IFSA Boat MA Kilmore Quay, 2009.

Following a monumental cock up in my bid to qualify for the boat MA I was left waiting on tenterhooks all year to see if one of our representatives would pull out. The venue this year was Kilmore Quay and more in hope than expectation I had travelled to Kilmore on 3 occasions fishing opens down there..... Just in case..... Some solid results this year had exacerbated the disappointment that I probably wouldnt be joining in the fun come September. However, as luck would have it, fate smiled and with Martyn Rayner somewhat destroyed after his superb achievements in Rosslare and Cork in the 2 weeks leading up to the Masters, the call eventually came at the last minute for a substitution..... I was on my way!

A couple of evenings of hasty rig tying ensued, with one particular pattern and combination that had produced great results for me in the past down there to the forefront. It was going to be interesting to see how this venue would fish with the new rule changes in play. A 20cm size limit was brought in after last years “poor cod gate” in Cork, bait was to be supplied and there were quotas of 10 on all species with fish receiving just one point after the first 10 of a particular species.

Not wishing to get involved in festivities (beer and boat comps are not a happy couple) I travelled down relatively late on Friday evening and joined up with Donal in the little cottage he had rented for us for the weekend. An evening of rig tying, fishy tales and general banter later, we hit the hay ready for an early start the following morning. Well, all the fishy talk had resulted in me being too excited to sleep and it was 6am before I made it up the stairs and into bed for an hours kip..... Excited.... It was like I was 8 years old on christmas eve...

There aren't too many easy draws at this competition and this year was to be no different, I had Dave Jolly on the boat both days to contend with along with several other pretty damn handy lads, Padraig Clear in particular. Ho hum, well if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best and there is no point kidding yourself otherwise so you just have to get on with things. I'll be the first to admit I'm only learning my trade in the boat match scene but I have enjoyed testing my own progress against some of the top lads this year in various comps and results have been encouraging. There had however been an annoying habit of winning a session in every comp since last years masters followed by losing a session regardless of who it was against. Inconsistency that is going to have to be dealt with before I progress any further.

Last years masters for me was a mixed bag, a battering from Heiko in session 1 followed by about half a fish between us in session 2, a session win in 3 followed by a battering in 4. A bad first session then effectively meant that your Master Angler was over, with nothing left to fish for but pride. This year however was going to be slightly different. Instead of the top 5 anglers making the team, only the winner would be guaranteed a place as captain of next years world championship team. The top 12 anglers who hadnt already qualified from previous master anglers would go forward into the pool for the fish offs next month to fish for the remaining 4 places. A similar set up to the Shore selection process and one designed to improve and develop the pool of talent available.

So, following some uncertainty over where our boat was (a little late....) we boarded and headed off to anchor. 10 am rolled around, the signal was given, lines were dropped, it was game on.... Now, it has to be said, I was quietly confident about putting in a decent showing and determined that I wasnt going to have a disaster. I'd been given the chance at the last minute and sure as hell didnt want to blow it. However, circumstances prevailed that session 1 for me was one to forget. With the boat positioned in front of a reef meant the lads on the stern were casting onto it and hauling fish whilst those positioned towards the bow struggled as they had no way of reaching it. It was somewhat galling watching the lads making the most of it with a steady procession of reef dwellers making an appearance whilst I was busting my balls poking out occasional dragonets, doggies and the like. Ho Hum, thats the luck of the draw sometimes and in fairness, Padraig and Dave made a bloody good job of putting us to the sword and made the most of the situation. 1PM came around and it was turning into a repeat for me of last year with a comprehensive drubbing in session 1.
Well, that wasnt in the plan but thats the way it goes and you have 2 choices. You can let your head drop and watch your master angler fall apart around your ears or you can fight on and hope things improve. My percentage from session 1 was a paltry 45 or so which was going to leave very little margin for error in the remaining 3 sessions to get the necessary points for the fish off slots. Still, it wasnt unachievable, all it would take would be 3 session wins or close to do the job..... Easy really.... Yeah right.....

A quick move from the skipper and a small change in boat positions (2 places to the right) and it was game on again for the 2nd session. Well, if things hadnt gone my way in the first, that surely changed for the second. I had gone into the comp with something of a gameplan, rigs wise. There was no point panicking and abandoning that just because of what happened in session 1. The rigs I had tied are proven here and elsewhere to do the business and so it turned out to be. Sometimes in boat comps, and its hard to fathom, you get a purple patch where you haul fish on every drop whilst those around you struggle. The first half hour of that session had me hauling in a pile of fish, pout, poor cod, cuckoos, ballans, ling etc whilst all around were struggling. I had got off to a flier but while things eventually slowed down for me others began catching up. A hard fought finish in that session had me clinching it by a couple of points and I was a much happier angler heading back into port than what I may have been. A bit of luck had gone my way, I'd taken it and I had plenty to fight for on day 2. Donal had a solid day himself, finishing on about 170 odd %.

Given the nature of the ground we fished in the first session, I had lost sod all gear all day so instead of the expected necessary refilling of the rig box, I was able to relax and doze for the evening following the previous nights lack of sleep.... Dommo did his best to sabotage my careful preparation with some ill timed snoring but it was to no avail.... Had this been the shore masters, you can rest well assured that the beer would have been flowing all night, however, as mentioned before, beer and boat comps are not a good mix and a fresh head is a necessity for me going into battle afloat.

Day 2 and with 4 of us from the previous day all together again off we went. A stern draw on peg 4 for me brought a smile to my face and we began by anchoring on a shallow reef. Remember the purple patch from the day before? That was nothing compared to this.... Wrasse and Pollack quotas came to me inside just on a half hour. Baits on the bottom weren't getting 20 seconds before I was lifting into a fish whilst others around struggled. It got to the point where after spending the best part of an hour pricking around trying for dogs and cuckoos that I had to make the decision, with the rest of the boat closing in fast to just concentrate on one point fish and go back at the wrasse. Wrasse are one of my favourite fish to catch, as they can make up a large amount of your catch in competitions on occasion, they are something I have focused on in pleasure angling on numerous occasions. Always a good tactic for an aspiring match angler, work out the most common species and hone your technique to whip them out as fast as you can. Well, that stood me in good stead as a flood of ballans came over the gunnels. Try as I might, I just couldnt poke out a corkwing or a cuckoo in that session for some valuable extra points and as luck would have it with quota system and species points coming into play, despite being ten fish ahead of my nearest rival I was pipped for the 100% by 5 points. Still, it had been a good session for me and scores as they were meant I'd only dropped about 4%.

A short move by the skipper into some slightly deeper water and we were off again. Pegged at 6, a handy enough spot for spraying baits around, we began again for the final time. The hard part was done, those middle 2 sessions had gone by pretty much without a hitch and I was pleased with how I'd been fishing. The important thing now was to keep it going, keep the pressure on and rack up as high a percentage as possible. Wrasse werent quite as easy to come by as the first session but after a little searching, I got my eye in and started racking them up again. With ten on the board fairly quickly, I changed over to a 14 foot gilling trace and went after my pollack quota. Again, another strange situation developed with the 2 lads either side of me struggling to get pollack to take, tortured by plucking. I had none of those problems, every drop yielding at least one fish, virtually having to go in through the vent to get my hooks back. Decent pollack in the 4-6lb mark for the most part too. Pollack and wrasse quota got, I was back where I had been in session 3..... An odd cuckoo and poor cod followed however amongst other bits and bobs to keep the card ticking along. With little time left, I threw my remaining rag at the ever hungry wrasse before poking out a pouting at the death. Corney Devlin beside me poked out a valuable cuckoo, ling and pouting in the final half hour to sneak the session from me by 2 points, well done man. It had been a hectic day for me with around 90 or so fish making the card amongst numerous undersize stuff. So much for the theories that Kilmore wouldnt fish well at anchor......! The end had come, and following a disastrous start, I had done pretty much all I could do over the following 3 sessions, dropping just 7 points or 5 % from a possible 300. All I could do now was wait and hope that was enough to clinch a fish off slot.

Well, en route to Dublin, battered and bruised with hands jagged to pieces from indignant wrasse and dragonets the call came through, I'd made it and nailed down a slot for the fish offs. Delighted is not the word, particularly following the aberration that was my first session. Heiko Dreier was once again crowned king on 400% with Pio Enright matching his total but just losing out on countback, well done lads, 400% over 4 sessions is bloody hard to achieve, someone somewhere will always push the living jesus out of you at some stage so thats tremendous results.

When you fish this kind of competition, regardless as to how things go for you, its important to take something out of it. There is always something you can pick up on that you can take away for next time. Dont let your head drop, scrap all the way through even if there is little left to fight for other than pride, you learn nothing arsing around. The fish offs for me are coming perhaps a year or two to soon to be in real contention for one of the team places and remaining in the pool will be the primary goal for me next month.

A couple of things I have to say I wasnt overly with. Species points if being allocated at all (and I'm not a fan) should be allocated to all fish, not just those on the card only one set of points for other species regardless as to how many you got didnt seem right to me. Secondly, given the nature of where we were fishing, why on earth was there a quota put on pollack? I had to resort to skulling out ballan after ballan (40 or so in one session at one stage) in order to keep my card ticking along. There was sod all else to go for worthwhile. These fish are fragile and the majority of them would have died. Pollack at least would have had a better chance of survival. Once ballan and pollack quotas were hit, on our boat, on that day, you had 2 choices. Hope for a lucky fish (thats not match angling) or continue on pulling out single point fish after fish? A tough one and a bit of a moral dilemma too I suppose. Anyhow, thats the only gripe I had to be honest and it was a more than happy angler that travelled off that evening.

The final word has to go to the rig in my box that did the most damage on day 2, most consistently and outfished anything else on the boat in anyones hands over the 2 days. Most rigs are pretty similar and its more to do with whose hands they are in than anything else but for ballan wrasse on the day, they destroyed everything else. I've said it before, I'll say it again, when it comes to wrasse Shamrock tackles “Bleeding Glowworms” in conjunction with a coloured lead are the single best shop bought rig you can buy. Cut them in half, make sure the snoods themselves are standing proud from the main line and that the bottom snood passes the lead, bait with 1-1.5” of rag worm and hold on......

Well done to all who qualified and fished, there was great banter on the boats on occasion and it was nice to see a few familiar faces from the past couple of years again. Now, roll on the fish offs.....

Great report Pete and bloody well done, good going in that sort of company.
Must agree with you on the rules forcing people into catching wrasse when it's unlikely they will survive, something for the powers that be to think about perhaps.
Good luck in the fish offs.

Yappo

Thats some report given the short time you have had after the competition.
But the one thing i do not under stand is (lads on the stern were casting onto it and hauling fish) you are not allowed to cast in a boat competition prehaps they were flicking it out but casting no way.
I was not in Kilmore so maybe some one could cast some light on this for me.

casting, flicking, call it what you will... As long as its underarm and the lead doesnt enter the boat its legal and an established tactic.

casting, flicking, call it what you will... As long as its underarm and the lead doesnt enter the boat its legal and an established tactic.

yes thanks thats ok just had a report that some boats let anglers cast but must have been an under arm flick like you said and thats ok

great report Pete see you in Cobh

great report Pete see you in Cobh

Corney?

:

Last edited by swillyrock on Thu Oct 01, 2009 11:24 am, edited 3 times in total.

great stuff Pete, nice going. Nice report too.

Congrats Pete, best of luck in the fish off.
Any chance of posting the results
Cheers

Full results at

http://rinnashark.forumakers.com/boat-s ... s-t851.htm

No. Club Name Sat Sun Points Total
76 Post Irish Heiko Dreier D J 100 100 100 100 400
51 Kinsale Bishopstown Pio Enright H E 100 100 100 100 400
61 PSNI A Dorian White F H 100 100 100 98.13 398.13
77 Post Irish Liam Longmore B D 100 100 100 97.09 397.09
79 Post Irish Kit Dunne G A 100 100 96.95 91.19 388.14
78 Post Irish David Jolly I G 100 94.56 100 90.32 384.88
28 Cork Dan Lynch A C 100 92.19 85.15 100 377.34
23 Caherciveen B Padraig Clear I G 82.68 98.64 93.55 100 374.87
42 Greystones Ridge A Terry Boyle A B 88.4 100 100 79.31 367.71
70 Stella Maris B Joe Byrne E I 81.82 91.95 84 97.76 355.53
37 Defence Forces B Philip Barry H F 79.21 95.77 83.23 96.99 355.2
16 Bray Head A Warren Doyle C A 100 77.16 100 77.36 354.52
25 Carrigaline John Dennehy D C 78.34 89.19 100 84.25 351.78
17 Bray Head B Joe Gough H F 72.28 88.13 100 88.72 349.13
18 Bray Outcasts A Brian Whelan J H 84.34 90.35 70.07 100 344.76
14 Bray B Paul Robinson E A 100 86.2 75 82.39 343.59
65 Sea Angling Ireland B Pete Davis I G 45.67 100 95.97 97.58 339.22
62 PSNI B Andy Cleeve E F 94.21 100 85.03 57.89 337.13
43 Greystones Ridge B Ciaran O'Toole C I 70.89 95.27 75.2 91.79 333.15
53 Larne & District Ken McCauley E D 80.16 58.12 93.2 100 331.48
45 Guileen A Stephen O'Neill C I 53.16 100 92 82.83 327.99
54 Lough Swilly Corney Devlin J G 85.54 68.42 86.29 86.29 326.54
34 Culdaff Danny Gallagher G C 78.88 82.52 91.09 70.55 323.04
2 Anglesea A Tony Cotter H I 95.05 57.63 100 66.42 319.1
41 Eastern Command Gary Condron J E 81.32 100 58.57 79.21 319.1
73 Wicklow Bay A Myles Howell F B 58.97 71.34 85.18 100 315.49
60 Portrush Yacht Club John Black D I 71.34 73.65 64.8 100 309.79
66 Sea Angling Ireland C Donal Domeney J E 100 71.93 80 57.42 309.35
75 Post Irish Liam O'Callaghan F F 67.31 56.05 84.43 100 307.79
69 Stella Maris A Stewart Kealy E A 64.46 62.06 75 100 301.52
47 Howth Gerry Clarke B H 57.45 76.39 84.35 81.31 299.5
59 North Antrim Thomas Wilson J D 61.44 78.07 96.12 62.13 297.76
67 Sea Angling Ireland D Damien Doran A E 64.49 63.28 91.43 76.24 295.44
63 Rinnashark Kevin Ryan F D 67.95 54.78 99.03 66.99 288.75
20 Bundoran Michael Patton F B 53.2 77.07 97.04 61.21 288.52
56 Millisle David McCormick G J 63.97 86.71 98.63 38.99 288.3
7 Ballybrack Shay O'Neill I E 60.63 76.19 65 81.19 283.01
12 Brandon Bay Micheal Quinn F F 81.41 61.15 65.87 67.67 276.1
8 Ballycotton John Higgins C B 64.56 81.89 66.67 61.21 274.33
44 Greystones Ridge C Ken Gray E D 45.45 72.41 83.49 72.81 274.16
19 Bray Outcasts B Adam Toole I H 59.05 65.31 76.87 66.35 267.58
11 Borough Grahame Garvey A G 57.25 70.31 58.06 79.84 265.46
32 Crosshaven C Anthony Austin D B 73.88 66.89 55.55 67.24 263.56
58 Newport Shane Gilvarry J D 59.64 71.05 80.58 51.46 262.73
48 Kells Bay Gerald Evans G G 62.11 48.25 53.22 93.55 257.13
57 Monkstown Michael Geary C D 47.47 58.27 94.17 55.34 255.25
74 Wicklow Bay B Kieran Nicholls F B 68.59 63.69 42.96 72.41 247.65
22 Caherciveen A John Griffin G E 73.29 69.23 65 39.6 247.12
24 Cahore James Adamson B E 54.25 97.22 60.71 33.66 245.84
3 Anglesea B Cormac Gannon A A 57.97 48.44 69.51 69.18 245.1
36 Defence Forces A Jermiah Power H D 79.21 62.71 58.25 43.69 243.86
26 Cloyne Roy Kearney B C 43.62 81.94 66.34 48.63 240.53
71 Ulster Bass Billy Gay D C 71.97 67.57 41.58 58.9 240.02
35 Currane Ken Hegarty A J 60.14 85.94 65.75 27.04 238.87
13 Bray A Mark Shortt H F 40.59 45.76 74.25 75.94 236.54
49 Killala Boat John Munnelly J I 47.59 69.3 50.4 67.91 235.2
64 Sea Angling Ireland A Michael Fitzpatrick A J 68.11 69.53 46.57 50.94 235.15
4 Ardmore Jerry Carey E H 52.07 75.86 57.14 47.66 232.73
6 Ballina Beverages Ivan Sweeney D A 37.58 43.92 75.61 73.58 230.69
38 Dublin City Joseph Madden E H 61.98 54.02 57.14 56.07 229.21
33 Cuckoos Nest Paddy Morgan I H 32.28 55.78 79.59 59.81 227.46
68 Southern Brigade Gerard Brady C C 55.7 58.27 66.34 45.89 226.2
1 Allergan Edward Kirby C F 55.7 64.57 53.29 52.63 226.19
21 Bushmills & District Vincent McLaughlin D I 48.41 52.7 43.2 74.63 218.94
15 Bray C Pat Shortt H B 74.26 27.12 74.81 35.34 211.53
31 Crosshaven B Pat Wright F J 76.28 33.76 59.59 40.88 210.51
9 Belmullet Anthony Masterson I G 51.97 56.46 45.16 50.81 204.4
27 Cobh Sean Og McShane A C 56.52 52.34 33.66 61.64 204.16
39 Dublin Telesport William McElroy G C 31.68 59.44 48.51 58.9 198.53
30 Crosshaven A Martin Perryman H G 56.43 61.02 48.39 29.84 195.68
52 Knights of the Silver Hook Thomas Malone D F 35.67 62.84 62.87 30.07 191.45
80 Shalimar Breda Gilvarry J J 34.34 77.19 54.11 16.35 181.99
5 Athlone John Tobin B J 51.06 65.28 35.62 23.9 175.86
29 Courtown Dermot Greene I I 14.17 42.18 62.4 44.03 162.78
55 Magheroarty Timlin O'Dochartaigh B A 43.62 26.39 39.63 45.28 154.92
46 Guileen B Maurice Cott B E 53.19 47.22 25.71 16.83 142.95
10 Bishopstown & District Kristian Power G B 17.39 18.88 34.81 68.1 139.18
72 Valentia Island Nealie Lyne C A 51.9 51.18 0 0 103.08
40 East Ferry Masters Ray O'Sullivan B H 0 0 0 0 0
50 Kilmuckridge Pat Gahan G J 0 0 0 0 0

Great Report Pete, well done lad.

Great report Pete, and you saved me having to do it lol.
You fished well and deserved to get into the pool, and I'm sure you will have no problem in staying there.
I agree with your points about the fish limits, and my view is that there should either be no limits or all fish should be limited (my preference), not the way some clubs limit say 4-5 species etc.
The reason they have limited the species is to stop 1 method anglers from winning the masters or getting on the team, in the past anglers have gilled all day sat and sunday to win with a bag of pollack each day.
As will become aware to anyone who goes away to the world c'ships, an anglers versatility is the most important quality to have, and that is not encouraged by allowing any one species to dominate results.
having caught your quota of "easy" fish forces you to try different things, different rigs, different bait presentation, and possibly most importantly casting around searching for different ground, thats when you find a patch of reef no-one else can reach, or a patch of sand on a reef where you can snatch a dog or something out of the ordinary. The best casters can probably hit 100yds+ from the boat which hugely increases the area available to them to catch fish, and puts any one who can't at a disadvantage.
it's a constant learning process, and the best, most consistent anglers are always picking up tips every day they fish.
It's interesting to note that 5 of the top 6 anglers overall were fishing "post irish" from 2008, (Pio was also post irish) showing that the selection process, percentages, limits, etc, are starting to have an effect, and it will be interesting to see if the fishoffs will further this process.
I'm looking forward to meeting again in Cobh, but please don't poison me this time......

great report pete hope you do well.

best of luck

brian

great report pete, just wondering what you put in jolly's tea or coffee , just in case i draw him in cobh
is it a prescribtion or can you get it over the counter
brian

great report pete, just wondering what you put in jolly's tea or coffee , just in case i draw him in cobh
is it a prescribtion or can you get it over the counter
brian

Ultrabite.....


Fair points there Dave cheers for your comments, and food for thought for the next phase of improvement. Does anyone know by the way where next years MA is going to be held or is it not decided yet?

Sounds like a great comp guys and an excellent turn out. Some familiar EFSA names on the list.

Top report bud and well done on making the fish-offs Seems that boat fishing techniques have advanced massively in the last ten years

Great report pete, and more importantly that was some recovery from your first session, manys another man would have let the head drop!