A day out on the 'John Boy'

Well it wasn't just a day out, it was a competition day with Cobh SAC. Cobh SAC's August master angler competition was fished as part of the Cork Harbour Championships and Cobh SAC were fishing aboard Donie Geary's boat 'John Boy.' Donie himself was going to come out of retirement and fish this one!

Seven of Cobh SAC's club members gathered on Kennedy Pier on a fabulous August sunny morning and boarded the John Boy. We met the other boats on the Turbot Bank and farmed out the scorecards - Cobh SAC were the host club for this event. Most of the boats opted to fish close to the harbour. However, seeing that it was such a beautiful day we decided to head further afield and headed down east.

At the eastern end of the Pollack Rock reef lies Ballywilling Rock. Donie wasn't happy with the recent pollack fishing on the Power Head grounds of late but felt that Ballywilling Rock might offer us the best chance....and how right he was.

From the oft most of the anglers onboard opted to try some gilling. As it was low water, live ragworm was preferred. Within minutes of anchoring everyone was into pollack...and they were of a good stamp. Many of the fish were in the 5-6lb category but as the tide started to push hard some bigger fish made an appearance. They steadily got bigger; first 7lbs, then 8lbs, and finally 9lbs. What great fishing!!!

As the fishing slowed later in the tide Donie suggested a move. Donie had been concentrating on ground fishing. Upto that point he had 2 conger. A short hop of 3/4 mile brought us to a nearby reef, known locally as Twin Peaks. The pollack fishing here wasn't as good; the pollack were smaller and weren't as plentiful. Donie, on the other hand, was more successful in his approach. Slowly but surely the conger started coming onboard. Some of these were big buggers! Donie was using a Shamrock Tackle Animal Rig and it was scoring well. A couple of nice ling were also landed.

All too soon it was time to go. Totting up the scores it quickly became apparent that old sea dog, Donie was out in front. Donie you'll have to come out of retirement more often. In second place was Pat O'Shea with a scorecard full of pollack. Milo Burke was in third.

Alas, these scores weren't enough. Some of the boats that had stuck closer to the harbour had racked up higher scores. Fred Vickery of Crosshaven SAC was the overall winner with a scorecard that included sixteen congers. Now that was some card! What a great day out! Great fishing, fabulous summer weather, and great craic!

If you'd like to book a day out on the John Boy check out Donie's website here or give Donie a buzz on 021-4812167.