CLICK ON THE DATES FOR PREVIOUS WEEKS NEWS IN THIS MONTH

JULY 07th    JULY 22th     JULY 28th

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Update: July 28th, 2004

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"Paul Robinson with his first ever Spur Dog"

Out and About: Two very interesting, eventful and very different trips took place this week out of my boat, here's a brief sum up of the highlights;

Sunday July 25th: Great plans were made for a fantastic relaxing fun and food-filled day last Sunday. Myself, Steve Guest, Liam O'Callaghan (Jnr) and Mark Devignat met in the clubhouse at 5.30am. There was a slight chop on the sea but nothing worth talking about, although the forecast was for a North-Westerly to eventually take hold nearing the middle of the day. But as far as we were concerned, we have the gas stove, enough meat to feed an army, and a full day ahead of us. So off we went. First stop was the back of Bray Head looking for some fresh Mackerel, this was a disaster and basically marked the form for the rest of the day. After about an hour we had about 10 between the two boats, so we decided not to waste any more time and head down to the Muldridge Buoy which lies about two miles East of Greystones Harbour and is known to have some good Tope running on it. Down went the two anchors with a good 300 yards between the boats. The tide was ripping, and the sea was now starting to get a little sloppy. After about 15 minutes Mark managed to get a run from a tope which eventually dropped it, but in our boat, we were having no luck at all, so the call was made and the anchor's hauled. The next stop was the Codling Bank, 9.5 miles south-east of Bray Harbour. Now, this place is well known for the great Tope it holds. The only bad thing about it is the strength of the tides because of it's shallowness. But neither the tides nor the weather were going to put us off. By 9.00am we were just coming up onto the bank, where we met two trawlers planting pots for the whelks. The lads in the trawlers were calling us "Mad", but we didn't mind, it meant everything to be out at sea. We did a load of different drifts at various points on the bank, and were hauling up small undersize Cod and Haddock to beat the band. The trawlers were partially right, we were a little mad, there was no way we were going to be able to drop an anchor, the sea was now getting too rough, so the sensible call was made to head closer to shore. Liam wanted to try the Fingers which is a deep water mark off the back of Bray-Head. I wanted to head further south and try something a little further from home. We tossed a coin and I won, the Breaches here we come. 

To say we were wet by the time we got to the Breaches is a serious understatement. It was as if we swam most of the way, our jocks were even wet, it was a combination of the waves crashing over us and the rain falling. But within no time, the sun started to appear again and it wasn't long before our spirits were being lifted by the strong thumps on the rod. By 12.00 we had landed 6 Ray in our boat with Liam landing another 4 in his. The biggest was just over 16lb, and with my first ever double-Ray, we have achieved top-marks. The Ray went as fast as they came, and even a further hop-n-skip down a little south along the coast didn't produce anything, so home started looking good. Liam and Mark headed for the Harbour, but myself and Steve still had half-a-dozen lamb chops to cook up, so in we went right under the Head and tied off a few pots to cook up the last of the meat. Stuffed to the gills, and good memories stowed away, we headed for home at about 5.00pm, a very enjoyable 12 hours at sea. According to the lads, I think we all hit the sack before 9.00pm that night, totally shattered. 

Tuesday July 27th: 5.30pm had been dreamt about all day, it was like the last day of school before the summer hols, waiting for the bell to go. Myself and Liam had made plans to hit the Codling bank looking for a few big animals. Reports had come back earlier in the day that a couple of boats had landed a few Tope and had lost as many. So out we went on a fairly calm evening. Viv Dutton and his brother John had decided to join us in their own boat as it's always that much safer in numbers. A quick stop at the back of Bray Head produced 6 mackerel per boat, (the mackerel fishing is terrible at the moment). By 6.30pm we were set up on the bank with two rods each in the water. Now the big wait! We managed to keep ourselves occupied hoofing up small cod while we waited for the big run. My biggest concern was the fact that our bait was being devoured by the hoards of dogfish and no bigger animals were getting a sniff at it. But just as we were about to haul anchor and move, Liam got a fantastic run, after a short fight he brought a huge Spur Dog to the side of the boat, my first ever sight of a Spur, it looked amazing. Unfortunately we didn't manage to bring it in as it snapped 100lb mono and swam to freedom, but given the size of the later fish which we did manage to boat and weigh, the first one was easily over 15lb's, a pure specimen.

Soon after Liam's battle I got a good thump myself, only to pull up a beaut of a Bull Huss which weighed in just over 10lb. The next hour saw us land 5 in total with my first ever Spur adding to the tally and Viv managed another 3 on his boat. if we had  more bait I'm sure we'd still be there now, but by 10.00pm we knew we were pushing it, it was nearly completely dark, so up anchor and home we went. I'm glad to say that we all arrived home safe and sound, Viv also managed to land his first ever Spur so many happy dreams were had all round, now our next challenge is to devise a way to get a specimen Spur to shore, get weighed (Alive) and released unharmed. Any ideas?

Hmmmmmm.

Check here for more photos:

Written by Paul Robinson (Bray Sea Angler's)

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Club Cleanup:   Saturday July 31st, 9.0am in the pen. We all received the letters, the big annual cleanup is due to take place. We're also erecting posts and fencing at the back of the pen to prevent unwelcome visitors during the winter months coming down in to the boats.

We need as many bodies as possible to help out. There's always a big of craic to be had, and I'm sure the banther will be a colorful as normal.

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A special thanks: This weeks thanks goes to me, cause nobody else sprang to mind. I really need all you readers to start sending me in some goodies, anything, every little piece helps, whether its a photo, recipe, story, or even a stinker complaining about something. Come on....PLEASE?

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"Spur Dogs Rock, OK!"      ><)))>

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Update: July 22nd, 2004

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"Paul Kenna Showing off his trophy for Best Skipper"

Harbour Bar Open: The fun was from start to finish last Sunday to round off the end of the Bray Festival. We managed to grab 43 men and women from both experienced and novice circles to fish the Harbour Bar Open. The weather started as usual quite good with very little wind although we experienced a bit of a slop by mid afternoon.

Around 14 boats set out at 10.30am that morning with eager anglers onboard. The competition was run between 10.30 and 3.30pm. By the end of the session, I'm glad to say that everyone caught fish, with some really good catches of cod showing up on the scorecards. All were returned with the exception of a few keepers for the dinner table. So all in all it was a success.

The presentation was well attended and I think everyone had a fantastic night as well as day if the photos of the festivities were anything to go by. The eventual winners were, Joe O'Brien for the Visitors, and Fergie Griffith for the Federation members.

Check out the overall results:

Written by Paul Robinson (Bray Sea Angler's)

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Junior's Trip to Kilmore Quay:   Our three big babysitters, Ray Robinson, Declan O'Sullivan and Ricky Thomas headed off to Kilmore Quay with a bunch of juniors in tow Sunday before last. by all accounts the day and trip went extremely well. This was the first time that nearly all the kids had set foot on a charter boat and between the photos of the fish boxes and the stories from the crew, it wasn't long before they got the hang of it.

On the way back the crew stopped off for a bit to eat, and everyone arrived back in Bray safe and sound just after tea.

Check out a few of the photos of the day.

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A special thanks: This weeks thanks goes to Ray Declan and Ricky for taking time out to bring the juniors away, it's no walk in the park, but the kids really enjoyed it.

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"Drunken Mermaids can't sing !"      ><)))>

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Update: July 07th, 2004

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"Paul Robinson (left) receiving his prize from the Club Chairman, Liam O'Callaghan (Snr)"

Tommy Walker Club Masters: The forth of July saw celebrations not only in the U.S. but also in a little pub in the Harbour of Bray.

Sunday last, saw the forth leg of our boat master angler. The day itself started for some at 5.00am with a few eager anglers (well, one at least) looking to head out to sea to get some fresh mackerel before the start of the competition. Unfortunately, there wasn't a drop of water in the harbour, so I....oh I mean... the odd few anglers ended up sitting in the club house drinking tea for three hours waiting for the water to fill enough to get the boats out. Anyway, we (I mean, I) eventually managed to head out and boat a dozen stripy lads.

The competition was being run between 10.30am and 4.30pm with high tide falling around 1.00pm. It was a huge tide so we were all well equip with the 2lb leads after our experiences in Cahore. The event was an animal competition, catch and return, three-hook rigs allowed. A good turnout was had with 17 hardy anglers checking in.

The fishing from the off was fantastic, with Huss, Ray, Tope and plenty of dogfish falling to all boats, with nearly every boat managing to catch a bit of strange. The first four hours were by far the best with an average of 20 dog's being landed an hour in hour boat anyway, but the last two hours really tested most peoples patience with 11 dogs in the second-last hour and 6 in the last hour being boated for myself.

By 5.30pm everyone was home and the results were confirmed, myself, Paul Robinson managed to grab first place with 103 dogfish and 2 ray, Mark Shortt came in second with 85 dogfish, 1 ray, and 1 huss, Mark Devignat grabbed third place with 76 dogfish and 3 ray, and finally Liam O'Callaghan (Jnr) finished forth with 83 dogfish and 1 ray. Considering there were boats with people landing 3 huss, 3 ray and 20-plus dogfish, I thing the fishing even with the tide was fantastic and really sets the scene for the last leg of the Leinster League being hosted by the Bray Head Sea Anglers. If we can get over 20 boats out there and over 60 anglers churning up the bottom, anything's possible. Role on August 22nd.

Click here for the Master Angler Table Update.

Click here to see the photos of the night

Written by Paul Robinson (Bray Sea Angler's)

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Club Roundup  

The Bray Head Sea Anglers are hosting a two-day EFSA boat competition this weekend. A big turnout is expected, so I'm sure the lads would love to see some support from the other local anglers, check out their website for further details.

The Harbour Bar Open hosted by the Bray Sea Anglers is being run on the following weekend. Check out this link for all the details, we look forward to seeing you there.

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"Even a blind pig will find the odd truffle !"      ><)))>

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