Tim O’Heirlihy reports on the Irish Kayak Angling Clubs October meet and final sea gig of the year…
The Cork leg of the Irish Kayak Angling Club All Ireland Championship was initially set for September 9th and postponed due to adverse forecasts with an offshore wind registered at 20 knots at midday at Sherkin and 30 at Roches Point with a gust of 40. Following another weather postponement the meet eventually went ahead Saturday 7th October.
IKA competitions are aimed at encouraging involvement by setting an achievable species target. For Cork the first to catch any wrasse, any flatfish, a pollock and a dogfish would be declared the winner, unless someone else caught all 4 and then the Joker, in this case a conger. Surprisingly dogfish can be hard to find at Red Strand as only 4 were caught in 2016.
14 kayaks launched at 11 am on a dull day and headed for the Carrigduff Rock (the main reef) and west to Galley Head to drift the approx 1km over sand between the Head and the reef.
Recent weather meant that the water was very murky and fishing much slower than 2016. Most anglers on the drift were catching pin whiting and small mackerel with very few flatfish while those at Carrigduff were finding small numbers of Coalfish, Dogfish, Pollock and Ballan Wrasse.
Ian Burton completed the challenge at 14:30 (2 hours later than 2016) and finished with 9 species. Dave Lordan was second with 6. At 4 a piece Tom B, Pat Gill, Kevin Murphy and Tim O’Herlihy were separated by completion rules for the next places.
The 11 species caught were Coalfish, Cod, Dab, Dogfish, Mackerel, Plaice, Pollock, Scorpion, Whiting, Ballan & Goldsinny Wrasse and while most of the fish were small there were some good ones mixed. The Pollock above was caught by Pat Hurley and this cracking Ballan (52-54cm approx 6lb) caught by 10 year old Sean.
To top off a tough day the surf picked up as we landed, of course the 10 year old made surf landings look easy…
Please note that the final meet of the Irish Kayak Angling Club All Ireland Championship is October 21st at Lough Muckno, Monoghan. Anyone interested in the sport is welcome to join us to talk to members about equipment needed to take part and the various kayaks available.
Go fishing…
To find out more about Kayak Angling visit www.irishkayakangling.com and register on the forum. Membership is free and the forum is a great resource to learn about safety, venues and techniques. Experienced members will answer any questions you have and everyone is welcome to come to a meet to learn more before taking the plunge.
Articles on beginning kayak angling are available at http://www.topfisher.eu/ and much of the advice on small boat angling is also transferrable to a kayak.
You can also follow the Irish Kayak Angling Club on Twitter @irishkayak and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Irish-Kayak-Angling/277427952176 for details of the 6 FREE meets that make up the All Ireland Kayak Angling Championship 2017.