Specimen Whiting....

Well done to Frank Burke of Cobh SAC who caught this fine specimen whiting while fishing with Colin Barnes on the Holly Jo out of Union Hall this Monday. Frank was fishing with a group of anglers from East Cork clubs, Guileen SAC, Aghada SAC, Cloyne SAC & Cobh SAC. The group were to fish the offshore wrecks but Colin advised that they had fished poorly - eventhough, one of his party did have a 16lb specimen pollack over the weekend. Instead, Colin brought the group to a favourite haddock mark of his. Frank was delighted he did!!! Frank's fine fish weighed in at 3.05lbs and measured 54cm in length....that's some whiting!

Cork Harbour - first light lines comp of 2011

Cobh SAC held the first of this year's light line competitions in Cork Harbour last Sunday. As has been typical of the series of these light line comps, the weather was glorious. Nevertheless, the competition was confined to the harbour, to target the numerous codling, whiting & other species that can be found within its sheltered waters.

Two of the Cork Harbour Angling Hub's charter boats were used for the day; the John Boy & the Noamh Cartha. All 13 anglers were up bright and early and boarded the boats at Cobh's Kennedy pier by 9am. Within twenty minutes they were anchored at the productive grounds between Spike Island and the Forts. Fishing kicked off in earnest and from the oft a steady stream of fish were landed.

Over the course of five hours over 870 fish were caught, giving an average of 67 fish per angler. That's some crackin'!!! In total there were 542 whiting to 2lbs caught, 243 dabs, with some close to specimen size, 20 cod to 5lbs, and 65 poor cod. A variety of baits were used, but the humble mackeral, albeit frozen, accounted for the majority of fish.

Cobh SAC will be holding their second light line comp on Sunday 20th February. If you'd fancy a go give Club Secretary Mary Geary a buzz on 021 - 4812167 or on email at seaangling@esatclear.ie .

Specimen Ling....

Members of Cobh SAC took advantage of the recent settled spell to target the offshore wrecks and what a day they had!!! Ling to double figures landed by all in the party and one cracker over the magical 25lb mark for Ruud Boulhouwer. Well done Ruud! This is Ruud's first specimen and what a beauty to break his duck.

Specimen ling are definitely not as plentiful as they used to be, but skipper Donie Geary had a secret wreck mark that he knew could produce. It was with that knowledge that the Cobh SAC lads were itching to book a day afloat onboard the John Boy. Its at this time of year that the ling are in peak condition pre-spawning and chances of bagging a specimen are at their best.

Ruud wasn't the only one with big fish; Tony Maguire also bagged a 20lber, while the rest of the lads managed ling upto 18lbs. It wasn't all hectic action, though; the crew got off to a great start, but then things slowed down, before picking up again in the afternoon. That can very well be the pattern while wreck fishing. The lads were well satisfied, though, as they had a good haul with cod and whiting also coming onboard.

The waters off Cork Harbour abound with wrecks, particularly from the first world war and Donie knows them all. Despite that a new one is discovered every so often, the latest a WWI U-Boat (see http://www.independent.ie/national-news/watery-grave-found-after-a-century-2509043.html?start=2). If you'd fancy a crack at the Cork wrecks, then Donie Geary's your man. You can contact Donie on 021-4812167 or by email on seaangling@esatclear.ie. Donie's website is http://www.sea-fishing-ireland.com/

Light Line Fishing and a bit of Dab hunting....

With the 2011 series of light line competitions coming up shortly, Cobh SAC anglers got out on the water for a bit of practice recently. With cold and calm conditions the first foray out was on the January New Year bank holiday Monday. Three boats ventured forth, with 11 anglers onboard. For the time of year the fishing was superb. The boats sampled the Ling Rocks and the Smiths. Over 9 species of fish were recorded, with the best fish being a 9.5 lb pollack. How bad, for January. For a full report have a look here http://cobhsac.blogspot.com/2011/01/impromptu-light-line-comp.html

On the strength of such a good day, another session was organised for midweek. As most people were back at work only two boats with 6 anglers managed to get out. This was to be a dab hunt and confined to the harbour. However, Danny Kane, onboard Sandra Anne, couldn't resist trying for some sizeable ling on the Smiths. When they did get back into the harbour there were plenty of whiting, codling, dabs, poor cod, and pouting. For a full report have a look here http://cobhsac.blogspot.com/2011/01/light-line-comp-part-deuxdab-hunt.html

It just shows you, if the weather is settled at this time of year, just get out and try it! The fishing may surprise you!!!

Italy beckons....

On Tuesday 28th Dec, Cork Harbour Angling Hub hosted a fundraising competition in aid of the Irish Boat Team for Italy 2011. As the organising committee had flagged, it was a chance to get out of the house for those anglers brim to the gills with turkey and suffering severe bouts of cabin fever. 59 anglers responded to the call.

Fishing on the day was tough; the previous day there had been over 2" of rain and even on the day there was a fair bit of wind with a southerly blowing at over 20 knots. The decision was taken to confine the event to the harbour and even then it was lumpy, with a strong ebbing pushing against the breeze all day.

Despite this, there was still over 477 fish caught and 9 species recorded; that's an average of 8 fish per angler. That's great going given the conditions. Species caught included cod, conger, dogfish, poor cod, plaice, coalfish, and flounder, with dabs and whiting predominating. The longest fish prizes went to the following fish:

Conger 130cm

Dogfish 71cm

Cod 59cm

Dab 32cm

Whiting 41cm

Coalfish 31cm

Flounder 23cm

Poor cod 21cm

Overall winner with the heaviest fish was Dan Lynch of Halfway Tackle. Dan, pictured above, won a beautiful crystal trophy plus €200 in cash. Overall Lady angler was Sandra O' Shea of Cobh SAC, with Luke Hegarty of Monkstown best Junior. Other prizes included best edible for Cormac Gannon, and Ken Hegarty with most species with five.

The following boats from Cork Harbour Angling Hub, were used on the day:

John Boy, skippered by Donie Geary http://www.sea-fishing-ireland.com/

Naomh Cartha, skippered by Ger Keohane http://www.corkanglingcharters.com/

Deora De, skippered by Jim Linehan http://www.charterangling.com/

Lee Star, skippered by John Geary http://www.anglingcharters.eu/

Osprey, skippered by Pat Condon http://www.atlantic-charters.net/

Lagosta II, skippered by Alan Kennedy