29/03/2026
Ballybrack SAC Take home the Trophy
Saturday 28th March Ballybrack V Ringsend on Kilgorman beach, Wexford.
Yesterday marked the second year of the perpetual Dublin challenge cup. 23 Ballybrack SAC anglers vs 23 of Ringsend Irishtown SAC’s finest. The format of competition was a matchplay style with Ballybrack drawing all of the odd numbered pegs and Ringsend fishing the evens. 20 seniors and 3 juniors from each club competed in the 5 hour competition to try bring home a point for their club. The buzz in the lead up to this years competition was evident on social media and in various whattsapp groups. Ringsend after a great win last year, were excited try hold on to the trophy for another year. Ballybrack anglers were leaving no work undone in preparing for this year, ensuring they had all scenarios covered for marking their name on the Dublin Challenge Cup for 2026.
Fishing overall was never expected to be fantastic, given the time of year. But a lot of work goes into running this style of competition from both clubs, and selecting a suitable date that does not interfere with other club competitions and events for the calendar year can be difficult. As both clubs congregated in the carpark there was a lot of chat about tactics and expectations based on the conditions. A bright sunny day with strong westerly breeze, meant fishing would be very difficult for the most part. There was minimal tide run for a period, and westerly breeze meant the there was clear calm waters. Perfect, if your a swimmer 😅
The competition started very slow, with only a handful of anglers picking out fish inside the first couple of hours. A flurry of Flounder showed up along both zones in the middle of the completion, which brought great relief to a lot of anglers. The majority of anglers clued in straight away, and opted to fish in the gutter. Some of the big casters tested the waters at range with mix of fish baits and worms, but with no tide run it produced nothing. It was a case of, sticking it out in the gutter and getting creative with the baits and rigs to try find a fish or two. As the competition progressed, zone A was looking favourable for Ringsend, while Zone B was going in favour of Ballybrack. Similar to last year, things were very close right up to the final whistle. A few good scoring fish came in for some anglers on the final few casts to change things up a bit and by the end of the competition both clubs thought they had done enough to take the victory.
The main species on the day were flounder, with a small number of others including whiting, weaver, Bass, dogfish, Plaice , Turbot, smoothound and amazingly on the final cast of the day Darius Gricius returned a juvenile blue skate !! Mistaken on the beach for a cuckoo ray by its spots on its wings, later was confirmed to be in fact a small blue skate. An amazing fish to catch anytime, and even nicer to do at a competition like this. Well done Darius.
Back in the carpark as the finally tally of scores was being processed, the craic was brilliant and the camaraderie between both clubs was truly great to experience and is something that is lacking in the sport these days. Final scores came in Ballybrack SAC 11 points Ringsend Irishtown SAC 9 points. There was a number of draws also. Both clubs exchanged banter and handshakes and Ringsend handed the trophy over to the winners for 2026 - Ballybrack SAC.
It was evident that some anglers were disappointed with their results yesterday, but you can’t catch fish that aren’t in front of you and it absolutely goes without saying that every angler played their part and represented their clubs greatly yesterday. Both clubs are already anticipating next years competition and I have no doubt it will be every bit as enjoyable as previous years. Until then from your 2026 winners at Ballybrack SAC - Tight lines 🎣🎣
