Fish-Offs Frenzy.....

The National Fish-Offs, to pick the Irish Boat Angling team to represent Ireland at the World Championships in Portugal next year, will be held in Cork Harbour this weekend. This is the fourth year in a row that the Fish-Offs have been held in Cork Harbour. At this time of year the fishing within the confines of Cork Harbour replicates as far as possible the fishing to be expected on the continent, in that most fish are small but there are plenty of them. To win a session an angler would need to have caught over 200 fish and by October the whiting in the harbour can be that obliging!

32 anglers will be pitting their skills against each other. 12 of these have come forward from the top positions in the National Master Angler competition. The remaining 20 anglers have come from the pool of anglers who automatically qualify on the basis that they finished in the top 20 places of last year's Fish-Offs. 4 places in the National Team are up for grabs. The winner of the National Master Angler automatically qualifies as the captain of the Irish Team. The honour this year was won by Pat Condon of Carrigaline SAC & Cobh SAC. Well done Pat!!!

For the remaining places in the team the competition is intense and many would say its already started. Many of the leading contenders have been out in the harbour over the last few weeks, fishing hard to hone their skills for the ultimate decider. Here are a few pics of some of these lads who've been hard at it....best of luck lads!!!

(Please refer to John Griffin, of Caherciveen, for the most upto date odds)