Declan Moran reports on the Daniel Peacock Memorial / National Junior Competition fished at Newport earlier this month…

Junior Anglers who participated in the Daniel Peacock Memorial / National Junior Competition held on Sunday 8th of July and hosted by Newport SAC.
Junior Anglers who participated in the Daniel Peacock Memorial / National Junior Competition held on Sunday 8th of July and hosted by Newport SAC.

Newport SAC hosted the Daniel Peacock Memorial / National Junior Competition on Sunday the 8/07/17. The competition was fished in Clew Bay and once again over 40 junior anglers, all aged between 8 and 18 years of age, took part in this year’s event. The day began with a sausage roll and a hot cup of tea for both the parents & anglers before all of the young junior anglers (& mentors) boarded the boats and headed out to sea. The weather was perfect for the day and the sun cream was heavily applied by all.  Each of the 5 boats recorded good catches during the day and all anglers ended up with good fishing.

A group of Junior Anglers on board the ‘Restorick’ taking part in the recent Daniel Peacock Memorial / National Junior Competition

The Juniors were welcomed back on to the pier in the evening by their parents and the excitement built with the arrival of each boat. There appeared to be very little between each of the boats with the number of fish landed more or less the same on all boats. The excitement reached fever pitch with the arrival of the Whitewater II as reports began to emerge of a large fish that was caught by one of the anglers. It was this one large fish that made all the difference to the end result. Local popular angler Darragh O’Grady landed a 163lb skate on board the Whitewater II. Darragh is a very popular angler within the club became the 13th young angler to lift the prestigious Daniel Peacock Memorial Cup later that evening.

Darragh O’Grady pictured with his winning 163lb skate on board the Whitewater II
Daithi Nevin was the winner in the U13 category and also had the largest Ray, is pictured here receiving his prize from Shane Gilvarry (Newport SAC).

The prize presentation itself was held in Hotel Newport. A big thank you to Michelle and the staff, who were on hand with hot food and sandwiches for all in attendance. As always, a great display of prizes were on offer, thanks to a combination of the Peacock Family’s generosity, the clubs hard working trophy officers and our generous sponsors. The club wishes to thank each and every one of our sponsors, the skippers, stewards, committee and anyone who generally helped to make the day special  for the juniors in whatever way they could. Our thanks also to all skippers who gave a reduced rate on the day for their boat hire, to the parents who helped out and the hotel and staff for providing the venue for the presentation. Our thanks also to David Moran and Padraic McCormack who travelled the length and breadth of the bay making sure that plenty of photos were taken on the day for all to see. The prizes were presented by Maura Forrestal from the Newport branch of the Credit Union, Richard & Sue Steer, representing the Peacock family, Niall and Mary from Coastal Zone Services and Ed Kirby representing Allergan SAC (all main sponsors of the event). Every one of the juniors started and finished the day with smiles on their faces. Every junior angler caught fish and no one went home empty handed. All entrants received a set of rig winders in a display case, a Newport SAC key ring and a medal very kindly sponsored (once again this year) by Coastal Zone Services, in recognition of their participation. The club would like to thank all sponsors for their generosity, as without their support, the competition would not have taken place.

A group of Junior Anglers on board the ‘Inishoo’ taking part in the recent Daniel Peacock Memorial / National Junior Competition

In particular we would like to thank our main sponsors Coastal Zone Services, The Peacock and Steer families, Hotel Newport, Oliver Kelleher Trophies, Port West, Allergan Pharmaceuticals, Westport Credit Union, Allergan SAC, Inland Fisheries Ireland and Clew Bay Marine Services. Other sponsors who also contributed were Mulranny Park Hotel, Port West, Bourke Waste, RBM Fisheries Westport, Ann Taylor, Mrs Blackwell, Marnie Institute Furnace, Casey Cars Castlebar, Celine Murray / Mangans Cash & Carry, Aisling’s Newport, O’Malley Transport, Burrishoole GAA, Lidl Westport, Irish Rail, Carol O’Malley, Westport House, Colin Forrestal, Martin Forrestal, Hastings Insurance Westport, Easy Group Texts. For a full list of sponsors please visit our website www.newportseaanglingclub.com

The winners

The results of the Daniel Peacock Memorial/National Junior Competition were as follows:

Darragh O’Grady, overall winner of the National Junior Competition / Daniel Peacock Memorial Angling competition seen here being presented with his prize by Richard & Sue Steer (grandparents of the late Daniel Peacock).

Overall Winner – Darragh O’Grady with a total of 13 fish and 220 points.

8 years to 13 years winner: Daithi Nevin (125 pts)         Runner up: Jack O’Grady (105 pts)        3rd place: Neill Kirby (100 pts)

4th place to 6th as follows: Ellie McDonnell, Zak Zeray, Shane Durkin

14 years to 18 years winner: James Moran (135 pts)    Runner up: Ronan Brennan (125 pts)      3rd place: Sean Sammon (125 pts)

4th place to 6th as follows: Matthew Moran, Eabha Melvin, Tomás Moran

Novice Boy:  1st place– Conor Dunleavy (65 pts)     2nd place– Brian Duggan     3rd place – Oisin Fynes

Overseas Winners:  1st place– Ainhoa – Spain   (65 pts)     2nd place– Amaya – Spain

Eabha Melvin, Felix Zeray, James Moran, Matthew Moran were the winning Team with a total of 405 points

Teams Event: Winners were Team I with a total of 405 points – Eabha Melvin, Felix Zeray, James Moran, Matthew Moran

Teams Event: Runners up were Team E – Oisin Fynes, Darragh O’Grady, David Loftus, Ainhoa

Teams Event: 3rd place were Team G – Ellie McDonnell, Sean Sammon, Clodagh Moran, Danny Murphy

Individual Boat Winners:  Finnaun – Matthew Moran   Barracuda – Eabha Melvin  White Water II – Darragh O’Grady   Inishoo – Sean Sammon   Restorick – James Moran

Largest Ray: Daithi Nevin

Largest Bullhuss: James Moran

Boatmans Prize: Darragh McGee who skippered the White Water II on the day

A group of Junior Anglers on board the ‘Whitewater II’ taking part in the recent Daniel Peacock Memorial / National Junior Competition

52nd Annual Sea Angling Festival

Newport SAC will host the 52nd Annual Sea Angling Festival on Saturday the 4th (Shore) and Sunday the 5th of August  (Boat). Check in on the Sunday is 8.15am with boats departing at approximately 9.15am due to the tides. Fishing from 10am to 3pm with the prize presentation in Hotel Newport at approx. 6pm. Please contact Sean on 087 0644601 or Sue on 086 3862568  to book in for the boat competition or Shane on 087 2304436 for the shore competition. Bait is supplied and rods can be arranged if necessary. There are limited spaces available so please book in as early as possible.

A group of Junior Anglers on board the ‘Finnaun’ taking part in the recent Daniel Peacock Memorial / National Junior Competition

The club collected a total of €1600 following recent RNLI church gate collections at Newport, Mulranny, Tiernaur, Fahy & Kilmeena churches. Our thanks to all who supported this very worthy cause. A presentation will be made to the RNLI at one of our next main events.

Annual car wash

We are planning our annual car wash on Main street and a shore angling training day later this summer. Please contact any member of the club if you wish to get involved in either event. Keep an eye on our website www.newportseaanglingclub.com for further details.

A group of Junior Anglers on board the ‘Barracuda’ taking part in the recent Daniel Peacock Memorial / National Junior Competition