2011 IFSA Boat Fish-Off's....

Well for the third year on the trot the club has hosted the IFSA National Boat Fish-Off's. These were held over the two days of the recent October bank holiday weekend. Thankfully, we acquitted ourselves well again and the event ran smoothly and without a hitch. Well done and thanks to our own Martin O' Leary, & Sean Og McShane, and also to Pat Wright of Angelsea SAC who did a great job of stewarding the event over the two days. Well done also to the background team of Mary Geary, John O' Reilly, and Tracy Fortune who did trojan work in running the event and also assisted John Martin IFSA in accumulating the scores. Also, we musn't forget the skippers, Donie Geary of the John Boy, Gerry Keohane of the Naomh Cartha, John Geary of the Lee Star, and Alan Kennedy of the Lagosta II, who kept the competitors on fish despite very trying conditions.

Well what are the National Fish-Offs all about? The whole purpose of the event is to select the Irish team to participate in the World Championships of the following year. In 2012 the Worlds will be held in South Africa. The top five competitors over the two days qualify for the team aswell as the winner of the National Boat Master Angler who qualifies as captain of the team. The top 20 finishers automatically qualify for the Fish-Offs of the following year. They are joined by the top 12 finishers of the Boat Master Angler competition, so that in all 32 anglers are competing in the event. The purpose of this format is to raise the standard of angling at the top level and minimise the role that luck might play.

The anglers compete over the two days in 4 three hour sessions. Each boat is considered a separate zone and the winner of each boat in each session receives either 1, 2, 3, or 4 points all depending on the points on his scorecard. The angler with the most points will get a score of 1, and so on. The second placed anglers on the boats are then allocated points between

5 and 8 and so on down the line. The angler with the least amount of points wins the competition outright. This year the angler with the least number of points was Kit Dunne of Wicklow Bay SAC. Kit came first with 13 points having topped his boat over three sessions and coming second on a fourth session. On one of those sessions that he topped his boat he had the best scorecard amongst the 32 competitors and, thus, received the coveted 1 point. The other anglers in the top five, in order of merit, were Michael Barry of the Eastern Command SAC, Gordon Darker of Stella Maris SAC, David Jolly of Caherciveen SAC, and Tony Santry of Bishopstown SAC. Well done lads!!! They join Myles Howell of Wicklow Bay SAC, who having won the National Boat Masters competition in Sept, now captains the Irish team. Full results can be see on the IFSA website here.

Our own Danny Kane acquitted himself well. However, as he finished outside the top 20 he does not qualify to stay in the pool for next year's fish offs. Danny will have to try and qualify through the Masters once more. Well done in any case Danny, you put in a good showing for your first time!!!

The fishing itself was tough on the first day. There was a howling gale, driving rain and rough seas. With a strong ebb tide and southerly winds there was a big sea running....even between the forts. All the boats elected at the start to fish the western edge of the channel dropping into 'Deep Hole.' Before low water Donie onboard the John Boy switched over to the eastern side just below Carlisle. It was then that we got a fair idea of the sea running as the John Boy completely disappeared between the swells with only her mast showing. For the first session the fishing was slow. Dabs, small whiting, poor cod, pouting and codling did show. However, for the second session all boats switched over to Dognose to catch the start of the flood and hopefully the whiting shoals. They never materialised. Still by the end of the day most anglers had averaged between 20 and 40 fish. That's not too bad when you consider the conditions. This highlights the uniqueness of Cork Harbour; where else would you have caught fish on a day like that. In fact, in most other venues you just would not have got out.

On Day 2 the weather was much improved and with it the fishing improved dramatically as well. All boats decided to stay put on the western side and it was a wise decision. Most anglers recorded an average of 80 fish with good dabs and whiting amongst them. In fact a fair few dabs were close to specimen size. What a difference a day makes!

...and so the fish-offs concluded for one more year; we wish the new Irish team the best of luck in South Africa and, hopefully, Cobh SAC may be asked again to host the Fish-Offs someday again in the future.

2011 Festival

Well its all over for another year and what a week it was! The competition went right down to the wire, but in the end Danny Kane prevailed! Yes, he's done it again! Danny Kane is champion for the second year on the trot!

Fair play to Danny! This comes two weeks after his great result in the national boat masters. You can't say he's fluky anymore. Mind you, there are those that say that he definitely does have lady lucky smiling on him. On the final day Danny was in the top ten but a specimen conger of 19kg in the last few hours of the competition lifted him above the rest. This gave him 195 points and lifted him up the table. In the end his winning margin over the runner-up was a mere 55 points.

You'd have to feel sorry for young Cian Ryan, though. Cian was juvenile munster champion a mere few years ago and certainly has the credentials to give Danny a run for his money. Coming into the final day Cian was leading the table. It did look like it was going to be Cian's year. However, a number of seasoned anglers, Danny included, pulled out all the stops on the Friday and pushed Cian down to 5th place. Unlucky Cian; maybe next year. At least, the experience will stand to you.

It was a tough week, though. At times the fishing was tough. This was mainly down

to the weak tides as we fished neaps all week. However, this was further compounded by the weather which was crap. A series of gales hit the fishing grounds over the week and the anglers took a battering. Although, most anglers struggled everyday there was, at least, one boat everyday that did bring in good results; so it wasn't all bad.

On the opening day of the Festival, 52 anglers gathered early on the pier and boarded the waiting charter boats promptly. Six boats of the Cork Harbour

Angling Hub charter boat fleet were used and were well equipped to deal with the inclement weather. Although, Monday started off okay the forecast wasn't great and it was decided to make the most of initial conditions and get outside the Harbour. The Smiths reef were declared the fishing grounds for the day and it was hoped that this would allow for some quality fishing on at least one day in the event of the boats

being confined to the Harbour for the remainder.

Although, all boats managed to stay on the Smiths reef, some 7kms off Roches Point, conditions during the day deteriorated dramatically. By evening a full blown gale had developed and sea conditions were building with wave heights in excess of 3 metres. Four of the six boats struggled with poor fishing. However, two boats hit a bit of a gold vein with plenty of individual scores in excess of 500 points. 1st place for the day went to Richie Fortune of Cobh SAC with 535 points; 2nd went to Steve Williams of Wales with 520 pts; and 3rd went to Tom Johnson of Ireland with

510 pts. Tom Johnson also recorded the heaviest fish of the day with a 11.5kg conger.

It was with great relief that many of the anglers greeted the call for lines up and when we retired to Tradewinds Restaurant for the evening there was many a body that was black and blue from trying to counter the motion of the sea. What harm; the craic and banter that was had in Tradewinds certainly made up for the hardships of the day and, as the band played on into the evening, most anglers unwound with a few pints of well earned Guinness and stories of the one that got away!

Day 2 and remnants of the overnight gale certainly blew the cobwebs away for most. An attempt was made to make it to the offshore marks but, with a heavy sea running and the boats taking a battering on the outward trek, a decision was

made to turn back to more sheltered waters. The fishing grounds were to be the Harbour mouth and the coastal reefs of Guileen and Trabolgan. Again, the pattern of the day before was repeated; some boats struggled but one or two had good fishing. Having said that there were more zero scores today. Seasoned angler, Pat O' Shea of Cobh SAC, was to get a duck-egg; the first of his career! Chairman of the club, John O'Reilly, was to have a cracker of a day. John came first with 415 points and

also had the heaviest fish, a 15kg conger. 2nd was Ruud Boelhouwer of Holland with 395 pts, and

3rd was Bobby Crebor of Carrigaline SAC with 330 pts.

With gale force winds, squally conditions, and heavy downpours the anglers were certainly battered once more. However, spirits were lifted when all gathered at the post match venue of Ryan's bar. Again the craic and banter was superb. With 'Buster' entertaining with his vast repetoire of songs, sea shanties, and ballads into the wee hours, all thoughts of a tough day were soon forgotten about.
The following day, Wednesday, was a rest day. That night all anglers gathered in O'Sheas Bar at the Commodore Hotel for Trad night. Traditional Irish band, Something Simple, gave rousing renditions of 'auldies' and Irish. This talented trio were superb! As the anglers got stuck into the traditional fare of 'crubeens,' conversation drifted towards the anticipated remaining two days. Frank Burke's crubeens had hair on it! That's the second year on the trot!!! (...if you pardon the pun). Was it to be an omen...it certainly was, as on the next day Frank put in one of his

best career performances in these Internationals to date!

Day 3, Thursday and not a bad day weather wise, or so it was forecast. It started off okay and this allowed the boats to get out to the outer reefs. The fishing grounds were decided as the Pollack Rock reef, a reef system that extends east of Power Head towards Ballycotton. The fishing was quite good with plenty of pollack, ling, conger, and cod showing. However, as the day progressed the winds started to build; as did the sea-state. By lines up, the anglers were once again glad to be homeward bound. Cian Ryan, fishing onboard the Lee Star, had a cracker of a day landing pollack one after the other to end up with 450 points. This put him in pole position going into the final day. Frankie Burke also had a great day. It must have been the 'crubeen.' Frank had landed eight fine congers to give him 435 points and second place. Third place went to veteran Fred Vickery from Crosshaven SAC. Mike Hade landed the heaviest fish of the day, a fine 13kg conger. On shore everyone headed to Kelly's bar where once again a great evening was had by all. With an earlier start to the last day most headed home that bit earlier than usual; all except Danny and the Welsh lads.

On the final day, the forecast put paid to any thoughts of making the better marks offshore. Stiffs winds from

the south east forced a decision to limit fishing to the harbour area and marks within 1 mile of Roches Point. With such restrictions it was initially thought that Cian Ryan was safe on the top spot; nobody could chalk up enough points to knock him off his pedestal...or so it seemed. It wasn't to be, though; Danny Kane had a storming day, topped off by catching a specimen conger (not an easy specimen to catch and the first specimen conger in the Festival in many years). Most of the boats fished the Harbour Rock initially, but

Danny was on

board the Wreck Hunter. Skipper Joe Lynch opted instead to fish one of his marks close to Trabolgan. By lunchtime this didn't seem so good as there was only one fish onboard but all of a sudden the conger came on the feed. A steady flow of fish came onboard for the afternoon topped off by that monster conger.

That fish alone was worth 195 points for Danny and helped him to leapfrog over half a dozen anglers to put him in top spot overall. Top spot earns Danny €1,000!!! On the day Danny came in second spot with 450 points, with Milo Burke first with 475 points, and Con Cronin in third with 390 points. All three

anglers were on the one boat. Heaviest fish was, of course, Danny's conger.

So concluded a week of extraordinary fishing and the final results were as follows:

1st Danny Kane, Cobh SAC, 1270 pts

2nd Steve Williams, Wales, 1215 pts

3rd Tom Johnson, Ireland, 1140 pts

4th Paul Tennant, Cobh SAC, 1100 pts

5th Cian Ryan, Cobh SAC, 1075 pts

6th Fred Vickery, Crosshaven SAC, 1055 pts

7th Milo Burke, Cobh SAC, 1005 pts

8th Pat O' Shea, Cobh SAC, 875 pts

9th John Slynne, Carrigaline SAC, 860 pts

10th Bob Crebor, Carrigaline SAC, 820 pts

11th Sean Og McShane, Cobh SAC, 810 pts

12th Richie Fortune, Cobh SAC, 800 pts

13th Con Cronin, Cobh SAC, 800 pts

14th John O' Reilly, Cobh SAC, 780 pts

15th Frank Burke, Cobh SAC, 775 pts

Best Pollack, 3.0kg, Bob Crebor, Ire

Best Ling, 4.5kg, Tony Maguire, Ire

Most No. of Conger, Tom Johnson, Ire, 19 conger

Best Edible Bag, 52kg, Pat O' Shea, Ire

Most Species, Andrew Tucker, Wales, 8 Species

Best Cod, 4.0kg, Bob Crebor, Ire

Best No. of Fish, Pat O' Shea, Ire, 48 fish

Best 'Out of State' angler, Steve Williams, Wales, 1215 pts

Best Lady, Tina Kneeshaw, Ire, 685 pts

Best Junior, Ml. Lane, Ire, 650 pts

Heaviest fish of the week, 19.0kg conger, Danny Kane

Best Skipper, Alan Kennedy, Lagosta II

Plans are already afoot in organising next years event. Next year the tides will be springs so the fishing should be much better and the scoring should be much higher. If you'd fancy entering why not contact our club secretary. Mary Geary, at 00-353-21-4812167. C'mon, you know it's good for you!!!

A big thanks to Martin O' Leary who, once again, did all the photography for the week. Aswell as the photos here Martin has uploaded more than 175 pics of the week on our facebook page (Cobh Sac).

Well done Danny...3rd in the Masters!

Well done to clubman Danny Kane, who came 3rd in the National Boat Angling Masters!!! Danny and Sandra O' Shea were representing Cobh SAC at this years masters held two weeks ago in Killybegs. The fishing was very competitive with the best of the country's anglers slogging it out against each other over two days.

Danny did exceptionally well to finish in third spot. Its Danny's first time fishing the masters and, apparently, this is the highest finish by a first time competitor. Sandra did well aswell, finishing in 42nd spot out of 60 anglers, and the best anglers in the country at that. Myles Howell of Bray finished in first spot and Stven O' Neill of Guileen (who is a regular entrant in our light line competitions) finished in 2nd.

Danny now progresses onto the National Fish Offs on the October weekend where he competes in a two day competition to determine the Irish Boat team for South Africa in 2012. Danny couldn't have a better chance of making the national team as Cobh SAC is hosting this event and it is once more fished in Cork Harbour. Danny's experience of fishing the light line competitions over the last three seasons should stand to him as the fishing for the National fish offs is very similar. Go on Danny, you can do it!!!

Festival 2011 - 4 weeks to go!

Are you booked in? Only 4 weeks to go....give Mary a bell on 021-4812167.

Cobh Fishing Tackle - new shop

Cobh Fishing Tackle have opened a new branch right next door to the Commodore Hotel in the old Seashell's Shop. This is a handy spot if you're heading out fishing for the day and need to top up on tackle; just a short distance away from the pier. Everything you need is there, including fresh bait. The bait freezer and fridge are well stocked up.

Best of luck to Mary & Donie, we hope this new venture is a roaring success!!!

Summer Light Lines Comp No.3

Last Monday evening we held the third in our series of summer light line comps. Everyone gathered at Kennedy Pier for 6pm and loaded aboard the Naomh Cartha. Fishing was alright.

Its amazing the difference between the seasons as regards numbers and species of fish. The main species caught on Monday night were dabs and doggies. In the winter its cod and whiting.

On the night, Danny Kane just pipped Sandra O' Shea for top spot. Danny had a total of 19 fish but so had Sandra; the difference between the two a mere 6 points. Well done to all who participated, the fishing wasn't great but the banter was mighty as usual.

Our next competition is the Festival. That's only 5 weeks away. If you haven't got your entry in yet give Mary a buzz on 021-4812167!!!!

Cork Harbour Championships

Well we had a good turnout for the Harbour Championships recently. Eleven anglers from the club fished and we were able to field three teams.

Fishing was a bit patchy, though. Danny Kane reports that he, Sandra and two others fishing onboard 'Sandra Anne,' struggled outside until they came in and fished the 'Quarry' in Whitebay and picked up a few congers.

At the end of the day Passage were the winning team, with Michael Geary from Monkstown SAC, the overall winner. Well done Michael!

We were also running one of our own Master Boat competitions as part of this comp and our overall winner was Frank Cronin. Well done Frank! Frank did well fishing for dabs on Curlane Bank and certainly raked up the points. Cian Ryan came third, with Danny Kane coming in fourth spot.

The race for the overall Masters spot for the year is hotting up but it looks like Frank and Danny will be slugging it out together.

Do remember, though, that we have a few places on the Masters this year due to the number of registered members so they'll still be places up for grabs.

All hell broke loose in the Kitchen.....

All hell broke loose in the Kitchen recently....literally. In a fund-raiser for Cobh SAC two teams of amateur chefs were pitted against each other to serve 70 paying patrons! Oh, the pressure was on. On one side were Pat O'Shea and Ger Richardson of Cobh SAC, and on the other Aidan Kneeshaw and John O'Reilly, also of Cobh SAC. Between the four of them....they couldn't boil an egg!!!

However, ably guided by Richie Fortune and Sandra O' Shea they muddled their way through it....and surprisingly, there were no complaints. Wow!

A great night was had by all, which was rounded off nicely by a great performance on the musical front by Dr. Pender and his band.

Many thanks to Sandra and Danny of Tradewinds Restaurant for use of their facilities, to Ger Keohane who provided the venison, to Donie Geary who supplied the cod, and to all those patrons who supported Cobh SAC on the night. Well done!!!

...and by the way, well done to Pat & Ger, who won on the night!!!

Cobh SAC Inter-pub Competition

The first Cobh inter-pub angling competition was a great success. Sponsored by the Mauretania Bar and organised by Cobh SAC, there was a great turn out. Over 60 anglers, representing 6 pubs, congregated early on Saturday morning, 9th July, on Kennedy Pier and boarded 7 angling charter boats provided by the Cork Harbour Angling Hub. Fishing for the day was mostly at the Smith's, just a few miles off Roches Point.

The fishing itself started off slow, but as the day wore on it picked up dramatically. All manner of species were swung onboard with ling, cod, pollack and whiting figuring strongly.

Overall winner was Milo Burke, Cobh SAC, representing Tradewinds Restaurant. In second place was Sandra O' Shea, Cobh SAC, also representing Tradewinds. In third was Ger Brady, Cobh SAC, representing the Maurentania Bar and in fourth was Pat O' Shea, representing the Commodore Hotel. Martin O' Leary, our ever present photographer, came in a well deserved fifth place. Well done Martin! Martin is shown in one of the pics above, holding a conger aloft.

The prize-giving was held in Tradewinds that evening, followed by a session from local band, the 'Urge.' What a great night!

Summer Light Lines....

On Monday evening last we held the second of our summer series of light line comps. To be honest you'd have been forgiven for thinking that it wasn't summer. Monday was more like winter with lashing rain, mist, fod, & wind. Mind you by the time we got the comp under way the weather had cleared somewhat.

Seven anglers were able to make it and were full of enthusiasm when Donie Geary picked them up on the John Boy from Kennedy Pier. First stop was our usual spot in 'Deep Hole.' However, the tide was just too strong and Donie suggested a move. Next stop was just off the channel close to Camden and here the tidal run was more bearable.

All sorts of rigs and all sorts of bait went over the side and soon enough a steady stream of fish came onboard. Dabs were the most plentiful of the fish and most were of a good size. By the end of the comp 54 dabs had been caught out of a total of 102 fish. That gave an average of 15 fish per angler.

Sandra O' Shea came out tops, but was ran close to the line by Ger Brady. Only 20 points separated them; effectively one fish. Sandra had 28 fish for a total of 449 points, whereas Ger had 26 fish for 429 points. In third place was Mick Bennett, with Rob Kelly in fourth. Once again a great craic was had by all.

Our next comp is a Masters Boat competition and this is on Sunday 17th July. This is followed by our third summer light line comp on Monday 25th July. Pencil those into your diary and don't forget to book yourself in with Mary on 021-4812167 well beforehand.

Well done Danny....

Congratulations to Danny Kane who landed his first specimen fish. Danny caught this beautiful specimen cuckoo wrasse yesterday onboard his own boat, 'Sandra Anne.' This fish is well deserved as Danny has put in a lot of effort targeting new marks and trying out new tactics. Mind you he wouldn't divulge where he caught this beauty!

This is the fourth specimen fish caught by a club member this year. Looks like the car will be full going to next Febuary's Specimen Fish Awards!

1st Masters comp of the year...

Well after last month's masters comp got blown out, last Sunday's masters comp turned out to be the first of the year. Not that conditions had improved much; it turned out to be quite dirty as one or two of the fishing party will readily attest to. Having said that the fishing was not too bad, with 9 species landed.

Ian O' Shea, skippering the John Boy in Donie's absence, brought the nine anglers, who checked in, to the Smiths. Fresh bait was extremely scarce but that didn't put the congers off which readily took the frozen variety. The pic above and over shows Martin O' Leary and Ger Brady get to grips with the slimey buggers.

Plenty of pollack and cod were also caught. The pic below is of Noel Kavanagh with a medium sized pollack. Danny Kane is also holding up the best cod of the day.

Results went Danny's way as he had the best bag of the day. Danny had 29 fish for a points total of 419; almost twice his nearest rival. Noel Kavanagh came second with 15 fish and 217 points. Ger Brady came third, with Martin O' Leary in fourth place.

A total of 85 fish were caught, which included: 37 pollack, 12 ling, 11 coalfish, 1 cod, 5 conger, 1 lsd, 10 pouting, 2 poor cod, and 6 cuckoo wrasse.

Our next outing is a light lines competition on Monday evening, the 20th June. Fishing is from 6pm to 9:30pm, so book yourself in with Mary on 021-4812167; come on, you know its good for ya!

Competition cancelled...

Due to high winds and heavy seas, this Sunday's competition has been cancelled. This will now be deferred to an alternative date. As soon as this is known, the date will be posted here.

Competitions for 2011

Congratulations to Frankie Cronin who was recently presented with the Master Angler trophy for 2010. Mistakenly we had earlier reported that Danny Kane had won the title, but when the final scores had been totted up Frankie pipped him for the position. This is Frankie's second year in the row winning the Master Angler title.

Here are the list of the Club competitions for 2011:

1. Sunday 8th May 10am - 6pm Open Boat (Master Angler)

2. Monday 16th May 6pm - 9:30pm Evening Boat Comp

3. Sunday 12th June 10am - 6pm Open Boat (Master Angler)

4. Monday 20th June 6pm - 9:30pm Evening Boat Comp

5. Sunday 17th July 10am - 6pm Open Boat (Master Angler)

6. Monday 25th July 6pm - 9:30pm Evening Boat Comp

7. Monday 5th Sept - Friday 9th Sept 45th International Sea Angling Festival

Book them into your diary now. Entries for the club competitions must be in with Mary at 021 - 4812167 for the Thurs before the date so that boats can be organised.

Other dates you may want to make a note of are:

1. May 29th - Munster Open Boat Championships Dunmore East (entries to Mary by May 5th)

2. June 11th - Munster Closed Boat Championships Valentia (entries to Mary by May 16th)

3. August 6th - Munster Juvenile Boat Championships (Crosshaven ) 12 - 4pm.

4. Sept 24/25th - All Ireland Findlater-Shalimar Caherciveen

April Light Lines Competition....

Well the last of this season's light line competitions got underway last Sunday, 17th April, and once again, as has been the case with all the comps in the series, we were blessed with great weather. In fact by the time we got back in many were sporting a nice shade of lobster pink, such was the strength of the sun.

There was a great turn out with 17 anglers competing. We all boarded the John Boy and Noamh Cartha early in the morning and opted once more to fish the prolific grounds of 'Deep Hole' between the Forts. By 9:30 both boats were at anchor. We were fishing big tides and, boy, was the tide run strong at the start! With 10oz leads it was even a struggle to hold bottom. However, as the tide slackened a steady stream of fish came onboard. The usual species showed in number; codling, whiting, dabs, etc.,... A surprising number of doggies showed. This was a welcome surprise as in previous competitions these have been noted for their absence. One or two mackeral also showed as was the case in the March comp.

From the oft, Cobh SAC vice-chairman, Danny Kane, piled the pressure on and seemed to put himself in an unasailable lead. However, he put himself under pressure and was soon reeled in, if you pardon the pun, by some of the Club's more seasoned anglers....upstart!!! By the end of the day a total of 759 fish had been landed; this made it an average of 45 fish per angler. The species count was 415 whiting, 126 poor cod, 93 cod, 73 dab, 48 doggies, a coalfish, a pouting, a flounder, and a scorpion fish.

Soon enough we were back in and retiring to Tradewinds Restaurant for much needed refreshments. After being well watered and well fed it was time to give out the prizes. Vice-chair, Danny Kane, got proceedings underway and presented first prize to Anthony Austin, of Crosshaven SAC, who had 87 fish for a total of 1,216 points. Second was club treasurer, Pat O' Shea, with 60 fish for 889 points, and third was Martin Perryman with 63 fish for 888 points. Wow, one point between second and third!!!

Well done to our latest club member, Evan McGovern, who came in a creditable 5th place. Club treasurer, Pat O' Shea, also had the most species of fish with 7 species.

As these comps have proven so popular, vice-chair, Danny Kane, announced that a summer evening series will be run. These comps will be run from 6pm to 10pm in the evenings in June, July, and August. Watch this space for these dates and more details!!!