The Greystones Tope Festival was held over the weekend, and it was the third year of the event, which has gone from strength to strength, with plenty of new faces competing. The competition was fished over Saturday and Sunday, and they were blessed with good conditions on both days, a rare enough happening in recent weeks.
Rob McClean with the longest tope of the festival
This year’s competition saw 21 boats enter, with anglers travelling from all over Ireland as well as a crew from Wales to compete in the event. Unfortunately, the tope fishing did not live up to its usual standards. Despite this, some really nice fish were caught. For the first year, the event was fished using the Angling Live App. This meant the results were processed faster, and they were able to run the presentation as soon as the anglers returned to the clubhouse.
Conor McElwaine with the best Bullhuss
Food was prepared in the mornings and evenings for all competitors by club chairman/club chef Bob, which was greatly appreciated. The organisers would like to thank the club members for their hard work and for giving up their time over the weekend to ensure the event was a success.
Another big one: 165cm tope for visiting Welsh angler Mike Stewart
In an interesting side story, visiting Welsh angler Mike Stewart managed to catch two tope that had been tagged as part of IFI’s Marine Sportfish Tagging Programme, which a number of the Greystones club members participate in. One of those fish was originally tagged off Cahore in 2017 weighing 7kg. Then it was recaptured again off Wicklow last month and had doubled in size to 14kg before turning up again at the festival over the weekend. So, it goes to show that with proper handling and a quick return to the water, tope can recover quickly and go on to do well with little lasting impact from the experience.
The club would like to stress that the event would not have been possible without the sponsors, and it would like to thank all those sponsors for their continued support.
The event was sponsored by:
