Specimen Coalfish

Cobh SAC held the first of their Master Boat Angler competitions this Saturday. Fishing aboard the Naomh Cartha, club member, Sandra O' Shea, had this fine specimen coalfish. The fish weighed 20lbs when landed, but when weighed 6 hours later, on a certified scales, it came in at 18.5lbs. Still a fine fish though. The fish was caught on one of Ger Keohane's marks east of the Pollack Rock and is an excellent fish for a reef caught fish. For a full report read here http://www.cobhsac.blogspot.com/. Cobh SAC are holding three more Master Angler comps. Anyone is welcome to fish them. If you are interested please contact Club Secretary, Mary Geary, on 021 - 4812167. The Club also run the Annual International Deep Sea Angling Festival in Sept. This year the prize fund for this event has been increased to €7,500 of which €2,000 is in cash.

Cork Harbour Blues!

Members of Cobh SAC availed of the recent settled weather and targeted the Blue Shark off Cork Harbour this week. Fishing the grounds south of the Ling Rocks they had some hectic action. Over a three hour session they managed to land 10 blue shark to five rods but lost 4 more. On several occassions they had double hook ups, which made for some interesting maneuvering onboard. The smallest of the shark weighed 50 lbs, with the biggest going to 100lbs. For the full report see http://www.cobhsac.blogspot.com/.

If you're interested in fishing for blue shark, all the charter skippers in the Cork Harbour Angling Hub do specialise in shark fishing. Here are their contact details:

John Boy (Donal Geary) http://www.sea-fishing-ireland.com/

Deora De (Jim Linehan) http://www.charterangling.com/

Wreckhunter (Joe Lynch) http://www.wreckhunter.ie/

Cuan Bawn (John & Finbar Barry) http://www.corkharbourboats.com/

Castlemaiden (John & Finbar Barry) http://www.corkharbourboats.com/

Lee Star (John Geary) http://www.anglingcharters.eu/

Osprey II (Pat Condon) http://www.atlantic-charters.net/

Sarah Marie (Colm Sliney) http://www.ballycottonangling.com/

Sundance Kid (Butch Roberts) http://www.anglingkinsale.com/

Naomh Cartha (Ger Keohane) http://www.corkanglingcharters.com/

Osprey II has another cracker of a weekend

Pat Condon reports that they had great fishing once again aboard Osprey II out of Cork Harbour. Fishing in almost Mediterranean like conditions, his clients had plenty of pollack, cod, ling, conger and numerous others of the smaller species. Best cod, pictured above, went to 8lbs. Many of the pollack were of similar size, with the ling and conger going to double figures. Pat was once again fishing the Smiths, south of Roches Point. It has to be said that the Smiths are fishing very well this year with all the skippers reporting good fishing so far.

The Ling Rocks for specimen pollack

The Ling Rocks are certainly fishing excellent for pollack this year. Many of the charter boats reported catches of fine pollack again in the last week. The general stamp of fish is excellent with many fish in the 7 - 10lb range. There already have been a number of specimens this year. Martyn Rayner had this fine fish of 12.2lbs earlier this month. Thats Martyn's second specimen pollack from the Ling Rocks this year! Michael Quirke, guiding out of Bellavista also had a fine specimen. His fish of 12.5lbs, pictured below, was caught in May also on the Ling Rocks.

If you fancy a crack at trying to bag a specimen pollack why not book yourself a place with one of the Cork Harbour Angling Hub charter boats. These are listed on the angling hub blog on http://www.corkharbouranglinghub.blogspot.com/. You could also try from one of the Bellavista small boat fleet. Have a look at http://www.bassfishingireland.com/ for more information. You might even be able to book Mike as your guide!

Cobh SAC members have a good week

Cobh SAC members certainly availed of the good weather this week and got some good fishing in both inside and outside Cork Harbour.

Winner of last year's best boat caught fish, Colin Downey, is making a good go of trying to bag the best lure caught fish of 2010. While fishing soft plastics, a la French style, Colin bagged this fine bass of 8lbs. The fish measured 71cms on the BASS tape and if caught later in the year would most certainly have been nudging double figures. Colin returned the fish to fight another day and is hopeful of catching even a bigger fish as the season rolls on. Colin is a well known figure in the small boats fraternity as he helps out small boats festival organiser, Jim Clohessy, behind the scenes. If you would like more information about the Cork Small Boats Festival you can contact Jim through their website at http://www.skuaangling.net/

Martin Perryman and his crew, fishing aboard Dasher Doyle, tried their luck at the kelp beds east of the Harbour and were rewarded. On a favourite mark they once again ran into the red cod or 'tamblin.' Best of the session was this fine fish caught by Martin, estimated at just under 14lbs.

Best of luck to Cmdr. Richie Ryan who has recently launched his guiding service out of Cork Harbour. Richie also received his P2 licence recently. Richie' boat, Seahawk, is now the first and only licensed saltwater fly fishing boat in Ireland. Richie brings a wealth of experience to his service having learnt his skills salmon fishing on the River Barrow many moons ago. He will be targeting mainly bass, but also has other species such as mullet, golden greys, and bream in his sights. He will be catering for anglers of all skill levels who share his passion for lure and fly fishing. If you would like a day out with Richie you can contact him through his website at http://www.corkbass.com/

Good weekend on the Osprey

Pat Condon, skippering the Osprey, reports that they had a great weekend's fishing just gone. On Saturday, fishing one of Pat's marks on the Smiths, his party of anglers had over 17 species of fish. Included in these were some hefty conger, ling, and pollack. A few of the conger were in the mid 30's. One of the lads also had a fine 4lb haddock. A number of dragonets were also caught.

To round off the day Pat moved in closer to the harbour in search of thornback ray. After landing a few thornie's one of the gang hooked into a fish that went on a surging run and tore line from the reel at a rate of knots. Before he had a chance to set the hook the end rig parted. Pat reckoned it may have been a large spurdog as a few of these have shown up lately. Then again it may have been a Tope. One of these was caught last year in the National Fish Offs and it may be that they are starting to put in a reappearance in the Harbour after an absence of decades.

If you would like to book a charter out on the Osprey you can contact Pat through his website at http://www.atlantic-charters.net/

Deora De does it again!

Anglers enjoyed some more excellent fishing onboard Deora De last weekend. Deora De is skippered by Jim Linehan and last weekend Jim brought a group of lads to a reef that he knows holds plenty of fish. It also has some good broken ground at its edges. To maximise everyones chances Jim opted to fish on the drift. What a good choice!

Fishing has been on fire for some time now out of Cork Harbour with tide having little or no effect. The variety of species coming to the boats has been excellent. On this trip the lads had plenty of cod and haddock. Mackeral were also plentiful. Other species included pouting, pollack, coalfish, cuckoo wrasse, ballen wrasse, grey and red gurnard, and of course, the ever present doggies. Whiting are still in almost plague proportions over the broken ground surrounding the reef, as are poor cod and ling. Even a few octupus were caught.

Fishing was so hectic that the crew were too busy to photograph the majority of the catch. However, they did manage a few pics.

One of the gang, Keith Hayes, had been out the previous week as part of the CFB's fisheries awareness week trip. Keith is a complete beginer. However, on that day he outfished his mentors and had a fine specimen grey gurnard. This week he also had great fishing, proving that it wasn't all beginers luck. He admits he's well and truly hooked now!!! He reckons he'll be out with Jim again in a couple of weeks. He won't be the only one; the rest of the lads were very happy with their day's fishing too. Most of the fish caught on the day were released, with just a small selection kept for the table.

Jim has a scorecard available for his anglers to print from his website. This adds a little extra excitement to the trip and even the novice anglers seem to turn into some serious competition anglers at times. If you fancy a day out with Jim contact him through his website at http://www.charterangling.com/

Specimens galore out of Cork Harbour

Martyn Rayner and his crew had a cracking day this Wednesday aboard 'Screemin' Reels.' What a day they picked; it was glorious. As per usual, the lads travelled up from Waterford and launched at Aghada pier. Boy, were they early. They were already on the water and rareing to go by 7am. Off to the Ling Rocks they went where they had crackin' fishing. Best of the day was this specimen pollack of 12.2lbs. That's Martyn's second specimen pollack from the Lings this year and the third specimen pollack reported so far. Martyn picks up the story himself here http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org/bulletin%20board/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=28346. Well done Martyn!!!

Martyn wasn't the only one bagging specimens that day. Willie O' Connor, from Kilmore, was up with his son and buddy, Dan, in Willie's boat, 'Off da hook.' They had an early start aswell and were on the road by 4am. This early start saw them out at the golden grey mark by 6:30am. From there they headed to a secret red gurnard mark north of the Lings which came up trumps for them. Some fine red gurnard were landed, including a fine specimen of 2lbs 30z. Well done lads! The picture opposite is of Dan with that specimen. Willie's son also had a red which wasn't far off the mark. That wasn't the end of their good fishing; by the end of the day they had managed 17 species. Willie takes up the story himself here http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org/bulletin%20board/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=28347.

These Waterford crews are certainly hot contenders for the Cork Small Boats Competition. Indeed, Screemin' Reels has been a runner-up on no less than three previous occasions. If you would like more information on the Cork Small Boats Festival contact Jim Clohessy at http://www.skuaangling.net/.

The Bellavista fleet also got in on the specimen action. As part of the Fisheries Awareness week Kevin had a gang out fishing from Tralee last Saturday. Fishing an inner harbour mark they had a specimen gilthead bream of over 5lbs. That wasn't the only specimen bream. A gang of well known specimen hunters from Dublin targeting the species also had 3 specimen bream over the weekend. Rumour has it that the best of these was a fish of about 5lbs. If you fancy taking one of the Bellavista boats out contact Kevin at http://www.bassfishingireland.com/.

Illegal netting

Unfortunately, it has been brought to our attention that since we posted up about the Golden Grey Mullet returning some unscrupulous characters have targeted that well known hotspot and illegally netted the area. Their main target is, of course, bass. We have also had some reports of illegal netting of bass in the Ferry. We would ask all anglers to be vigilant. If you come across such activity or any activity you are unsure of, or if you come across nets, please contact the South Western Region Fisheries Board on (026) 41222. If you feel brave enough it might help to take a few photos. Be vigilant!!!

Fisheries Awareness Week

To promote angling and help showcase their role in angling the Central Fisheries Board recently held their "Fisheries Awareness Week" http://www.faw.ie/. Cobh was the venue of choice to host the charter boat event last weekend.

Officers of the SWRFB joined up with anglers last Sunday and had a great day's fishing onboard two of the hub's finest charter boats. They all left the pontoon at Cobh at 10am in the morning in flat calm conditions onboard the Deora De, skippered by Jim Linehan, and Osprey II, skippered by Pat Condon.

As the main purpose of the week long event was to show what angling is all about and to show the role the Fisheries Board play in the sport, the skippers decided to fish two different areas. Deora De opted for the Smiths and Osprey II went to the Ling Rocks.

On Deora De, Jim chose a part of the reef that he knows held fish with some broken ground near by. To cover the ground effectively Jim opted to fish on the drift. The fishing was hectic for the entire day. For some reason the tide had absolutely no effect on the fishing with a steady stream of fish and a variety of species coming to the boat.

A lot of cod were showing with several anglers getting 4 at a time. Mackeral were also plentiful. There was also several good pouting, pollack, a number of coalfish, cuckoo wrasse, ballen wrasse, haddock, grey and red gurnard, whiting, poor cod, ling and a few octopus. The whiting were almost in plague proportions in the broken ground around the reef. The boat moved several times just to get a break!

Highlight of the day was a very nice sized megrim for Irish international shore angler JP Molloy. Just prior to landing the fish JP had been remarking that he never caught a megrim. Then, like a scene from that well known cola ad, JP fumbled it like Packie Bonner. He had that meg everywhere but in his hands and, eventually, it slipped back over the side. Of course this scene played out perfectly to the amusement of some of the novice anglers onboard who had better fishing than JP all day and were letting him know. One of these lads, on his first ever angling trip, had earlier boated the best cod of the day, which was just nudging double figures. He also had a fine specimen grey gurnard. A clear case of the pupil outshining the teacher.

The Osprey II also had good fishing out on the Lings, but it wasn't as hectic as the lads had on the Smiths. JP reckoned it was one of the best days out in a boat that he had ever had. Both boats returned to the pontoon in heavy showers at around 6pm with lots of very very happy anglers. Most of the fish on the day were released with just a small selction for the table.

If you fancy a day out on with Jim on Deora De you can contact him on his website here http://www.charterangling.com/. If you fancy a trip with Pat on the Osprey II contact him here http://www.atlantic-charters.net/