Sea fishing fun raises money for defibrillator

Portrush Yacht Club's Sea fishing section held a boat fishing competition on Saturday.

The £5 entry fee went towards buying a defibrillator to be installed in the Yacht Club and to be available for Harbour users.

Six boats left the Harbour at 10am.

The weather was fairly good but the sea state prevented some boat owners getting out to the ridges several miles off shore.

Each boat skipper went to their favourite spots to hunt for different species.

The aim of the competition was to catch and release as many different species as possible in the local area. Each species had a different points and the rarer species the greater the points.

So it took experience to know how, where, and when to fish for each.

There was a good range of fish caught, Coley, Whiting, Dab, Pollock, Pouting, Gurnard, Cuckoo and Ballan Wrasse, Cod, Flounder, Plaice, weaver, Dogfish, Scad, Grey, Tub and Red Gurnard.

Everyone enjoyed it immensely, and there was some serious competition among the local fishermen.

There was some excellent fishing and the craic was excellent throughout the day. The fishing ended at 2.30pm and any boat home after 3pm was disqualified.

Shortly after 2.30 all boats came steaming in through the Harbour mouth to meet the deadline.

Once back ashore there was live music on the balcony at Portrush Yacht Club with beer and burgers hosted by the Yacht Club divers, which went down very well.

The fishermen would like to thank Chris Elliot and Beni McAllister from the Diving section who helped to make the event such a great success. As the afternoon’s refreshments took effect there was the inevitable telling of old fishing stories about the one that got away.

The collated results indicated that everyone caught at least four species and seven being the highest total, which is a good indicator of healthy local fish stocks.

First place was a tie between three people each having 37 points.

The winners were Irvine Tannahill, Robin Cardwell both local fishing legends and new comer Tim Nelson.

The competition entry fees and raffle raised a total of £134. As the day’s events had been so enjoyable and had gone down so well the Fishing Section have decided to hold another competition next month, so please get in touch with Portrush Yacht Club if you would like to take part.