Tuesday, November 26, 2013

World Boat Team Qualifying Competition 2013


The National Fish-Offs were once again held in Cork Harbour over the October Bank Holiday weekend. This was the 5th year on the trot that this competition to pick the Irish Team for the World Boat Angling Championships has been held in the harbour. The Irish team next year will be competing in Weymouth, England.

This year was going to be more of a challenge. First of all the tides were the smallest of the month; this can have a big impact on the fishing.  Secondly, the forecast was not the greatest. In fact, the storm that eventually did so much damage along the south coast of England passed through the region over the Saturday and Sunday. Winds on both days came upto force 9 at times with gusts in excess of force 10. This coupled with the occasional downpours made the conditions extremely difficult for anglers. In the height of the tempest anglers struggled. One unlucky angler threw his catch forward to a steward to be measured and recorded only for the wind to catch the fish and carry it dozens of yards from the boat. Crazy!!!

Despite the tough conditions over a thousand fish were caught and recorded on day 1 and on the day 2 this was upped to over 1,200. Now that wasn't too bad; although, it pales in comparison to the numbers of fish caught in previous years, but given the conditions and the tide it was a good results. Once again, the mainstay of the catch were whiting and dab. Just as in previous year's there were many good dabs with some coming close to specimen size!

Well done to the anglers, whose exceptional angling skills resulted in good numbers of fish in such testing conditions. Especially.....well done to the top five anglers, Pat Swan, Michael Barry, Heiko Dreier, Padraig Clear, and Brian Whelan who now join this year's Master Angler, Liam O'Callaghan, on the National Boat Angling Team.

Well done especially to Paddy Swan who won the competition outright. Paddy Swan has been knocking on the door now for the past few years. Paddy qualified in some style this time around!Well done to also to Brian Whelan who fished his socks off on the Sunday. Coming into Sunday Brian was in 32nd spot but his exploits on Sunday catapulted him right into 5th place!

Well done lads and the best of luck in Weymouth next year!!!

For the full results the final scorecard is reproduced below.

Many thanks to the skippers from the Cork Harbour Angling Hub who always ensure that their guests stay on the fish. This weekend they included Donie Geary of the John Boy, Vince & John Geary of the Lee Star, Ger Keohane of the Naomh Cartha, and Alan Kennedy of the Lagosta II. Also many thanks to the stewards from Cobh SAC who had a busy weekend measuring fish and recording them. They included Pat Wright, Danny Kane, John O'Reilly, Sean Og McShane, and yours truly. Thanks also to Geary Angling Services and especially Mary Geary who organised the boats, bait & the stewards and without whom this event would not run so smoothly.

Watch out for the Fundraiser for the National Team which will also be held in Cork Harbour on the 28th December!!!

Friday, November 22, 2013

Winter bass on lures.....


Tomasz Kujawa with a fine winter lure caught bass!!!

After a month of wet and windy weather, which suited more the surfcasting community targeting cod, the dedicated bunch of Cork Harbour lure anglers finally got the weather break they were looking for. Winds finally swung around to the North West quarter, the sea state flattened, and water clarity returned....and this all happened just as the tides just came right. Conditions were perfect!

Pat O'Shea's fine 64cm bass

Many of the seasoned bass anglers reported success over the weekend. Pat O'Shea fitted in two lure sessions before the Light Lines competition and had good success on soft plastics. On both sessions he had 4 fish with the best going 63cm and 64cm on both days. Clinton Rachman also managed 4 on an early morning session with all fish falling to Clinton's own brand of soft plastics, the 'Bass Bombs.' 

Andy Davies with his bass

Young Turk, Darragh McCarthy, also scored!

Robert Frazcek with a 64cm bass
Andy Davies and the young turk, Darragh McCarthy, went a bit further east of the harbour and also had success with fish falling to soft plastics. Robert Fraczek and Tomasz Kujawa squeezed in a session before also competing in the Light Line competition and both managed fish. Robert had the bigger of the two with a fine bass of 64cm weighing 2.8kg.

Clinton Rachman had these bass on Bass Bombs!!!

There will be more opportunities to pick up fish if this settled weather spell continues. Some years bass can be caught right up to Christmas on the Cork Harbour outer marks if conditions are right. Let's hope they stay right this year!

Thursday, November 21, 2013

1st of the Winter season.....

Mick Barry with a superb Plaice

The Cork Harbour Light Lines series of competitions got off to a great start this Sunday. In the first competition of the season over 30 anglers, from as far away as Dublin, Wicklow, and Ulster, competed and what a great day they had!!! The weather was superb and the fishing was great!

On a crisp, bright and sunny morning the 30 anglers congregated on Cobh's Kennedy Pier for the oft. Four of the Angling Hub's charter boats were used for the day:- the John Boy, Lagosta II, Lee Star, and Naomh Cartha.

This year the boats had the option of fishing outside the harbour, albeit within a limit of one nautical mile of Roches Point. However, none of the skippers opted for this. Instead, all opted to fish Deep Hole once more. This spot has always been the favourite over the years holding hoards of whiting, dabs, and codling at times. 

Martin O'Leary with a Tub Gurnard
All manner of rigs and traces were dropped to the depths in search of fish; three hook pats, 2 ups 1 down, 3 hook legers, herme bay spreaders, and boomed traces. The variety of baits were also mind boggling...crab, razor, mussel, rag, lug, wraps and mack. However, it was lug and mack that were most successful, with frozen mack having the edge; plenty of fresh mack were caught but when used as bait were not producing to the same extent of the frozen stuff!

From the start fish were landed but not all boats were having the same success. The John Boy, Naomh Cartha, and Lee Star were in about 70 feet of water and catching good whiting and in numbers. The Lagosta was in shallower territory and not having the same luck. Onboard, was Cobh SAC angler, Pat O'Shea, '....we were getting whiting from the minute the anchor went down but not many were making the new minimum size of 20cm; what was frustrating was looking over at the anglers on the John Boy, which was just outside us, and we could see that they were getting good size whiting and they were all keepers.'

An unexpected catch - a Brill!!!
For the last hour before the 1/2 time changeover, skipper Alan Kennedy decided to try a new mark. He brought the Lagosta to a channel mark just off the Turbot Bank. It was an inspired move! As soon as the boat settled the anglers starting landing whiting in good numbers and of good size. Most fish were in excess of 30cm, with some clonkers over 2lbs....and they were coming in two's and three's!!!

Competition within the boat itself soon heated up but over the course of the day two international anglers, Mick Barry and Davy McCormick, slugged it out against each other for the top spot. Mick landed a superb plaice late in the afternoon of 46cm and this was to be the deciding fish between the two. 

On all the other boats it was the international anglers who were leading the pack. On John Boy, ex-Irish captain, Pat Condon won out with 160 fish; on Lee Star seasoned international, Dave Jolly led with 128 fish; and on Naomh Cartha, latest recruit to the Irish team, Pat Swan, triumphed with 186 fish. However, they didn't have it all their own way and many of the local anglers kept the pressure on right up to the end.

The full results are as follows:-

  1. Pat Swan,                 186 fish,    2557 pts, 100.0%
  2. Pat Condon,             160 fish,    2193 pts, 100.0%
  3. Mick Barry,              141 fish,    1895 pts, 100.0%
  4. Dave Jolly,                128 fish,   1711 pts, 100.0%
  5. Dave McCormick,     140 fish,  1878 pts,    99.1%
  6. Pat O'Shea,                119 fish,  1636 pts,    86.3%
  7. Dave Rylands,            123 fish, 1743 pts,    79.5%
  8. John Dennehy,           124 fish,  1696 pts,   77.3%
  9. Martin Perryman,       135 fish,  1884 pts,   73.7%
10. Joe Gough,                   89 fish,  1223 pts,   71.5%
11. Sean Og McShane,    110 fish,  1536 pts,   70.0%
12. Joe Byrne,                    84 fish,  1150 pts,   67.2%
13. Owen O'Brien,           122 fish,  1712pts,    67.0%
14. Sylwester Skowronski, 89 fish,  1242 pts,  65.5%
15. John Cronin,                 82 fish,  1111 pts,  64.9%
16. Tomasz Kujawa,        111 fish,  1559 pts,   61.0%
17. Sandra O'Shea,           109 fish,  1512 pts,  59.1%
18. Roy Kearney,             107 fish,  1493 pts,  58.4%
19. Brendan O'Dwyer,       79 fish,  1084 pts,  57.2%
20. Gavin O'Connor,          77 fish,  1063 pts,  56.1%
21. Conor Purcell,              75 fish,   1021 pts,  53.9%
22. Danny Kane,                65 fish,    875 pts,  51.1%
23. John Fitz,                      94 fish,  1290 pts,  50.4%
24. Bob Crebor,                  69 fish,   940 pts,  49.6%
25. Robert Fraczek,            78 fish,  1077 pts,  49.1%
26. Brian O'Neill,               59 fish,   816 pts,   47.7%
27. Dave Quirke,                74 fish,  1066 pts,  41.7%
28. Pat Tobin,                     48 fish,    684 pts,  31.2%
29. Frank Burke,                46 fish,    645 pts,  29.4%
30. Martin O'Leary,            42 fish,   420 pts,  24.5%

The total number of fish caught were 2965, giving an average of 99 fish per angler. These were made up of 2375 whiting, 504 dabs, 4 grey gurnard, 2 tub gurnard, 1 cod, 1 pouting, 18 poor cod, 6 plaice, 8 flounder,  and 46 scad.

What a great start! Roll on the next competition in the series. This will take place on Sunday 15th December. If you fancy giving this a shot then give Danny Kane a ring on 086 - 8161946.

For any anglers planning on staying overnight on either the Sat or Sun night we've worked out a great deal with the Commodore Hotel. Overnight B&B for €29pps. Now that's a great deal - contact Mary on 021 - 4811277 or by email on commodorehotel@eircom.net

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Winter Light Lines Competitions
































Well it's that time of year again; the start of winter, which heralds the influx of codling, whiting and dabs into Cork Harbour. So if you were thinking of mothballing your fishing gear for the winter, then DON'T!!!

Instead, head out fishing with Cobh SAC. The winter series of the ever popular Light Line competitions are starting again and will run right through the winter until next April. These competitions are for everyone; whether you're a seasoned angler or a raw beginner. In fact, if you are a novice its no better a place to cut your teeth in boat angling. These are fun competitions where everyone is quite willing to help out each other and you can get great advice. Not that there isn't a competitive side to these matches as well as some of top rods will be slogging it out to be the Light Line champion over the season.

The first of this winter's competitions is on next Sunday week, the 17th November 2013 (HT 17:10 4.1m). If you'd like to fish this one then book your place with Danny Kane, on 086 - 8161946. Book early to avoid disappointment. These comps are very popular and can book up fairly early. Make sure to get your entry in before the close off next Weds evening at 6pm.

The full list of competitions are as follows:

Sunday 17th November (HT 17:10pm 4.1m)
Sunday 15th December (HT 16:00pm 3.9m)
Sunday 19th January (HT 19:23pm 3.9m)
Sunday 16th February (HT 18:27pm 4.0m)
Sunday 23rd March (HT 22:10pm 3.6m)
Sunday 13th April (HT 17:19am 3.8m)

The scorecard used is the same one that was used for the Boat Fish-Offs and the fishing will be broadly similar. However, the format is much simpler and the rules are kept simple. There will be only one change of positions in the boat; basic IFSA rules apply e.g. you are limited to three hooks. The only stipulation is that your main line is of 15lb b.s. or under. Shockleaders, main rig bodies, and snoods can be made of any breaking strain. There is no restrictions on bait. The rules are kept as simple as possible as it's meant to be a fun competition; a fun day out. In fairness the craic can be mighty and the slagging something to behold!!!

You can fish one competition or you fish them all. If you fish every one then you'll be entered into the overall series. Your best scores from 5 comps will count (you can drop your worst score). Last year it was, yet again, a very close run thing; Martin Perryman, Crosshaven SAC, and John Dennehy, captain of the 2012 Irish Home Nations Team, Pat Wright, 2013 Irish Home Nations Team, and Pat O'Shea, Cobh SAC, were all in the reckoning upto the last day....it was that close!

A full report of that final day can be read here http://bit.ly/17NA9AD

Here's a few reports from a selection of previous comps to give you an idea what to expect:

http://bit.ly/STU8Gn

http://bit.ly/VVtwlC

C'mon give it a go; you know its good for you!!!    (It'll keep you sane over the winter!)

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Shark Fishing Cork Ireland 2013


Jim Clohessy targets the blues aboard Skua with Cork Small Boats team mate, Rob McClean.

http://youtu.be/IHSOmtO6E1g


Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Bass in the Dragon's Den....


The Molyneux's have been coming from North Wales to Cork Harbour and East Cork, fishing for bass, for years. This year they report that they had the best year since they started coming. They've had such a week that you'd be forgiven for thinking that these Welsh Dragons have found a den of bass!!!

It didn't start that well. They did have a fine bass of 6lb on the first tide. Just after arriving on Sunday evening they decided to fish a favourite shore mark using surface lures. The water was coloured as there had been a stiff breeze over the weekend. Within the first hour Mike Molyneux had a stonking bass on a patchinko....and what a fantastic visual attack it was. The fish literally breeched completely out of the water in its efforts to get at the lure. However, after that they struggled.

The next day the weather deteriorated dramatically and the lads caught no fish. It wasn't for want of effort, though.

By Tuesday things started to improve. James reported that the fishing started to take off. On the Tuesday they had 6 fish. The next day they had 15 bass. On Thursday they had 10 and on the last tide of their trip, on Friday morning, they had 9 more.....but it was the size of the fish that had James raving! In total they had two 3lbers, four 4lbers, twenty-one 5lbers, six 6lbers, a 7lb 12oz bass, five 8lbers, one bass of 9lb 12oz and one 10lber. Wow, that's some fishing....and its great to hear amidst all the reports of relatively poor fishing over the last few months.

James was excited about this trip....'this is why we come to Ireland. We can get plenty of bass at home, probably more than here even, but they're all small with the odd few touching 5lbs. Here you the chance of some really big fish and every year we seem to get one to double figures. That's why we come back every year.'








Thursday, October 17, 2013

47th Cobh International Deep Sea Angling Festival.....the results!

Wreck Hunter heads out on the first day
The first week in September is eagerly awaited by a mixed bunch of Irish, Dutch, Welsh, and UK anglers every year. Many have been fishing the Cobh International Deep Sea Angling Festival for years.....and its easy to understand why! Not only is the fishing good, but the craic and banter is superb. This continues from the boats, back to the pubs and restaurants that sponsor each day's events, where the topic is, undoubtedly, about the one that got away!
Some of that mixed bunch

This year it was hoped that the weather would match last year. Good weather ensures that boats can get out to the angling hotspots off the harbour. Last year's weather was great and the boats got to the offshore reefs every day. This was reflected in the fishing results which were probably the best in living memory. Surely, it might be too much to expect superb weather two years on the trot...but that's exactly what happened. The fishing as a result was excellent again!!!

The Dutch gang
Once more, the skills of the skippers of the Cork Harbour Angling Hub fleet ensured that the anglers were on the best marks. The Cuan Bawn, Wreck Hunter, Lee Star, John Boy, & Naomh Cartha all have a great track record and this year they didn't disappoint.
Eagerly awaiting the off....

On Monday the designated area was to be the Smiths Reef area. The tides were slack but at least they were building for the rest of the week. The fishing was unusual. Ruud Boelhower had a superb day aboard the Naomh Cartha. He had 16 congers for a total score of 690 points; winning the day with the highest score. Ruud was way ahead in his boat with nobody coming near. He just seemed to have the midas touch. It was as if he was dropping into a conger nest each time. 

On the Cuan Bawn, Pat O'Shea also had a good day. Pat had a mixture of conger and pollack but really racked up the score with the pollack in the afternoon. He ended the day with 680 points; again way ahead of anyone else on his boat. This was enough to give him 2nd place for the day. In 3rd place was Milo Burke with 360 points.
Cuan Bawn heads off

Heaviest fish fell to Gerard Gersjes with an 11kg conger. Ironically, that's the second year in a row that an 11kg conger has won the first day's heaviest fish prize!

....and so does John Boy
The Power Head/Pollack Rock Reef was the area designated for Tuesday. The fishing for the day was cracking. Two anglers scored over 900 points! There was plenty of conger caught and good quality fish to boot. Two anglers also caught fish warranting the heaviest fish prize. Both were congers of 17.0kg. However, by virtue of the fact that her next heaviest conger was heavier, at 7.5kg, Sandra O'Shea won. What was more extraordinary was that this fish was caught on the same trace as the 17.0kg conger at the same time. Poor Sandra struggled to haul up over 24.0kg of fish in the height of a strong tide....but she did manage!
Fishing for bait - Lee Star

Winner for the day was Martin Perryman with 910 points, followed closely by Denis Morgan with 905 points. Sandra O'Shea came in 3rd with 760 points. The day's results kept Ruud Boelhower in the overall lead.

On Thursday it was decided to return to the Pollack Rock reef. With the fishing so good here on Tuesday and the better tide it was hoped that some great scores could be had here once more. However, as is always the case in fishing things don't always turn out as you hope or expect. The winner had about 200 less points than on Tuesday but, at least, the average score per angler was on a par. Hans Vermelis from Holland had the best score with a total of 760 points. In 2nd was Karl Slynne with 645 points and in 3re was Frank Cronin with 620 points. Bob Crebor had the heaviest fish with a 13.5kg conger. Ruud Boelhower had another good day and maintained his lead on the overall scoreboard.

Despite maintaining his lead Ruud had three other anglers pressing him all the way. Martin Perryman, Milo Burke, and Pat O'Shea were all in contention and keeping Ruud under pressure. The final day's results would prove to be interesting.

The final day's fishing area was the Smiths and Daunt Rock area. As was the case on Monday, some boats had good fishing but others fared out poorly. Unluckily, for Ruud, after putting in a great performance all week, his luck ran out. Ruud managed 3 conger but it was not enough. Others had better. Milo Burke had the best score on Friday with 680 points, with Paul Evans following closely with 645 points, and Pat O'Shea in 3rd with 620 points. Heaviest fish was a 13.0kg conger by Karl Slynne.
Naomh Cartha on the way back

Friday's scoring enough to Pat O'Shea to the top spot. This is Pat's second year in a row winning the Festival. Well done Pat!!!

Milo Burke came 2nd and Ruud came 3rd.....

The final results for the week are as follows:


1st Pat O'Shea, Cobh SAC, 2015 pts
1st Pat O'Shea, Cobh SAC, 2015 pts
2nd Milo Burke, Cobh SAC, 1690 pts
3rd Ruud Boelhower, Holland, 1690 pts
4th Martin Perryman, Crosshaven SAC, 1650 pts
5th Paul Evan, Wales, 1445 pts
6th Sandra O'Shea, Cobh SAC, 1445 pts
Outside Kelly's Pub
7th Karl Slynne, Ireland, 1435 pts
8th Denis Morgan, Ireland, 1425 pts
9th Peter Morris, Wales, 1360 pts
10th Paul Tennant, Cobh SAC, 1330 pts
11th Frank Cronin, Cobh SAC, 1270 pts
12th Richie Fortune, Cobh SAC, 1205 pts

Best Pollack, 4.0kg, Karl Slynne, Irl
Best Ling, 7.5kg, Frank Cronin, Irl
Most No. of Conger, 28 conger, Ruud Boelhower, Holland
Best Edible Bag, 95.5kg, Pat O’ Shea, Irl
Some of the locals with the Welsh lads
Most Species, 9 species, Ger Brady, Irl
Best Cod, 6.5kg, Johann Duijts, Holland
Heaviest Edible Fish, 7.5kg, Frank Cronin, Irl
Best No. of Fish, 85 fish, Pat O’ Shea, Irl
Best ‘Out of State’, Paul Evans, Wales, 1445pts
Best Lady, Sandra O'Shea, Irl, 1445 pts
Heaviest fish of the week, 17kg conger, Sandra O'Shea, Irl
Best Skipper, John & Eoin Barry, Cuan Bawn
Fun Team, Steve Williams (Wales), Ruud Boelhower (Holland), Martin Perryman (Irl), Phil Blakey (UK), 5045 pts
Two Man TeamIreland E, Milo Burke, Frank Cronin, 2960 pts.

Pat with some of his prizes
As well as wining the overall prize for the second time this is Pat's 3rd year on the trot winning the 'Best Edible Bag' Trophy and his 4th year on the trot winning the trophy for the 'Most number of fish.'

Well done to all the committee at Cobh SAC for organising such a great event yet again!

Plans are already afoot in organising next year's Festival which will once more be held, as is tradition, in the first week in September. If you fancy your chances and would like to enter then contact club chairperson, Mary Geary, for further information on 00-353-21-4812167 or by email on seaangling@esatclear.ie.

Pat & Ruud reflect on a good week

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

More Autumn bassing......




Robert Frazcek and Tomasz Kujawa were out recently after the bass again. Despite testing conditions in the early part of last week the lads had some success. All day Monday there was a strong south easterly wind which had blown out most outer harbour marks. Robert and Tomasz fished a spot slightly in the lee of the land. The water had coloured up at that stage but that didn't stop them.

Using a variety of soft plastics Robert was first to land a fish.....after a spirited fight a 55cm fish weighing 1.5kg was brought to the net. This was followed by a better fish of 66cm weighing in at 3.5kg. Not to be outdone Tomasz bettered this with a fish of 68cm, also weighing 3.5kg. Looks like the lads have well and truly been bitten by the bass bug!

It wasn't just bass showing; plenty of pollack were also caught during the session, with the best one coming in at 60cm.

Monday, October 14, 2013

Autumn bassing with Eire Bass....


Richie Ryan's autumn has kicked off nicely. The saltwater fly-fishing guide was concerned that the plethora of mackeral and fry in the harbour during the late summer and early autumn would make bass fishing difficult. The abundance of baitfish had certainly made things difficult in mid-summer. However, Richie was quite happy with results from early September on.

In the first week of September Richie had a husband and wife team, Vin and Sue Heron, booked for five days. The UK couple were anxious to keep one bass during their week's guided fishing as they had their campervan with them and while catering for themselves wanted to taste a bass again.

In fairness to them they hooked up every day. On the day they had designated for keeping one of the catch, the bass caught were all too big for the pot. Richie prevailed upon them to release the large females on this occasion. As can be seen from these photos, it was important that these brood stock breed again and they gladly released all these large bass.

They were eventually rewarded; the next day Vin picked up a fish of about 3lbs, probably the smallest catch of the week, the ideal size for the pan. That night Sue cooked that bass according to one of her recipes and both enjoyed an excellent home cooked meal.

Richie was very impressed by Sue's fly fishing ability. Husband Vin was more happy to use more traditional angling techniques and, in fairness, had a good variety of species during the week. In fact, the couple were so happy with the fishing and scenery in Cork Harbour that they booked Richie again for next year.

If you'd fancy a day's guided fishing with Richie Ryan then give him a call on 00-353-86-1940744. Check out his website Eire Bass here for more details.

Richie's boat, Sea Hawk, is the first boat in Ireland to be licensed for saltwater fly-fishing. On the fly Richie targets seatrout, golden grey mullet, thick lipped mullet, pollack, aswell as bass!

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Murphy's mash tempts the big blues.....


Kevin Murphy of the Bellavista Hotel in Cobh and Jim Clohessy report on some excellent shark fishing at the moment…
It is not just the Dutch and German customers that are keen to tackle our blue sharks. Last weekend we had a party of Dublin based anglers that arrived to have some general fishing and also a day at the shark, all done from our self-drive fleet. They were lucky with the conditions and although they did not travel to our normal area they still managed a respectable tally of decent sharks.
There is no doubt but we have had a superb year of shark fishing. Customers from all over Europe as well as all round the country have sampled the excellent Blue shark fishing off Cork this year. The question remains though how long will the blues hang around for. We think we will be fishing for them well into November.
Normally the problem with fishing so late was the hassle of catching enough mackerel for rubby dubby. This is no problem for Bellavista customers – Kevin has a ready supply of frozen rubby dubby available. The frozen dubby takes the pain out of shark fishing and the results from using “Murphy’s Mush” are superb. Many customers are experiencing double figure numbers on their shark safari.
You can take advantage of the weather windows and get some shark fishing before the winter closes in – Contact: Kevin Murphy 086-6029168,www.bellavistahotel.ie

The Squid's in.....




The weather over the last few days has been dark and dreary with those persistant easterly winds....the kinda weather that just wouldn't encourage you to go fishing. Nevertheless, John Geary had a few brave souls who were willing to venture out.

John took his crew on the Lee Star to Power Head and the Pollack Rock reef grounds....and they were soon into the usual suspects; cod, pollack, whiting, etc.,.... Then one of the lads couldn't make out what he had - what's this! A squid! Sure enough, he had just caught a squid on his baited hokkai rig. Within another two minutes another was landed of the same size. Scrumptious....that's tea sorted.

Squid do tend to turn up at this time of year and have been caught accidentally both inside and outside of the harbour. It might be worth someone's while to try to target them with specific squid jigs. If you do, let us know how you get on.

If you'd fancy a day out on the Lee Star give John a buzz on 00-353-21-4812435. Check out the LeeStar website for more details.