A run of 9lbers....

Cobh SAC angler, Pat O' Shea, recently hit a goldstreak or a bit of a purple patch, if you will. Over the course of three sessions, in one week, he landed no less than three 9lbers. The bugger!!!

Pat takes up the story '....on my first session I was doing a bit of soft plastic fishing from the boat. Conditions were far from perfect. I was using a vertical jigging technique but the drift was probably too fast. The strong tide was compounded by a fresh following wind that was pushing me along at 4knots. Too fast! Despite that I did manage a 5lber. I moved further upriver to escape the breeze and as the tide eased I struck lucky. As I drifted over a reef, my softie was hit by a good fish and after a lively struggle a fine 73cm fish was onboard.'

'...two days later and with weather conditions much improved I was able to fish an outer harbour mark. Over a shallow kelpy bed, while casting a slug set up weedless style, I had a subtle take that felt like a weed frond hitting the braid...always a possible sign of a good fish...and so it was this time. At first there was little resistance as the fish didn't realise it was hooked and then all hell broke loose. After another hectic encounter, another great fish was swung onboard....this beauty came in at 72cms.'

'...day three and with conditions so settled I opted to fish a beach mark outside the harbour. As the tide ebbed, with virtually no swell, I had plenty of follows on surface lures, but no takers. Two hours without fish and my

confidence was waning...I was headed for a dreaded blank. As it got dark I opted for a soft plastic technique, which turned out to be a wise move. I set up a sluggo with an articulated jig head that I picked up in Nantes and using a technique shown to me by an old Frenchman I was into fish immediately. First cast and as the SP dropped through the water column I felt a bang. First lift, another bang, and then the fish was on. What a tussle! After a number of spirited runs the prize was mine...a beauty of a fish coming in at 75cm. I followed this up on successive casts with two more fish, the best going 7lbs. Cigar time!!!'

'...what a great three days. It'll be hard to beat that, but I'll try.'

Pat O' Shea

Cobh SAC

Commodore Hotel

Young guns at it again....

Following our recent story of young Howard Murphy upstaging his Dad with a 67cm bass, another young gun has gone and done the same thing. Liam Cabral, aged 10, had this fine bass of over 6lbs. It was the biggest of the day, and Liam's first sea bass. After that catch Liam matched his Dad bass for bass and, eventually, passed him out. Well done Liam!!!

Liam and his Dad are from Canada and are on holidays here. They took the chance to book Richie Ryan for a harbour bass session and were glad they did. You too could have a session like this. Why not give Richie and buzz; for more details click here.

Seahawk goes deep....

Cian Ryan reports of a good day out recently on the 'Seahawk.' They fished the Ling Rocks first but found the fishing poor with only one pollack to 7lbs and two small ling. Each time they brought the ling up about halfway something big made a go for them. The rods doubled over momentarily but whatever it was let go. The fish came up worse for wear, though, with massive teeth marks on their flanks. What was it? Certainly the case of the one that got away!!!

After that they moved to the Smiths where they had great fishing with cod to 6lbs on ragworm. They also had ling, huge whiting, haddock, cuckoo wrasse, and a megrim; all on the drift. Just a small few fish were kept for the table, but that'll keep the wife happy!

A day out on Seahawk will certainly keep you going. For more details contact Richie Ryan here.

22 species in one day....

Jim Linehan, skipper of Deora De, recently had an unusual request. One of his clients was anxious to scatter the ashes of his recently deceased dog at sea. The dog, a four and a half year old female boxer, had a serious heart condition and had to be put to sleep. Jim thought the most appropriate location on the way out to sea would be dognose, a favourite harbour fishing mark. Good thinking Jim!

Back to the fishing. Jim and his party had a cracker of a weekend. On the Saturday they recorded 18 species, but bettered that on the Sunday with 22 species of fish!

The species count was as follows: mackeral, launce, plaice, dab, megrim (now that's a good one to get), conger eel (on the drift would you believe), dogfish, poor cod, pouting, garfish, grey gurnard, red gurnard, tub gurnard, whiting, haddock, ling, cod, pollack, coalfish, cuckoo wrasse, scad, bull huss....whew!!!

While the fishing is this good, it would be worth booking a trip on the Deora De. Contact Jim here.

Upstaged by a young gun....

Well those soft plastic supremo's don't have it all their own way. Here's young Howard Murphy of Bellavista with a fine 67cm bass on a soft plastic. Well done Howard!

Howard was out with his Dad on one of those fine Warrior 175's from the Bellavista fleet. If you'd fancy a day out on Cork Harbour targeting bass why not give Kevin a bell. These Warrior's are for hire at very competitive rates. For more details click here.

Soft Plastic Supremo's.....

Jim Clohessy heads a cadre of local Cork Harbour anglers who have spearheaded soft plastics fishing to new heights. Jim and fellow anglers, Kevin Murphy of the Bellavista small boat fleet, Pat O' Shea, Cobh SAC, and local guides, James McSweeney and Richie Ryan have been specialising in soft plastics fishing for bass for over three seasons now and have perfected numerous techniques such as drop-shotting, touch-legering, vertical-jigging, texas-rigged, weedless, weightless...you name it, these lads have now done it and have a proven record of success!!!

Rumour has it that these lads are ready to take on the professional French anglers at their own game. Will we see these lads compete in the French bass leagues next year? Who knows?

The pictures above show the lads in action with some recent catches.

Jim will be busy shortly organising the Cork Small Boats Festival. Incidentally, if you are interested in entering this year's event there are still some places left. You can contact Jim on his website here.

With regard to the Bellavista small boat fleet, these Warrior 175 boats are ideal for targeting the bass within the confines of Cork Harbour. For more details contact Kevin here.

James MacSweeney offers a superb guiding service specialising in bass angling. You can contact James for more details here.

Richie Ryan offers the first specialised boat guiding service targeting bass through fly fishing techniques. Richie is also adept at other methods of lure fishing, including soft plastics. For more information click here.

Cobh SAC Inter-pub Competition

Cobh SAC recently hosted the inagural Cobh Inter-Pub Angling Competition. It is hoped that this will be an annual event and was sponsored by local bar, The Maurentania.

There was a great turnover, with over 60 anglers fishing, representing local pubs, restaurants, and hotels. Seven charter boats of the Cork Harbour Angling Hub charter fleet were used for the day.

Weather-wise it was a great day. The fishing wasn't bad either but it was slow to start off with. However, as the day went on the pace of fishing picked up. Plenty of pollack, cod, ling, and whiting were caught. More colourful species like red gurnard, grey gurnard, ballan wrasse, and cuckoo wrasse were also landed, aswell as the usual suspects such as conger, doggies, haddock, coalfish, etc.,...

The competition was tough with some of the top Cobh SAC anglers competing. Tradewinds Restaurant were overall winners. In the individual category, Milo Burke, Cobh SAC, came out on top with Sandra O' Shea, Cobh SAC,

second, Ger Brady, Cobh SAC, third, Pat O' Shea, Cobh SAC, fourth, and Martin O' Leary, also Cobh SAC, in fifth place.

All anglers retired to Tradewinds Restaurant for the prizegiving and what a great night was had by all! Local band 'The Urge' entertained everyone for the night and it was the wee hours of the morning before everyone eventually made it home!

Fly Fish Ireland

New recruits to the Cork Harbour Angling Hub are Fly Fish Ireland. Fly Fish Ireland specialise in fly fishing, both salt water and fresh water. Their saltwater base is Cork Harbour, and guides, Mark Houlihan and William Kavanagh, with many years experience between them, can help you target bass, pollack, seatrout, golden grey mullet, grey mullet, and many other species, on the fly.

Cobh SAC angler, Pat O' Shea, was lucky to get out with Mark Houlihan on a recent balmy summer's evening and gives us this report '....although I'm not a fly fisherman myself, I was looking forward to my outing with saltwater fly fishing guide, Mark Houlihan. Mark brought us to one of his secret Cork Harbour shore spots and, although, conditions would be tough, given the settled conditions and superb clarity of the water, Mark was confident that we would winkle out a fish or two. We started at low water and were going to fish the rise into darkness. Mark stuck to the fly and put on a popper. I stayed with the lures and with the settled conditions opted for surface lures. It was a good choice, as after a bit of roaming and rock hopping, I connected with a half decent bass on a 'sammy.' After a brief struggle the fish managed to throw the hooks, wh

ich so often happens with surface caught fish. Following that we had no more shows until after dark, when I connected with a fish close in on a holographic lure. This fish wasn't getting away! With very shallow water covering the reef the fish had nowhere to run but out to sea and what a spirited fight it gave! In fact, the fish was punching above its weight as I was surprised when we landed it that it was 4.5lbs...I did think it was bigger. A good fish all the same and what a

great way to wrap up the session. Thanks Mark!!!'


If you'd fancy a guided session with Mark give him a bell; his contact details are here.

2011 Deep Sea Angling Festival

Entries are now being taken for this years fishing festival. The 45th Cobh International Deep Sea Angling Festival is taking place this year from Monday 5th September through to Friday 9th September 2011. The cost of entry has been kept the same as for 2010 and at €325 for seniors is great value. This includes entry into the competition, 4 days fishing onboard one of the boats from the Cork Harbour Angling Hub charter fleet, and ticket for the gala dinner and prize giving on the Friday night. The range of prizes is superb with the prize fund valued at €7,500 of which €2,000 is in cash. There is a chance for everyone to get in amongst the prizes with prizes for everyday, prizes for the best fish everyday over several species categories, aswell as overall competition prizes.

First prize includes €1,000 in cash. Here's a pic of last year's winner, Danny Kane, with the 'dosh.' Second prize includes €400, 3rd pize €200, and €400 for the best team of four.

This event is now going a long time with many competitiors from Wales, Holland, the UK, Germany, etc.,... returning on a yearly basis. Not only is the fishing good, but the craic is mighty. The banter and fun carries on from the boats upto the various watering holes that beckon after each day's fishing. In fact there are events held in various of the pubs and restuarants on a nightly basis, including bands, music, and traditional nights that keep all anglers well entertained.

The fishing too has been excellent over the years. The beauty of Cork Harbour is that no matter what the weather there are always excellent marks that can be fished in comfort. To give you an idea of the fishing here's a report from last year: http://cobhsac.blogspot.com/2010/09/2010-festival.html

If you or your friends would like to participate in this year's festival, or would like more information, please contact Cobh SAC's club secretary, Mary Geary, on 00-353-21-4812167 or by email on seaangling@esatclear.ie.

Martin O' Brien Small Boat Festival

Here's a competition, coming up shortly, that you can look forward to. This is a two day small boat festival that will be fished over the last weekend in July (Sat 30th July & Sun 31st July). Fishing will be from 9:30am to 5:30pm each day and is organised by Rosies Sea Angling Club of Lower Aghada, Midleton, Cork.

This comp is effectively a species hunt with a estimated prize fund of €1,500. Maximum boat size is 26ft. For further details and information contact Tony Tait on 087 - 2723856 or by email at tony.tait@live.co.uk.

For those of you thinking of fishing the Cork Small Boats Festival this is an excellent warm up and catches of over 20 species will be well within the reach of everyone participating.