It was with high hopes and expectations that the largest contingent of anglers in the short history of SAI-SAC gathered for the beginning of our Shore Master Angler series. A lot of familiar faces were well matched it has to be said by a large number of new entrants and it was great to see the upsurge in membership this year reflected in the turnout on the day.
There was a fairly heavy surf close in, accompanied by the strangest tide I have ever come across. A hokey cokey tide.....in out in out shake it all about....
Tactics were going to be, for the most part, to concentrate on fishing in close and trying to pick out a few flats. Plan B was blasting baits out over the sandbar that ran parallel to the beach. Beach buddys were erected, plans were hatched, tripods and rods assembled and rigs baited in an atmosphere of quiet concentration as we all waited for the signal to commence the SAI shore MA 07 series. Long rigs, short rigs, blinged up, dumbed down, huge rods, short rods... they were all there, and an impressive sight it was looking along the beach. A beautiful beach, flanked by towering dunes now flecked with the bright blue and orange of the beta boxes and floatie suits signalling important business was at hand. Team SAI were in town and we werent leaving emptyhanded..... So it began, as maddies galore and 3 hook flappers a plenty were tossed, for the main part into the suds in search of flats.
The atmosphere changed slightly and lightened as, with rigs in the water and spares baited up people were finding the time for a chat with their neighbouring competitors. Several casts came and went before, at last, the first fish of 2007 fell to Seaniebo. Our current MA threw down the gauntlet with a counting flounder of 20cm. I couldnt understand it, my miracle bait, fresh lug tipped off with a bunch of maddies was coming back untouched. I changed rigs, opting for one with a floatie bead on the top snood and baited this hook with mackerel hoping for a stray coalie wandering around in the daylight.....hopeful I know but its good to keep all bases covered! Did it work? Your damn right it did!
A few discernible rattles, conspicuous from the pulling and hauling effect on my rod tip the ebb and flow of the tide was having signalled Fish On! It was with some considerable glee that I slid a beautifully marked, almost perfectly round Turbot onto the sand to open my 2007 SAI account at 21 cm.A quick walk down the beach shortly afterwards confirmed that there were a few fish indeed being taken, all flounder, all in close. Pete had the biggest fish at that stage with a flounder of 25cm. Time passed and with no more sign of anything being caught, bothmyself and Seaniebo decided to change the tactics and start walloping baits over the sandbar. 2 hook clip downs came out of the wallet and were duly blasted out. I found the sandbar quite deceptive, it looked fairly close but I was seriously struggling to put a bait over the top of it and behind. Seaniebo had quickly found the fish in behind and wound in a small codling of 27cm to retake the lead. A small while passed and he had a whiting to leave me in some consternation as the gap widened. 3 fish and 3 species was most certainly going to take some beating given the poor return at that point.
It was with a great deal of delight however that on retrieving one of my casts, an extra bit of weight signalled the presence of a small flounder. I unclipped the rig and dropped him in my bucket of water. I then set up the Longbeam 16' and reached for the braid filled FS in a bid to get those extra few yards that appeared to be doing the business thus far for Seanie. A 2 hook clip down to a 6oz breakaway was laid back and bent into in a simple overhead style....what happened next was, depending on where you were standing either purely comedic or absolutely galling. With an unmerciful crack as though a rifle had been discharged, the top 2/3rds of my "distance banker" parted company with the rest of my rod and sailed into the surf. It was in a severe temper I retackled up my Triplex and let fly again. Annoyed and rhythm interrupted, I had forgotten about the flounder in my bucket for the best part of 20minutes. The way things were going it was bound to be undersize... Know what? That little fish just, and I mean just, made the 20cm and improved the mood no end
Back in the points and back in the hunt.Another walk down the beach revealed little had changed. Well, apart from Albys Longbeam that is, that somewhat remarkably had suffered the exact same fate as mine
Mark my words, there will be strong words exchanged with Daiwa over this.The fishing with the onset of darkness was expected to improve somewhat. Unfortunately, that didnt happen. With rig after rig baited with the finest fresh bait coming back untouched the frustration was growing. Rumours of one or two codling coming in down the line raised hopes that failed to materialise. With Sean in first place with his 3 fish and a couple of us breathing down his neck with 2 we entered the final phase. Donal Domeney came from nowhere in the closing stages to finish strongly with 3 codling at 22, 28 & 22cm. Sean finally quenched all my hopes of catching him with a small whiting of 20cm on his final cast. Mark Sinnott did well fishing at the very last peg, 26, and had 2 small codling both at 22cm apiece. Mickthepainter had a coalie at 22cm and a flounder at 20. There were a few other singles also marked.
The fishing ended in a somewhat scrambled fashion as waves were now sweeping up the beach and threatening to steal tackle.... People everywhere were jumping to rescue rig wallets and tackle boxes. We were for the most part glad to get off the beach, it had been a long day.
After reconvening in Sean Ogs pub who had kindly reserved some tables for us, the score cards were counted and the results were announced.
1st Seaniebo 187pts
2nd Donal Domeney 122pts
3rd Mickthepainter 102pts
4th Petekd 101pts
5th Fishaholic 84pts
6th Pete 55pts
Many thanks to [url=http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org/redirecthenry.php]Henrys Tackle Shop[/url] for the sponsorship, its nice to have some decent prizes on the table to add an extra spice to things. The larger number of anglers meant the biggest fish pool was substantial ao it was decided to split it 50 50 for biggest flat and biggest round fish. Congrats to Peter McGroary for biggest flat with a 25cm flounder and to Donal Domeney for his 28cm cod that took the biggest roundfish prize to add to his 2nd place finish.
Out of 21 anglers present, only 19 counting fish were registered, with 11 anglers scoring. It was tough going. Sean had 4, Donal had 3, Myself, Mickthepainter and Mark Sinnott had 2 and Pete, JD, POB, Marco, Croppyboy and Alby had 1. It was a quiet enough start to the season.
Congratulations Seanie on your win, very well deserved on a tough day. Good to fish beside you and as ever, I picked up a few little tips. To everyone else who scored, well done on holding your own in those conditions. To those who didnt have cards to hand in, dont let it get to you. I blanked at around 5 SAI comps in a row before it all started to come together (Thats a record I hope noone else ever breaks....) Keep coming and keep trying. It was fantastic to see such a turnout. It more than matched the attendance even of North v South last year. Thanks all for making the effort to travel and for giving it a damn good go. The fishing may have been slack but the craic was good and it was really nice to put a few more faces to names so well done all.
The next one is Dunree, Co. Donegal. This is my old stamping ground and a totally new and different type of venue. I look forward to meeting you all up there and showing off my patch. Try and stay over BTW, the nightlife is damn good craic!
!! fair play to all- great turnout. sorry i couldn't make it.
but good to meet everyone. There was that many of us fishing that it was more akin to an open than a club comp! Well done Seanie on taking four fish and the top points
Keep them coming 
