Warren Doyle reports that the 26th Irish Winter Shore Angling Festival was held on the beaches of East Wexford from the 23rd to the 25th of January 2014. Anglers from Ireland North & South, England, Scotland & Wales made the event a true International competition.The event was sponsored by TronixPro and Viking Tackle. The check-in was held at Seàn Òg’s Hotel, Kilmuckridge on Thursday morning where 67 anglers signed in & received their ‘goody bags’ of Tronix gear.
The first session was fished from Ballinoulart Beach & the 5 hour session commenced at noon. Fishing started off very well with some good flounders landed from the first cast. Flat fish dominated the day’s catch with very few round fish captured.
Best catch of the session & winner in Zone B was past winner Dave Roe with 30 fish for 790 points. Paul Whelan from Ballybrack reigned supreme in Zone D with 29 fish for 744 points. Scots raider Billy Buckley dominated in Zone C with 26 fish for 683 points. These 3 anglers also topped the superpool standings on Day 1. Supremo in Zone A was Wexford’s James Gordon with 23 fish for 596 points.
Best flat fish of the day was a 38cm flounder for Bray’s Paul Tyndall & best round fish was a 29cm whiting for Waterford’s Alan Mulcahy. A total of 846 fish were captured & returned alive.
The second session was fished from Old Bawn beach which was a new venue for the tournament. The fishing started off very slowly with very few fish landed in the first hour. Slowly the numbers started to increase with the ‘usual suspects’ finding their targets. With fish being scarce some epic battles were in progress along the beach.
Last year’s runner up Scotsman Kevin Lewis on peg 2 was locked in battle with Ballybrack man Shay O’Neill on peg 3 in Zone A. Kevin’s 13 fish won this skirmish but it was not good enough to take the zone honours which went to Ballybrack’s Karl Whelan with 14 fish for 374 points.
The battle in Zone B was between 2 Scots anglers, Billy Buckley & Jimmy Connell. Jimmy eventually prevailed with 11 fish for 318 points.
Zone C started with a fish for fish struggle between Courtown’s Joe Byrne & Bray man Paul Tyndall. As the day progressed Seàn Ivory from Dublin/Killybegs & Michèal Quinn from Bray came thundering into contention. This surge spurred Paul into a late run to win the zone with 18 fish for 482 points.
In Zone D Dave Roe was in the lead from early on. English angler Gareth Griffiths made a valiant effort to catch up but in the end Dave held out to win with 17 fish for 465 points.
At the end of the session the superpool 1,2,3 were Paul Tyndall, Dave Roe & Seàn Ivory. Best flatfish was a 36cm flounder for Micheàl Quinn & best round fish went to Wexford angler James Ryan with a codling. 651 fish were captured & returned alive.
Day 2 results saw the overall standings show Dave Roe still in pole position. Paul Tyndall moved up to second spot & Billy Buckley filled third position.
The final session was fished on Clones Strand. Windy conditions & a rough running sea with lots of weed greeted the anglers. Settling in to confront the conditions anglers started to pull fish at a slow rate. After an hour the conditions abated & the anglers found their targets.
Zone A was topped by past winner & former world champion England’s Chris Clark with 22 fish for 557 points. He was closely followed by Stephen Glynn from Artane with 20 fish for 524 points.
Ballybrack angler Peadair Taite was tops in Zone B with 19 fish for 519 points. He was closely followed by Paul Tyndall with 18 fish.
The Ballybrack onslaught continued in Zone C with Karl Whelan supreme on 23 fish for 637 points. Micheàl Quinn from Bray was a very close runner up also with 23 fish for 634 points.
Joe Byrne got his zone win in Zone D with 22 fish for 598 points.
Best flatfish of the day went to James Gordon with a 36cm flounder. Best round went to another Wexford angler Joe Carley. 889 fish were captured & returned alive.
The superpool 1,2,3 were Karl Whelan, Micheàl Quinn & Joe Byrne.
Changing the Clones venue from Friday as in previous years to Saturday this year proved to be a very good decision with all competitors recording fish. It also turned the results table on it’s head.
The final calculation showed Paul Tyndall & Karl Whelan equal on zone points total. Paul’s overall fish points total saw him declared Champion by 19 points (1471 vs 1452).
The presentation dinner was held in Seàn Òg’s Hotel where anglers & guests sat down to a superb spread.
The presentation of prize money & pools was conducted by event secretary Warren Doyle which followed a speech by EFSA Ireland Chairman George McCullough who thanked all those responsible for making the competition such a spectacular event.
George Cunningham from TronixPro accepted the invitation to present the top prizes which went as follows:
Festival Champion 2014: Paul Tyndall. €500. Waterford Crystal Vase. Cinnetic Rod.
Runner Up: Karl Whelan. Waterford Crystal Vase. Cinnetic Rod.
Third: Chris Clark. Waterford Crystal Vase. Cinnetic Rod.
2 Man Team Champions: Paul Tyndall & Stephen Glynn. Cinnetic reel each.
4 Man Team Champions: Dave Roe, Joe Byrne, James Ryan & Joe Carley. Cinnetic Reel each.
Best Junior over 3 days: Daniel Tucker (Wales) Cinnetic Rod.
Best Junior Day 3 (Special Prize): Seàn Cushen. Cinnetic Rod.
Best Flat Fish: Paul Tyndall. 36cm Flounder. Grauvell Rod
Best Round Fish: Alan Mulcahy. 29cm Whiting. Grauvell Rod.
