irish anglers digest

I Would like to see more shore angling features, I'd also like to see more coverage given to see angling and possibly a small section for match results and upcoming comps.

dont hold your breath man...but if their going to survive theyll have to do something,up to now i wouldnt use it to wipe me a##e.

I'd like to see a feature where an amiable Scottish angler, resident in Ireland, is given a variety of rods, reels, tackle and boats - and an expense account - to test for a year or two in a variety of exotic locations around the world. I'm pretty sure there would be a big market for it....

I dont read the articles just look at the pictures.................more pictures please.

I received an email from David Dinsmore this morning relating to this thread, who by the way is an approachable guy who responds pretty quickly to emails etc. Davids attitude is simple, if you have something good that you would like to see in the magazine, send it in to him, if you have any ideas in relation to how it can be improved etc, contact him.

Better off being constructive about it lads, tell him what you DO want to see rather than merely slating whats there. Do bear in mind that writing an article really isn't the walk in the park you may think it is. Its one thing throwing a report up on here for a few laughs but putting something together thats fresh, interesting, informative, witty, readable and relevant month in month out would be a feat in itself, especially when you take into account the photography involved as well.

Davids contact details are below.

David
Editor
Irish Angler
IPI Centre
Breaffy Road
Castlebar
Co Mayo
Ireland

Tel +353 94 902 7656 Fax +353 94 902 7861
Email: irishanglereditor@eircom.net

thats more like it pete

great if something positive came out of this

This is really funny i wrote an article in the Irish angling news way back in the eighty's about the same thing, i wanted them to give the casting better coverage but i fell on deaf ears. Unlike today where we have excellent web sites like this one to advertise our preferred discipline in the sport it was hell to get coverage back then.
i personaly think that magazines will be a thing of the past and in particular the Irish one's if they don't smarten themselves up and give the reader what they want.
yes we have superstars in this country who get no credit for pushing the boundary's a few that spring to mind Dave Roe, andrew gormnley, heiko dreier, to name but a few if these lads were uk citizens they would have article in sea angler every week and they would be household names the wealth of knowledge that these lads hold would make great reading because they are at the cutting edge of our sport and unlike our present journalist have first hand knowledge of what they are talking about. (and not script writers)

lads with the ties this club has with IRISH ANGLER MAG ie.(kieran h)i think irish angler should give SAI a MEMBERS PAGE where each month sai nominates or chooses 1 or 2 members of the club/site to write an article or column with a little bit of their knowledge in it ?? maybe 1 page with 4 small paragraphs with small tips including

... tips on bait presentation from some of our top match anglers ?

...tips on how to keep and store bait in order to maintain its freshness from guys who have the know-how ?

...tips on terminal tackle (rigs, rods, reels) from some of our tackle tarts ?? etc..

what do you guys think about this ??

if i was to E-MAIL the editor and put this forward would you guys back me up ??

good idea boycie, some of the articles are a wee bit missleading in fairness

Iv only bought this mag a few times its a waste of money if your a shore angler. Theres more game, coarse articles in it..saying that if they did have it set up like total sea fishing with tips etc id buy it each month

Nice idea boycie, personally i think i'd like to see something like that done on this site. I was amazed at the depth of info available on planetseafishing and think we need to do something similar along those lines ourselves.

have emailed him already on articles id like to see,would deff back you up on this one.

Nice idea boycie, personally i think i'd like to see something like that done on this site. I was amazed at the depth of info available on planetseafishing and think we need to do something similar along those lines ourselves.

Pete I think you could start a different debate here. One that I would welcome as I would love to see more info available here. I'm only fishing a couple of years but I'm still never tired of trying (or tying ) different rigs, still have doubts about snood length, bait presentation etc. I'd love to see a sticky for instance titled rigs where people and talk, debate about or do nice diagrams via MS Paint of different rigs. There were a few posts about pulley's for instance since the smoothies came in. A thread about rigs would have directed people there to seek the appropriate info. Then lads could discuss different opinions about the simplicity or aerodynamic additions they like to use.

One example I tried was to add a couple of small lead shots to the snood above the hook to see if bait fished closer to the bottom would attract a smoothies attention seeing chances are that's where they'd find a crab. I found that the trace without the shoots fished better!!! Now I know different venues would call for different tactics but that would be the whole discussion and point of such a thread.

Of course a rigs sticky would only be one option. I'm sure everybody that has bought Sea Angler the last few issues has enjoyed the skills section where they do articles on the basics of the sport.

Sorry to have taken a step sideways on this thread by the way

Nice idea boycie, personally i think i'd like to see something like that done on this site. I was amazed at the depth of info available on planetseafishing and think we need to do something similar along those lines ourselves.

I completely agree Pete and funnily enough was thinking exactly the same thing as I was reading through the posts on this thread, its a lot easier to criticize than to provide an alternative and at its most basic that could be in the form of an article type post on this forum, and there have been some very informative and interesting posts of that nature here over the years. However I think you're absolutely right something along the lines of Planet Sea Fishing could be a very interesting way for this site to evolve, providing a website with articles, tutorials and possible even videos by members of the site in addition to the forum. However it would require a huge amount of work and effort to really make something like that work, I think it could be great though.

Am I the only one around here who actually likes the current setup in Irish Angler?

I like to game fish, boat angle, I'll do a bit from the shore now and then, last December I got my first ever pike on my first ever pike trip, and it's all there in one handy mag for me. I don't have to fork out for half a dozen titles every month. Plus, I doubt if there's sufficient marketplace for individual Irish titles for all the various disciplines Irish Angler covers.

Whilst trying to fill a keepnet with 100lbs of coarse fish isn't something I'm particularily interested in trying for myself, I still enjoy reading about other anglers and how they do their thing.


It's all angling, and I enjoy it all.

Hiyez

I've respectfully declined to comment, despite approaches from a lot of people, on the basis that a fuller discussion might produce something useful. And I think it has... but a few points bear comment / correction: -

1. the piece is written for recreational anglers, not match anglers. I would not pretend to have the skill levels or dedication (and specifically the time!) to give to the sport to allow me participate meaningfully in match events. I think a piece or even a series of articles on match angling would be very useful and I am sure David would be interested, email him!

2. being a recreational angler myself, I think I can give a fair perspective on what is possible in most of the marks. That means not casting over 100 metres and not having the latest best kit or having rigs and equipment that allows you use sophisticated light gear techniques. It also means that you have to 'filter' what you offer in the article...

3. Local anglers whose opinions I trust are given articles in advance (some have collaborated), many contribute here too, so if the data is ut of date or similar, then my apologies if it is the case, but we do our best to make sure it is up to date. I talk to local anglers, and some give good information and some will tell your stories and even give you b*****s so as to avoid seeing a mark fished by others. You have to make a call on the "quality" of the information being offered... it may be that I am being told the truth and when people see it is not included, they feel "sore" with me about this. Life eh!

4. Other anglers often give me other marks in the area and tell me in detail what is available and possible there. They turn around and tell me to tell no-one! ;0) I respect their wishes which means that a productive less well known mark may not make it into the article. Now suppose I was going to write about the mark anyhow, suddenly I am damned if I do...

5. the piece "Around Ireland" is written three to six months or more in advance of publication, and you have to write them anticipating what would be available on a given mark in six months time or so. Not as simple as it sounds. So with regard to marks you have to average it out, look at reports, your own diary, and give readers a general assessment... furthermore there is a limit to what you can include in terms of the level of detail. I got criticised for going into too much detail not so long ago when I described the position of snags on one mark - i.e you have to find a middle ground.

6. Some of you will doubtless have better knowledge about a specific favourite mark or even part of the coastline... if I have covered the area in an article and it does not reflect your experience and more expert knowledge, that is unfortunate but hardly not to be expected.

As with this site, I am happy to take valid and fair criticisms on board and if need be on the chin.
So long as it is offered constructively...

The purpose of Around Ireland is to illustrate to readers what is possible, give them options and give coastal communities a bit of additional income from the tourism we sea anglers offer all year round, which in the current situation, is not small deal. The articles routinely refer potential visiting anglers to these forums so they can get more detailed reports from the experts here and to be fair to David he has never objected to us including the link, in fact he has supported it...

In respect of the bait series, there is very little you can do meaningfully in 1 page and we have discussed this (in advance of the contributions here) and we had agreed to look at a more effective format so judge it from what emerges shortly.

I think "Around Ireland" still serves a useful purpose but, as with fishing, it is always possible to improve...

thanks

sorry kieran, i think it is unfair, to differentiate match anglers from shore anglers, we do both. gear, ability and experience aside some of your reads have been way off to the point of lunacy. i fish a lot locations around ireland but my experience on them would not warrant me to write an in depth article on them, i think any angler in ireland would struggle to do this. why not (aimed at magazine) pick a local who knows his marks in detail, from experience author the piece in future. no more bulls**t, instead of putting your name in the hands of others who may be feeding you porkies let those who know first hand do. as you mentioned these articles are written months in advance, hence they may be out of date at the time of reading, a local who knows his marks intimately can accuratley describe how a mark is going to fish any time of year, thus they should never be out of date. dont get me wrong some of your piece have been alright, the vast majority, im afraid just dont make sence.

thats just my two cents,

too many people on this site, seem to consider us match anglers as elitest or superior and cant relate to pleasure anglers. at the end of the day we all go fishing, we're in this together, lets get along and make it better!

nice post kieran,i think thats a fair and honest answer.i still would like to see some articles written by local anglers about there local marks and hints and tips on how to fish them.i have emailed david asking for this already.

Fairplay Keiran for for comming on this thread I reckon its a good thing because now yourself and David Dinsmore know how anglers feel about the poor coverage of sea angling in the magazine and hopefully some good stuff will come of it.

how about a day out with the match angler, kieran or another reporter heads out with a well known match angler, would be great to see how different qaulity anglers tackle different scenarios.

sorry if my last post was a little strong kieran, nothing personal meant.

I'm with Tanglerat on this, I think the mag does a great job for what it tries to do. Ireland doesn't have a big enough market for a dedicated sea angling mag, IA has to cover all disciplines in order to sell enough copies/ad revenue. I also fish for salmon and trout a lot, and the game anglers I know would like to see more game angling coverage, so we're all in the same boat lads. If you want to read a mag with loads of sea angling features buy Sea Angler or TSF, I do, and I also buy Trout and Salmon to get more game angling info. IA is a good mag, albeit we might not always agree with certain authors views.
Certain people on this thread have been highly critical of one or two contributors, so lets see you guys step up to the mark and write something you consider better...