2010 Master Boat Angler Competition Series

On last Saturday (26th June) we held the first of this years Master Boat Angler competitions. Eight anglers participated and were down at Kennedy Pier bright and early on what turned out to be a fine summer's day. All boarded the Naomh Cartha at 10am sharp and skipper, Ger Keohane, was soon steering a course for a favourite mark. Ger opted to fish down east. On the way out the obligatory stop for mackeral was made. These proved somewhat elusive and just barely enough to get going were swung onboard. Nevertheless, the gang ploughed on and Ger soon had them on his mark on the edge of the Pollack Rock reef.


The fishing was steady all day with a good mixture of species landed. These included cod, ling, conger, pollack, coalfish, haddock, grey gurnard, tub gurnard, ballan wrasse, and pouting. Veteran, Frankie Cronin, was soon leading the way with a constant stream of good conger. Its reckoned that Frankie would catch conger in a puddle. Frank didn't have it all his own way, though. Sandra O' Shea brought onboard what surely must rank as the catch of the day; a fine specimen coalfish of 18.5lbs. In fact when they first weighed the fish it registered at 20lbs on the scales. This must surely put Sandra in the running for fish of the year!


At the end of the competition Frankie was outright winner with 338 points. In second place was Noel Carey with 266 points and running a close third, Danny Kane, with 253 points. All agreed they had a great day with the beautiful sunny weather a real bonus. Don't forget our next Master Angler comp. This will be fished as part of the Harbour Championships and is on Sunday 25th July. Don't also forget this year's festival. Mary Geary is currently taking entries, and can be contacted on 021 - 4812167. Remember this year's prize fund had been increased to €7,500, including €2,000 in cash. If you're not in, you can't win!

Getting in amongst the blues....

Cobh SAC member, Danny Kane, was out on a sharking trip during the week. The weather has been so settled and good of late that a trip to target the blues has been on the cards for some time. Danny and three others set off for the grounds south of the Ling Rocks, stopping off on the way out for bait. Would you believe, within 20 minutes of setting up the rubby dubby bags they had their first run. They had set up five rods, Danny putting two rods out himself, and the first run did come to Danny. Danny was later to regret putting two rods out as he had a double hook up. However, being quite used to juggling, Danny managed to actually land both fish!!!

Sport for the afternoon was hectic. In all they had 14 runs and managed to land 10 blues. The smallest of the shark was about 50lbs with the biggest going to 100lbs. What an afternoon's fishing, and would you believe this all happened within the space of 3 hours. One of the lads had to go to work so they couldn't stay out any longer. Imagine the fishing if they could have stayed!

Colin Downey targeting a prize again this year

Winner of last year's best boat caught fish Colin Downey is out to make his mark this year again. On a trip out this week Colin had this fine bass while lure fishing. The fish weighed in at 7lb 12oz & measured 71cms on the BASS tape. This certainly puts Colin in contention for the best lure caught fish of 2010. A confident Colin reckons he might just better this again with a bit of luck as it is early yet. Watch this space!!!

Ireland's first licensed fly fishing boat

Congratulations to club member Richie Ryan who has just received his P2 licence. Richie's boat Seahawk is now the first and only licensed saltwater fly fishing boat in Ireland. Following his retirement as Comander in the Navy, Richie is now concentrating his efforts in providing a guiding service from Cork Harbour. Richie will be concentrating on his first love, fly fishing, but will also be lure fishing in general. Obviously, bass will be the main target but also in his sights are thick lipped mullet, golden grey mullet, gilthead bream, seatrout, pollack, and many more species. Richie brings a wealth of knowledge to play having developed his skills from an early age targeting salmon on the river Barrow. However, don't let his expertise intimidate you as he will be welcoming clients of all skill levels from the complete novice angler to the more experienced. If you fancy a day out with Richie contact him through his website at http://www.corkbass.com/

Good cod showing up at the Kelp Beds

Frank Burke was out recently with Martin Perryman in Martin's boat Dasher Doyle. Also out were Ger Richardson, Tony and John Cahill on Ruud's boat.

Although, they didn't have many fish they did have a great day out as the weather was excellent, as can be seen from the above photo. Nevertheless, the quality of the fish caught was superb. The best of the day was this belter of a red cod, caught by Martin, which the lads reckoned at between 12lbs and 14lbs. However, all the lads managed to catch good size kelp cod or tambling, as they are better known, and each had at least one for the table!