Fundraiser for the National Boat Team

Following hot on the heels of the latest Light Line competition is this fundraising competition for the Irish National Boat Angling Team. If you tend to go stir crazy or get a bit of cabin fever during the Xmas holidays then this is the chance to clear the head and gain back a bit of sanity.

This is normally a great day out. Its a fun competition and there are many different prizes for differing categories, so everyone's got a chance. Hopefully, the weather will play ball and the boats will be able to get outside the Harbour. If not, however, conditions are not right then fishing will be restricted to inside. This shouldn't be a worry, though, as recent competitions within the confines of the Harbour have produced huge numbers of fish. Shoals of codling have also put in an appearance, so if codling pull your strings make sure you bring your best cod trace.

If you'd fancy fishing this comp then contact Pat Condon on 086 - 3622044, Myles Howell on 087 - 2525162, or Padraic Clear on 087 - 9807685.

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!!!

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!)