Float fishing...Blues.

I have been float fishing in Dun Laoghaire the last few years but this year theres seems to be little or no mac being caught Im thinking its the amount of new float fishing guys that have arrived this year...last year I practically had the place to myself ...or is there a country wide shortage this year.. Im not sure... can a place be over fished for mac?.....anyone got any ideas...

Steve..

Think there just thin on the ground this year, as mack are a shoal fish and are constantly on the move i dont think they could be fished out of a particular area.

They're just thin on the ground around Dublin at the moment. Have been down to Dun Laoghaire a few times and just concentrated on the mini species because of this and my desire not to stand amid 20 people flinging lead and hooks around randomly!

mackerel are there,

very thin on the ground down here in mayo too,and i dont think galway is much better.

Well Ill just have to keep trying was out of 3 days about 5 hours fishing each day I got 2 mac...

Does anyone salt mac strips and freeze them...Im thinking of doing this to save a few euro.

TV last couple of weeks large factory ship takes either 5 hundred tons or 8 hundred tops but they kept going on till a large shoal of mach came up on the screen they then put a large net around the shoal and sucked them on board filled the boat in one lift and went back to port to unload and then back in search of another shoal so your Dublin fish are fish meal by now soon be no fish for any one

i remember seeing a tv programme where the massive commercial boats called a 500 tonne catch of mackeral " a poor haul " . might have been the same show

500 ton feck me , thats awsome

Does anyone salt mac strips and freeze them...Im thinking of doing this to save a few euro.

Best thing to do if you catch fresh mackeral is just used the belly of them. That way you can eat the rest and cut the belly into strips and throw it in the freezer. You don't need salt because they are fresh even when they thaw out they are like leather so one strip will probably catch you a good few more before it is ruined. It is like using squid but with the added benefit of the flash of the skin. I was using this in Dalkey a few weeks ago for dogfish and I must have caught about 5 on the one piece before I left. Also it won't be noticed in the freezer by the misses

Mackeral seems to be scarce around the country this year. Even down here in Cork only mackeral being caught is off the boats. None off the shore as yet. Disappointing really. Well lets hope that they eventually do appear.
I don;t think Macs can be fished out.
If anyone is catching any mackeral in Cork let me know.

Dean.