The 26th Irish Winter Shore Angling Festival 2014 got under way today Thursday 24th January at Balinoulart in Co Wexford. Anglers from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all travelled to compete in this prestigous event. Sign in took place at Sean Ogs in Kilmuckridge and after receiving all relevent information, anglers headed off to their pegs to set up and await the all in which was called to be called at 12 noon. Fishing would take place over the next five hours on what was a quite mild day for January. The tide was coloured and was dropping back. Winds were over the anglers backs and were light. The was a watery sunshine on occasions as the day brightened but it was generally overcast and was quite cool from the early afternoon. Expectations were running high as the event got under way.
There was a lot of activity from the start and anglers could be observed heading to the waters edge to return fish all along the beach. Flounder were by far the most abundant species but dabs and whiting were also taken. A number of trebles were reported right from the off and this produced a good early lead for Paul Whelan. The fishing slowed after the first hour as the tide dropped further and then the grind began. Anglers worked really hard trying to eek out those additional fish that just might take the section. Late on dabs at distance accounted for the majority of fish. Longest round fish of the day was taken by Alan Mulcahey a nice 29cm whiting and longest flat fish was take by Paul Tyndall, a super flounder measuring 38cms. As the 1st day entered the last hour it was really all to play for with a number of anglers well within range of each other. However, a strong finish by Dave Roe has put him ahead in the individual event at the close of day 1. Results of all events can be found below.
Individual
1st Dave Roe, 2nd Paul Whelan, 3rd Billy Buckley, 4th James Gordon, 5th Sean Ivory.
2 Man Team
1st Dave Roe & Joe Byrne, 2nd Paul Tyndall & Stephen Glynn, 3rd Billy Buckley & Kevin Lewis
4 Man Team
1st Dave Roe, James Ryan, Joe Byrne, Joe Carley, 2nd Karl Whelan, Eric Salmon, Paul Heffernan, James Gordon, 3rd Billy Buckley, Kevin Lewis, Dave Dobbie, Isac Muir.
Super Pool
1st Dave Roe, 2nd Paul Whelan, 3rd Billy Buckley
Long Flat
Paul Tyndall 38 cm Flounder, James Gordon 33cm Flounder
Long Round
Alan Mulcahey 29cm Whiting, Gareth Griffiths 27cm Codling
