Simon McLarnon reports on the John Logue Memorial Angling Competition fished on Mulroy Bay, Co. Donegal on Saturday…
The John Logue Memorial Sea Angling Competition was held at Kerrykeel on Saturday 16th August with 7 boats and around 40 anglers taking part. Competitors headed off from Kerrykeel pier into the sheltered waters of Mulroy Bay in near perfect conditions, with beautiful blue skies overhead and a light cooling breeze to keep us comfortable.
This is a species hunting competition with points awarded for the greatest number of species caught. I was part of the crew of Miss Daisy, skippered by Chris Wilson who was also competing in the competition.
There were plenty of gurnard and rays taking our baits but other species were few and far between.  The Broad Water at Kerrykeel is renowned for its ray fishing, and they did not disappoint us. Our crew managed 21 rays to 8lb, but fierce competition developed between Chris Wilson and Cahill McGinley, with the lead for top rod switching from one to the other in the last hour of the competition.
As the competition ended Chris had just pipped Cahill to the post with 6  thornbacks to Cahill’s 5, with both men also landing small spotted cat sharks/dogfish and grey gurnards.
Chris Wilson also went on to win the competition overall as best male angler, which was some achievement given he was also skipper and looking after the younger members of our crew!
Best Lady Angler was won by Aine MC Ateer, and best Junior Angler was won by Lucas Logue.
A mention should go Seamus Martin for catching a specimen weight mackerel that tipped the scales at just under 3lb. This huge chunky mackerel fought and looked a bit like a miniature tuna, and these are a feature of Mulroy Bay. Mackerel are not regular far down in the bay, but those that are there become ‘locked’ in the bay as they can’t find their way out through the narrow inlet back to the open sea. They feed on sprat and bait fish that inhabit this unique ecosystem and with the lack of large predators they can reach impressive sizes. They are few and far between, but all the mackerel we caught were over 2lb in weight.
Great event with proceeds raised going to the RNLI.
