Sea Angling

The Connacht Open Shore Gold Medal was held on Enniscrone beach last Sunday, and the competition was also the 8th and final leg of the Grauvell West Coast Shore League. Competitors arrived to a nice rolling surf on Sunday morning, but it soon became apparent that some pegs were badly affected with weed, and as the tide dropped more and more weed was left on the beach. This made conditions difficult, and almost impossible for some, but some good catches were still made. Flounder and turbot made up most of the catch, with a sole plaice and bass also caught.

The overall winner of the Gold Medal for 2012 was Fiachra McKenna from Corrane SAC, with a fine catch of 15 fish for 431 points. This also propelled Fiachra a long way up the leaderboard of the Shore League, and really mixed up the final placings.

Zone A on the day was won by Ian Knight (Ballybrack SAC) with 11 fish for 303 points. Second was Stephen O'Sullivan (Galway Bay SAC) with 7 fish for 156 points, and third was Ed Kilroy (Newport SAC) with 4 fish for 152 points.

Zone B was won by Stephen Glynn (Ballybrack SAC) with 13 fish for 414 points. Second was Shane Gilvarry (Newport SAC) with 11 fish for 283 points, and third was Paul Scallon (Bray SAC) with 9 fish for 265 points.

After a long wait for results to be counted and double-checked, Stephen O'Sullivan (GBSAC) was declared the winner of the Grauvell West Coast Shore League, with a score of 586 (best 6 of 8 scores to count). Stephen was presented with his prize, which included a very expensive Grauvell Teklon Surf rod valued at over €1,000, which was generously sponsored by Grauvell and A Shore Thing in Westport.

Ed Kilroy (Newport SAC) finished 2nd, with 582 points, while Fiachra McKenna (Corrane SAC) charged from 7th up to 3rd on the final day, finishing on a score of 572 points. Making up the top 5 were Jamie Devers (Killala SAC) on 568 points, and Peter Atkins (Galway Bay) on 567 points.

Congratulations to all the winners, and a very big thanks to all the sponsors who provided some fine prizes, including Grauvell Tackle, A Shore Thing tackle shop in Westport, The Helm in Westport, and Irish Angler magazine.

Pike Angling

Brothers Ron and Sean Burke from Partry, who won the Carra Anglers pike competition, with one of their catch.

Ronan Cusack reports that On Sunday last, Lough Carra Trout Anglers held their annual Pike competition and once again this popular event was a huge success. Club Chairman and competition organiser Peter Byrne coordinates this event, which sees all pike caught on the day transferred alive to a designated pike fishery in the area. Inland Fisheries Ireland staff work closely with Lough Carra Anglers and also play an important role on the day insuring all pike are collected, weighed and transferred safely to their new home. Conditions on the day were dry with light winds, yet temperatures struggled to reach double figures.

There were 46 anglers competing with 16 pike weighed and transferred. Partry brothers Ron and Sean Burke took first prize with 6 pike weighing 45.5lbs. The lads got off to a flying start, landing 3 of their 6 fish in the first hour. They also weighed in the heaviest individual pike of the Competition at 20.6lbs. Second place went to Liam Walsh and Peter Byrne, Castlebar, with 2 pike for 26.5lbs. Third place went to Jim Connor, Belcarra and Packie Maloney, Brownstown, with 1pike weighing 16.5lbs.

The best junior angler on the day was Neill Byrne, from Enniscrone, with a pike of 6.5lbs.