South Shore Sea Angling Club held their last competition of the year at the weekend. Paul Mason reports…
20/12/18: Storm Deirdre came and Storm Deirdre went. She did her best to dampen South Shore’s spirits and blow us out. We were blessed to get a window between gales to fish our last competition of the year.
We had originally planned to fish our usual final match on Arklow beach but some inconsiderate pot fisherman whose pots had washed up close to the shore some weeks ago never bothered to collect them. We rescheduled the competition for Roney Point, a safe bet or so we thought. The lads who got down early discovered the entrance to the beach had an eight foot drop caused by Deirdre’s windy passing and was dangerous. So quick thinking by Thomas Keogh had us travelling to Dodds Rock north of Courtown for an alternative venue.
It looked very fishy with a chocolate coloured sea from the storm the previous day. Fish were coming in from the off with the in-tune anglers hitting Whiting in doubles and trebles and some very lucky lads getting 4 on a three hook trace …eh! Niall. Niall Carabini seemed to be a whiting whisperer on the day charming 29 of the little shiny piranhas for the winning bag.
The final placing for the Master Angler had to be battled out and it was looking good for the big blonde bomber John Birmingham with some baldy auld lad hot on his heels and Thomas (Hasselhoff) Keogh in with a shout. In the end it was inevitable result although it was tight with one point between the blonde bomber and the baldy auld lad. Well done Blondie I’ll get you next year if I’m able…..
Silver boy Evan Ryan was junior Master Angler with consistent performances throughout the year equalling and bettering most of the senior anglers, we may lookout when he turns senior. Hugh boy Darren, silver boy’s Daddy was convinced he had won his zone on Sunday but he never legislated for the Doggy magnet Keogh who had a Dog in his bag but had three fish less than Darren with no undersized. Hot on the heels of silver boy was young Sam Findley, he is making great inroads this year and becoming a confident good angler. Sam was presented with a Anyfish Anywhere rod for his continuous improvement in the club. Well done Sam keep up the good work and dedication.
South Shore SAC is growing where other clubs are declining so we must be doing something right, the 70 Euro affiliation fee is returned to every angler at the end of the year in the form of a voucher and a Christmas dinner. We put everything into the anglers and try and spread the prize money at competitions around. We get mid twenty numbers of anglers at every competition and the quality is very high with many internationals and Master Angler winners competing. We have over fifty anglers affiliated to the South Shore and still growing. We are open for members for the new season and it is expected to be great with exciting plans, remember we have five Master Angler places so qualifying is very possible.
South Shore SAC
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