size limits

Hi all,
i was just on the verge of posting my fishing report for yesterdays trip to youghal,but there wasn't much point as it was a complete blank not even a single bite apart from the crabs again.
The question i have is what are the size limits for codling and coalies as when i arrived at my proposed mark there were aready 2 ANGLERS! ,fishing the hotspot.They had been getting a good few small codling and coalies but from where i was looking the biggest codling was no more than 1lb and the coalies looked even smaller.When i passed a comment on the SIZE i was informed the fish were 36cm.Now im no expert but that might have been the biggest from what i could see. Fair enough if thats the limit especially in a competition set up,but surely if it was just a day out those fish would have been better off to be set free whilst waiting for the biggie and im curious as to the culinary values of coalies!
To be honest even when the fishing was better and easier in times gone by,myself or my friends would never consider keeping anything that SMALL,no wonder fish are getting scarcer,but i suppose these guys needed to keep so many in order to get a few fish fingers for there tea!
Seriously confused.

have gotten used to seeing that mate, especially around the busy spots here in dublin...wouldint even pass comment to an angler about it anymore.. its a common question.. there are definite laws for bass that much i no but by the looks of it (outside of competition) its a free for all , there may be lays in place but they dont seem to be upheld very well

coalies are actually tasty.....used to be sold as cod before regulations came in.....don't agree with taking undersized fish but then people need to be educated on the consequences of these actions in terms of the future of fish stocks......

There were bye laws brought in last year for coarse fish..same should be done for sea fishing...eg Only two fish oer session and they have to be over 40 cm??..same as bass...that could be interesting..oh yeah Macks are not included in this but you could have a number put on them ...there have been serious declines in last few years

in australia and other countries there is a bag limit and size on nearly all fish thats prob why the fishing is so good over there,,,,,,

its hard enough for the FO's to manager the illegal fishing going on at the moment for bass salmon and trout. Would it be financially viable to employ all of the extra fishery officers and support staff that would be required to monitor such activities

Totally agree Paul... We need to emply a number of Fisheries officers for the protection of all aspects of Angling Sea, Game and Coarse. If the Goverment scrapped the electronic voting machines rather than paying crazy money to store them, that money would surely cover the wages of quite a few FO's... Wishful thinking.

Even South Africa have a bag limit and size limit for almost everything that can be caught in the sea. They even have limits on the amount of bait than can be collected. They too struggle with enforcement, but at least they have plenty of FO's.

Kev

Hi again,
all very valid points and good ideas,pity the people in higher authority won't see our point of view.At the end of the day its up to the real anglers out there to practice what we preach and to be honest the vast majority have seen the light.Also there is a certain good factor in knowing that some day that undersize fish just might come along and put the bend of a lifetime onto that new shiny beachcaster or is that just a pipedream,who knows.
Incidently these guys were no fools judging by the top of the range century rods and gear that they were using,maybe it would have made me feel better if it was a couple of novices using lidls finest gear(no offence or snobbery intended)but i think ye get the idea.These deise men knew exactly what was what and it wouldn't suprise me if they will be the very guys giving out about the poor quality of fishing in time to come,well guys if ye are reading this its food for thought,yip nets trawlers etc have a lot to answer for but as ANGLERS lets not be hypocrites and more importantly lets not be the ones talking in time to come about the lack of fish in the local when we would no in our heart and souls that we would have slaughtered anything that swam in the past just for the sake of having a few fish by our sides to show off to any passerbyes :idea: :idea:
Tight lines to all the true anglers out there.