49th Cobh International Deep Sea Angling Festival.....

Light Lines 2014...the conclusion.

The Light Line series for 2014 concluded last Sunday, 13th April and what a tight finish it turned out to be. Paddy Swan from Wicklow Bay SAC had been leading from the first competition way back in November. However, he was shadowed all the way and on the last day the champion could have come from anyone of three. Aswell as Paddy, Davy McCormick, Millisle SAC, and Pat Condon, Carrigaline SAC, were also in contention.

The It all started last November. On what was a great day's fishing Paddy Swan triumphed. A total of 2,965 fish were caught between 30 anglers. The vast majority of fish were whiting and they were of good stamp too! Many were around the 1.5lb mark, with quite a few over 2lbs, and one or two touching 3lbs. Paddy had a total of 186 fish and was followed in second place by Pat Condon with 160 fish and Michael Barry in third with 141 fish. Michael Barry had a stonker of a plaice that was the highlight of the day!

The December competition, unfortunately, was cancelled. By the second week in December the start of a severe run of storms had begun, a run that we won't forget Winter 2013 for in a hurry! Luckily, there was a break in the weather for the Irish Boat Teams fundraiser over the Xmas holidays. Over 60 anglers fished the event. One of the boats fished offshore on the Smiths but the majority fished in Deep Hole within the harbour. They were rewarded. The harbour mark yielded plenty of fish with many dabs upto 36cm (almost specimen size), whiting to 46cm, coalfish to 46cm, along with codling, flounder, plaice and an assortment of others.

On the Cuan Bawn angler John Angles from Castletownbere thought he was into a big ray when he played out a fish for 15 minutes. Indeed, the area of 'Deep Hole' that they were fishing was a ray mark of old. Unfortunately, for John the line parted. John was using 15lb breaking strain. Shortly, after Pat O'Shea, Cobh SAC, was into another large fish. This time the fish was brought to the surface and the culprit was revealed. It was a large conger. While it thrashed on the surface the skipper tried to net it, but, unfortunately, it broke the hook - a size 6!!! However, after that several anglers hooked into congers and in all 6 were landed upto 25lbs in weight; all on small hooks and slivers of mackeral intended for dabs and whiting.

It is indeed known for conger eels to venture off the Harbour Rock and venture into the Turbot Bank after storms but for them to come so far in over clean ground is unusual.

The light lines got back on track in January and luckily there was another break in the horrendous weather. In fact it hadn't rained for a number of days before the comp and that did help. The numbers of fish were down, though, with 705 fish caught in total. The size of fish was also down and the whiting and dabs were much smaller than previous comps. Paddy Swan kept up his winning ways coming out on top, followed closely by Pat Condon, Davy McCormick and Pat Wright.

The less said about the February comp the better. The fishing was the toughest in the history of the series. No doubt the mid-week storm before hand and the days of rain leading upto the day had a significant bearing. The fishing was appalling. Nevertheless, Paddy Swan won out again with 19 fish. Closely, followed by Davy McCormick and Danny Cannon. A total of 158 fish were caught between the 3 boats. In some of the previous comps that number wouldn't even be enough to win it. One boat had only a total of 19 fish. Pat O'Shea, the 2013 champion, had no fish at all!!!

Things came back to normal, somewhat, for the March comp. A total of 1,946 fish were caught between the 31 anglers giving an average of 63 fish per angler. This time Davy McCormick won out, with the other boat winners being Pat Condon, Roy Kearney, and Pat O'Shea. This set things up nicely for the last competition in the series. With Paddy Swan leading the field he could only be caught by two others; Davy McCormick and Pat Condon. It was down to the wire on the last day!

....and so the pressure was on. A hearty group of anglers from Wicklow and Dublin travelled to lend their support to Paddy's cause. The three leading anglers were placed in Lagosta II to slug it out. With them were some able local anglers who'd give them some stiff competition. As it turned out the fishing was good on a glorious day that was more reminiscent of summer rather than winter. A total of 1,986 fish were caught between the 27 anglers giving an average of 64 fish per angler. These were mainly whiting and dabs but there were a few plaice and flounder scattered in amongst them. Winner on the day was Terry Boyle of Dublin, followed by Martin Kennedy, Danny Kane, and Dave Jolly. Indeed, both Danny Kane and Pat O'Shea had up-scuttled things slightly on the Lagosta by scoring so highly. However, Paddy Swan had come in at 5th place which was enough to secure him the overall winner's spot. Well done Paddy Swan - Cork Harbour Light Lines Champion 2014!!!


Many thanks to Ger Keohane, skipper of the Naomh Cartha, who sponsors the overall Light Lines Trophy. Thanks must also go to the other skippers who also sponsored prizes; Donie Geary of the John Boy, Alan Kennedy of the Lagosta II, and Joe Lynch of the Wreck Hunter II. In fairness these skippers have always put us on the fish and we would recommend them to any angler or group who would like to fish the grounds in Cork Harbour and off shore.

47th Cobh International Deep Sea Angling Festival.....the results!

Wreck Hunter heads out on the first day

The first week in September is eagerly awaited by a mixed bunch of Irish, Dutch, Welsh, and UK anglers every year. Many have been fishing the Cobh International Deep Sea Angling Festival for years.....and its easy to understand why! Not only is the fishing good, but the craic and banter is superb. This continues from the boats, back to the pubs and restaurants that sponsor each day's events, where the topic is, undoubtedly, about the one that got away!

Some of that mixed bunch

This year it was hoped that the weather would match last year. Good weather ensures that boats can get out to the angling hotspots off the harbour. Last year's weather was great and the boats got to the offshore reefs every day. This was reflected in the fishing results which were probably the best in living memory. Surely, it might be too much to expect superb weather two years on the trot...but that's exactly what happened. The fishing as a result was excellent again!!!

The Dutch gang

Once more, the skills of the skippers of the Cork Harbour Angling Hub fleet ensured that the anglers were on the best marks. The Cuan Bawn, Wreck Hunter, Lee Star, John Boy, & Naomh Cartha all have a great track record and this year they didn't disappoint.

Eagerly awaiting the off....

On Monday the designated area was to be the Smiths Reef area. The tides were slack but at least they were building for the rest of the week. The fishing was unusual. Ruud Boelhower had a superb day aboard the Naomh Cartha. He had 16 congers for a total score of 690 points; winning the day with the highest score. Ruud was way ahead in his boat with nobody coming near. He just seemed to have the midas touch. It was as if he was dropping into a conger nest each time. 

On the Cuan Bawn, Pat O'Shea also had a good day. Pat had a mixture of conger and pollack but really racked up the score with the pollack in the afternoon. He ended the day with 680 points; again way ahead of anyone else on his boat. This was enough to give him 2nd place for the day. In 3rd place was Milo Burke with 360 points.

Cuan Bawn heads off

Heaviest fish fell to Gerard Gersjes with an 11kg conger. Ironically, that's the second year in a row that an 11kg conger has won the first day's heaviest fish prize!

....and so does John Boy

The Power Head/Pollack Rock Reef was the area designated for Tuesday. The fishing for the day was cracking. Two anglers scored over 900 points! There was plenty of conger caught and good quality fish to boot. Two anglers also caught fish warranting the heaviest fish prize. Both were congers of 17.0kg. However, by virtue of the fact that her next heaviest conger was heavier, at 7.5kg, Sandra O'Shea won. What was more extraordinary was that this fish was caught on the same trace as the 17.0kg conger at the same time. Poor Sandra struggled to haul up over 24.0kg of fish in the height of a strong tide....but she did manage!

Fishing for bait - Lee Star

Winner for the day was Martin Perryman with 910 points, followed closely by Denis Morgan with 905 points. Sandra O'Shea came in 3rd with 760 points. The day's results kept Ruud Boelhower in the overall lead.

On Thursday it was decided to return to the Pollack Rock reef. With the fishing so good here on Tuesday and the better tide it was hoped that some great scores could be had here once more. However, as is always the case in fishing things don't always turn out as you hope or expect. The winner had about 200 less points than on Tuesday but, at least, the average score per angler was on a par. Hans Vermelis from Holland had the best score with a total of 760 points. In 2nd was Karl Slynne with 645 points and in 3re was Frank Cronin with 620 points. Bob Crebor had the heaviest fish with a 13.5kg conger. Ruud Boelhower had another good day and maintained his lead on the overall scoreboard.

Despite maintaining his lead Ruud had three other anglers pressing him all the way. Martin Perryman, Milo Burke, and Pat O'Shea were all in contention and keeping Ruud under pressure. The final day's results would prove to be interesting.

The final day's fishing area was the Smiths and Daunt Rock area. As was the case on Monday, some boats had good fishing but others fared out poorly. Unluckily, for Ruud, after putting in a great performance all week, his luck ran out. Ruud managed 3 conger but it was not enough. Others had better. Milo Burke had the best score on Friday with 680 points, with Paul Evans following closely with 645 points, and Pat O'Shea in 3rd with 620 points. Heaviest fish was a 13.0kg conger by Karl Slynne.

Naomh Cartha on the way back

Friday's scoring enough to Pat O'Shea to the top spot. This is Pat's second year in a row winning the Festival. Well done Pat!!!

Milo Burke came 2nd and Ruud came 3rd.....

The final results for the week are as follows:

1st Pat O'Shea, Cobh SAC, 2015 pts

1st Pat O'Shea, Cobh SAC, 2015 pts
2nd Milo Burke, Cobh SAC, 1690 pts
3rd Ruud Boelhower, Holland, 1690 pts
4th Martin Perryman, Crosshaven SAC, 1650 pts
5th Paul Evan, Wales, 1445 pts
6th Sandra O'Shea, Cobh SAC, 1445 pts

Outside Kelly's Pub

7th Karl Slynne, Ireland, 1435 pts
8th Denis Morgan, Ireland, 1425 pts
9th Peter Morris, Wales, 1360 pts
10th Paul Tennant, Cobh SAC, 1330 pts
11th Frank Cronin, Cobh SAC, 1270 pts
12th Richie Fortune, Cobh SAC, 1205 pts

Best Pollack, 4.0kg, Karl Slynne, Irl

Best Ling, 7.5kg, Frank Cronin, Irl

Most No. of Conger, 28 conger, Ruud Boelhower, Holland

Best Edible Bag, 95.5kg, Pat O’ Shea, Irl

Some of the locals with the Welsh lads

Most Species, 9 species, Ger Brady, Irl

Best Cod, 6.5kg, Johann Duijts, Holland

Heaviest Edible Fish, 7.5kg, Frank Cronin, Irl

Best No. of Fish, 85 fish, Pat O’ Shea, Irl

Best ‘Out of State’, Paul Evans, Wales, 1445pts

Best Lady, Sandra O'Shea, Irl, 1445 pts

Heaviest fish of the week, 17kg conger, Sandra O'Shea, Irl

Best Skipper, John & Eoin Barry, Cuan Bawn

Fun Team, Steve Williams (Wales), Ruud Boelhower (Holland), Martin Perryman (Irl), Phil Blakey (UK), 5045 pts

Two Man Team, Ireland E, Milo Burke, Frank Cronin, 2960 pts.

Pat with some of his prizes

As well as wining the overall prize for the second time this is Pat's 3rd year on the trot winning the 'Best Edible Bag' Trophy and his 4th year on the trot winning the trophy for the 'Most number of fish.'

Well done to all the committee at Cobh SAC for organising such a great event yet again!

Plans are already afoot in organising next year's Festival which will once more be held, as is tradition, in the first week in September. If you fancy your chances and would like to enter then contact club chairperson, Mary Geary, for further information on 00-353-21-4812167 or by email on seaangling@esatclear.ie.

Pat & Ruud reflect on a good week

Summer action on Naomh Cartha....

Sandra O'Shea with a 13lb cod

Cobh SAC held their second Master Angler competition of the year last Sunday. Fishing for the day was onboard Naomh Cartha, skippered by Ger Keohane....and, what a day it was!

The weather was great, if somewhat breezy. Beautiful blue skies, hot temps, but a stiff easterly breeze. There's always a messy chop with an easterly breeze and this was the case today. However, Ger reckoned we could manage it and manage it we did. We set off for the fishing grounds off Power Head and drifted the Pollack Rock reef from east to west. From the off the fish were coming onboard. Pollack, cod, ling, cuckoo wrasse, ballan wrasse, pouting, and more....but it was the pollack that were there in numbers with nearly 300 landed. Some of these fish were good fish coming in over 6lbs! In the mix were some good cod with three fish coming in over the 10lb mark!

Ger had a hectic time trying to keep a track of the scores. At the end of the day, Milo Burke from Kilkenny had the best score. Milo had a total of 108 fish for a final score of 1,130pts. In second place was Danny Kane with 77 fish for a score of 820pts. Pat O'Shea was in third place with 72 fish for 742pts.

By day's end the six anglers had landed 349 fish. A great return, a great day....a day to be remembered!!!

If you'd fancy a day out on the Naomh Cartha why not give Ger a ring on 00-353-87-2589448. Check out the Naomh Cartha's facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/naomhcartha.anglingcork?fref=ts

47th Cobh International Deep Sea Angling Festival

Its now less than 2 months to this year's Festival and we are now taking entries for this year's event. Brochures and Application Forms can be downloaded here.

We've retained the prize fund for this competition at €7,500. Of this €2,000 will be in cash, the breakdown of the cash element is as follows:

1st Prize €1000
2nd Prize €400
3rd Prize €200
Best Team of 4 €400

However, there are numerous other prizes. Each day is a competition in its own right and there are prizes for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.,.... plus heaviest fish. For the whole week there are also category winners like heaviest conger, heaviest cod, ling, pollack, most species, most fish....the list goes on and on.

The competition will be run over four days from the 3rd to 7th September 2012 (Mon, Tues, Thurs, & Fri). This Festival is great craic and if you want a week away with your buddies with great craic and good fishing well this is the fishing break for you. Many of the anglers are coming back to this event year after year, after year!!!

This report from last year (2012 Report) will give you an idea of the quality of fishing (and craic) to be had over the week.

Charter Boats will be provided by Cork Harbour Angling Hub (http://www.corkharbouranglinghub.com) and accommodation packages are available from the Commodore Hotel (http://www.commodorehotel.ie or ring 00-353-21-4811277 and just ask for Mary, tell her you want the fishing package and she'll sort you out), and Bella Vista House Hotel (http://www.bellavistahotel.ie).

For more information contact Cobh SAC on 00-353-21-4812167 or thru the following email address: seaangling@esatclear.ie

Winter Bassing onboard the rubber duck

Soft plastic supremo, Jim Clohessy, is at it again!....and in the depths of winter this time!!!

See him strike silver in his own inimitable way.

Big Winter Cod

There have been a few reports of some fine cod being caught lately. Here's a pic of a 14lber caught on Joe Lynch's Wreckhunter.

The second pic is of an 11lber caught at the mouth of the Harbour on a soft plastic. This was landed by one of guide James McSweeney's clients.

National Boat Team Fundraiser

Over the Christmas Holidays, Cork Harbour Angling Hub hosted a fundraising competition for the National Boat Team. What a great turn out, with over 60 anglers taking part! Fishing was excellent, with some fine cod caught, and many other winter species, such as whiting, dab, etc.,... Again many of the dab were of specimen size....here's a pic of one of those belters!!! .....more details to follow.

January Mullet....on the fly!!!

When the bass are scarce bass angling guide, Richie Ryan, and local bass angling legend, Andy Davies, target the mullet. Andy and Richie "hook" up every year for a few sessions fly fishing for these elusive fish. Richie reckons, though, that they can be a bit easier to catch in the early part of the year, and so despite sometimes frosty weather the lads can have great January sport targeting the Irish equivalent of tropical bonefish.  Andy and Richie use small unweighted Czech nymphs and 8lb flourocarbon on a very long trace.

Richie reckons that '...mullet are very difficult to hook due to their hard mounths but often fight harder than bass when hooked. Many fish are lost during frenetic runs and tear line off the reel at a tremendous rate. Great sport if you can get to a beach where they start to shoal at this time of year. If.....'

If you fancy a trip out with Richie give him a buzz on 086 - 1940744 or check out his website Eire Bass for more details.

January Light Line Comp

The next light lines comp is on next Sunday, the 13th January. Again this is great value at €40 and a good entry is once more expected. If you'd like to fish this then contact Danny Kane on 086-8161946 and book your place. Boats will be leaving Kennedy Pier at 10am with fishing from 10:30am till 3:30pm. Rules are very simple with the only stipulation of difference from normal comps being that the mainline be of 15lb bs or less. See yo there; you know its good for ya!!!

Christmas Light Line Comp - the results.....

The second of this winter's light line competitions got under way this Sunday just gone, early in the morning. For this one twenty one anglers gathered at Kennedy Pier at Cobh at 9:30am. By 10am the two boats, the Lagosta II and the Wreckhunter, got underway. The weather for this one wasn't as kind as previous outings. We normally seem to be blessed with good weather but not on this occasion. Having said that it wasn't too bad either, but it was very much a mixed bag. All week the south coast had been plagued by winter storms. By Sunday the wind was still blustery and squally at times. Heavy showers occasionally drenched the anglers during the day but towards the evening it calmed down completely and it became almost balmy.

The weather obviously had an impact on the fishing, which was tough enough going at times. This was in complete contrast to the previous week when Crosshaven SAC had some great fishing in their own light line competition. Numbers caught in that comp were similar to the last light line comp in Nov (The calm before the storm).

In total 793 fish were caught, giving an average of 38 fish per angler. The one positive, though, was that the general size of fish was bigger. Codling also made a welcome appearance. The breakdown of fish caught was 405 whiting, 194 dab, 84 doggies, 2 coalfish, 38 codling, 30 pouting, and 40 poor cod. Indeed, many anglers managed to bag six different species.

On the Lagosta there was tremendous competition as no less than five current and ex-internationals fought it out. Nevertheless, all eyes were on Martin Perryman and John Dennehy who last year jointly topped the league only for Martin to win out on a fish count back. The eyes were on the wrong boat, though, as it was on the Wreckhunter that the better fishing was had. Here Irish Home Nation Team International, Pat Wright, topped the score; well done Pat!!!

The full results are as follows:

 1. Pat Wright,                   55 fish,  810 pts,  100%

 2. Martin Kennedy,          49 fish,  739 pts,  100%

 3. Pat O'Shea,                   54 fish,  797 pts,  98.4%

 4. Sandra O'Shea,             49 fish,  736 pts,  90.9%

 5. Myles Howell,              43 fish,  649 pts,  87.8%

 6. John Dennehy,              41 fish,  604 pts,  81.7%

 7. Dave Ryland,                38 fish,  599 pts,  81.1%

 8. Martin Perryman,          38 fish,  597 pts,  80.8%

 9. John Fitz,                      43 fish,  651 pts,  80.4%

10. Dave Jolly,                   38 fish,  570 pts,  77.1%

11. Slywester Skowronski, 41 fish, 606 pts,  74.8%

12. Donnacha O'Connell,  38 fish,  576 pts,  71.1%

13. Tomasz Thrione,         40 fish,  572 pts,  70.6%

14. Dave Clancy,              35 fish,  543 pts,  67.0%

15. Pat Swan,                    32 fish,  492 pts,  66.6%

16. Pio Enright,                 30 fish,  476 pts,  64.4%

17. Danny Kane,              29 fish,  458 pts,  62.0%

18. Robert Fraczek,          33 fish,  496 pts,  61.2%

19. Cian Ryan,                 28 fish,  423 pts,  52.2%

20. Martin O'Leary,          21 fish,  316 pts,  39.0%

21. Marcin Kavankozski, 18 fish,  281 pts,  34.7%

If you'd like to look at the detailed scoresheets have a look here.

The Light Line league is now starting to take shape. As you'd probably guess, Martin Perryman and John Dennehy are up in the top spots....can they keep the momentum up? You can have a look at the league table here.

The next Light Line Competition is on Sunday 13th January. If you'd fancy fishing this then contact Danny Kane on 086-8161946 or Mary Geary on 021-4812167.

The next big competition in the Harbour is the fundraiser for the Irish Boat team. This competition is on next Saturday week 29th December. To enter contact Pat Condon on 086-3622044, Myles Howell on 087-2525162, or Padraic Clear on 087-9807685.

Winter Light Line comp No. 2

Well the second competition of this winter's light line series is almost upon us. This competition will be fished next Sunday 16th December. If you'd like to fish this one, then contact Danny Kane on 086-8161946 or Mary Geary on 021-4812167 without delay.

As per usual, this comp will be fished using the scorecard from the IFSA National Fish-Offs. Fishing will be from 10:30am till 3:30pm. The boats will leave Kennedy Pier, Cobh at 10am and registration will be on the pier from 9:30am.

The usual rules apply and are kept to a minimum as it is a fun competition. The only stipulation is that your mainline would be a maximum of 15lb b.s. Have a look at our report of the last competition 'The calm before the storm....again!' to give you an idea of what the fishing was like. The cost for the day's fishing is €40....its great value!!!

We'll see you there, hopefully!!!

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!!!