World Shore Team Fundraiser

For those of you who like your shore fishing, there's an interesting competition coming up next month. The team members of the National Shore Team are organising a fund raising competition on Youghal beach on Saturday 7th August. Fishing is from 9pm to 1am in the morning. The fishing should be very interesting as plenty of small eyed ray would be expected at this time of year. Bass should also make an appearance, and recent reports suggest that they are still catching codling off the beach. There will be 2 to 3 zones, depending on the number of entries, with optional pairs and optional pools. The match will be pre-entry and will carry penn points (Sea Angler). If you are interested in fishing this you can contact the captain of the Irish shore team, J. P. Molloy, on 087 - 7946518.

Less than 2 months to go.....

Yes, there's less than 2 months to go to this year's Festival. The Festival is starting on Monday 6th September. Have you got your entry in? If you haven't give Mary a bell on 021 4812167 or download the entry form from http://www.flickr.com/photos/cobhsac/?saved=1.

As you all know this year things are a bit more interesting. We've up the prize fund to €7,500, of which €2,000 is in cash. The breakdown of this cash prize is as follows: First prize €1,000; second prize €400; third prize €200; and best team of four €400. This is on top of all the great prizes of crystal that are there every year. Here's a pic of last year's winner, Frankie Cronin, with his fine cache of prizes:

Frankie came from way down the field on the last day of last year's competition to win it outright. Milo Burke came a close second with Paul Parker coming in third place. The best 'out of state angler' was Sjef van der Brand, from Holland, who came in 5th place and in 7th place was best lady angler, Sandra O' Shea, who is pictured above with a nice codling.

Although, the weather was mixed the fishing was quite good. There was nearly a thousand fish caught over the 4 days, with good hefty congers making up a significant proportion of the catch. Having said that there were also good quality cod, pollack, and ling. Frankie also won the best fish of the week with a 15kg conger. He had this fish on the first day, but would you believe he had one of the exactly the same size on the Friday. Every angler fared out well, though, with each angler in the competition averaging 5 good, quality fish every day. Once more the craic was mighty and as everyone retired to the nominated watering hole from the pier the banter between the various nationalities was mighty!!!

So come on get your skates on and sign up! If your not in, you can't win!

To give you a better idea of how last year went have a look at the links below:

Day 1: http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org/bulletin%20board/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=23410

Day 2: http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org/bulletin%20board/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=23497

Day 3: http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org/bulletin%20board/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=23498

Day 4: http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org/bulletin%20board/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=25034

Richie does the business....

Richie Ryan has got his new business off to a flying start. Just weeks after getting the Country's first licensed salt water fly fishing boat, Richie has been getting in amongst the bass in the Harbour. In the picture, above, Richie is with South African, Daryn McArthur. This was Daryn's first saltwater bass! What's more he caught it on a surface lure. Not an easy task on your first outing after bass, but under Richie's expert tuition he managed four that day. Richie had hoped to bring them fly fishing but it was just too windy. Instead, Richie went to one of his backup marks that gave plenty of shelter. Once in position they had great crack with all fish falling to surface lures. Well done Richie, keep it up and keep those reports coming!

If you fancy a day out with Richie on the 'Seahawk' you can contact him through his website here http://www.corkbass.com/ or give him a buzz on 086 - 1940744.

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/