The 2016 European Federation of Sea Anglers (EFSA) European Shore Angling Championships hosted this year by EFSA Ireland kicked off yesterday afternoon Thursday 12th May at Clones Beach in Co. Wexford. After collecting their Day 1 allocation of baits consisting of 3 crab, 20 king rag, 1 pack of mackerel and 1 pack of sand-eel, the teams head off to Clones beach arriving circa 14.15. When everyone had arrived the peg draws took place and anglers headed to their pegs and started their set up prior to the all-in which was to be called at 16.00. The eight nations competing in this year’s event are England, Wales, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Iceland and Ireland.
Fishing on Day 1 took place over a five hour session between 16.00 and 21.00 and the weather forecast was spot on. Bright conditions accompanied by light to moderate breezes and temperatures in the teens. It was evident from the start that fishing was going to be challenging but some of the end pegs at the northern end of the beach got off to a nice start. Clarinda Van Der Zande from Holland landed a dogfish early in the proceedings and Irish angler Warren Doyle had a very nice treble.
There were lots of undersized fish being taken but after the initial flurry it was down to the hard work of simply grinding out whatever fish could be taken. At the half way point many of the top anglers were on three to six fish but the end pegs at the north and south ends of the beach were reported to be fishing best. On approaching the southern end towards zones D and E late in the session, reports were filtering through of anglers with catches between 18 and 25 fish. Roberto Loi from Italy had catches into the high teens. However, the best catches were at the end pegs in zone E (3 anglers with over 20 fish) and Irish angler Shay O’Neill had performed very well. As the sun started to set reports that Zone A had also fished well were filtering through but exact catches and placing’s would not be known until the score cards were tallied. As it turned cool for the last part of the session, the chances of any late catch bonanza faded with the light. Fishing on Day 1 overall was challenging but some anglers had very nice catches indeed.
Results of the Team Event at the end of Day 1 are as follows
- 1st place: Wales B: Shane Tucker, Daniel Tucker, Tina Lustig, Ken Gainfort and Mike Flynn
- 2nd place: Germany A: Hans Jusgen-Glaeser, Andres Burkhardt, Volker Claus, Frank Wielgoss and Darragh Farrell
- 3rd place: Ireland A: Ken Forsyth, Jack Keegan, Stephen Glynn, Shay O’Neill and Kieran Rice
Results of the Individual Angler Event at the end of Day 1 are as follows
- 1st place Shay O’Neill, Ireland
- 2nd place Roberto Loi, Italy
- 3rd place Mike Flynn, Wales
- 4th place Ken Gainfort, Wales
- 5th place Clarinda Van Der Zande, Holland
Day 2 of the (EFSA) European Shore Angling Championships will be another 5 hour session fished this afternoon at Ballinoulart beach just outside Kilmuckridge. Today’s bait allocation will consist of 1 pack of sandeel, 1 pack of mackerel, 1 pack of lug wraps and 20 king rag. The weather forecast is petty similar to yesterday with bright conditions accompanied by light to moderate breezes and temperatures in the teens. We will keep you posted on news as we get the details.
