The Helm in Westport hosted their annual Skate Festival over last weekend, and once again it was a roaring success for Vinny and his crew in the Helm. 100 anglers competed over the two days, all vying to catch the biggest skate in the bay, with a massive €2,000 prize on offer for the best fish. The fishing this year was excellent, and a new record was set with 8 skate landed over the weekend, plus 2 lost, as well as large numbers of dogfish, in addition to thornback ray and bull huss.
The highlight of the festival is the prizegiving ceremony on Sunday night, when the envelopes are opened and the fish are measured. When a skate is landed, the boat skipper stretches a string across from wingtip to wingtip and cuts it to the exact length of the wingspan. The string is then put into an envelope with the angler’s name and sealed, so no one knows until all the strings are measured who has caught the largest fish. When the envelopes were opened late on Sunday night, the longest string belonged to Josie Faherty from Clifden, with a monster skate of 71 inches wingspan. That equates to approx. 200lbs weight.
Once again much credit goes to Vinny Keogh and his staff at the Helm, who fed, watered and looked after 100 anglers from near and far over the weekend. Many anglers travel from the UK for this event every year, and with 9 charter boats catering for their fishing, the benefit to the local economy was considerable. The Helm provides quality accommodation and charter fishing aboard the White Seahorse, as well as excellent food.
To book fishing or accommodation contact the Helm at 098 26398 or visit www.thehelm.ie
