Ballybrack SAC fished the second leg of their master angler last Sunday on Arklow South Beach. Twenty Anglers were eager to get going at a venue that was packed, with Stella Maris SAC also hosting their competition from 11-4. We just managed to fit everyone onto the full stretch of sand and shingle which worked out great for both clubs.
As predicted by most, the order of the day would be whiting and maybe a chance of a few flats showing up over slack water. With conditions turning out to be better than anticipated, it made for a very comfortable day’s fishing. Even with the stiff northerly breeze present, plenty of fish were caught up and down the beach. The main concern in the end for most was how bright it was, due to the unexpected sunshine.
From the first return of rigs, it was evident that although the fish were present, they were on the smaller side of 18cm and it was going to be a tough day to try and filter through them for sizeable scoring fish. Many anglers surpassed the frustrations of hauling doubles and trebles of non-scoring undersize fish and managed to winkle out a few counting fish onto the scorecards. Some anglers were very unlucky catching 20 odd fish and only putting pen to paper for 7 or 8.
In flying form, and consistent as ever Eric Gasparro took 1st place in Zone A and won the beach with 12 counting fish. John Hughes was back to his usual form today, finding some good scoring fish and taking 2nd and Lar Mooney taking 3rd place and also biggest round fish for the day with a fine whiting of 24cm.
In Zone B Stephen Glynn took 1st place for his tally of whiting, followed by Paul Tyndall in 2nd and 3rd place was claimed by John Keane. A surprising catch for the day by Dean Forbes with a dragonet that made his scorecard at 18cm.
For the Juniors, Paul Crimmons took 1st place and also claimed biggest flat fish for the day for his fine dab of 22cm, bravo Paul! Followed closely by Sean Keane in 2nd place and Kalim Byrne, beating his dad Robert again and taking 3rd place. Well done lads great fishing on another tough day.
A fantastic day again for Ballybrack SAC. A presentation was held afterwards for the Senior and Junior master angler of 2024, which went Stephen Glynn for another savage year of top results and Sean Keane winning the Juniors.
