Pete Davis of West Cork and District SAC writes on their recent club match at Garrylucas:
Saturday December 3rd saw West Cork and District SAC wrap up their club Master Angler series. Garrylucas beach was once again the venue. We had originally selected neighbouring Garretstown but big surfs, possibility of weed and a higher than expected turnout saw the safer option of Garrylucas selected.
As the 14 anglers made the trip down West, there were still opportunities for Master Angler slots to be booked and the Junior club Master Angler was coming right down to the wire with Liam Davis having led for most of the year going into the last session tied with Noah Tahran who was in a good vein of form having won the last two outings.
Conditions on the night were cool but pleasant enough. A light Easterly breeze and an odd sprinkle of a shower did little to annoy, it was comfortable fishing, certainly a world away from Redbarn the week before. A small surf was present as we began fishing the last hour or so of the ebb tide and 3 hours up. Looking at the beach, it was easy to be caught in 2 minds as to whether to play the doggie game or scratch around in the small waves for bits and pieces. Those who went out looking for dogfish found them, those scratching around in close also had fish. Kevin Roche managed a double doggie on the first cast and there were a few singles along the beach on first retrieve. Stephen O’Donovan was merrily battering away on peg 1 with numbers of small fish, Colin O’Sullivan a little further up the beach hit 3 dog fish on consecutive casts to get away to a good start.
In the Junior section Kevin Roche had his double dog, Liam managed a decent 30cm flounder and Noah fought back with a dog and a coalfish. A double shot of coalfish saw Liam sneak his nose in front as the fishing in general seemed to die off. Kevin added another dog and a coalfish to his tally and with an hour to go Liam sneaked out a small 16cm rockling. Barry O’Rourke left the dogfish alone for a while and picked up a flounder a cast at his feet with 4 in a row coming. Slack enough for the rest of us but that’s fairly typical for this beach on a small tide in an easterly.
As the evening drew to its close, there was to be little in the way of last ditch drama. Stephen O’Donovan scratched his way to 13 fish and 373 points to finish well in front. Barry O’Rourke came in second with 7 fish for 292 points with Colin O’Sullivan in 3rd with 5 fish for 215 points. Kevin Roches double dog start held him up well and he won the junior section on the night with 4 fish for 190 points. Liam Davis in 2nd with 4 fish and Noah in 3rd on 2.
2 nice fish took the pools with a 74cm Huss taking the roundfish pool for Sean Healy and a fine 37cm flounder for Barry O’Rourke capping a decent night for him too.
JP Molloys sheer consistency throughout the year saw him take the Club Master Angler title once again, finishing clear of the pack on 75 points. Barry O’Rourke fished superbly all year with just the one blip to finish in 2nd place on 68 points closely followed by Stephen O’Donovan in 3rd. Jamie Santry proved he hasn’t lost his touch either following up in 4th place on 61.
The junior race was hotly contested at the finish by 2 of our junior and youth international anglers who did so well in Weymouth earlier this year. It ended up being won for the second year running by Liam Davis with 37 points. Noah Tahran followed hot on his heels with 36 points in a race that was still wide open until the final retrieve. Nothing between them over the year.
It had been a funny year fishing wise, the weather gods didn’t play ball for us on occasion but it was, once again, a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Special thanks to our stalwarts who did a cracking job of running the club and hosting the Munster Open and Closed comps too.
All on the committee deserve a mention but particularly Stephen O’Donovan and Mark O’Sullivan for all the hard work they have put in over the year behind the scenes. We will have a bit of a break now as WCADSAC have members away at the Fish-Offs in January and will be hosting the Master Angler Championship in February so our next competitive fixture on the club circuit will be in March. Many thanks to all our members for their continued support of the club and participation in our events.
We are of course open for new members, get in touch via our Facebook page if interested in joining.
Pete Davis
West Cork and District Sea Angling Club
All about West Cork and District SAC…
The club was formed on march 19th 2009, in the small picturesque harbour town of Kinsale County Cork. We’re an inclusive club, this can be seen in our membership profile; from anglers who are new to match fishing all the way up to members of the Irish World Shore Team 2010, two of which are in the club! The club holds circa 10 competitions per year, members are encouraged to practice a catch and release policy in the interests of conservation.
Anybody wishing to join our club is always welcome, just send a PM to their FAcebook page and we will give prospective members full details.
Web: http://westcorkanddistrict.webs.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/West-Cork-and-District-SAC/201776589958897
