Anglers flocked to Wicklow in 2017
WICKLOW features prominently in the new Irish Specimen Fish Committee Report of 2017, which logs the largest fish specimens caught throughout Ireland in last year.
The coastline off Wicklow town proved to be a hotbed for Spur Dogfish and Smoothhound. Michael McCarthy was the category winner for catching the largest Smooth Hound in Ireland in June, weighing 8.25kg and measuring 120cm in length.
Vartry Estuary provided plentiful amounts of Thick Lipped Mullets while some of the largest Tope catches took place in Greystones.
Some of the other most prevalent large specimens in Wicklow were Flounder and Black Bream.
The Irish Specimen Fish Committee Report 2017 is published by the Irish Specimen Fish Committee, which is supported by Inland Fisheries Ireland and is an independent all-Ireland voluntary body which verifies and records the capture of large fish caught on rod by anglers in freshwater and marine waters.
Brendan Adams caught the second largest Black Bream in Ireland at Wicklow on June 17 using a Mackerel strip, weighing 1.04kg and measuring 40cm.
Wicklow had the largest number of specimen Spur Dogfish catches in the country.
John Millerick caught the second largest Spur Dogfish at Wicklow on April 4, weighing 8.22kg.
The following day, Peter Bolger caught another Spur Dogfish in Wicklow, this time weighing 8.03kg. Other impressive Spur Dogfish catches in Wicklow include Peter Bolger with a weight of 7.91kg, Pat Swan with a 7.80kg catch, Tom Burrell from the USA with 7.33kg, Peter McCartan with 7.17kg, Gordon Darker with 7.03kg, Kit Dunne with 7.03kg and Nicholas McEvoy with 7.03kg. All the catches took place in April and March, with Mackerel the most commonly used bait.
A 6.12kg Spur Dogfish was caught by John Millerick on April 4 and Gordon Darker caught another weighing the same two days later.
Other recordings include a 6.01kg catch by Shayla Cobb of the USA, 5.67kg by Stan Ryan and 5.62kg by Nicholas McEvoy.
Specimen catches were also recorded by James Morris, Christy Lane, Kitt Dunne (twice), Geoff Cobb and Pat Swan.
The record Flounder of the year was caught by Ronan Doherty on November 5 using Peeler Crab as bait at Lacken. The fish weighed 1.36kg and measured 45cm.
The next heaviest catch was at Wicklow Estuary by Evan Ryan on November 8. Using Maddies as bait, his catch weighed 1.30kg and measured 44cm.
The third best catch went to Darren Ryan, using Peeler Crab at Wicklow Estuary on November 8 to capture a fish Flounder weighing 1.25kg and measuring 44cm.
On May 27, Des Chew caught one of the largest specimens of Thick Lipped Mullets at the Vartry Estuary using bread flake. It measured 67cm and weighed 2.81kg.
Craig Murphy landed one measuring 55.5cm and weighing 2.31kg at Arklow on June 18, also using bread flake.
Des Chew caught another Thick Lipped Mullet at the Vartry Estuary on October 18, measuring 55cm and weighing 2.27kg.
Wicklow was a great hunting ground for Smooth Hound, with the vast majority of record catches taking place locally.
The two largest catches of the year both took place in Wicklow. Michael McCarthy caught a Smooth Hound weighing 8.28kg and measuring 120cm on July 9, while the prior day Craig Murphy caught one weighing 7.80kg and measuring 93cm.
Other significant weights include Robert Reid with 5.90kg, Kitt Dunne with 5.44kg, Keith Marsella with 5.33kg, Gavin Moran with 5.20kg, Stan Ryan with 5.10kg, John Millerick with 4.99kg and David McCormick with 4.99kg.
Paul Bray used Squid and Crab as bait to catch a 5.13kg Smooth Hound at Brittas Bay.
Other impressive catches in Wicklow involved anglers John Patrick Chew, Stephen Hurley, Robert Reid and Darren Clarke.
The top five Tope were all caught in Co Wicklow. Stephen Hanway used Mackerel as bait to catch one on October 8 at Greystones measuring 166cm and weighing 25.40kg.
Greystones was also the setting for another impressive showing by Hanway after catching a 155.5cm and 23.59kg specimen.
One weighing 21.77kg was caught in Wicklow by Stephen Buckley, while Evan McGovern caught a 21.32kg specimen at the same location.
Other big Wicklow catches of Tope included Karl Roche 20.87kg, Frank Kool 19.96kg, Rob McClean with 19.73 kg and Anne Hooijenga with a catch of 19.50kg.
Such large specimens being caught by anglers in the Wicklow Estuary and, most especially, off the Wicklow coastline are certain to bring Wicklow to the attention of anglers all over Ireland, and beyond, as they plan their 2018 calendars.
Michael McCarthy, who took the biggest Smooth Hound of the year, is a regular customer of Wicklow Boat Charters, who last year boasted 109 specimen fish, including 61 SmoothHounds, 11 Tope, 36 Spurdog and their first Black Bream and Garfish.
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