Irish boat wins the 26th Rosslare Small Boats Festival for the third time

Press Release 21st  September 2011

Irish boat wins the 26th Rosslare Small Boats Festival for the third time

‘Screaming Reels’  from Rosie’s sea angling club in Cork won the 26TH Rosslare Small Boats Festival, which was held from 10-16th  September with 26 different species of fish in what was a very tight competition, beating 35 other boats from Ireland and the UK.

Left to right – Phil Hallsworth (Festival Organiser, UK), Martyn Rayner, Seirt Shults, Neville Murphy (Rosie’s Sea Angling club in Cork), Josie Mahon, Inland Fisheries Ireland.

Sponsored by Inland Fisheries Ireland, Failte Ireland, Daiwa Sports UK and Sea Angler magazine, the event attracted more than 100 anglers from the Isle of Wight, Southport, Liverpool, Blackpool, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. All anglers stayed locally for up to two weeks. Weather conditions for the competition were extremely challenging with hurricanes blowing early in the week making boat fishing impossible. However as the week wore on, conditions improved and competitors managed to fish the normally four day competition in three days by launching their boats once from Kilrane in Rosslare and twice from Kilmore Quay and fishing restricted areas along the Wexford Coast.  The fishing was excellent with a total of 33 different species recorded!

The competition was exciting from start to finish due to the close results each day. The overall results demonstrated this with first place going to ‘Screaming Reels’ (Martyn Rayner, Seirt Shults, Neville Murphy, Rosie’s Sea Angling club in Cork) with 26 species for 31.16 kilos.  This is a fantastic achievement for this team of anglers who have won the competition three times in the last four years.

Best specimen of the week John Holmes from Blackpool on board the boat Louisie B with a ballan wrasse of 2.36 kilos. Louisie B are previous winners of this competition

This was followed closely in second place by ‘Nirvana’ (Richie Stead, Keith Pemberton from the Wirral boat angling club) with 26 species for 19.20 kilos. In third place was ‘Rogie’s Girl’ (Mark Rogan, Jake Rogan, Darren Leatherbarrow, Mike Woods from Southport boat angling club) with 24 species for 19.88 kilos. Jake Rogan aged 15 was also the winning junior of the competition and it is the second time he has fished it with his Dad, Mark Rogan.

A great variety of fish were recorded during the week with 33 different types of species including coalfish, dogfish, dab, flounder, pollack, ray, wrasse and many mini species such as corkwing wrasse, dragonet and sea scorpion. There were some fantastic specimen fish caught during the week with two specimen ballan wrasse caught, one weighing 2.36 kilos caught by John Holmes from Blackpool and the other weighing 2.20 kilos caught by Phil Dawson from Lincolnshire. There were two other specimen fish recorded, one a fine specimen bull huss of 7.92 kilos caught by John Williams on board the boat ‘Uptide Girl’ from Wallasey. Stefan Young on board the boat ‘Northern Lights’ from Wigan caught a rockling  of 0.82 kilos. (All specimen fish have to be verified by the ISFC).

The heaviest round fish was a conger weighing 8.78 kilos caught by the boat Cod ‘n’ Bass and the heaviest flat fish was a flounder weighing 0.40 kilos caught by the boat ‘Reel Action’. The best female angler was Sue Tait from the boat ‘Predator 2’, from Cork who had 24 species for 16.40 kilos.

‘Redmond’s The Bay’ in Rosslare Strand hosted the prizegiving for the first time in the history of this competition which was a great success, the hospitality of John Redmond and his staff was outstanding. Prizes were awarded in a variety of categories including the best specimen, heaviest flat fish, heaviest round fish, winners from each day as well as the overall winners. The prizes were presented by Josie Mahon, Inspector, Inland Fisheries Ireland, Blackrock.

The total prize fund for the competition was €14,000 and consisted of a variety of prizes including fishing equipment products as well as substantial monetary prizes and engraved trophies. Sponsors for the competition in the UK are Daiwa Sports Ltd and Sea Angler magazine and in Ireland, sponsors included Inland Fisheries Ireland, Failte Ireland and the Kilmore Quay Harbour office.
Josie Mahon, Inspector, Inland Fisheries Ireland, Blackrock was delighted to be part of this event. ‘I congratulate all competitors for their participation in this festival. It is very important not only to promote the great sea fishing we have on the East Coast and the variety of species available but also the investment it brings to the local businesses in the area each year. It is estimated that €70,000 has been invested into the Wexford area which is excellent in these recessionary times.   We have some of the best anglers from Great Britain and Ireland here this week and the wealth of angling knowledge and experience you bring to this area is outstanding. Congratulations also to our junior competitors who are increasing in number and to the fathers who are now bringing their sons here to fish the competition as well. I would like to thank all the competitors and a special thanks to Phil Hallsworth and John Meaning, organisers from the UK who will be running the competition again next year’.
Next year’s event will take place from the 8-15th September 2012. Inland Fisheries Ireland would like to invite all small boat anglers to take part. Further information is available from Ms. Josie Mahon, Inland Fisheries Ireland, 01-2787022 or josie.mahon@ inlandfisheriesireland.ie

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Media Enquires

Suzanne Campion, Head of Business Development, Inland Fisheries Ireland, Anglesea Street, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.
Tel: 052 6180055 Fax: 052 6123971;
Email: suzanne.campion@fisheriesireland.ie  Website: www.fisheriesireland.ie

Notes to Editor

Inland Fisheries Ireland is a statutory body operating under the aegis of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and was established under the Fisheries Act on 1st July 2010. Its principal function is the protection and conservation of the inland fisheries resource. IFI will promote, support, facilitate and advise the Minister on, the conservation, protection, management, development and improvement of inland fisheries, including sea angling and develop and advise the Minister on policy and national strategies relating to inland fisheries and sea angling.

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Media Enquiries

Suzanne Campion
Head of Business Development
Inland Fisheries Ireland
Anglesea Street,
Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.
Tel: 052 6180055 Fax: 052 6123971
Email: suzanne.campion@fisheriesireland.ie Website: www.fisheriesireland.ie

Notes to Editor

Inland Fisheries Ireland is a statutory body operating under the aegis of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and was established under the Fisheries Act on 1st July 2010. Its principal function is the protection and conservation of the inland fisheries resource. IFI will promote, support, facilitate and advise the Minister on, the conservation, protection, management, development and improvement of inland fisheries, including sea angling and develop and advise the Minister on policy and national strategies relating to inland fisheries and sea angling.