Winter light line series....

Cobh SAC has successfully run light line competitions in Cork Harbour over the last two Winter seasons. Once again Cobh SAC will be running a series of these competitions over the next few Winter months. The first of these will be on next Sunday week, the 13th of November.

These competitions are open to all comers and are not restricted to just Cobh SAC members, nor do you have to be a member of another club. They are intended to be fun competitions and

appeal to all levels of anglers, whether you are a novice or a seasoned campaigner. Indeed, there has been a diverse mix of experience between the anglers who have fished these comps so far and all have had good fishing. The average number of fish caught per angler per day over the 12 competitions so far has been 38 fish. Now that's a good return and ensures that even the raw beginners have something to shout about!!!

In a few of the comps some of the anglers have had over 120 fish...that's some fishing! Species to expect within the Harbour over these months would include Cod, Whiting, Dabs, Lsd's, Poor Cod, Pouting, Coalfish, Flounder, & Plaice. At the moment Dabs will feature highly and some of these will be to specimen size. As the Winter progresses Cod will feature more and more in the catches. In previous March and April comps it wasn't unusual for anglers to average over 50+ codling in their catch. To give you some idea of the fishing have a look at some of the reports of previous events here, here, and here. Best baits to use in the comps will be crab, lug, mack, and rag.

The scorecard used for the competitions is the same as that used for the National Fish-Offs. Indeed, the set-up of the comp is identical almost to the National Fish-Offs competition. As a result the light lines are ideal events for the more seasoned anglers to get in practice for these

comps. For the less seasoned angler it's a chance to see how they measure up to the high standards of the top anglers in the country. In any event there is a lot that all anglers can learn.

To make the light lines easier this season there has been a slight change of rule. Instead, of all lines (ie. mainline, rig bodies, & snood) meeting the 15lb b.s. or lower criteria the only stipulation now is that the mainline should be 15lb b.s. or less. This means that you can use a shockleader of any strength and your rig bodies and snoods can also be of any strength.

The competitions will be run on the following dates over the Winter months:

Sunday 13th November 2011

Sunday 11th December 2011

Sunday 22nd January 2012

Sunday 19th Febuary 2012

Sunday 25th March 2012

Sunday 22th April 2012

Fishing will be from 9:30am till 2:30pm each day with boats departing from Kennedy Pier, Cobh at 9am. Boats used will be from the Cork Harbour Angling Hub charter fleet. The cost of entry is €40 per angler. Now that's great value!!!

To book your place for Sunday 13th November contact Cobh SAC club secretary, Mary Geary, on 021-4812167 or by email on seaangling@esatclear.ie. Come on now....you know its good for ya!!!

Ps. To add an extra element this year, we are accumulating the results over the series of comps on a league basis, similar to a master angler series. So who's going to be the top light line angler in Cork Harbour for 2011/12? Will it be you?

Also, for those anglers travelling, we've negotiated a special deal with the Commodore Hotel if overnight accommodation is required (Oct - March). Bed & breakfast will be available at €29 per person!!!

2011 IFSA Boat Fish-Offs

Cobh SAC hosted the IFSA Boat Fish-Offs over the October bank holiday weekend. The best anglers in the country were pitting their wits against each other in an attempt to make the national team for the World Championships in South Africa in 2012.

This year, the competing 32 anglers sure had their work cut out for them. The weather on Saturday, the first day, was appalling with gale force winds, driving rain, and heavy seas making for very difficult conditions. The fishing as you would expect was very slow. This was further compounded by the storm of the previous Sunday which not only dumped a lot of rain on the South coast, but also kicked up a considerable swell, which hadn't abated by the time the competition started. As a result the water was extremely coloured and there was a lot of 'fresh' coming down the river. This was reflected in the fishing on Saturday which was slow. Despite this anglers averaged approx 40 fish per man over the two sessions. That's the beauty of Cork Harbour...despite nearly storm conditions it is still fishable, and fish will be caught!!!

On Sunday conditions were much improved and with it the fishing improved dramatically also. Most anglers averaged 60 - 80 fish, with the top rods recording over 100 fish. The four charter boats from the Cork Harbour Angling Hub fleet this time stayed put on the western edges of the channel dropping into 'deep hole.' The day before most had started here but opted to anchor on the eastern side for the flood to target the hordes of whiting, which didn't materialise. Nobody was going to take the chance on the Sunday. Despite this whiting did feature in the catches and some fine sized fish amongst them. Dabs were also plentiful with many touching specimen size. Other fish to feature included lsd's, codling, pouting, poor cod, and plaice. By competition's end over 2000 fish had been recorded.

Congratulations to the top five finishers; Kit Dunne, Mick Barry, Gordon Darker, Dave Jolly, and Tony Santry who join Captain Myles Howell, who had qualified from the Masters, on the Irish Team. For the full results have a look here.

Many thanks to the skippers Donie Geary (John Boy), Gerry Keohane (Naomh Cartha), John Geary (Lee Star), and Alan Kennedy (Lagosta II) who, despite the conditions, kept the lads on the fish!