Celebrating the catching of undersize species.

Here here Kerry1!! Well said.

K1 has pretty much hit the nail square on the head with that post and I dont think I could put it any better. The fisheries board would be spending their time far more constructively if they were working on putting a stop to things that will make a difference to the long term sustainability of the sport instead of worrying about picutes of small fish that might portray Irish angling in the wrong light. Its one thing posting pictures of small fish that you have caught and released, in most cases unharmed, its quite another thing altogether having trawlers netting in estuaries which are being used as nurseries by these small fish. I have had the "pleasure" of seing these small fish brought up in nets by trawlers and watched them being kicked and flung out the skupper holes completely unrecognisable because they have been mangled by the nets and by the pressure of the haul. Now if we started posting pictures like these would we be getting a similar response from our regional boards? The small fish in these reports are not what the anglers would like to be catching. They are all thats left in most cases. I agree with Shaneh in that you can go an target big fish and most definitley you can target them exclusilvely but thats alot easier for anglers who "know what theyre doing" so to speak. It takes an awfull lot of time and know how to be succesfull at this kind of fishing. It also in some cases takes living near to the right venues. Not every angler gets into the sport to the same degree as some of us on here. For the anglers who do it more as a past time an less as a religion and way of life its not as simple as just saying well go target bigger fish!

Excellent replies Kerry and Mike. And Shane had a very good point about specificity targeting the bigger fish. However knowledge is a big key here and although some anglers might know the how the where remains a mystery. And more often then not regards of knowing another angler or their reputation this information does not be very forthcoming.

there have been several good points put forward here nursery fish use the harbours for shelter and refuge from larger preditors because there is no were else for them to go a few bob invested in artifical reefs by the fisheries and the fish stocks would improve along with the sizes this would encourage foreign anglers and tourism and get rid of all derilect ships
and trawlers blocking harbour walls around the country

there have been several good points put forward here nursery fish use the harbours for shelter and refuge from larger preditors because there is no were else for them to go a few bob invested in artifical reefs by the fisheries and the fish stocks would improve along with the sizes this would encourage foreign anglers and tourism and get rid of all derilect ships
and trawlers blocking harbour walls around the country

Bang on. Benefits of this:-
1. Trawlers would be unable to operate in areas which have been disignated as Nursery areas.
2. Artificial reefs would provide much needed grow time and protection for small fish to mature away from the nets.
3. Substantial boosts to the ecological tourism sector eg Artificial reefs for recreational divers to enjoy.
4. They will only add to our already beautifull harbours and coastline and provide enjoyment for us and our kids and their kids
5. They will provide a constructive use for decomissioned vessels. Instead of taking from the seas they will now contribute something.
6. Public support for campaings such as these is normally very strong, a good bargaining tool for any fisheries board.

I could go on with this list all night to be honest. Ask the anglers that fish the Skerries bank in the UK why they dont post pictures of small fish. They will tell you its cos they dont need to, there are plenty of pictures of stonkers because the nets aren't allowed anywhere near the bank!!! Lets tackle the root causes of the decline in our fish sizes. And we all know it hasnt got a damn thing to do with recreational anglers.

there have been several good points put forward here nursery fish use the harbours for shelter and refuge from larger preditors because there is no were else for them to go a few bob invested in artifical reefs by the fisheries and the fish stocks would improve along with the sizes this would encourage foreign anglers and tourism and get rid of all derilect ships
and trawlers blocking harbour walls around the country

that would be a grate thing for fish and fishing i tink they do it in america with old planes

this is what should be put forward to the powers that be starting with dublin bay even the greens would support this

this is what should be put forward to the powers that be starting with dublin bay even the greens would support this

how would you go about getting something like this dun

this is what should be put forward to the powers that be starting with dublin bay even the greens would support this

Why not starting with Cork harbour

sinking a boat as a artificial reef was supposed to happen in killala bay a few years ago,it was reported on the news,but i don't know if it happened,i know that there were large costs involved.if my memory serves me it was about 50,000 euros,to clean up the boat and sink it.
i must admit that early in the post i said i would support the idea of not posting pics of small fish,but after reading all the comments especially k1s and als and saltydogs,i now realise that these reports are true reflections of what happen around our coastline,and that i read these reports to find out what is being caught and where,more importantly 99.9 per cent of the posters treat small undersized fish with respect and care and release them accordingly,so having a picture and posting it,is a hell of a lot better than the old days, where you would have had to kill that fish if you needed to prove you caught it.bloody great things,digital camaras.

mikey the reason for me to say dublin bay is its barren no reefs no where to stop trawlers and good deep water off the back
of howth and irelands eye and its the capital city and my boat is moored there also if i remember rightly they do this around kilmore local fishermen take out the tanks tow the boat out scuttle it 3 yrs later new reef

it is a brilliant idea alright but illegal for fishermen to do so of their own accord unfortunately.i think it was trevor sargent was pushing for it in balbriggan and skerries a few years back but to no avail,dunno why because all were in favour-fishermen,anglers,environmentalists,locals and local politicians.

if a boat sinks it sinks!!!!!! if you left a harbour at 530 am towing a derilect no fuel tanks and after a half mile in deep water it suddenly started taken in water and sinking what could you do only let it go all your dumping is the shell
engine and fueltanks removed it was probley some councillers relations company that put themselves forward as marine disposals specialists oh yeah i do that for 50 grand give you 20 .cant cost that much to remove engines and tanks id say hammond lane would take them foc

The debate has ellicited a good response with many view points, two of which stand out. Second best appears to have been accepted on this site and that quality fishing is a thing of the past. All the images below were taken in 2009. The fishing trips were not highly planned affairs, some were off the cuff, however in each instant a little bit of thought was employed, but not much.

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Love that flounder Ashley, an absolute slab Most of me and my mates fishing is targeting specific fish (the larger the better) but i think youll agree often this involves quite a journey, and at times this aint always possible with work, family commitments etc and its somtimes a local pier or rock mark is the best bet to chill out for a couple hours catch a few fish and not be gone all day.

The debate has ellicited a good response with many view points, two of which stand out. Second best appears to have been accepted on this site and that quality fishing is a thing of the past.

Hi Ashley, i think that is an awful generalisation to make. This year has seen some stand out fishing reported Boycies and baitdiggers stingers, all the quality Tope that dbrock caught and put others on off greystones. Fine Bass from Meath, Dublin, Wicklow, Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Kerry, Clare, Galway with Mayo and Sligo producing the goods too. Cracking Mullet on display how many specimens did Davy Murdoch, Colin C and Kerry1 and Kerry2 post up. Lots of specimen Smooth Hounds all slong Wexford incuding a whopper 10lber by Danny M. Lumps of Wrasse reported from Kerry and Clare. The Tope from the shore that Denis put the lads on off Wicklow more from the shore from Petewex and co. Quality Thornback Ray fishing from Donagh & Gearoid on the shannon estuary as well as plenty from Galway including cfb's fish of the week last January a 11lber on a spinning rod. We've seen some nice Painted Ray too and recently we've seen some fine sea trout showing. There are plenty of other standouts that if i sat down and went through the posts i could highlight. There is still quality fishing there for me that's not an issue the thing to remember is there are over 3000 registered members on this site with different skill levels and indeed aspirations. At the moment in Winter fishing produces a lot of small fish thats a fact of life there are better fish out there as Petewex highlighted with that fine cod he posted, unfortuantely not everyone has the knowledge, ability or even the desire to go after them. I think to condemn someone for posting a report on their fishing session because all they caught was a few small fellas is wrong. If they are fishing within the guidelines for their region and thats the best they could manage for whatever reason so be it. The angling community needs to attract young people to the sport and they will start off fishing piers and catching small small fish that is a fact of life and many of us started catching mackerel in the summer and developed. We all need to show more patience when it comes to developing anglers and encourage them and educate them along the way.

[MikeQ]

The debate has ellicited a good response with many view points, two of which stand out. Second best appears to have been accepted on this site and that quality fishing is a thing of the past. All the images below were taken in 2009. The fishing trips were not highly planned affairs, some were off the cuff, however in each instant a little bit of thought was employed, but not much.

I find that remark offensive to say the least. Disgracefull. If that is your opinion of the members of the site then why do you bother posting on here at all? I was always taught that if you havent got something good and encouraging to say then say nothing. I think the fisheries board in this country is a disgrace. Not even second best, miles away from it.

Last edited by MikeQ on Sat Jan 09, 2010 3:05 pm, edited 4 times in total.

i'd be inlcined to agree with saltydog, i certainly have not settled for 2nd best. i have been lucky enough to meet a lot of experienced and good anglers through this site who in return have brought me and given me some top marks. i caught more pb's than sence in the last few years and its all thanks to this site. but i think its just as important to keep some marks for yourself and a lot of the the uality fish i catch dont get reported. i think its important to keep marks private especially when their not yours to give away. shammoo raises a point about the lack of kerry reprts on the site, and i can almost garantee you its because they dont want a load of litter louts coming from around the country and ruining their unspoilt landscape. i dont feel this site moto is 'pr for the irish tourism board', its sea angling ireland and what goes up here more often than not is what get caught in ireland while sea angling.

Thank You Salty dog, I thought that would grab a response and draw comment out of the wood work. Yes I am aware of the members that you mention and the images of fish that they post up on occasions.

That is my point, we should aspire to quality. Whwn I was a young lad, and that is not today or yesterday, I wanted to catch a ten pound Bass or a twenty pound Cod. Codling were fifteen inches+ and flats were twelve inches+. If we caught small fish, other than looking after them carefully and returning them, they did not count.

The big fish are there, maybe in less numbers, but if we do not aim high then we never will see in the future a return to bigger and better catches.