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Displaying items by tag: Hook Bass Angling Festival

#ANGLING - Bitterly cold weather and some hungry marine mammals kept the bass away from the inaugural Hook Bass Angling Festival in Wexford last weekend, as The Irish Times reports.

The angling went on regardless, however, with Mark Baker from Co Meath hooking a 1.5kg 'schoolie' of a flounder to take top prize of a five-day holiday at Grangecourt Holiday Homs and a day's fishing with Jim Foley.

All taking part enjoyed the weekend despite the absence of the titular fish, and promised to return next year - for which the dos and don'ts will be ironed out, according to Cathy Howlin of Hook Tourism.

Meanwhile, the weekend also featured an evening talk by Dr Ed Fahy who discussed the threat to Ireland's sea bass should the fishery be opened to commercial interests, and argued the case for bass angling tourism as a greater boon for the economy.

Published in Angling

#ANGLING - Minister of State Paul Kehoe was on hand at the famous Hook Lighthouse recently to launch the first Hook Bass Angling Festival, which takes places over three days from 26-28 October.

The contest will be held on a catch-and-release basis and comprises various locations on the Hook Peninsula, situated on the amazing southwest Wexford coast, where you can find a beach a day for a fortnight - perfect for the festival.

First prize is a weekend's accommodation at Grangecourt Holiday Cottages in Fethard-On-Sea that sleeps up to five people, plus a day trip fishing for two with Wild Swan, Mermaid Angling, Arthurstown. Prizes will also be awarded for second and third place, and for the longest bass.

Aside from the angling action, the Friday and Saturday evening will see talks from Billy Colfer and Dr Ed Fahy about the history of the area and bass fishing respectively. These will take place at 7pm each evening in Neville’s Bar and Restaurant, which will also be serving a special anglers menu - and will host the prize-giving ceremony on the Sunday evening.

The entry fee for anglers is €75 for the three days days or €25 per day. You can enter online via www.hooktourism.com.

Families are more than welcome, as the Hook Peninsula has many historic sites to see and activities to do, especially for Hallowe'en, such as the 'Ghostly Guided Tours' of Hook Lighthouse. For more information visit www.hooktourism.com.

Published in Angling

Irish Sailing Classes and Association – There’s no shortage of one-design classes from which to choose and each gives its enthusiasts great competition, fun and camaraderie, writes Graham Smith in this review of the classes. 

One-design racing is where it all starts. It is, after all, where all the top sailors earned their stripes, battling away for line honours without a thought for a handicapper’s calculator wiping away a hard-fought victory!

Indeed, you could count on less than one hand the number of top Irish sailors who didn’t cut their teeth in a one-design dinghy! Just think of Cudmore, Barrington, Watson, Wilkins, Hennessy and Dix to name a few and you realise that they honed their skills in everything from Enterprises to Lasers and a lot in between.

At present count, there are a little over 30 one-design classes in Ireland, split almost evenly between dinghies and keelboats, a statistic which might raise a few eyebrows. They range from the long-established Mermaids, IDRA14s and Dragons to the newer additions like Fevas, Topaz and RS Elite. They all fill a particular need and give their owners and crews considerable enjoyment.

Many have attracted their World or European Championships to Irish waters over the years and while 2009 is notable for a lack of such events here, the following year will see the Etchells Worlds at Howth and perhaps a few other international regattas too.

In addition to the review, we asked each class to complete a questionnaire giving details of their fleet numbers, whether they were on a growth pattern or holding their own, so we could highlight those ‘on the up’ and those remaining static in terms of numbers. The older traditional designs, as you might imagine, fall into the latter category, although that’s not a negative!

CLASS REVIEW  The State of the Classes – League Table (as at February 2009)

S = Static; U = Up/growing

275     Optimist   U

200+   Laser   S

189     Mermaid   S

160     Flying Fifteen   S

130     RS Feva   U

115     Shannon One Design    U

100+   Mirror   S

100+   Topper   U

99       Topaz   U

94       Laser SB3   U

87       GP14   U

85       Squib   S

70       Fireball   S

70       Ruffian   S

60       J24   S

60       Shipman   S

52       Dragon   S

50       RS400/200   S

50       420    U

43       Multihulls    U

42       Dragon    S

40       Water Wags    U

40       Wayfarer    S

34       IDRA14    U

33       Puppeteer    U

28       Etchells    S

27       E-Boat    U

26       Glen    S

25       Enterprise    S

18       Sigma 33    S

18       Howth 17    U

13       RS Elite    U