SAI Climax in Youghal....:) 22/11/08 - Sponsored by Henrys

People:Myself, Lee, Gav, Boycie, JP, Donal, Alby, MC, Crow, Kstaff, Keith, Cock, Ferg, Marco,

Duration:4.30-9.30

Tide:LW 8pmish

Weather:Dry mostly, breezy

Bait:All sorts

Rigs:All sorts

Results:Whiting, Flounder, Doggies




Report:

Final day of the SAI season brought 14 hardened members (ooer) all the way to Youghal for what was expected to be a thrilling conclusion to the MA series. The homework had been done and following a couple of midweek sorties by Donal, Lee and myself, the decision had been taken to move it from a hungry Garryvoe to Youghal which was throwing up good numbers of fish. With the top 2 places already settled for MA places and with Dennis not fishing giving JP the MA title regardless as to that evenings results all attention and focus was on the final 2 berths for next years IFSA MA in Cork. 5 anglers, myself, Marco, Alby, Boycie and Keith were all in the hunt and in with a shout on the final day. It was coming down to the wire and it was anybodys guess as to how things were going to go.

No pressure then..... We met up and made our way onto a flat calm Youghal beach and tackled up ready for the off. There was no discernible surf at all really, flat calm, dropping tide.... were all those reports of midweek fish going to come back and bite us? With the clock hitting 4.30, a barrage of lead and various baits were unleashed, it was game on....!

For my own part, not expecting too much early on with the bit of daylight still around, I hedged my bets. I belted out a 2 hook clip down and clipped on a flier baited with whites and a sliver of mack which fished in inches of water about 10 yards out. Surprisingly a tiny little tap after 10-15 minutes or so materialised into a handy flounder of 26 cm, caught on the flier. 2nd cast had a tiny whiting on the flier before I turned to the 3 hook flappers at about 40-50 yards in earnest in pursuit of the bait robbing pests.

We hit an absolutely manic period with fish on every cast, shouts could be heard up and down the beach as fish after fish made their way onto the sand. Very small for the most part, I was lucky to keep poking out the odd one in 3 or so that made the 20 cms. Time passed and the flood of tiny fellas eased as tide approached LW. With some reports coming down of Boycie doing a good impression of a trawler on his end peg apparently flying along with a treble of dogs, it was time to leave the pursuit of little fellas and go after something a little more substantial. 3 hooks clipped with sandeel winged their way out, a few knocks and 15 minutes later a doubler of 30+ whiting hit the sand. Lee and JP had been doing well down the bottom end with a mix of fish and with 90 minutes or so to go it was time for a status check.

I was on about 5/6 counters myself and numerous US with Alby, after a dire start beginning to make headway himself, Boycie was ciontinuing on his merry way on the end peg with Marco struggling to get fish to size. Keith, after a slow start had got well and truly back in the game with 4 or 5 counters on his card. Very level pegging indeed and the next 90 minutes were going to be crucial.

When it came down to crunch period in the match, for me, distance was key. Belting out double lug and mack baits or sandeel was producing a counter a cast. Alby, fighting hard to keep off Keiths challenge was pulling in fish to beat the band. There was little time to be concerned now as to how anyone else was doing btu odd snippets of gossip were still making there way down the line. With 15 minutes to go we had Alby on ten counting fish, Boycie on 11 and myself on 9 with Keith and Marcos status unknown. JP was leading the field with 12/13. It was still in the mix, and anyones guess as to how it would pan out. 10 minutes on the clock and a twitch on the rod had me reeling in like a demon to slide another fat whiting up the sand. 5 minutes to go had another coming in before time was finally called. Was it going to be enough? At the time I didnt care, sat down, surrounded by the carnage of a manic session with rigs everywhere, bait everywhere and the prospect of a marathon card counting session ahead....

Cards were counted and it was JP who took top honours once again with his 4th win in a row cementing his place as indeed the rightful owner of the SAI MA title for 2008. Boycie who had fished his socks off all year for scant reward on occasion was in a very creditable 2nd place. Myself in 3rd and Alby in 4th, it was enough it would seem to see off the challenge from the rest of the chasing pack. Scotsman, finished a very creditable 5th after a great start which had him leading the field for quite some length of time.

With all cards in, the final results are as follows:

1) JP 547pts
2) Boycie 493pts
3) PeteKD 457pts
4) Alby 439pts
5) Scotsman 370pts
6) Donal 363pts
7) MC 248pts
Keith Murphy 227pts
9) Paul Doyle 218pts
10) Kstaff 187pts
11) GWyse 151pts
12) SteveCrow 133pts
13) Marco 126pts
14) Ferg 62pts

Top 4 TBC to represent the club in 2009 are:

1) JP Molloy
2) Dennis Brock
3) Pete Davis
4) Alby Allen


Well done to all who fished and made this our hardest fought series to date and for the 3rd year running bringing qualification not just down to the final day but to the final few minutes of our series. There are anglers within our club worthy of mention who have made major strides this year, Fintan, Marco, Boycie and Paul Doyle with new members such as Dennis and Keith coming along to stir things up. Well done one and all, you lads are what this club is all about, commiserations to the lads who didnt make the cut at the final hurdle. You lads fished very well all year and deserved to be in with a shout on the final day, well done, there is always next year. Congratulations once again to JP on his first title with SAI. We'll be back in January to go at it all again..... Can't wait....

Many thanks again to Henry Lynam from Henrys Tackle for his much appreciated and needed sponsorship over the past few years.

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Yes great craic. Good call in the end to move there. Never been so knackered after a days fishing, I was feeling the pressure and I had nothing to fish for. Was going good there at the start with three species on my first two casts and I walked off the beach thinking I was at least going to get longest flat (by virtue of having the only one ) only to find at the prize giving my arch nemesis Mr Davis had got one a cm or so bigger (that news not having reached my peg during the comp - should have remembered that I wouldn't stand a chance against him where a flounder was concerned). Happy with my fifth place anyway, put me above Eric in the overall standings which was my aim for the day.
As Pete says, roll on next year where hopefully I can put the lessons learned this year to some use.
As well as the comp, I enjoyed the prematch banter in the Walter Raleigh especially Boycie's tales.....and congrats to Alby for reaching the venue - after a detour to Mullingar

well done lads on qualifying, and well done wish i could have made it down to youghal sounded like a great comp

Havn't made too many this year but really enjoyed Saturday. Good to see everyone and It's fair to say we are a really good bunch of chaps!!

Plenty of fish to keep everyone busy too was most welcome, I have to say it was most impressing watching the Hot Rods ( not the boy racers) in action and their never stop commitment to get a fish. Alot to consider if you want to seriously compete on the match scene! My hand is still sore from marking the cards either side of me! Well that's my excuse! No comments please!

Here's to a great 09 with SAI!

I think there's a mugshot somewhere too of the Gladiators who took part, that is of course if it didn't break the camera!

Great report pete. (not the same without reports of a drinking session afterwards though ha ha)

It was definitly a better idea to change the venue. I fished a comp on the sunday in Garryvoe.It was the last leg of the east cork league. I was third with only three fish. Alan Mulcathy won it with four fish. Quiet a lot blanked there too.

I must say the most impressive incident on sat was alby`s pigeon like homing instinct..For a man to head to garryvoe with the intention of going through waterford and then realising he was in mullingar is unique. It didnt even click with him when he paid the toll on the m4.

I must say the most impressive incident on sat was alby`s pigeon like homing instinct..For a man to head to garryvoe with the intention of going through waterford and then realising he was in mullingar is unique. It didnt even click with him when he paid the toll on the m4.

It's called "Shat Nav".

A lovely spin, Kildare - Meath - Westmeath - Offaly - Laois - Kilkenny - Waterford - Cork

By my reckoning thats a quarter of all the counties in Ireland, Impressive

Stress and pressure can do terrible things to a man..... Dont mind admitting, I was jumpier going into that comp than I was at this Masters.

I must say the most impressive incident on sat was alby`s pigeon like homing instinct..For a man to head to garryvoe with the intention of going through waterford and then realising he was in mullingar is unique. It didnt even click with him when he paid the toll on the m4.

It's called "Shat Nav".

A lovely spin, Kildare - Meath - Westmeath - Offaly - Laois - Kilkenny - Waterford - Cork

By my reckoning thats a quarter of all the counties in Ireland, Impressive

Very impressive indeed...... I like the new avatar

this was the only comp i made this year and i was glad i went, spent most of the night filling in alby's card (thanks for the mackeral alby, very kind of you) started slow for me(reel seat broke so had to get some tape from steve, thanks mate) but soon got into it, started with us whiting but after Donal give a wee tip and sharpened my knife a better stamp of fish came in, thanks Donal.

Hope to make more comps next year and enjoy the craic

crackin report well done to all

welldone 2 all who fished on day and a big welldone to jp, dennis, pete and alby

alby, even with sat nav u got lost
remind me never 2 get a lift of ye

he's still got better directional sence than me

he's still got better directional sence than me

ah sure ur not that bad, ye got us 2 bannow and back jus reading a map,
jus dont ask you left or right jus get you 2 point in direction.

well done lads

fintan

a grand ould session.. my heart wasnt in it fully (or should i say my back ), great to catch up with ye all again...

myself and ferg were struggling to get the blighters out of the water, it wasn't till i put my back out on a distance cast that got me my first counter.. a doggie.. then after plucked out a nice whiting... t'was hard work.. especially when wearing waders and bustin for a P....

Great Report Pete.
Crongrats to Alby for making it there. Not only did he visit Mullingar but was on the bypass heading for Longford ( with my bait) before he realized this comp was not in donegal.
Enjoyable year from Donegal to Cork Kerry to Wexford
Well done to JP Dennis Pete and Alby hard luck to the rest
Roll on next year
Ferg

alby didnt get lost again did he
at the speed he drives he should have had plenty of time to see the sign posts

fintan

Final points tally is in the Private Club forum.

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=14543

congrats jp you won the year in style, hadnt a chance at the end, well played
and fair play to all the lads who gave it there all for the year some great memories

he's still got better directional sence than me

god help us eric your still not at the left, yea left meaning right craic

well done all