The report below is courtesy of the Ballybrack SAC Facebook Page:

Sunday, 12th Oct: Ballybrack SAC fished the 6th leg of the Master Angler on Kilgorman. Conditions forecasted were favourable with the exception of a slight easterly breeze. All anglers were keen to wet a line and hash it out, in our first competition since the summer break. Fishing commenced at 11:01 am, after a minute of silence was held on the beach for our late comrade Jack Keegan.

From the first few exchanges, it was evident that fishing was going to be difficult, with no scores hitting the cards. Anglers watched with careful eyes as to what was being tried and tested around them. The main tally of fish in the first couple of hours up to high water were undersized fish in gutter, and a surprisingly low number of flounder for the dedicated. On days like this, anglers dig deep into their collection of rigs, trying all sorts of variations to scratch out something for the scorecards.

In Zone A Sean Hickey persevered and fished a great match, landing a nice mix of flounder, bass and a dab at range which secured him the zone win and overall top spot for the seniors. On a desired end peg, John Keane battled with the gods and the weavers, desperate for something to go over 18cm, but to no avail. A few mackerel made an appearance too. A similar faith for Joe Cannon, who took zone 3rd. Lar Mooney, targeting dabs at distance for the day stuck it out, and took zone 2nd place for his efforts.

Zone B was a similar story, everyone fished through the weavers searching for flounder and bass. Paul Tyndall with a slow start, honed in on a nice flurry of bass and flounder in the later stages of the comp to take the zone win.
Eric Gasparro, who is in great form all year secured some fine flounders and took zone 2nd. Darragh Mulligan, also finding flounder took zone 3rd.

The benchmark was really set by the juniors for the day. In zone B Sean Keane and Jesse Murphy landed some impressive fish on a slow day. Both anglers beat the seniors comfortably, and battled it out for 5hrs turning over bass and flounder, leaving the seniors scratching their heads. Sean Keane returned a fine Bass of 52cm, which won him the longest round fish pools for the day. Jesse Murphy took the flat fish pools with a plump 29cm Flounder. As the final hour unfolded, Jesse Murphy with a double shot of bass and a flounder pipped Sean for the win. Paul Crimmons in zone A, fished his socks off and tried everything to secure a counting fish but just wasn’t his day. Well done lads, savage fishing.

We hope the whiting and dabs arrive in numbers for the next one, to keep us busy in these colder months. Tight Lines

More photos from the competition, including the fin 52cm bass available on the Ballybrack SAC Facebook Page.