Edenderry coarse angling club
Nine permanent match stretches occupy the length of the Grand Canal within 15 km of Edenderry town. Each stretch is permanently marked and contains a minimum of 25 pegs, spaced at 30 metre intervals. The towpaths are driveable and adjacent car parking facilities are provided. The towpaths, like the canal itself, are maintained to the highest standard by Waterways Ireland and Edenderry coarse angling club, while the angling conditions are beyond parallel. A vast number of mixed coarse fish have been stocked into the canal over the past ten years - the health and population status of which is regularly assessed. Apart from the 262 permanent swims that have been created for the match angler on this unique fishery, a number of stretches have been prepared to cater for the pleasure fisherman and the junior angler. Included among these is the famous Edenderry Branch Line. Fished 12 months a year, this highly productive venue regularly produces catches in excess of 50lb per session. Bream, tench, roach, rudd, hybrids, carp, perch and gudgeon are the principal fish species present. Over the past decade the Grand Canal at Edenderry has played host to a large number of prestigious international, national, provincial and local angling festivals. Because of the superb bank-side facilities, the large and diverse fish stock and the wide range of managed match stretches, Edenderry had been the venue of choice for many major angling events in Ireland. Each year the Edenderry Coarse Angling Club (CAC) stages two major festivals on the canal. These are the Guinness Solo three-day Festival in June and the two day Edenderry ADC Coarse Angling Festival in August. They have also hosted the senior canal all-Ireland and hosted the interprovincials in 2010 and 2013. The Canal
The Grand Canal in the Edenderry area is between 13 and 16 m wide and averages 1.7 m deep. Depths to 2 m are available in the section between Downshire Bridge and Lock 20. The water is normally coloured and is generally static or very slow flowing. The canal corridor supports a wide diversity of aquatic and marginal plants that harbour myriads of fish-food insects. This may explain the large quantity of plump fish that is resident in the canal. The vegitation is carefully managed by Waterways Ireland and does not pose an obstruction for anglers. Boat traffic density along the canal is low.
