The Irish Specimen Fish Committee has ratified a new Irish record fish. Wexford angler Dean Quigley has broken the Smooth Hound record which had been established as recently as 2015. The new record fish, weighing 11.27 kg, was caught on the 10th of June at Kilmore, Co. Wexford.
The announcement was made in the Irish Specimen Fish Committee report 2016 which just been released. The Irish Specimen Fish Committee, which is supported by Inland Fisheries Ireland, is an independent voluntary body which verifies and records the capture of large fish caught on rod by anglers in freshwater and marine waters.
As well as the new record fish, detailed information on 485 specimen fish (large fish) taken by anglers from venues throughout Ireland in 2016, comprising 41 different species, is presented in the report. The main species were Smooth hound (17%), spurdog (15%) and Carp (10% of total). In total, 28 different marine species (including Bass, Common Skate, Gilthead Bream, various species of Mullet, several species of ray, etc) were taken by sea anglers, and freshwater specimens accounted for the remainder. All fish were caught, weighed, measured and released.
The Irish Specimen Fish Committee report is available on the ISFC website www.irish-trophy-fish.com or from the Inland Fisheries Ireland website http://www.fisheriesireland.ie/ . Hard copies of the report are available from Inland Fisheries Ireland offices nationally.
The ISFC Awards Day, when anglers will be presented with their awards and certificates, will be held on 18th Feb 2017 in Dublin (in conjunction with Irish Angling Show weekend). Meanwhile, anglers both at home and abroad will be reading the report carefully to plan their angling trips to catch the big fish in Ireland in 2017.
