Five places up for grabs....

Yes, that's right...we have five places left up for grabs in this year's Cobh SAC International Deep Sea Angling Festival. This four day competition starts on Monday 5th September with a superb prize fund worth €7,500, of which €2,000 is in cash.

So far we have 47 anglers competing in this year's event and on the strength of that we've booked another boat from the Cork Harbour Angling Hub charter fleet, giving us room for 5 more anglers. If you're interested in fishing, contact our club secretary, Mary Geary, on 021-4812167. Here's a look at last year's event to whet your appetite http://cobhsac.blogspot.com/2010/09/2010-festival.html.

Come on!!! You know its good for you!!!

Summer Fishing onboard Naomh Cartha....

Skipper of the 'Naomh Cartha,' Gerry Keohane, reports that they are having a superb season. Like all boats operating out of Cork Harbour this year, the Naomh Cartha has a had some great days cod fishing in particular. Gerry reports that have had many fine fish to double figures, some of which are shown on the pics here.

Gerry has some secret spots, though, that are also throwing up some good ling. By his own reckoning, other skippers have yet to find these marks. So far he's getting the best out of them.

If you'd fancy booking a day out with Gerry on the 'Naomh Cartha' contact details are available on his website here.

Welsh return....

This time last year Donie Geary, skipper of the John Boy, had a group of Welsh lads out targeting the cod. They had some fine cod with the biggest going to 12lb and 18lb respectively. Well the lads came back and last week Donie had them out again. Here is his report '...apologies for the lack of reports of late, I got my knuckles rapped recently by my two greatest fans, Jason and Glen Grace...so here it is boys:'

'...the fishing from Cork Harbour has been exceptional in recent weeks with an abundance of fine cod from the kelp beds at Power Head. I had a group of seven anglers from Wales, the same group that landed two tagged cod of 12lb and 18lb last year. These fish earned the boys a reward of €100 from the Inland Fisheries...we had few drinks on the Thursday night on the strength of it. Well anyway, on Monday and Tuesday we went cod hunting to Power Head. Immediately, we were in business; landing some fine fish to 9lb. There were quite a few pairs and threes at times. Everything under 3lb was returned.

On Wednesday morning the weather was bright and calm, so I decided to try our luck at a bit of wrecking. We headed for the 'Sub,' a German U-boat from the first World War, which was about 12 miles south east of Roches Point. Catching bait was a bit of a struggle; we eventually caught enough mackeral after about three stops. When we reached the wreck everything was perfect; there were no nets and conditions were excellent. However, after about two hours of drifting every inch of the wreck, and with only about a dozen pollack to 2lbs and a few small ling to show for it, it was obvious that the wreck had been netted recently. We were only getting the fish that got through the mesh. With a very disappointed crew we fished closer to land to end the day landing only a few more fish.

On Thursday I decided to give the Ling Rocks a go. When we were over half way there a fellow skipper phoned me to say that the fishing on the rocks had been very bad the previous day. This was very discouraging. I decided, though, to persevere. We first tried a drift on the sand which produced a few whiting, gurnards, pollack, and ling. Then I indicated to the gang to rig their gilling tackle for the main peaks. Here we landed quite a few tidy pollack, with some nice ling and cod falling to baited hokkai's. In mid-afternoon I decided to give the northern peaks a go; this proved to be a good move. Here we landed pollack of a far better size, along with some fine ling.

Overall, the day's fishing turned out to be excellent. Over a few pints later I told the lads about the telephone conversation of earlier. It just shows, in fishing there are no two days the same.'
If you'd fancy a day out with Donie on the 'John Boy' contact details are available on his website here.

A bit of a 'Ball' hop onboard Deora De...

The Alan Ball or 'Baller' group were recently out with skipper, Jim Linehan, on Deora De.

Over the course of
two days, the group had over 15 species of fish.

Highlight of the trip, though, was when the group encountered the cod shoals. There was an excellent run of cod. At times cod were coming up three at a time...for some anglers this resulted in a complete mess!!! Some of the cod were of a good size with fish in the 10 - 11lb range.

Although, many of the fish were returned, a good bag was retained. On the return journey the lads busied themselves cleaning and filleting the fish which were stored in the freezers back in the hotel. The lads were staying in the Commodore Hotel, which served as an ideal base to explore the pubs and restaurants of Cobh, once the lads had a days fishing done....party time!!!

After a cracking weekend the lads reluctantly headed home but not before collecting their box of fish from the hotel freezer. I'm sure once the home freezers are empty the lads will be back again!

If you'd fancy a trip out with Jim Linehan onboard Deora De, check out his website here for contact details.

The Commodore Hotel is also doing special accommodation rates for Anglers and Angling Groups. Contact Mary O' Mahony at reservations on 021-4811277 for more details (www.commodorehotel@eircom.net).

50 year bass wait is over....

All bass dreams are possible...so says Cork Harbour bass guide, Richie Ryan. Yes, Richie can put you on the bass, as his latest report proves '...it's been 50 years since Nils Roring last caught a bass. His son decided to treat his Dad and booked a bass session with me. A few minutes into the session and Nils was into a fine fish of about 5lbs....and more bass followed on what was a good session onboard Seahawk.'

50 years is a long time to wait for a bass but the Roring's won't be waiting too long for the next time as they've already booked Richie for the next session!

If you'd fancy a day out bass fishing with one of the Harbour's top guides, we not get in contact with Richie. Richie's contact details can be found here.

Superb Summer fishing for Cork Harbour Boats....

What a great season Cork Harbour Boats are having! Great cod fishing, good shark fishing, unusual species, specimen fish, etc.,... Skippers John, Finbar and Eoin Barry have had several Dutch parties and many local groups out on the 'Cuan Ban' and 'The Castlemaiden' over the last few weeks and on each trip there have been several highlights.

Skipper Eoin Barry reports '....in that period we've had cod to 10, 11, and 12lbs, pollack to 8lbs, and a fine specimen conger over the 40lb mark that was returned alive. On one trip we had a surprise monkfish. What was most surprising was that the monk was caught on a jellyworm whilst spinning for pollack. On a few trips we've targeted blue shark and have had many shark to the boat...probably the best sharking season in a number of years....'

Undoubtedly, the Barry's will have

many more great days as the best of the season is yet to come. August and September are usually the best months.

If you'd fancy a day out on either the 'Cuan Ban' or 'Castlemaiden' why not give the lads a shout! For contact details click here.

2011 Deep Sea Angling Festival...only 4 weeks to go!!!

Only 4 weeks to go to this year's Festival and the anticipation is building! What a great competition; 4 days fishing onboard one of the charter boats of the hub's fleet and a chance to win numerous prizes. With a prize fund worth over €7,500, there are prizes there for everyone almost! Best pollack, most pollack, best cod, best conger, most conger, most fish, most species, best placed each day, top twenty anglers at the end of the week, best team...I could go on! Upto €2,000 of these prizes are in cash, with €1,000 going to the overall winner!!!

You can still book a place in this year's Festival. Just give Mary, Cobh SAC's scretary, a ring on 021-4812167.

To give you an idea of the quality of the fishing have a look at last year's report on the Festival. Click here to view.

What sets this event apart though is the craic and banter. This carries on back to the various watering holes that become bases for the week. Friends made here are for life and indeed many of the anglers from abroad having being coming back year after year. Why don't you give it a shot this year!

Staying with soft plastics....