ANGLING NOTES:RED BAY, in Northern Ireland, swept the awards in last year's "hall of fame" fish categories with three new Irish records and more than 100 specimens across eight different species, according to the Irish Specimen Fish Committee (ISFC) report for 2008.
Nestled in the heart of the beautiful Glens of Antrim close to Cushendall, the bay became a haven for the lesser and greater dogfish, and 63 specimens in the spur dogfish category. The blackmouth dogfish made a new entrance and, again, 15 of the 18 specimens, including a new record, are attributed to Red Bay.
Specimen fish chairman Trevor Champ says the use of genetic fingerprinting to identify certain coarse fish, shad and smooth-hound has proved a highly successful venture with University College Dublin. The technique means, in effect, that a small sample of scales is sufficient to identify these species, thereby allowing anglers to return their specimens alive.
Good news also for the big-game angler. The ISFC is investigating the possibility of adopting length as the criterion for establishing specimens for blue shark and tope. This would remove the need for charter boats to return to shore because on-board weighing is inaccurate.
In 2008 the ISFC received 535 claims, 502 of which were ratified, including four new records. Sue Tait, from Cork, established a new record of 1.32kg for a bluemouth caught off Caherciveen, Co Kerry. It is worth noting that all six specimens were from the same venue.
It has taken 22 years for the herring record to fall and, in June, this was achieved by Hamish Currie, from Cushendall, with a fish of 0.454kg caught on a shrimp rig. Ironically, the same angler achieved a "double whammy" with a blackmouth dogfish record of 1.276kg caught in Red Bay on herring bait. Is this the first occasion that an angler has caught two records in the one year? I think so, although Edmund Cull, from Midleton, Co Cork, came close with three over five years in the mid-1980s.
Charlie Robinson's seven-year reign as record-holder for spur dogfish caught off Dún Laoghaire was surpassed by Arie de Koning, from Arkel, Holland, with a fine fish of 10.319kg taken in Red Bay on mackerel flapper.
Elsewhere, the Dr Went award for the young specimen angler of the year went to Ronan O'Sullivan (see photograph), from Timoleague, Co Cork, for a coalfish of 10.977kg, fishing out of Courtmacsherry in August.
An engraved plaque will be awarded to Cedric Boston, from London, as recipient of the Best International Specimen Award for a brown river trout of 5.02kg taken in the Cong River in Co Mayo.
Ian Mulligan from Portarlington, Co Laois enters the hall of fame after chalking up 20 different specimen species over a period of 12 years.
The annual awards presentation will be held in the Red Cow Moran Hotel, Naas Road, Dublin 22, on Saturday, February 21st at 2.30pm. All Irish anglers due awards are invited to attend.
The Cathedral Angling Centre in Ballina, Co Mayo, built by the North Western Regional Fisheries Board and designed by Vincent Coleman of Doherty Coleman Architects, Ballina, won the architecture award in the National Tidy Towns Competition 2008. The award was presented at a ceremony in Westport and included a contribution of €1,000 to Ballina Tidy Towns Committee. This is the second award won by the building, which scooped a national prize in the 2007 Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland Awards.
Built on an old hut used in former days by draft netsmen on the Moy, the new building caters for storage of fish, fishing tackle and angling gear. It also has tea- and coffee-making facilities, toilets and a ghillie's desk.
The design of the centre presented a unique challenge due to its location, the fact that the site is subject to flooding and because of the need to ensure that it blended well with its surroundings.
At time of writing, the first salmon of the year was still eluding almost 120 anglers who turned out on New Year's Day on the River Drowes in the northern fisheries region.
"While fresh fish have entered the system, opening day only produced a few kelts," said fishery owner Shane Gallagher.
On the Liffey, with its special concession of catch and release for January, tradition was restored with a good turnout of anglers at Islandbridge. Great excitement ensued upriver at Palmerstown when John Harrington brought to the bank a salmon that was quickly photographed and released. It seems that it, too, was a kelt.