‘A Story’,  ‘Ideas and Observations for the Future’ and Results:

“Whilst there are many of the ‘old regulars’, it is always good to see some new faces and to those of you ‘first timers’ – a special welcome.

Yet again, it seems the Pairs week is the fastest week of the year – and this year, tales of foolishness and tomfoolery have been in short supply. I am not sure if this seemingly good behaviour demonstrates a genuine effort by all concerned to avoid being the protagonist of my story or more likely, self-protection kicking in and simply keeping ‘stum’

Fortunately, in times of famine, and with the absence of Andy Steele [who is generally good for a yarn] there is usually something to be found if you look hard enough, although I am somewhat disappointed my partner and I are involved. This is the tale of the Ranger in the Mire.

I arrived with Susan at our cottage Saturday week ago; full of the usual enthusiasm – the truck was brimming with fishing gear, boots and bags – you know the sort of thing – everything crammed in, barring the kitchen sink – just in case. Now, where stay at The Courtyard, there is a well maintained grass area in front of the cottage between the cottage and the road, and over the years [when the owner isn’t looking] I have often reversed the truck over the grass to the back door of the cottage to unload on arrival.

Not that I was disbelieving of the local tales of only 5 days of summer and wall to wall rain, but I simply did not consider just how waterlogged the ground can get in our beloved emerald isle.

So, to carry on my story, I put the truck into reverse and slowly drove over the pavement and onto…and into the grass…oops. I had that sinking feeling – you know – the one where you are slipping into a hole and it could be tricky to get out of it!

I looked around – phew – no owner, and no-one had seen me; even more luckily I had reversed or at least tried to reverse to the wrong cottage. I slipped the van into 4 wheel drive and slid out of the mire leaving some very deep ruts behind. Whoops – a narrow escape.

The days went by, and the ruts filled with rain – still no decent forecast. No matter – plenty of peat on the fire and plenty of wine from SuperValu.

Saturday: My partner in the Pairs, Dave Wright, was due to arrive later in the morning and with harbour rag in short supply I had gone out with my fork when he arrived. I had arranged with darling Els for David to stay in the next door cottage, the self-same cottage with the rutted grass. I had also forgotten to warn him of the mire below the grass!

Sure enough, David also thought it would be a good idea to reverse over the grass to unload.

So, with his Ford Ranger in reverse and the cottage back door in the mirror he slowly mounted the pavement and found the self-same ruts I had narrowly escaped from; only this time the mire won, and the Ranger sank ever deeper. Hi range; low range, reverse gears; forward gears – it was hopeless and rescue was the only option.

Fortunately, but somewhat embarrassingly for David, help was to hand in the form of a Ford Focus and with the rope attached, the Ford Focus heroically tugged the Ranger free. With the Rangers pride a little dented and with the grass outside the cottage resembling the Somme as a reminder the Pairs week had started.”

IDEAS & OBSERVATIONS

“In a diversion from my usual report, I would like to put forward some observations, thoughts and ideas on the future of the Pairs.

2008 for a number of reasons has seen Pairs numbers down to 60. We know a number of regulars who are not here this will be back next year, but it is important to keep the pairs in the upper 60’s if we are to continue to maintain the substantial prize table which has become synonymous with this prestigious competition.

One noticeable change in the competition is the number of competitors who seem to be coming for the specimen fishing. Whilst catching specimens is undoubtedly every bit as challenging as ever [as the area is under immense pressure from commercial fishing] the efforts made by those ‘specimen hunters’ are producing rewards and I know all of you are pleased and proud of our 100% catch and release policy. I am also extremely pleased to hear our conservation approach to angling is becoming more and more popular ‘back home’.

With the affects of the recession beginning to bite, lack of money has not just affected numbers of entrants. It is with regret that I have to report that one of our sponsors ‘Undaras Na Gaeltacha’, have had their budgets cut and cannot provide sponsorship for the competition next year. We appreciate their support over the last three years, but it is an indicator as to how self-supporting we have to be if the Pairs is to maintain it’s kudos. With angling generally in a state of flux administratively and decline generally on the match circuits, we have to remain extremely positive in our focus, goals and ambitions for the future. 

Having kicked some ideas around with Jim, Ian, Darren and Alan, we are strongly of the view the Pairs needs it’s own web-site. This would have a number of significant gains for the competition, by way of providing information, promotion and advertising. It would also give something back to our sponsors, by way of our promotion of their involvement [with, of course, links to there own sites]. It would also give us the ability to post pictures and material relating to specimen catch and match reports. And probably, most importantly, we can control information and promotion of the event without relying on the traditional Angling Magazines and Reporters who seem to have their own agenda!

Operationally the Pairs has sufficient funding to get the web-site up and running. So, once we have got things in place, I will be writing to all entrants requesting information, pictures etc. for potential inclusion on the site. What this space!”

Just a couple of points about the week in general:

All venues seemed to produce reasonably well this year. Day 1 saw more dogs than we have for a number of years at Ventry and whilst conditions were wet and a little breezy both Ventry and Cappa held up well with a fair mixture of species.

Day 2: Brandon, and with the exception of one area of weed which gave a few of you an extremely frustrating day Brandon fished very well and whislt it is a pity not to get onto Inch, we have had, over the years, many more difficult days for the Team of 4 Event.

Day 3 saw our first visit to Bana Strand as a match venue and, despite having to peg all zones to the south of the central Bana Mountain car-park it produced a mixture of turbot, flounder and a few small plaice on the flatty front and a number of bass and rays, on the bigger fish front!. Having listened to anglers comments post-match it seems the general consensus is that is was well worth a visit and Bana will be included in future years as part of our venue ‘pool’. Ross Beigh, produced some quality fish as usual, and sufficient small stuff to make a match of it.”

THE ALL IMPORTANT THANKYOU

“As usual before I get to the actual presentation of prizes there are a few thanks to individuals, organisations and businesses who assist in making the Pairs a great week. Firstly, our main sponsors Daiwa, who supply a considerable amount of tackle for the Prize Table – this year, due to the slightly reduced entries we have from Daiwa Sports over £8,500 retail value of quality tackle and prizes.

Dingle Harbour Lodge and the Courtyard, through Trident Homes provide us quality accommodation at very favourable rates.- again we pass on much of this discount to the anglers and the rest is donated to the prize fund. Whilst on the subject of accommodation: it is important for me to fill the block bookings, so if you can please book Harbour Lodge and the Courtyard through me – you will get it cheaper and it does enable additional funds to be channelled into the prize fund.

SAMF again have sponsored £300 worth of prizes and provide the Insurance for the event.

Many of you I know have been enjoying the hospitality at our Headquarters Paudies and Kathleen and crew have done a fabulous job in keeping anglers fed and watered or allowing them to drown their sorrows as the case maybe – thanks Kathleen and everyone at Paudies.

I would also like to thank the match committee Jim, Ian, Alan and Darren, they do give up a lot of their week to ensure the beaches are pegged – and that the results get done and posted. They are indeed a first class team. Thanks lads – without your help the week would simply not happen.

Thanks also to Mark and Carolyn Pinder and John and Jean Amery for helping me put sort and put together the prize table on what is always a fairly intensive Friday pre-presentation.

Lastly, on a personal note I would like to thank my wife Susan for her support throughout the year and the competition week for simply keeping my back free and putting up with my sometimes frazzled temperament!

——

RESULTS OF THE 27^th. ANNUAL DAIWA IRISH PAIRS COMPETITION WEEK:

SAMF Qualifiers:

I. Hewitt [2009], G. Dugdale [2009], D. Smith [2009], D. Hutchinson [2009], M. Hutchinson [2008/.9?], D. Bond [2009], S. Drayton [2009], A. Young [2008], N. Haward [2008 and 2009]

PAIRS DAY WINNERS:

Trophy plus 250 Euros for winners, 200 Euros for Runners-up & 130 Euros for 3^rd. placing

DAY 1

                                                          Pts.    Ozs.            No.Fish

3^rd.     D. Roe/P. Molyneaux              5        263.5          8

2^nd.    R. Hornby/A. Hornby             3        240             15

1^st.     N. Charlesworth/S. Drayton   3        311.5          12

DAY 2

3^rd.     P. Cracknell/J. Welfare            4        178             14

2^nd.    N. Haward/D. Wright              3        288             20

1^st.     D. Falk/G. Hazelgrove             2        108.5          9

DAY 3

3^rd.     N. Charlesworth/S. Drayton   5        173             21

2^nd.    T. Foggerty/N. Foggerty                   5        185             14

1^st.     D. Bond/C. Snow                    3        263.5          20

JOHN BROWNING TROPHY

For the best individual performance at Brandon:

Dave Wright         166.5 points – 10 fish             wins Memorial Shield

MOST SPECIES IN PEGGED MATCHES collects £100 donated by SAMF

10 species – D. Bond

LONGEST FISH CAUGHT IN THE PEGGED MATCHES collects £100 cheque donated by SAMF

Mick Hutchinson – Bull Huss – 84cm CappaClough

BEST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE, sponsored by, Trident Homes and DAIWA Sports. Prize table for top five placings.

                                      Pts.    Ozs.   Fish   Prize

5^th.     D. Bond               10      289    20     

4^th.     E. Foggerty          10      317.5 23     

3^rd.     P. Cracknell                   9        351.5 24     

2^nd.    D. Roe                  8        485.5 21     

Overall Winner: S. Drayton – 7pts  – 367 – 23 fish

wins free cottage for 1 week for 2009 event sponsored by Trident Homes

TEAMS OF 4 – Brandon

1^st.     N. Marshall/D. Hart/P. Banks/M. Banks                       12 points

          wins 600 euros

2^nd.    G. Burgess/G. Welfare/P. Cracknell/J. Welfare              13 points

          wins 440 euros

3^rd.     T. Royal/R. Dimmery/D. Falk/G. Hazelgrove                18 points

          wins 240 euros

4^th.     B. Lindfield/R. Burrows/D. Roe/P. Molyneaux             20 points

          wins 120 euros

DAIWA SPECIMEN COMPETITION

Most Species – T. Whitehead – 4 species on countback on average %                                                                                             100.7%

Collects £100 donated by SAMF

SPECIMEN COMPETITION  Each wins either 7HT or SL20SH

Dab                                33cm                    G. Hazelgrove

Pollack                           70cm                    P. Smith

Flounder                        44cm                    M. Grossman,

Mullet                            54cm                    A. Hornby

Wrasse                           49cm                    N. Charlesworth

Bass                               67cm                    T. Foggerty

Bullhuss                         103cm                  T. Whitehead

Thornback Ray              61cm                    T. Whitehead,

                                                                   R. Foster, K. Smith

Painted Ray                             58cm                    M. Banks

Conger                           150cm                  S. Smith

Best Flatfish of Week – wins SB13 3 piece  bass rod

Thornback 65cm [108%] to I. Hewitt

———————

Best Roundfish of Week – wins SB13 3 piece bass rod

50cm Wrasse to T. Whitehead [111%]

———————

Organisers Fish of the Week

Wins a STS 115 bass rod and  Exceler Plus 3500E FS reel

Wrasse 51cm [113%] to N. Foggerty & S. Littlewood

MAIN EVENT – SAMF DAIWA IRISH PAIRS top 25 placings

                                                Pts.    Ozs.   Fish   Prize

20^th    A. Bell/M. Graham        45      311    37      Windproof fleece

19^th.   M. Pinder/S. Durrant     45      337.5 19      Coastal Smocks

18^th.   C. Barnes/K. Hewitt      44      368    23      Coastal Smocks

17^th    B. Newham/S. Glynn     42      238    22      7HT x 2

16^th.   T. Thomas/R. Able        42      300    27      7HT x 2

15^th.   J. Ryder/P. Parsons       41      272    26      SL20SH x 2

14^th.   M. Groves/K. Harrison  40      476.5 37      SL20SH + line x 2

13^th.   N. Marshall/D. Hart       39      334.5 31      SL20SH + taperleader

12^th.   A. Smith/D. Smith                   38      436.5 42      SL30SH + line

11^th.   T.Foggerty/N. Foggerty 38      452.5 38      SL30SH + taperleader

10^th.   B. Lindfiels/R. Burrows 37      301    34      Super w’stopper fl.

9^th.     M. Fox/A.Young           34      390    30      STSB13 bass rods

8^th.     E. Duff/P. Forrester       33      384    31      Badger Smoothies

7^th.     J. Flemming/J. McAllister28    479.5 36      Emblem 5000FS x 2

6^th.     D. Falk/G. Hazelgrove   27      288.5 27      Emblem FS+line/caps

5^th.     D. Bond/C. Snow          27      611    42      £600 plus line/caps

4^th.     R. Hornby/A. Hornby    24      417    31      £700 plus leader/quiv.

3^rd.     P. Cracknell/J. Welfare  24      485.5 36      £800 leader/quiv/polo

2^nd.    D. Roe/P. Molyneaux    21      645    37      £1000 leader/quiv/sh.

1^st.     N. Charlesworth/S. Drayton17         593.5 46      £2500 plus TDSB116s

As a special prize for this years winners The Dingle Bay Hotel has also donated 2 nights B&B and a complimentary meal. 

NEXT YEARS DATES:

Tides will be around two hours later next year, so you can look forward to some not-quite-so-early starts!

Sun 20^th. September – Friday 25^th. October 2008, limited to 72 pairs and as usual I will be taking entries and requirements on a first come-first served basis.”

Nick Haward – Competition Organiser