Kinawley angler Dave Burleigh has had a busy season, casting his line into lakes across Europe as a member of the Irish team in several high profile competitions.

This week he returned from the Czech Republic where he was fishing for Ireland in the World Championships and next month he is jetting off to France for another international event, but he reckons his best result of the season came in the Home Nations Championship, televised live on Sky as part of 'Fish O Mania' earlier this year. His performance that day not only earned him recognition in front of fishing largest audience of the year, but helped his team to third place against the other strongly fancied nations.

"I went to the Home International which was televised on Sky Sports and I managed to come fourth overall in that, fishing against the best commercial carp anglers in the world," he said. "That was probably the highlight for me personally during the year. We went over and practiced for three days beforehand and we thought if we could beat one team we would be doing well because the other teams fish a lot of those types of commercial venues over there so if you beat any of them you are doing really well. We managed to beat the Welsh team which was a great achievement. On paper we shouldn't really be able to do that." Dave's efforts caught the eye of Daiwa, and they acted quickly to offer him a sponsorship deal that makes him one of very few Irish anglers who have secured a sponsorship deal within the sport.

Dave's fishing career started from a very early age. Despite not coming from a family who were immersed in the sport, Dave's enthusiasm had him out on the river banks from about the age of seven. He quickly became involved in the local Erne Anglers club, and his enthusiasm for the sport has never waned. "I'm fishing every week without a doubt, unless I'm really preparing for one of the big events I have to travel to," he said. "There is always something on the horizon from one weekend to the other." If Dave is not fishing he can be found in his fishing Tackle and Bait Shop in Enniskillen, and while his connections through the shop help to keep him up to date with what is happening in the fishing world, he has often held him back from excelling in his home event. "The trouble with having ties in the shop means when it comes to the likes of the Classic and the matches around May time it's that busy on the shop that I can't get the time to concentrate on fishing," he said. "I have fished the Classic a few times but I have never drawn well enough to do well. The draw hasn't been so kind to me." Three weeks ago Dave took his place alongside fellow Fermanagh angler Nick Howell to represent Ulster in the Inter-provincial championships, and under the management of Jack Tisdall the pair helped the Ulster team overcome the challenge of the other provinces to claim the title.

Since that event it has been quite a successful year for Irish angling, Although Dave was not involved in the event, Ireland, under the management of Ballycassidy man Mark Theedom claimed the Celtic Cup for the first time after victory over Scotland and Wales in the event based at Inniscarra lake in County Cork.

Dave's most recent adventure took him to the World Championships in the Czech Republic, but he admitted the team were one of many to struggle with the difficult conditions. "It was an extremely difficult venue," he said. "It rained and the river came up a considerable amount in the middle of the night during the practice week and no two days of practice were the same. It effectively switched the bigger fish off at the venue. It resulted in catching a lot of little tiny fish, and that is what the Eastern European countries are good at because that is what they do on their similar home venues. We just aren't used to that sort of fishing and it's very difficult to compete with them. They are catching up to 190 fish in the first hour of the match which is up to five fish a minute. None of our rivers have those sorts of species in them, and even the top teams like England and the Italians came unstuck on it, so we weren't alone. The team was a better team than the result we got, but the type of fishing was completely alien to us." The experience has not dampened Dave's determination to represent Ireland when the opportunity comes around again next year. Although the qualification process is long and time consuming, Dave is determined to once again represent Ireland when the 2013 Championships are held in France next summer.