Lough Muckno over the weekend as the fishing competition gets under way.
"Please come and give them your support as they go for gold," he said.
