Tralee Bay Sea Angling Club reports on their hugely successful Tag a Ray competition…
The idea behind this event is to help monitor the Ray in the Tralee Bay Area. To see what can and needs to be done to keep these amazing creatures safe and healthy. Every year we invite Anglers from all over the country and beyond to come participate, enjoy a few days fishing and meet old and new Friends.
The Marine institute send a team of scientists and along with Award winning underwater filmmaker and Ocean Conservationist Ken O Sullivan and Marine Scientist Louise Ovary the magic happens when our Anglers catch the Ray.
What an Incredible Achievement by all our Anglers who took part in the 2024 Tag-A-Ray.
It was heartwarming to see so many Anglers helping to monitor the Ray in our wonderful Tralee Bay while enjoying the Event.
Total Ray caught and safely returned back to the water were ….
- 46 Undulate Ray
- 49 Thornback Ray
- 4 Painted Ray
- 0 Stingray
As most of you know our Undulate Ray is in danger and its protection is vital. The Marine institute managed to tag enough Undulate Ray to monitor their activity and see what safety measures are needed to keep them for dying out.
Now to the Competition side of this great Event…
After 2 days of dedication by our Anglers we has a serious mixed bag of Results . The boats doing extremely well on day 1 . While some struggled on the shore and others landed numerous fish.
Day 2 saw a change in the weather and a change in the fishing . Day 1 winners blanking on Day 2 meant it was still very open, giving those who did not do well on day 1 renewed hope.
When 4pm hit everyone headed back to our Headquarters Meadowlands Hotel, Tralee hopeful of victory . With everyone well fed and the Marine institute presentation of last years tagging done it was time to see who our winners were.
A packed room saw everyone waiting patiently for the results .
DAY 1 WINNERS Shore
1st…….Troy Francis
2nd…..Kevin Hayden
3rd ….Mike Fox
DAY 1 WINNERS Boat
1st ….Kieran Crane
2nd ….Samuel Megavghan
3rd ….Jody Foley
DAY 2 WINNERS Shore
1st……David O Sullivan
2nd….James Raymond
3rd……Alan Horgan
DAY 2 WINNERS Boat
1st…..Jody Foley
2nd…..Evan McGovern
3rd……Tom McAdam
OVERALL WINNERS Shore
1st. Troy Francis
2nd Kevin Hayden
3rd Mike Fox
4th Shane McMahon
OVERALL WINNERS Boat
1st Jody Foley
2nd. Kiera Crane
3rd Tom McAdam
4th Samuel Megavghan
Biggest Ray Shore
Ian O Grady 82 Undulate
Biggest Ray Boat
Tom McAdam 82 Undulate
Mystery Pairs Shore
Figgs Cronin & Kevin Hayden
Junior Section…
Altogether we had 11 Juniors Fish the 2 days . A fantastic number . We are always glad to see our future Anglers showing up in numbers .
4 of them catching ray which is always exciting . The 2 boat juniors beat most of the Adults and are still boasting no doubt !! The allowance of Dogfish saw most of our Juniors catch fish and head home happy after a long 2 days fishing. Our Junior Prizes were Kindly sponsored by Martin and Tonya of the The Angling Hub – Ireland
Shore Winners
1st Bobby Fitzpatrick
2nd Sophie McGowan
3rd Amy Olden
Boat Winners
1st Cedric Reponen
2nd Jack Walsh
Biggest Ray Juniors
Jack Walsh 82 Undulate
Finally a special mention to the hard working team that put this event together:
Alison O Sullivan
Fiona Ryan
Martin McGowan
David O Sullivan
Eugene Farrelly
Barry Connelly
Thank you for your hard work and dedication and well done to all on a excellent event.
Tralee Bay Sea Angling Club
Web: www.traleebaysac.org
Join Tralee Bay Sea Angling Club
Tralee Bay SAC is a thriving community of enthusiastic anglers – young and old, experienced and newcomers – with new members joining all of the time. We have a busy schedule of shore and boat competitions and lots of social events planned throughout the year. Tralee Bay is a family friendly, welcoming club with a reputation for promoting angling and encouraging newcomers to the sport.
Joining could not be easier – simply get in touch with us via our Contact us page leave your address and we will send you out an application form. Please also let us have your email address – especially if you have any queries for us. We are especially eager to hear from junior anglers who want to take advantage of club membership. For more information on joining see here – Joining Tralee Bay Sea Angling Club.
