Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: Denis O'Toole

Denis O'Toole has spoken of his amazement at catching a record 16-pound sea trout from the Acova River in Co Wicklow.
The angling hobbyist and professional fly dresser told the Bray People how he had spent the day fishing with a friend in what has been described as 'the most polluted river in Europe' when he spotted the monster, and decided to take up the challenge.
"I went down to the pool where I had previously seen the fish move," he said. "I put on a 1 1/2 inch aluminium tube with a salar single hook (with the barb squeezed down) and started at the head of the pool.
"On my fourth cast while stripping the fly back he hit it with a bang and all hell broke loose; all I could see was white foam on the water through the inky darkness. I thought I had hooked Free Willy."
O'Toole continued: "He was lying in only three feet of water when he took and in total the fight lasted 20 minutes. My fishing partner, Dean Kennedy, netted the fish. He was then carefully weighed and measured and released back to spawn to produce more 16 lb'ers."
The Bray People has more on the story HERE.

Denis O'Toole has spoken of his amazement at catching a record 16-pound sea trout from the Acova River in Co Wicklow.

The angling hobbyist and professional fly dresser told the Bray People how he had spent the day fishing with a friend in what has been described as 'the most polluted river in Europe' when he spotted the monster, and decided to take up the challenge.

"I went down to the pool where I had previously seen the fish move," he said. "I put on a 1 1/2 inch aluminium tube with a salar single hook (with the barb squeezed down) and started at the head of the pool. 

"On my fourth cast while stripping the fly back he hit it with a bang and all hell broke loose; all I could see was white foam on the water through the inky darkness. I thought I had hooked Free Willy."

O'Toole continued: "He was lying in only three feet of water when he took and in total the fight lasted 20 minutes. My fishing partner, Dean Kennedy, netted the fish. He was then carefully weighed and measured and released back to spawn to produce more 16 lb'ers."

The Bray People has more on the story HERE.

Published in Angling

As an island economy, a healthy maritime sector is key to our national competitiveness. Virtually all our imports and exports pass through Irish ports.

Ireland is dependent on ports and shipping services to transport goods and 90% of our trade is moved though Irish ports. Shipping and maritime transport services make a significant contribution to Ireland’s ocean economy, with the sector generating €2.3 billion in turnover and employing over 5,000 people in 2018.

Ireland’s maritime industry continues to grow and progress each year with Irish ports and shipping companies making significant investments. The ports sector in Ireland is currently undergoing a number of expansions and developments with Dublin Port’s Alexandra Basin development, the development of Ringaskiddy in Cork by Port of Cork and the development of Shannon Foynes Port. Along with these major investments, shipping companies are also investing heavily in new tonnage, with Irish Ferries, CLdN and Stena leading new build programmes.

These pages cover the following sectoral areas: shipowners, harbour authorities, shipbrokers, freight forwarders and contractors, cruise liner operators, port users, seamen, merchants, academic institutions, shipyards and repair facilities, naval architects, navy and defence personnel.

Our pages are covering some of the most notable arrivals around our coast and reporting too on port development and shipping news.

This section of the site deals with Port and Shipping News on our largest ports Dublin Port, Port of Cork, the Shannon Estuary, Galway Harbour and Belfast Lough.

A recent study carried out for the Irish Ports Association (IPA) totalled 75.7 billion during 2004 and their net economic impact was some 5.5 billion supporting around 57, 500 full time employees.

Liam Lacey, Director of the Marine Institute’s Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO) said, “The Irish maritime industry can look to the future with confidence. It has shown itself to be resilient and agile in responding to challenges. Over the past decade, it has had to respond to the challenges of the financial crisis of 2008, the uncertainty surrounding Brexit and recent challenges. Ireland’s maritime sector has continued to underpin our economy by maintaining vital shipping links for both trade and tourism.”