I was delighted to see the Irish Federation of Sea Anglers (IFSA) has appointed a national youth shore development officer to keep alive the wonderful sport of shore angling. Brian Cooke is the ideal person to fill the position. He brings a wealth of shore angling knowledge, both at national and international level, and freely gives advice, particularly to the younger generation, on all aspects of the sport.
During my 30 years of shore angling the onus was always left to individual clubs to establish a junior section with an appointed junior officer (usually one of the dads) to organise outings. And there was always the “father and son” set-up, which worked quite well to a point.
Of course, the objective of the new position is to bring on young talent to represent Ireland on the world stage. In that regard, we can boast three shore anglers who went on to win individual gold at the Fédération Internationale Peche Sportive (FIPS-Mar) world championships.
A Dublin angler, the late Michael Kearney from Semperit SAC, won the title in St Moilets, France, in 1991; Timmy O’Sullivan from Fenit SAC in Kerry achieved the highest accolade in 2000 in Livorno, Italy; and Alan Mulcahy from Rinnashark SAC added to the gold tally on Ireland’s southeast beaches in 2016.
The recently launched IFSA Cast Programme aims to provide a coaching pathway comprising of six levels, each designed to coach youths from complete novice to international team level. All the core skills are covered and the option is there to choose on how far each individual seeks to progress.
Roney Point beach, near Courtown on the southeast coast, was selected for the inaugural outing, which attracted a terrific turnout of 35 youths from the four provinces who travelled to Wexford with parents and guardians in tow for a day’s coaching and fishing.
IFSA-trained and vetted coaches and international team members were present and spent the day coaching the youths in all elements of shore angling
IFSA-trained and vetted coaches and international team members were present and spent the day coaching the youths in all elements of shore angling – casting, bait management, tackle and tactics and understanding the beaches and environment.
Cast events are geared to run on a “catch and release” and “leave no trace” basis, with an emphasis on respect for the venue, other beach users, the coaches and their fellow anglers.
Fish were caught from the start, small whiting with the occasional flounder and dab. After the top of the tide, whiting started to show to the distance casters, with more flounders coming from close in along with coalies (coalfish) and even a rare sand smelt.
[ Angling notes: Caught and served up, the first Atlantic salmon of the yearOpens in new window ]
[ Angling Notes: McMorris nets two cups with first salmonOpens in new window ]
All anglers caught fish, which was great to see, and it was visibly evident that they were listening and learning from the coaches as the day went on.
After the event, the youths were awarded a Cast certificate with their appropriate level as judged by coaches and youth development officers. Everyone went home happy, with some new skills and tips learned and some specific things to work on.
The next Cast coaching event will be held in Munster in March and details will be posted on the IFSA sites.
Winter league trout fishing
Hubert Smith swept the board in last weekend’s final of the winter league at Annamoe Trout Fishery in Co Wicklow with a great catch of 14 trout. He really has mastered the art of catching rainbows, having caught a similar amount in Heat 1 back in late October, 2022.
His tactics last weekend included fishing a floating line with an indicator and a white worm (artificial) suspended about 45cm. The rest of the competitors were left in awe as he reeled in fish after fish for a grand length total of 554cm. His nearest rival was Tony Finn with seven for 273cm.
In total, 52 rainbows were caught, measured and returned. Results: 1, H Smith, 14 fish; 2, T Finn, seven fish; 3, D Evans, six fish; 4, S Byrne, five fish; 5, R Bujak, four fish. The winter league, consisting of four heats and a final, was sponsored by Southside Angling.
If you have an angling story to share, please send to me at angling@irishtimes.com.
