Tralee Bay Sea Angling Club reports on their first competition of the year, fished from Fenit…
So the first competition of the year took place on Fenit pier in mid January. As tradition the first comp of the year with Tralee Bay SAC is always the Lacey Memorial Cup and last years winner was blow in Troy Francis. We had thirty seven anglers for our first comp and with loads of consistent anglers like Connie O Sullivan and the Foley Family missing there really could have been close the fifty anglers fishing.
The fishing was terrible and Fenit Pier really can be hit or miss these days. There was a few substantial coalfish caught by Finn Healy and Leonard Foley. There was about 7 new members on the day, so this is great and as a club we have to think of changing the next venue because we simply might have too many anglers fishing. Not a bad complaint.
Troy retained his title but it has never been won three times so Troyo next year will be make or break. Troy won the comp with 218 points and I have to mention his blatant Lying to yours truly throughout the competition and having me believe I could win the comp. In second place was Leonard Foley on 159 points, Leonard proved on the day that he is one to watch for the rest of the year. I think Leonard had four big coalfish all in the forties so well done to Leonard. In third place was myself with 148 points and I have to mention the highlight of the day was having my daughter Mia with me, her first comp at seven years old. She has wanted to go for two years and I promised her when she was seven she could go so I was a very proud Dad on the day and she did catch so that was a relief.
So the juniors had some good results and Finn Healy won the juniors on the day with 160 points. Finn really has come on in the last two years and I believe will go on and carry on the tradition of his family of being top anglers. In second place in the juniors was Paddy McMahon with 159 points and with his father tearing up the national circuit in 2016, its great to see how relatively new members can really enjoy and progress as anglers within Tralee Bay SAC. In third place in the juniors was Sean Clifford with 28 points and I really couldn’t believe the height of this fella. I didn’t recognise him at all and fair play to Sean he is consistent every year and always pulls out a result.
Now to the pools and this is where our new prize rules comes into play, again more prizes means more happy anglers and if the old rules were in place then some of the placed anglers would have hoovered up these prizes. So the best round went to junior angler Christopher O Sullivan with a Coalfish of 44cm. The second best round was a joint win with both Shane McMahon and David O Sullivan with two 40cm Coalfish. Martin McGowan was another messer on the day who had me thinking I was no where and I ended up in third. Every year I say to myself that when in competitions don’t believe a single word from another anglers mouth but every year my good self always falls for the messing, Martin won the best flat with a 38 cm flounder. Another new member on the day was Brain Reilly and he was in the prizes also with a 36cm flounder. So altogether there was 74 fish caught which really is terrible for the amount of anglers but it was an enjoyable day.
The next comp is the 11th of Feb but the committee must meet before that to see about changing to venue as Ballyquin won’t be able to fit the amount of anglers we are expecting so stay tuned and I will keep people posted.
Tralee Bay Sea Angling Club
Web: www.traleebaysac.org
Join Tralee Bay Sea Angling Club
Tralee Bay SAC is a thriving community of enthusiastic anglers – young and old, experienced and newcomers – with new members joining all of the time. We have a busy schedule of shore and boat competitions and lots of social events planned throughout the year. Tralee Bay is a family friendly, welcoming club with a reputation for promoting angling and encouraging newcomers to the sport.
Joining could not be easier – simply get in touch with us via our Contact us page leave your address and we will send you out an application form. Please also let us have your email address – especially if you have any queries for us. We are especially eager to hear from junior anglers who want to take advantage of club membership. For more information on joining see here – Joining Tralee Bay Sea Angling Club.
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Tralee Bay SAC is currently Irelands biggest Sea Angling Club and we also have the cheapest memberships rates in the country. We have anglers representing Ireland in all areas both provincial and national. New anglers will be welcomed with open arms.
