The calm before the storm....again!

We always seem to have a knack of doing it! I mean of course of getting good weather for the light line competitions, and so it was last Saturday. What a glorious day! Beautiful sunny, blue skies and light breezes, who could ask for more. We were lucky, though, for on Sunday a humdinger of a storm moved in and continued for two or three days. In fact, the weather since could be classified as positively manky and typical of winter fare!

Well enough about the weather and onto the fishing! The fishing was spectacular! We were hoping for something similar to the National Fish-Offs, which were held in mid-Oct; what we got was better. In the fish-offs there were 11,300 fish caught between 31 anglers over 12 hours of fishing. That equates to 30 fish per angler per hour. In last weekend's light line comp 3,378 fish were caught between 20 anglers over 5 hours. That's an average of 34 fish per angler per hour. Wow!!!

The breakdown of fish caught were as follow: 3,162 whiting, 185 dabs, 10 doggies, 17 codling, 3 dragonets, and 1 tub gurnard.

Once more the craic, banter, and slagging was mighty. Three boats from the hub were used; the John Boy, the Lee Star, and Lagosta II. All three boats opted to fish more or less the same ground; the drop-off into the channel from Curlane Bank, and were within a couple of hundred yards of each other. Having said that Lagosta II, which was the furthest south seemed to have the best of the fishing. Onboard Lagosta 1,465 fish were landed between 6 anglers. On the Lee Star 1,391 fish were landed between 8 anglers, and on the John Boy 522 fish were landed between 6 anglers. The Lee Star did opt to fish the eastern side of the channel, under Carlisle, for the last hour, but other than that the boats remained put for the whole day.

Martin Perryman, overall light line champion of 2011/12, was going to be under pressure this time round. Not only was he up against John Dennehy, captain of the Irish Home Nations team, who he had pipped by the narrowest margins for the crown, but he had also Irish Internationals Davy McCormick and Gordon Darker to contend with....and all on the same boat! It didn't end there. On the Lagosta there was also Heiko Drier and Pat Swan. Martin was upto the challenge, though, and won his boat, the Lee Star, to put himself in second spot and a creditable finish against the overall winner, Heiko Drier. Well done Martin and well done Heiko!!! The full results are as follows:

  1st  Heiko Drier,                350 fish,  4616 pts,  100.0%
  2nd Martin Perryman,        270 fish,  3582 pts,  100.0%
  3rd  David Clancy,             115 fish,  1576 pts,  100.0%
  4th  Silwester Skowronski, 107 fish,  1462 pts,    92.8%
  5th  Pat Swan,                    311 fish,  4104 pts,   88.9%
  6th  John Dennehy,             237 fish,  3137 pts,   87.6%
  7th  Gordon Darker,          236 fish,   3112 pts,   86.9%
  8th  Pat O'Shea,                229 fish,   3011 pts,   84.1%
  9th  Bobby Crebor,             96 fish,   1290 pts,   81.9%
10th  Sandra O'Shea,          221 fish,   2928 pts,   81.7%
11th  John Fitz,                    89 fish,    1257 pts,   79.8%

12th  Donnacha O'Connell,  84 fish,    1168 pts,   74.1%
13th  Danny Kane,             254 fish,    3328 pts,   72.1%
14th  Rob Miland,              219 fish,   2890 pts,   62.6%
15th  Fergal Madden,         177 fish,   2350 pts,   50.9%
16th  Evan McGovern,       154 fish,   2028 pts,   43.9%
17th  Timmy Leahy,            119 fish,  1573 pts,   43.9%
18th  Paul Maloney,             31 fish,    440 pts,   27.9%
19th  Martin Foy,                74 fish,     992 pts,   27.7%
20th  Davy McCormick,        5 fish,     76 pts,       2.1%


With such good fishing the next competition is eagerly awaited. If you fancy fishing this one its on in three weeks time, on Sunday 16th December. To book in give Danny Kane a buzz on 086-8161946 or Mary Geary on 021-4812167. C'mon you know its good for you!!!

Light Lines Comp - Important Notice!

For all those fishing the Light Lines Comp this Saturday.

Make sure to be at Kennedy Pier at 9:30am for the sign in.

Boats will be leaving at 10am sharp.

Fishing will be from 10:30am - 3:30pm.

Boats will be back at the Pier by 4pm.

Prize giving at Commodore Hotel at 5:30pm at the latest. Possibly earlier if results are ready. We're hoping to have a bit of finger food available her aswell.

Tight lines!!!

Cod start to show.....

The winter cod season is starting to kick off. It had been slow with only a few reports coming in, but that changed this week with boat anglers running into nice sized fish!





Shore anglers are also start to pick up a few. Fish in the 40cm - 45cm range have been reported from a few shore venues, although, numbers are still a bit on the low side. Its a start, though!

Here are a few pics from recent sorties by the Bellavista small boat fleet and by angler and journalist, Jim Clohessy.

Cork Harbour angling guide James Macsweeney also reported some nice winter cod.

All fish were picked up on soft plastics while vertical jigging, and were in the range 5lb - 10lbs.

Winter Light Line Competitions

 

Well it's that time of year again; the start of winter, which heralds the influx of codling, whiting and dabs into the 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 Saturday week, the 17th November (HT 07:25 4.3m). If you'd like to fish this one then book your place with either Danny Kane, on 086 - 8161946, or Mary Geary, on 021 - 4812167. 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 remaining competitions will be on the following dates:

Sunday 16th December (HT 07:13am 4.4m)
Sunday 13th January (HT 06:13am 4.4m)
Sunday 24th February (HT 16:43pm 3.8m)
Sunday 24th March (HT 15:28pm 3.5m)
Sunday 14th April (HT 08:29am 3.9m)

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 no changing of positions in the boat but 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!!! Poor Danny!!!

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 a very close run thing; Martin Perryman, Cobh SAC, and John Dennehy, captain of the Irish Home Nations Team, drew level at the top with the same number of points and could only be separated on a count back of their fish....it was that close!

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!)

Cork Small Boats Festival 2012

This year's Cork Small Boats Festival once again attracted some of the top match anglers from Ireland and the UK. Twenty three teams completed in all, which is on a par with the entry for the last few years and was in line with the organisers' expectation. Competition, as you would expect, was intense. 

The relatively good weather meant that all boats were able to fish outside the harbour for significant stretches and this was reflected in the quality of fishing. Over 36 different species of fish were caught with the winners 'Screaming Reels' chalking up an impressive tally of 31 species. Well done to Martyn Rayner and Seirt Shultz of team Screaming Reels who have come very close to claiming the top spot on a number of occasions in the past. However, this was their first win in 16 attempts. This now adds to their previous wins in the Rosslare Small Boats Festival. Previous winners, team Skua, ran Screeming Reels very close with a score of 30 species to give them the runners up spot.

There were some notable catches during the week including a fine specimen red gurnard. However, the most unusual specimen was a fine specimen mackeral of 1.08kg caught by well known Cork Harbour angler and journalist, Jim Clohessy. Jim was trying to pick up a garfish at the time when the mackeral scoffed the bait and took off like a steam train. Jim knew he hadn't a garfish and had wondered had he hooked a bass as he was close to the shore. However, Jim was well pleased when he landed this brute. Specimen mackeral are actually few and far between and don't feature often in the Irish Specimen Fish Reports. This one will, though! Well done Jim!!!

Team Skua also did well when targeting bass. On the first day they had a beauty, pictured above, thanks to Jim's expertise in soft plastic lure fishing.

Detailed results of the weeks fishing can be found on Cork Small Boat's Results.

The dates for 2013 are already set: 20th - 27th September, get 'em in your diaries!!!