Cork Soft Plastic 2013 Season begins.....

Jim Clohessy and the Bellavista crew get their soft plastic season underway......

Big Winter Bass

As bass fishing goes it was a tough winter; well particularly the latter half. In normal winters fishing is quite good upto Christmas and then it slackens off. Mind you fish are still taken in January and February but its normally March before bass appear in numbers. This winter wasn't the norm!!!

It's now mid-April and there have been very few, and I mean very few, reports of bass caught since Christmas. No doubt the cold weather from the start of February and those persistant easterly winds were to blame. Water temperatures are at an all time low.

With less than four weeks to go to the closed season we may at last get some fish. Here's a pic to give us some hope. It's of a specimen bass caught on a lure from the shore just before Christmas. Captor, Pat O'Shea, takes up the story '....typical of late November, going into December, there were periods of settled weather, but it was damn cold by day with temperatures hovering about 4.5c. Water conditions were almost crystal clear but despite that the lure fishing was very good, as it can be at this time of year. The fish tend to bunch up before their exodus and can go on quite frenetic feeding frenzies at times. I was having good sessions with good numbers of fish; nothing massive but the type of fishing to keep you very happy indeed. It couldn't last and when the weather would eventually break it would probably put paid to the lure fishing for a month or two. That break loomed not long after when a deep low approached. I was determined to beat its arrival and get one last session in before Christmas. As I arrived at my chosen mark the change in conditions was already apparent. Although, the wind hadn't got up, the sea state was starting to rise and the water was already colouring up. I fancied a crack with a large pearl shad, which can be lethal at this time of year, and on my very first cast I was rewarded. On the retrieve I felt a bump and instinctively knew it was a side swipe from a bass. I kept up the retrieve and after a few yards the fish nailed the lure. Nailed the lure was an understatement, the lure was right down its gullet. Mind you it was none the worse for wear and soon revived in a nearby pool. It was a fine fish, though, measuring 69 cms  What a beauty. Not long after I had another. This was also a good fish coming in at 67 cm. It was beginning to look like a red letter day. Another few casts and close in my lure stuck fast. My initial reaction was that the shad had caught up in the weed on the shallow ledge in front of me. That was until my rod doubled over and the reel handle spun around at a rate of knots nearly breaking my fingers. I hadn't the drag on as when fishing with weighted shads that is a sure recipe for losing your lure. Luckily I had the anti-reverse lever on. After several spirited runs I had the fish beaten. What a fish! 75 cms in length and as broad as hell across the back. I began to hope I had a specimen. On the scales the fish came over the magical 10lb mark. Yes!!! It was going to be hard to top that. I carried on fishing but had only one more around the 4lb mark. Later the wind picked up and the water clarity deteriorated completely. Heading away I couldn't help thinking that if Carlsberg did fishing sessions then this would probably be one of them!'

March Light Lines Competition - the results.....

Well the March competition wasn't actually held in March....it was held in April!!!

For one of the first times ever, a light lines competition was cancelled because of the weather. 'I thought Cork Harbour was an all-weather venue?' I hear you say. Well it is....but the worst gales to affect the harbour are those from the east or southeast quadrant....and so it was on the week ending the 24th March we had a humdinger from the south east. In fact, the wind had been blowing hard from the east for weeks and on the Friday of that weekend a storm passed through that dumped one month's worth of rain within a 24 hour period in the region. This was the same storm that, as it tracked northwards, dumped a couple of feet of snow in Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, north Wales, and the north west of England. Strong enough as the winds were the boats may have still got out but with that volume of fresh water in the system the fishing was bound to be crap....and so the decision was, regrettably, taken to cancel.

The rescheduled competition was earmarked for Sunday 7th April. Conditions leading upto the day had improved dramatically....but then it all went downhill. That morning a gale kicked up and again from the southeast. At least there had been no rain leading up to the day and it was decided to carry on with the event.

Boy the wind was strong....and as the 16 anglers headed out on the John Boy and the Naomh Cartha they were dramatically buffeted. However, once at anchor at 'Deep Hole' the boats settled down quickly and there was no discomfort, as such. At this spot, just between the forts, there is no noticeable swell compared to the storm tossed seas outside. Nevertheless, the conditions did make for tough angling as, with the strength of the wind, many anglers complained that they could barely feel the 'bites,' if at all....and this was reflected in the fishing with numbers of fish caught well down on previous competitions. But you know what they say '....when the going gets tough, the tough get going.'

A total of 282 fish were caught with the breakdown being as follows: 236 whiting, 41 dab, 4 cod, and 1 plaice. Most successful baits were again mackeral and lug.

The final results were:

  1. John Dennehy,           40 fish,   558 pts, 100.0%
  2. Pat O'Shea,               32 fish,   457 pts, 100.0%
  3. Pat Wright,                27 fish,   406 pts,   88.8%
  4. Martin Perryman,       26 fish,   376 pts,   67.4%
  5. John Fitz,                   21 fish,   301 pts,   65.9%
  6. Donnacha O'Connell, 26 fish,   362 pts,   64.9%
  7. Pat Condon,              18 fish,   273 pts,   59.7%
  8. Shane Gilvarry,          17 fish,   249 pts,   54.5%
  9. Roy Kearney,            21 fish,   299 pts,   53.6%
10. Josie Barrett,             20 fish,   288 pts,   51.6%
11. Robert Fraczek,        12 fish,   180 pts,   39.4%
12. Danny Kane,             12 fish,   188 pts,   33.7%
13. Tomasz Kyowe,          5 fish,     76 pts,   13.6%
14. Dermot O'Brien,          3 fish,     50 pts,   10.9%
15. Danny Kilcannon,        2 fish,     37 pts,     8.1%
16. Sandra O'Shea,           0 fish,       0 pts,     0.0%


This sets the league table up nicely for the last event which takes place on Sunday 21st April. The top 10 places now are:

  1. Pat O'Shea,                  14pts
  2. Pat Wright,                   18 pts
  3. John Dennehy,              18 pts
  4. Martin Perryman,          24 pts
  5. Danny Kane,                33 pts
  6. Sandra O'Shea,            35 pts
  7. Martin Kennedy,           38 pts
  8. Donnacha O'Connell,    44 pts
  9. John Fitz,                      44 pts
10. Sylwester Skowronski, 46 pts

If you'd like to fish the last Light Lines competition of the season on Sunday 21st April contact Danny Kane on 086 - 8161946 or Mary Geary on 021 - 4812167.

February Light Lines Comp - the results.....

Wow, it sure was cold last Sunday. As the three boats headed out to the fishing grounds at 'Deep Hole' it certainly was a beautiful day but it was damn cold!!!

Blue skies, slack winds, and flat calm seas greeted the 26 anglers but that north easterly breeze was biting. It didn't seem to upset the fishing, though, and the competition soon heated up. From the oft the anglers were into fish.

On the Lagosta II, Dan Lynch, got off to a great start and was soon swinging in three's and two's every time. This put the rest of the crew under fierce pressure and it was all they could do to keep up. Pat O'Shea, Myles Howell, and Martin Perryman kept in touch but Dan managed to keep some distance from the.

On the Naomh Cartha the competition was just as intense. Danny Kane, Martin Kennedy, & Pat Wright were the front runners here and battled it out together for the rest of the day.

On the John Boy fishing was a bit slower to start but the quality of the fish were better. Skipper, Donie Geary, had anchored the John Boy on the south eastern edge of Deep Hole and this seemed to be holding a better stamp of fish with many of the whiting averaging 1.5lbs and over. Paddy Swan took the early lead and was quickly followed by John Dennehy.

Throughout the day a steady stream of whiting were landed. Dab were not as plentiful as in the previous comps. A number of cod also showed. A total of 1,407 fish were landed or an average of 54 per angler. The breakdown was as follow: 1,259 whiting, 63 dab, 14 lsd's, 17 codling, 36 pouting, 17 poor cod, and 1 flounder.

Dan Lynch kept the pace up throughout the day and triumphed in the end. Well done Dan!

The final results were as follows:

  1. Dan Lynch,             110 fish, 1473 pts, 100.0%
  2. Pat Wright,                77 fish, 1055 pts, 100.0%
  3. Paddy Swan,             39 fish, 573 pts, 100.0%
  4. Martin Kennedy,       74 fish, 1026 pts, 97.3%
  5. John Dennehy,          36 fish, 549 pts, 95.8%
  6. Danny Kane,             74 fish, 1000 pts, 94.8%
  7. Terry Boyle,              70 fish, 965 pts, 91.5%
  8. Myles Howell,           97 fish, 1325 pts, 90.0%
  9. Pat O'Shea,                96 fish, 1274 pts, 86.5%
10. Pat Condon,               62 fish, 877 pts, 83.1%
11. Martin Perryman,       85 fish, 1159 pts, 78.7%
12. Dave Ryland,             26 fish, 402 pts, 70.2%
13. Sandra O'Shea,           75 fish, 1003 pts, 68.1%
14. Donnacha O'Connell, 51 fish, 718 pts, 68.1%
15. Danny Cannon,          50 fish, 702 pts, 66.5%
16. Robert Fraczek,          49 fish, 672 pts, 63.7%
17. Noel Kavanagh,         66 fish, 896 pts, 60.8%
18. Dave Clancy,             58 fish, 796 pts, 54.0%
19. John Fitz,                   20 fish, 309 pts, 53.9%
20. Barry Murphy,           54 fish, 742 pts, 50.4%
21. Eric O'Neill,              19 fish, 284 pts, 49.6%
22. Sean Og McShane,    51 fish, 689 pts, 46.8%
23. Tomasz Kujawa,       17 fish, 259 pts, 45.2%
24. Sylwester Skowronski, 14 fish, 221 pts, 38.6%
25. Craig Lee,                 27 fish, 387 pts, 36.7%
26. Zoltan,                      10 fish, 179 pts, 31.2%

Now after 4 events the league table is really taking shape. Pat Wright, John Dennehy, & Martin Perryman have climbed right back into contention. The top section of the table looks like this:



  1. Martin Kennedy, 11 pts
  2. Pat O'Shea, 12 pts
  3. Pat Wright, 15 pts
  4. John Dennehy, 17 pts
  5. Martin Perryman, 20 pts
  6. Danny Kane, 21 pts
  7. Sylwester Skowronski, 22 pts
  8. Sandra O'Shea, 22 pts
  9. Dave Ryland, 23 pts
10. Pat SWan, 23 pts

Summer Fishing aboard Osprey II

A sample of some of the fishing onboard Osprey II with skipper Pat Condon. Pat has huge experience having represented Ireland in Boat Angling many times and having chalked up an impressive number of specimen fish in his own right. Pat will be part of the Irish team again this year fishing in Portugal. In fact, having won last year's Masters, Pat will captain the team. This video shows Pat putting some of his clients on mixed ground fishing with some cod and also some blue shark fishing.

If you'd fancy a trip out with Pat during the 2013 season give him a bell on 00-353-86-3622044 or check out his website on Osprey II.

January Light Lines - the results!

We're a bit late with this report. On the second Sunday after Christmas 23 anglers participated in the third light line competition of the season. On a day more reminiscent of Spring rather than Winter, the anglers boarded three of the Hub's charter boats, the John Boy, Naomh Cartha, and the Lagosta II. By 10:30am all was ready, the boats were anchored in the fishing grounds of Deep Hole at the inside mouth of the harbour, and the anglers were ready to start.

From the oft fish appeared. Not as many as previous competitions but at a steady pace, nonetheless. Again whiting were the mainstay but there were plenty of dab also. The full count of fish were 1,127 whiting, 227 dabs, 11 lsd's, 17 codling, 20 pouting, 68 poor cod, and 2 scorpion fish for a total of 1,471 fish or an average of 64 fish per angler.

The craic, slagging, and banter was once again intense. Danny Kane was the butt of much of the banter. Was he going to pull ahead of the anglers and claim the top spot or was his partner, Sandra O'Shea, going to beat him once again.

As it turned out Danny had quite a good day finishing in second place overall and putting many of the top dogs to the sword. The full results were as follows:

  1. Pat O'Shea,                  165 fish,   2204 pts,  100.0%
  2. Danny Kane,                 77 fish,   1104 pts,  100.0%
  3. Shane Gilvarry,             61 fish,     890 pts,  100.0%
  4. Dave Ryland,              154 fish,   2089 pts,    94.8%
  5. Martin Kennedy,           51 fish,     744 pts,    83.6%
  6. Pat Condon,                  49 fish,     726 pts,    81.6%
  7. Slywester Skowronski, 52 fish,     885 pts,    80.2%
  8. Sandra O'Shea,             46 fish,     689 pts,    77.4%
  9. Robert Fraczek,          122 fish,   1638 pts,    74.3%
10. Martin Perryman,          55 fish,    810 pts,     73.4%
11. Josie Barrett,                 56 fish,    806 pts,     73.0%
12. Pat Wright,                  114 fish,  1532 pts,     69.5%
13. John Dennehy,              51 fish,   747 pts,      67.7%
14. Tomasz Kujawa,           47 fish,   697 pts,      63.1%
15. Donnacha O'Connell,   94 fish,  1265 pts,     57.4%
16. Liam Kennedy,             37 fish,   537 pts,     48.6%
17. Craig Lee,                     66 fish,   915 pts,     41.5%
18. Noel Kavanagh,           24 fish,    359 pts,     40.3%
19. Eric O'Neill,                 30 fish,    435 pts,     39.4%
20. Dave Clancy,               22 fish,    351 pts,     39.4%
21. John Fitz,                     49 fish,    678 pts,     30.8%
22. Cathal Evan,                11 fish,    180 pts,     20.2%
23. Timmy Leahy,             28 fish,    375 pts,     17.0%


Now with three comps completed the league is starting to take shape. The top positions are as follows:

1. Pat O'Shea
2. Martin Kennedy
3. Martin Perryman
4. Slywester Skowronski
5. Dave Ryland
6. John Dennehy
7. Sandra O'Shea
8. Pat Wright
9. Danny Kane
10. Dave Clancy

Its all to play for in the next comp. The next light lines comp is on Sunday 24th February. If you want to fish this one, then contact Danny Kane on 086-8161946 or Mary Geary on 021-4812167. See you there!

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.