SAI Boat MA 5, Cork Harbour, 16/09/07

Message

#1 Post by **petekd** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 9:54 am

People:Myself, Pete McG, JD, JW, Donal Domeney, Donogh, Scotsman, Phanover, Slowarm, Don O'Neill, Ferg.

Duration:9.30-5.00 or so

Tide:Ebbing, turned at 3.00ish

Weather:From the downright ridiculous to the sublime

Bait:Various, mostly rag, crab and macks

Rigs:Too many to mention

Results:Conger, Ling, Pollack, Cod, Mackerel, Poor Cod, Pouting, Ballan Wrasse, Cuckoo Wrasse, LSDs, Bull Huss, Plaice, Dab, Codling, Scad, Coalfish.

Report:

There had been a bit of a build up to this one, what with this being the "home" leg for both myself and Donal and it was somewhat disappointing when we once again managed to draw seperate boats, ruining any chances for an all day trash talking slagfest..... Boats for the day were "The Chieftain" skippered by Mark Reilly and "John Boy" skippered by Donie Geary. Making their debut so to speak were Pete McG, Paul Hanover, Donogh Diamond and Steven and welcome they were. We assembled at around 9.30, loaded up and headed out. Weather and sea conditions that morning were pretty nasty. Howling southerly winds pushing against an ebbing tide had it touch and go as to whether or not we would make it out past Roches Point. It wasn't going to be a day for drifting and sitting at anchor in those conditions was not going to be for the faint hearted! Still, we forged on to have a look and nasty as it was, it looked like it would still be fishable so it was decided to give it a go.

Heading east from the mouth of the harbour had the skipper putting us over a rock not too far away from land and dropping anchor. Lines went down at 10.30 and it was game on....! The dirty seas had one or two lads feeling a tad under the weather at stages but for the most part, although uncomfortable at times, fishable it most certainly was. Tactics wise, well, the tradition in Cork Harbour is to target conger. I had done the maths on it and decided that wasn't going to be my route and opted instead to fish for smaller species. Mackerel had made an appearance at this stage and they were making life hell with baits unable to make it to the bottom on numerous occasions. Things whilst not hectic, saw a few bits and pieces coming to the boat with comforting regularity and it wasn't long before most aboard forgot about the conger and concentrated on other things. A few greys, interspersed with whiting were making up my card with doggies and an occasional cod appearing elsewhere. Pollack were conspicuous on this mark by their absence . However, whilst I prepared a batch of bait, I left my long flowing gilling trace rest on the seabed, baited with ragworm, it was a pleasant surprise when on retrieving it, a treble of nice greys broke the surface.... :D

As the morning progressed, things got quieter with the wind and the tide pushing us off the rock and onto more sandy ground with the odd patch of rough. With the seas quietening along with the fishing, the skipper made the decision to move further out to a different mark. As the anchor hit the deck, I managed to pull in a nice plaice of 35cms or so, a welcome surprise and some much needed species points. A quick call to the other boat had us updated on each others progress as the battle continued....

Donies decision to move was a masterful one as with the first drop down on the new mark, fish began to come. Pollack made an appearance, with wrasse now beginning to show, Pouting, poor cod and other bits and pieces all came to the boat. Hammering away like hell, trying to winkle out specific species was good fun and with at least one of each of the smaller species available on my card it was time to turn to bigger things. I hadnt managed a cod or a ling at that stage so out came the Kilmore killers, peeler on the bottom hook and mack strip on the top two. Bouncing them on the bottom, I felt tap, tap, tap and lifted into what I initially thought was a snag.... More pressure revealed however, this was not the case as a heavy fish reacted angrily. My light quiver tip rod, a Grauvell Anaga 270 which I was using for the first time that day hooped around as it took the strain. I was convinced I had a conger as I pumped and wound carefully, hoping everything held as it should. With the call for the net, we got a first glimpse, it was a mighty bull huss. Safely in the bag and on the deck, this fish was a sight to behold... 6.5 KG of angry huss baring its teeth and snapping at all and sundry, a beautiful fish and worthy of taking a minute or twos break from the comp for a photocall. With him safely back in the water, we continued. A drop with a scratching rig, (glowworms I think it was) baited with mack strip and rag had the poor grauvell heeling over again. A conger of all things on the tiny hook came to the boat.... There is no getting away from it, when your luck is in
you get away with murder.... :D

With 20 minutes to go and slack water with conger on the feed I made the decision to target them for the last few minutes. Apart from being taken into a snag by one, that was to be that however and it was all over. All that remained was to count the cards and await the results from the other boat. I had finished first on our boat with 31 fish, 10 species and 331 points, Don O'Neill (the terrorist with the white feathers) finished second on 285 points with Ferg coming in 3rd. The news from the other boat had John Waldron narrowly defeating Donal Domeney by a very small margin of 7 points.

A thoroughly enjoyable days fishing at the finish but by god it was hard work at times. When fishing at anchor, you dont have the luxury of the skipper calling lines up as he heads back to start the drift again and the couple of minutes peace it gives you. Non stop fishing all day and bruised knees and legs from the pitching and rolling of the boat had me in bits! The result today meant that I would retain the SAI Boat MA title once again ansd I'm delighted with that. We have had some good battles over the course of the year and the craic and slagging has been mighty, fair play to all concerned who have attended.

A big thanks to http://WWW.Crabrock.com once again for their generous sponsorship of our boat competitions. First prize was a nice Fladen Maxximuss 777 reel with bags of tackle for second and third.

Just a quick aside on the shamrock gear, I know the general concensus seems to be the snoods are too light etc. I tend to agree with that a bit having lost fish on them this year, however, when using them for what I suppose they were designed for, as in targetting smaller fish, I found them second to none on the day with the bleeding gloworms and the bloodworms working exceptionally well below a flyer.

Another aside... The rod I used for the most part today was a Grauvell Anaga 270, which I purchased after Dave Jolly recommended it recently. For that kind of fishing, at anchor, with a FS, it absolutely rocked. Dont be fooled by the quivertip and the fact it looks like a spinning rod, that rod could pull the plug out if it had to. Superb bit of kit and cheap too.

#2 Post by MC » Mon Sep 17, 2007 1:04 pm

well done petekd on becoming the champ again, better luck to all next year

#3 Post by **stevecrow74** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 1:31 pm

nice one petekd.. hope you took notes of where you anchored... next time i see duke 1 them spots will be visited :D

good to see that there is more than mack coalie pollock and plaice in the area :oops: :oops:

jw · #4 Post by jw » Tue Sep 18, 2007 11:18 pm

thank you to pete for booking the boats and dealing with all the queries which is a job of work in itself. Enjoyable days fishing considering the weather.

jw · #5 Post by jw » Tue Sep 18, 2007 11:19 pm

return

ROADRUNNER · #6 Post by **ROADRUNNER** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 12:09 am

Fair Play Pete and well done on you'r M A again you really are a Master Angler 8) 8) 8)

Danny

#7 Post by **slowarm** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 1:48 pm

Enjoyed my first club trip. Looking forward to the next.

Chieftain heading home.

Smiles all Round.

#8 Post by **Bradan** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 2:14 pm

Well done Pete, you always were a good masterba... sorry, master angler! :D

Surprised there was no mention or pic of McGroary groundbaiting for you...
:lol: :lol:

#9 Post by **petekd** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 6:50 pm

Cheers lads. Credit to Mark Reilly for giving me a dig out there organising the second boat and for skippering the Chieftain on the day too. I didnt want to make too much of a fuss about the McGroary fella being ill as it was me who did the cooking the night before..... Although JD and myself seemed alright....couldn't have been the lamb....could it.... :D

Forgot to mention, Donie Geary, skippering John Boy, was an absolute gent by the way and very quick to help in dealing with fish and tangles in order to keep me fishing when it got a bit hectic, hats off. Well done also to Donal Domeney and JW who also qualified for next years masters on Saturday, we're gonna have a ball in Cork next year.... :D

Howie · #10 Post by **Howie** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 10:23 pm

petekd, well done m8 your knowledgeable judgement on what to Target paid off. the mark of the title you kep't. :wink:

#11 Post by **Ferg** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 11:40 pm

well done Pete
Congrats on winning. It was a great days fishing. The skipper as u said was brilliant. Also well done to Donal and JW

Ferg

#12 Post by **pete** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 10:01 am

It was those bloody marzipan tablets that John D passed off on me.....oh yeah that and along with snoring all bloody night and keeping me awake :lol: Cant fault the lamb dinner, twas top notch.

Fair play to you Pete, you fished very well and fully deserved it. As for turning round, after you got the huss, to everybody and telling them how good you were........that one will be coming back to bite you :lol: Hats off to Johnny W. and Donal too.

#13 Post by **Drew** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 10:17 am

Sweet Species list there lads, well done. 8)

#14 Post by **Dave Jolly** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 11:32 pm

Well Done on qualifying for 2008 Pete, glad to hear you had a good day on the species, and thanks for the comment about the Anaga 270, cheap as chips, and will hook, and land, anything in a normal competition, and I only ever use the lighter tip.
Dave

#15 Post by **petekd** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 9:13 am

Cheers lads and thanks Dave, cracking bit of advice that. Lads, 49 stg buys an Anaga, fish it with 20-30lb braid on a FS and you have a fantastic set up for that kind of fishing. I have an Abu Premium also but its 12 feet long and that can be a little awkward at times on a confined boat, the Anaga at 9' is much more manageable and teamed with a FS means you can flick the bait away with ease and cover a nice bit of ground. Brilliant for spotting and hitting the rattles of the smaller stuff but with enough power to haul pretty much anything you want too within reason. With the quivertip, and particularly for spotting wrasse plucks, you dont even really have to feel for bites as such, glue your eyes to the tip and fish by sight.

#16 Post by **yappo** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 11:57 am

Well done Pete that was nasty weather earlier on although I believe it improved later. We decided not to venture out got sloshed instead watching the all Ireland. :lol: :lol:

Looking forward to next year all ready.

Yappo

Sea Angling Ireland

SAI Boat MA 5, Cork Harbour, 16/09/07

SAI Boat MA 5, Cork Harbour, 16/09/07

Cobh