The taking of Gilthead Bream here in Cork continues to be a contentious issue. With many anglers getting angry about the continual killing of breeding sized fish, it is not a good situation.
Here we have a new species that has only been resident since approximately 1998. If treated responsibly a foothold could have been made by these beautiful fish in Irelands inshore zone. A spread of the stock further north around both coasts could have been a reasonable expectation given time and climatic conditions suitable for stock enhancement.
Unfortunately most anglers greedy reaction has been to keep all the fish they catch. Cork harbour had some decent fishing for a season but that didn't last long, I heard 70+ fish a week were getting killed during its heyday.
Whether that figure is accurate doesn't really matter now the frenzied bonanza is history. If so called anglers are that desperate for food I'll have to start a charity on this blog to feed them and save them from ruining their own hobby's future. Its exasperating really ........
It has been mentioned to me the possibility of lobbying for the set up of nursery areas where the taking of gilties could be prohibited.
I and many others would love to see something like that in place , I remember it having a very good impact when similar nursery areas were set up to protect bass in Wales, it is definately food for thought...........How much support an idea like that would get is another matter though, are the bream worth protecting? I don't suppose there is much to be gained financially for the goverment by having a healthy gilthead stock, infact at times it seems bass are hardly worth the effort to conserve judging by the protection they seem to get.
I've been bass fishing here for 15 years now and not once in all that time have I ever been approached by a single fishery officer to check on what I was doing or if I had exceeded my catch limit etc!
Isn't that a bit odd ?,where are the people being paid to safeguard the stocks that are already "protected"? Even though they are underfunded and undermanned surely atleast once in all that time I should have seen one patrol ?
What makes it more annoying for me is, I would actually do it myself on a voluntary basis given the chance and would give some of my spare time to be trained in the proceedures that need to be followed by fishery officers . If I'm acceptable for the Lifeboat/RNLI then why not bass protection?
I'll just have to write to them and see what they say I suppose ? Infact it wouldn't suprise me if some other anglers felt the same either ? I'll bet there is more red tape involved with saving fish than there is with saving people. "Oh no you can't do that", is probably as far as it would get?
Anyway apologies for the ranting lately, its just representative of the feed back I've been receiving through members of my angling club and others anglers who phone or email,so I'm putting it out there.
I shouldn't really be negative about the IFI either as they probably do more than I see or hear about ? Its just frustrating when there is no sign of them around the place. That kind of thing annoys people and is a common complaint I hear.
I'll shut-up now and get back to the fishing.........
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Thought for food.
During the big blow we had recently it was again noticable that Kinsale harbour was devoid of any French and Spanish trawlers sheltering from the weather. There would normally be half a dozen or so of the same boats who have been calling into port for years.
We used to be friends with a crew of French guys and shared pints and laughs through the bad gales over a couple of winters. Unfortunately at Xmas time one year they didn't make it back to port and their boat sank 30 miles offshore with the sad loss of all onboard, I never brought myself to make friends with any other crews since.
Aside from the potential dangers of fishing off Ireland what else is causing the disappearance of foreign trawlers from Irish water?
Oil costs and the poor prices they are getting for their fish back home,due to world recession, have now made it unviable to visit our waters so a lot of foreign boats are just not coming here anymore.
Our own fleet are also finding oil prices are having a major impact on how they fish.The small sandy bays around my local coastline used to get trawled regularly by the inshore fleet "having a look" to see what was about. Nowadays every single tow cost so much in fuel that only the main fishing areas, with a more guaranteed catch return, are seeing any trawling activity.
Ofcourse the benefits of this situation are starting to be felt by anglers with plaice fishing showing big signs of improvement in said bays along with dabs ,codling ,gurnards and other species.
Gill netting has also taken a hit with such a reduced effort out of Kinsale it's practically non existent nowadays. Consequently there has been an explosion in the hake stock off the southwest coast with vast amounts of fish being reported.Cod are supposed to be around in much better numbers aswell but I will wait and see before I start celebrating that news.
I hope the wrecks continue to get a rest from the netters and given time the fishing will improve on them also, those that aren't too broken up or disintegrated anyway.
So a strange silver lining in the clouds that is oil prices , unfortunately no such good news on the shore angling scene .
The local Gilthead population are now being fished to extinction by brainless anglers , and with angling journalists getting in on the action I can only hope and pray I don't see any articles in the media giving away information to other greedy individuals.
Anglers from Dublin were fishing one well known WestCork mark recently and just killed everything they caught,including gilties and schoolies, and all taken from a small sensitive stretch of water. With no small/young giltheads showing anywhere locally it looks like the end of the road for this beautiful and hard fighting species in Cork?
Some Eastern Europeans gangs continue to decimate some areas with a thriving trade being done with their local chinese restaurant , they can be seen on some marks practically fishing/killing around the clock and not a thing being done about it , and the mess! well I better not get started on that one :-(
Probably not the most PC of posts I've written and I apologise if I offend any of you, but I'm just reporting on what I have found is happening in my area , you may be experiencing similar situations where you are?
We used to be friends with a crew of French guys and shared pints and laughs through the bad gales over a couple of winters. Unfortunately at Xmas time one year they didn't make it back to port and their boat sank 30 miles offshore with the sad loss of all onboard, I never brought myself to make friends with any other crews since.
Aside from the potential dangers of fishing off Ireland what else is causing the disappearance of foreign trawlers from Irish water?
Oil costs and the poor prices they are getting for their fish back home,due to world recession, have now made it unviable to visit our waters so a lot of foreign boats are just not coming here anymore.
Our own fleet are also finding oil prices are having a major impact on how they fish.The small sandy bays around my local coastline used to get trawled regularly by the inshore fleet "having a look" to see what was about. Nowadays every single tow cost so much in fuel that only the main fishing areas, with a more guaranteed catch return, are seeing any trawling activity.
Ofcourse the benefits of this situation are starting to be felt by anglers with plaice fishing showing big signs of improvement in said bays along with dabs ,codling ,gurnards and other species.
Gill netting has also taken a hit with such a reduced effort out of Kinsale it's practically non existent nowadays. Consequently there has been an explosion in the hake stock off the southwest coast with vast amounts of fish being reported.Cod are supposed to be around in much better numbers aswell but I will wait and see before I start celebrating that news.
I hope the wrecks continue to get a rest from the netters and given time the fishing will improve on them also, those that aren't too broken up or disintegrated anyway.
So a strange silver lining in the clouds that is oil prices , unfortunately no such good news on the shore angling scene .
The local Gilthead population are now being fished to extinction by brainless anglers , and with angling journalists getting in on the action I can only hope and pray I don't see any articles in the media giving away information to other greedy individuals.
Anglers from Dublin were fishing one well known WestCork mark recently and just killed everything they caught,including gilties and schoolies, and all taken from a small sensitive stretch of water. With no small/young giltheads showing anywhere locally it looks like the end of the road for this beautiful and hard fighting species in Cork?
Some Eastern Europeans gangs continue to decimate some areas with a thriving trade being done with their local chinese restaurant , they can be seen on some marks practically fishing/killing around the clock and not a thing being done about it , and the mess! well I better not get started on that one :-(
Probably not the most PC of posts I've written and I apologise if I offend any of you, but I'm just reporting on what I have found is happening in my area , you may be experiencing similar situations where you are?
Monday, August 13, 2012
Fishing On-line
I'm back in the 21st century after some computer problems. It feels good to be online again but I didn't really miss it as much as I would have expected........it eats into your fishing time.
If I'd been reading the catch reports of late it might of put me off going bass fishing too. I don't know if we missed a red-tide scenario down here? but we've honestly found fairly consistent fishing this year, weather allowing!
Our worst guided day out of the season produced one bass of around 4lb and two mullet about the same size ,we switched target species in the afternoon as conditions were very weedy on the day. Apart from that trip we've generally been getting between 5-7 bass over a full days guiding . Ok granted its not the big numbers we were finding in 2010 but the fish are still a decent average size and customers have been re-booking so we're pleased enough. The fact that we're not a full-time operation probably helps with consistency, for obvious reasons.
Its the same story with our personal fishing and that of our close friends with fish being found in East (mostly on bait) and West Cork (mostly lures). I think a lot of the guys who are catching fish are just keeping quiet about it , again for obvious reasons. A lot of people want it given to them on a plate and the net has proven a useful tool for gleaning such info. Some of the more popular marks have been getting immense angling pressure because of clues given away in catch reports and I don't think we will be seeing as many posted in future.
Its guys who are putting in the effort who are getting rewards and are just keeping quiet about it . Thats how it appears to me in my immediate circle anyway, apologies if this goes against the grain of others experiences this year but I'm not going to make up poor fishing stories just to fit in with the general consensus.Saying that though , I do feel for anglers who are finding their haunts devoid of fish and hope and pray it is mostly due to the crazy weather that climate change seems to be bringing us, the other possible reasons for a scarcity along the coast are too upsetting to contemplate at this moment (We have netters and spear fishermen here too).No-one complained about the steady bass fishing that was to be found through last winter so hopefully things are just messed up at the moment.
Yeah the weather is unsettled and this always has a detrimental effect on bass fishing which is a shame, but you can't have great seasons without poor ones , its not a computer game.
If I'd been reading the catch reports of late it might of put me off going bass fishing too. I don't know if we missed a red-tide scenario down here? but we've honestly found fairly consistent fishing this year, weather allowing!
Our worst guided day out of the season produced one bass of around 4lb and two mullet about the same size ,we switched target species in the afternoon as conditions were very weedy on the day. Apart from that trip we've generally been getting between 5-7 bass over a full days guiding . Ok granted its not the big numbers we were finding in 2010 but the fish are still a decent average size and customers have been re-booking so we're pleased enough. The fact that we're not a full-time operation probably helps with consistency, for obvious reasons.
Its the same story with our personal fishing and that of our close friends with fish being found in East (mostly on bait) and West Cork (mostly lures). I think a lot of the guys who are catching fish are just keeping quiet about it , again for obvious reasons. A lot of people want it given to them on a plate and the net has proven a useful tool for gleaning such info. Some of the more popular marks have been getting immense angling pressure because of clues given away in catch reports and I don't think we will be seeing as many posted in future.
Its guys who are putting in the effort who are getting rewards and are just keeping quiet about it . Thats how it appears to me in my immediate circle anyway, apologies if this goes against the grain of others experiences this year but I'm not going to make up poor fishing stories just to fit in with the general consensus.Saying that though , I do feel for anglers who are finding their haunts devoid of fish and hope and pray it is mostly due to the crazy weather that climate change seems to be bringing us, the other possible reasons for a scarcity along the coast are too upsetting to contemplate at this moment (We have netters and spear fishermen here too).No-one complained about the steady bass fishing that was to be found through last winter so hopefully things are just messed up at the moment.
Yeah the weather is unsettled and this always has a detrimental effect on bass fishing which is a shame, but you can't have great seasons without poor ones , its not a computer game.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Bass Policy
Plenty of hungry bass around yesterday right up to the beginning of the closed season . We all took fish on lures but boy was it cold for the time of year !
Have a read of the Draft Bass Policy , excellent work by all involved. It would be great to see the proposals implemented.
Its a good time to target some of the huge wrasse we have around our coasts over the next month , I just hope it warms up a bit.
Have a read of the Draft Bass Policy , excellent work by all involved. It would be great to see the proposals implemented.
Its a good time to target some of the huge wrasse we have around our coasts over the next month , I just hope it warms up a bit.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Fertilised eggs blown away....
Whats happened to our prevailing winds? I can't remember a year like it . The southwesterlies we are supposed to get upon our shorelines have been practically non-existent .
The constant off-shore northerlies and northeasterlies have hampered fishing all around the south coast. Match angling has become chronic with 3 or 4 tiddlers winning competitions and even less in some cases!
Bass angling has been patchy and a little uncomfortable in the biting wind, I long for some warmth to lift the spirits.
We'll get over the below-par fishing as soon as the weather improves, its the poor conditions for stock recruitment that I find most disappointing.
If we keep getting this wind direction at this time of year , we could find it having a negative impact on various species including bass.
A lot of the bass in the Cork area seem to have spawned already this season. Instead of warm southwesterlies gently blowing the fertilised eggs towards the shore and into harbours , lagoons and estuaries, where good nursery conditions for the growth of basslings are found , we have a situation where practically the whole of the spring has seen blustery offshore winds driving everything out to sea.
What the survival chances of a bass egg floating miles off the Mizen Head are, I don't know ? My guess is none or very little. Especially given the distance offshore that they might be bobbing about in these 50 kilometres an hour winds.
I'm no scientist but I don't think 2012 is going to be remembered as a successful breeding year .
Lets hope this doesn't become a regular pattern , looking at Windguru and other sites is almost becoming painful.
My prediction in the last post came true as Derek Kenrick a member of WCAD made the Irish International team that will be competing in Holland later this year.
He was a member of the 2010 team that won gold so will be a valuable member of this group.
This years team looks strong and will be more than capable of having a say in the event , good luck to all those involved .
The constant off-shore northerlies and northeasterlies have hampered fishing all around the south coast. Match angling has become chronic with 3 or 4 tiddlers winning competitions and even less in some cases!
Bass angling has been patchy and a little uncomfortable in the biting wind, I long for some warmth to lift the spirits.
We'll get over the below-par fishing as soon as the weather improves, its the poor conditions for stock recruitment that I find most disappointing.
If we keep getting this wind direction at this time of year , we could find it having a negative impact on various species including bass.
A lot of the bass in the Cork area seem to have spawned already this season. Instead of warm southwesterlies gently blowing the fertilised eggs towards the shore and into harbours , lagoons and estuaries, where good nursery conditions for the growth of basslings are found , we have a situation where practically the whole of the spring has seen blustery offshore winds driving everything out to sea.
What the survival chances of a bass egg floating miles off the Mizen Head are, I don't know ? My guess is none or very little. Especially given the distance offshore that they might be bobbing about in these 50 kilometres an hour winds.
I'm no scientist but I don't think 2012 is going to be remembered as a successful breeding year .
Lets hope this doesn't become a regular pattern , looking at Windguru and other sites is almost becoming painful.
My prediction in the last post came true as Derek Kenrick a member of WCAD made the Irish International team that will be competing in Holland later this year.
He was a member of the 2010 team that won gold so will be a valuable member of this group.
This years team looks strong and will be more than capable of having a say in the event , good luck to all those involved .
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
World Championships Holland 2012 , will you be there?
Aswell as the RNLI voluntary work, the blog, the guiding and a whole host of other jobs and duties , I've also become secretary of West Cork and District SAC this year.
As anyone who has done the secretarial role in an angling club will know the start of the season is a fair amount of work collecting memberships, registering members for IFSA Insurance, entering members in regional qualifiers, writing letters , sending emails,and plenty more, I've even been helping design club clothing this year along with my family. Its definately a commitment that can cut into your fishing time , ironic really!
WCAD isn't a club that is relaxed in its approach to competitions either.With some of the best match anglers in the World (and Gold medals to back that up) , Irish internationals and team captain, Munster champions numerous times over to name but a few accolades, its just not your average club.
Getting a lucky match win is not going to happen, you will have to work your socks off to have any chance of being competitive . Personally I've started well this year in the club but I don't expect to make the top three by the end of the season, infact I would be delighted with 4th !
Many decent anglers including internationals have left to join "easier" clubs because they just can't compete with the quality they're up against over a season. They can find easier routes to the Master Angler elsewhere and I don't blame them one bit.
The system in Ireland is run that the top 10% in each club will get to go on and compete in the next round of qualifiers for the national team the following year , this is called the Master Angler and is held in a different province each year . The top 6 out of over 120+ anglers over the three competitions in the Master Angler get to go on to the "fish-offs".
There they will make up a panel of the best 40 anglers in the country who have mostly qualified by other avenues, for example the previous years' team will be there.
If you come in the first few (top 5 I think?) in that series of comps you will not only be a well earned International Team Member but in my mind will practically have supernatural powers or have sold your soul to the devil! :-)
It takes dedication and consistency over the club season just to earn those master angler positions in WCAD let alone go on through the different rounds to make the Irish team .
WCAD will have 3 places for the master angler this season and none of them will be easily won, but on the flip side those anglers who do get through will be well prepared by the process.
I'm gonna stick my neck out here and predict that WCAD will have at least one member at the World Championships in Holland this October, infact I won't be a bit surprised if we have more than one! Now that would be some going for a small local club !
I guess you're wondering "what has all this got to do with bass fishing ?" Well I'm told bass is going to be one of the main target species at the World Championships and this should give Ireland , Wales and England an advantage as our team members should be as good at catching them as anyone and in all conditions?
They probably won't be favourites though , the amount of times I've read that the French are the best/most advanced bass anglers in Europe ? and also the fact that they are defending champions should put them in that position .
Either way I do hope bass feature strongly in the catches and we will all have an interest in this years competition .
Well, except for anglers who may look down their noses at bait fishermen ........
If your not one of them it might be worth considering joining a local angling club, aswell as getting you through tough and sometimes bass-less winters, it will definately improve your range of skills and ...... who knows where it might take you ? !
As anyone who has done the secretarial role in an angling club will know the start of the season is a fair amount of work collecting memberships, registering members for IFSA Insurance, entering members in regional qualifiers, writing letters , sending emails,and plenty more, I've even been helping design club clothing this year along with my family. Its definately a commitment that can cut into your fishing time , ironic really!
WCAD isn't a club that is relaxed in its approach to competitions either.With some of the best match anglers in the World (and Gold medals to back that up) , Irish internationals and team captain, Munster champions numerous times over to name but a few accolades, its just not your average club.
Getting a lucky match win is not going to happen, you will have to work your socks off to have any chance of being competitive . Personally I've started well this year in the club but I don't expect to make the top three by the end of the season, infact I would be delighted with 4th !
Many decent anglers including internationals have left to join "easier" clubs because they just can't compete with the quality they're up against over a season. They can find easier routes to the Master Angler elsewhere and I don't blame them one bit.
The system in Ireland is run that the top 10% in each club will get to go on and compete in the next round of qualifiers for the national team the following year , this is called the Master Angler and is held in a different province each year . The top 6 out of over 120+ anglers over the three competitions in the Master Angler get to go on to the "fish-offs".
There they will make up a panel of the best 40 anglers in the country who have mostly qualified by other avenues, for example the previous years' team will be there.
If you come in the first few (top 5 I think?) in that series of comps you will not only be a well earned International Team Member but in my mind will practically have supernatural powers or have sold your soul to the devil! :-)
It takes dedication and consistency over the club season just to earn those master angler positions in WCAD let alone go on through the different rounds to make the Irish team .
WCAD will have 3 places for the master angler this season and none of them will be easily won, but on the flip side those anglers who do get through will be well prepared by the process.
I'm gonna stick my neck out here and predict that WCAD will have at least one member at the World Championships in Holland this October, infact I won't be a bit surprised if we have more than one! Now that would be some going for a small local club !
I guess you're wondering "what has all this got to do with bass fishing ?" Well I'm told bass is going to be one of the main target species at the World Championships and this should give Ireland , Wales and England an advantage as our team members should be as good at catching them as anyone and in all conditions?
They probably won't be favourites though , the amount of times I've read that the French are the best/most advanced bass anglers in Europe ? and also the fact that they are defending champions should put them in that position .
Either way I do hope bass feature strongly in the catches and we will all have an interest in this years competition .
Well, except for anglers who may look down their noses at bait fishermen ........
If your not one of them it might be worth considering joining a local angling club, aswell as getting you through tough and sometimes bass-less winters, it will definately improve your range of skills and ...... who knows where it might take you ? !
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Bass en masse
Loads of sub 4lb bass around the West Cork (and probably East too?) coast at the moment . Easterly winds , neap tides and bass all over the place.
Its been so mild (hot !) for this time of year and the fish have responded . Its going home once you've caught 10 kind of fishing , a bit like shooting fish in a barrel, too easy, but blows the cobwebs off nicely.
Normally the bigger fish wouldn't start showing till the second half of April at the earliest , I'll be keeping an eye on that situation this year. 2012 has really started well lets hope it continues , Happy Bassing.
Its been so mild (hot !) for this time of year and the fish have responded . Its going home once you've caught 10 kind of fishing , a bit like shooting fish in a barrel, too easy, but blows the cobwebs off nicely.
Normally the bigger fish wouldn't start showing till the second half of April at the earliest , I'll be keeping an eye on that situation this year. 2012 has really started well lets hope it continues , Happy Bassing.
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