Cork Small Boats Festival 2006 Report.

Cork Small Boats Festival 2006
Festival Report.

Thirty-one boats fished the CSBF this year. Boats from as far away as Dover trailered their boats to Cork for the 11th running of the event.
The event can only be described as a successful one. Weather conditions were largely good which is reflected by the fact that there were 31 species caught during the event (Certain fish do not count such as: mackerel, launce, weavers or shark. Mini species are allowed but with a minimum size of 200mm.)

There were a good few specimen fish landed: Plaice, Blonde Ray, Bass, Gilthead Bream & Dogfish (LSD).

Match Day 1, Species Hunt, Sunday 24th.
It was decided to start the match on Sunday due to the possibility of more inclement weather during the week. The fleet headed out from Aghada at 0900. There were no restrictions in force so many boats took the opportunity to head for open waters. Some boats remained inside the harbour on the promise of better weather on Monday. The angling proved to be excellent. There was a notable catch with Uptide Girl catching a 6.10lb Plaice, a cracking fish.

Classified results after Match Day 1:
Posn Boat Name Species Weight
1 BB29 Beastmaster 17 38.92
2 BB6 Screeming Reels 17 32.34
3 BB3 Highlander 17 30.80
4 BB22 Striker II 12 39.67
5 BB24 Fifty-Fifty 12 25.40
6 BB27 Riptide 12 21.77
7 BB14 Uptide Girl 11 52.30
8 BB30 Zippo 11 35.25
9 BB19 Gallant Tiger 11 26.70
10 BB8 Nauti Lass 11 19.60

Match Day 2, Species Hunt, Monday 25th.
Day 2 dawned and true to the weather forecast, the weather was even better than Sunday. Most boats went about topping up on their day 1 totals. Boats that remained inside the harbour on day 1 went to sea. The more productive areas were the Ling Rocks and the Smiths. Most boats were back within the harbour in the early afternoon as the wind picked up with the coming tide. Again the results were excellent.

Classified results after Match Day 2:
Posn Boat Name Species Weight
1 BB3 Highlander 24 57.32
2 BB7 Skua 23 76.08
3 BB14 Uptide Girl 22 68.58
4 BB13 Quattro 19 56.56
5 BB29 Beastmaster 19 41.98
6 BB6 Screeming Reels 18 49.30
7 BB4 Sea Pigeon II 18 48.44
8 BB12 Goldilocks 17 57.41
9 BB22 Striker II 17 52.65
10 BB26 Dreyfus 17 34.37


Match Day 3, Species Hunt, Tuesday 25th.
The weather was exceptional as the fleet headed off for their last day of species hunting. With such high species counts it was going to be very difficult to top up on the figures attained already. Few of the top boats went to sea as they had already caught what species were available outside. Some of the fleet went chasing the daily “most species” prizes and the fishing proved to be excellent yet again. There were some notable catches including a specimen Gilthead Bream for Skua.

Classified results after Match Day 3 (Final Standings):
Posn Boat Name Species Weight
1 BB14 Uptide Girl 27 87.20
2 BB7 Skua 26 81.82
3 BB3 Highlander 25 69.71
4 BB29 Beastmaster 23 44.64
5 BB13 Quattro 22 61.56
6 BB12 Goldilocks 21 64.69
7 BB6 Screeming Reels 21 57.28
8 BB26 Dreyfus 21 50.28
9 BB4 Sea Pigeon II 20 56.48
10 BB22 Striker II 20 55.73

Match Day 4 Specimen Hunt Wednesday 27th /Thursday 28th
Hopes of finishing the event on Wednesday the 27th were dashed when the weather deteriorated drastically on Wednesday morning. Winds were stronger than forecast and after launching at 0900 it was decided at 1010 to cancel the days fishing and get all boats back to the launch site as soon as possible. The skippers reacted with their usual coolness in the face of tough conditions and all boats were safely trailered quickly.
The Specimen hunt was fished on Thursday 28th. Boats were restricted to within the harbour and fished for the “B” list of fish: Plaice, Dab, Flounder, Bass, Conger & LSD. There were again some notable catches including a 10.10lb Bass for Highlander.

Presentation Evening Thursday 28th.
The presentation of prizes took place in Jim Gallaghers Bar, Trabolgan. Both organisers and competitors declared the event an unqualified success. The event will run for a 12th year next year.

Congratulations to the top three teams:

1st :Uptide Girl 27 Species.
G. Thornes, M. Roberts, J. Williams.
2nd: Skua26 Species.
S. Clohessy, J. Clohessy, R.Mc’Clean.
3rd: Highlander 25 species.
M.Duff, J. Greenfield.

well done lads. sounds like some great fishin!

Well done lads on 2nd, sounds like a cracking few days fishing...26 species... :shock: WOW!

Great result lads- progressive step to bring a Dublin man along to help you fish.

Don't matter where he's from......He's good enough that's all that matters.... :lol: :lol: :lol:

Can we expect anything about this in Irish Angler?

If the photos are good enough we'll surely do something!! Difficult to take photos with the "competition head" on.

Ahh, Dead on.

what way are these festivals run out of interest jim? is it a case of weighing your catch on the boat, then releasing, then working on a trust system?

never really heard much about the ins and outs of the small boats festivals as there are none up here

Also- what is minimum and maximum size of boat?

One of each species are brought to the scales, except where there are specific conservation measures, in that case the fish is verified by another boat and the species gets the same weight regardless of size.

While there is no official minimum size, 15' would be considered the min suitable. The max allowed is 22'.

Well done Jim, great to see the Irish lads pushing for the top spot.

[Never mind the pollocks]

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