The first leg of the Grauvell West Coast Shore League 2012 was held on Saturday last at the stony beach in Renvyle, Co. Galway. 20 senior anglers made their way on to the beach for the 6pm start, with 5 juniors from around the province also competing. Fishing was excellent for the time of year, with 157 fish recorded, not including undersize fish. 7 species were landed, including thornback ray, dogfish, coalfish, 3 and 5-bearded rockling, flounder and pollack.
The winner on the night was well-known international angler Mike Curtin (Lisdoonvarna Fanore SAC), who had 11 fish for 574 points. Zone A was won by Kevin Crowley (Galway Bay SAC), with 9 fish for 511 points. Sean Ivory (Western Vikings) was 2nd, with 7 fish for 342 points, and Chris Feeney (Galway Bay) was 3rd, with 7 fish for 315 points. Shane Gilvarry (Newport) was the winner of Zone B, with 14 fish for 524 points. Ed Kilroy (Newport) was 2nd, with 12 fish for 476 points, and Yanto Jones (Galway Bay) was 3rd, with 9 fish for 349 points.
Once again the senior anglers were glad not to be competing with the juniors, who recorded some fantastic scores. Winner of the junior section was Mark Hughes (Newport) who landed 14 fish for 533 points. Second place went to Kaylem Feeney (Galway Bay), with 12 fish for 522 points, and third was Conor McDermott (Galway Bay) with 6 fish for 320 points.
The league is off to a great start, and as competitors are allowed to drop 2 scores from 8, there is still time to enter. The next competition is on May 19th, hosted by the Killala club. Details from www.galwaybaysac.com