Galway Bay SAC held a master angler competition recently at Rossanrubble, Clew Bay, and we have a great report from club PRO Tom Keal.

23rd August, GBSAC held leg 5 of our master angler at Rossanrubble, Co Mayo.
Six anglers travelled up for the day, target species being Thornback ray, bullhuss and dogfish. Pegs were drawn and anglers made their way to their allocated location.
Fishing was busy from the beginning, with Conor Murray on peg six getting things started with a thornback. He soon followed up with another thornback to start him off with a

Conor on the double

decent lead.

Kevin O’Hara and Tom Keal on pegs 5 and 4 joined the action by landing a thornback each. Fionn O’Higgins, a new member of GBSAC, showed his experience and landed two rays on peg 1 for the first hour.
Fionn with a ray
Danny Harty, one of our top Junior anglers, had a significant catch, his first ray from the shore, a fine thornback.
Danny with his first shore thornie
Brian Reidy also landed fish, including some thornbacks and a fine tub gurnard.
Brian’s tub gurnard
Kevin and Brian landed a few whiting to add points to their cards. The lower pegs began to see more action as the tide slackened, with Tom, Danny and Conor landing multiple thornbacks quickly.
Tom with a double shot
The rays became more scarce as the tide turned and began to fill. Danny took this opportunity and capitalised on the abundance of mackerel, ensuring he wouldn’t go home empty-handed. Further up the beach, the rays returned, and Fionn, Brian and Kevin began adding to their total. Soon, Fionn, Conor and Kevin were battling for top spot with often only one fish between them.
Ultimately, Kevin came out in the top spot with 10 fish and 484 points. A mix of whiting and thornbacks earned him 1st place and 100 points in the master angler league. Conor and Fionn were even on seven fish, with only centimetres separating them. Conor narrowly beat Fionn with 6 points, with 467 points for the day, leaving Fionn in 3rd place.

Results

1st – Kevin O’Hara – 10 Fish (484 points)
2nd – Conor Murray – 7 Fish (467 points)
3rd – Fionn O’Higgins – 7 Fish (461 points)

Master angler table

1st – Conor Murray – 472 points
2nd – Tom Keal – 430 points
3rd – Brian Reidy – 372 points

 

Go Fishing

Galway Bay Sea Angling Club is a progressive club based in Galway, but fishing competitions along the west coast. New members are always welcome, and every level of experience is catered for, with social outings right up to competitions held throughout the year. If you’re looking to get into sea angling in the west, check them out here