South Shore SAC fished the last round of their master angler competition last weekend, and the early arrivals found access to their original venue (Kilgorman) blocked off. So, a quick decision was made to head to Arklow, where space was tight, but there was just enough room to squeeze the 32 competitors in.
So, as anglers made their first casts at the new venue, they were unsure what they might find, but when rods started to bend all along the beach, they knew they were in for an active day. Treble shots of whiting were coming in hand over fist and they were accompanied by plenty of doggies, making organisation and bait management the key to success. With so many fish coming in all across the beach, it was hard to keep tabs on who was making moves up the leaderboard, and when lines were finally reeled in at the end of the competition, nobody had a clue how things had panned out.
The totters had a job on their hands as, apart from compiling results from the day’s round of the competition, they were also figuring out the results of the overall Master Angler competition. And with a number of anglers landing 50+ fish on the day, there was a lot of adding up to do. When all the sums were done, the winners on the day were: Zone A, Ramunus Butkus with 64 fish and Zone B, Paul Mason with 53 fish.
On the Master Angler front, it was a family affair, with Gavin Fogarty just pipping his brother Ciaran to the title by a single point. All competitors enjoyed a well-earned meal at Whites, where the prize-giving ceremony took place. See the full report on the South Shore SAC Facebook Page.
