Greystones Ridge Angling Club held their annual Tope festival last weekend, which attracted small-boat anglers from around the country to the east coast venue. Fished over two days, the first day out was hampered by strong winds, which meant restrictions on the areas to be fished. Despite this, there were a few good fish caught, including three to specimen size.
Day two saw the weather improve considerably, and boats could now travel offshore to more productive grounds. To help things along, mackerel were abundant close to the harbour, so fresh bait wasn’t an issue. All this meant that the fishing was much more eventful, and a total of 55 fish were brought to the boat, making it a hectic day for the stewards. When all was said and done, Padraic Clear came in with the longest tope, a fine specimen of 170.5cm. Meanwhile, Sean Byrne and Stephen Hanway finished neck and neck for landing the most tope, each bringing 11 to the boat, with Sean winning the prize as he had a better combined total length.
Full results as follows:
1st Longest Tope Padraic Clear – 170.5cm
9th (joint) Longest Tope Conor McElwaine – 149cm
Most Tope Sean Byrne with 11 Tope
Longest Smooth Hound Dave Lynch – 103cm
Smallest Tope Sean Byrne – 67cm
