is the bass ban doing any good??

heres one to start an argument whats the point of a 1mth ban anyway. i have had Bass in april full of roe. surley if a ban is to work it should be from march - july . im neither for nor against this im just putting it out there as weve all seen the pic from cashen with a Bass in the net and also i realy want to heat other ppls opinions either way .

as far as im concerned i think a 1 mth ban is just tokenism

Two points. There is no ban on Bass fishing. What Ireland has is a conservation measure to improve stocks. Is it working? Very much so. I have never seen so many, in particular juvenile Bass, in my lifetime (48 years). There are at least three year classes that I am aware of.

Why the close season? Bass spawn over a protracted period in late spring and early summer, not in one go. Hence the break between the 15th May and the 15th June.

With respect, I do not know your age, If it was not for Bass, there would be nothing worth fishing for on the east coast beaches save the odd Smooth Hound, Mullet, and Tope. Double figure Ray, plump Codling, 2.lb+ Plaice and Black Sole, 1.lb Dab, Red and Grey Gurnards, I could go on are all a thing of the very recent past. Be thankful, now go to your club and affiliating body and develop a very strong case for defending the measure and making sure that it stays in place.

Regards...

The continued failure by many to recognise the uniqueness of the species, the incredible potential of the sustainable recreational fishery and the lack of any cohesive National voice that’s aimed at protection and conservation for bass, only serves to further empower those responsible for its continued failure to recover or who seek the destruction of the species through commercial fishing.

It also continues to put at risk the ‘closed season’ and the benefits of the commercial restrictions which anglers, not only from Ireland but from all over the world enjoy. These benefits may not be immediately apparent but they serve a number of purposes least of all that if anglers simply abide by them then they are demonstrating a positive solidarity towards conservation and the possible continuation of the fishery!

[eric]

in theory its a great idea, a closed season for bass. in reality its complete waist of time. without any real policing whos keeping tabs, ive yet to ever come accross a fisheries officer in all my years of fishing, i happen to do quite a lot of it, ive seen quite a few headlights on venues renowned for bass fish recently during the ban, mabye they are flounder fishing? a fantastic vision in principle but with a lot of ignorant and crafty anglers out there its flawed to the core.

Last edited by eric on Tue May 26, 2009 12:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

The fact that it's flawed isn't a good reason for getting rid of the ban. I think we'd all like to see more enforcement though, not just regarding the closed season but also of people taking under-size fish. It's sad that so many are irresponsible.

I dont think as a conservation measure that the bass ban serves a great deal of purpose. The lads that enjoy killing bass or taking U.S. fish will still continue to do so. As a ban, realistically, how much good does it do in pure stock conservation? Not a huge amount I'm thinking.

However, on saying that, that isn't the full picture. I'm in agreement with JimH here when I say that if we as anglers expect the continued ban on landings of bass by commercial fishermen, then we have to be seen to be proactive in the conservation of the species also. There has to be some sharing of the pain as it were. If it is indeed only a token effort, then at least it can be seen as "anglers doing their bit". If it were to be removed, it would only be adding more weight behind the commercial fishermens argument to have their ban rescinded.

There are other measures that could be taken. An extension of the ban...Possibly. More importantly and more effectively, I would totally be in favour of slot size limits for the retention of bass. Schoolies have to run the gauntlet before reaching spawning size, yet its ok to take big mature fish full of roe. That in my book doesnt make a lot of sense. 42cm to say 55/60cm, everything else goes back.

I've never really bought into the myth and hype surrounding bass fishing but thats probably because I do a lot of boat fishing which opens up a whole new world of challenges and prospects. I'm lucky enough to be able to fish some of the most productive bass marks in the country on a regular basis. However, I can fully appreciate that for someone who isnt into the boat scene, or with little access to decent Bass fishing, they most certainly are one of the most sought after targets for a sizeable, fighting fish from the shore. As Ashley says, there arent too many of those left in our waters so we should do what we can to preserve what we have left.

Just a correction on what Ashley said above, there is a ban on Bass fishing and even
attempting to fish for Bass, so I guess if you are on a Bass mark they could take the view
that’s what you are doing regardless and enforce it.
the wording from the BASS FISHING CONSERVATION BYE-LAW NO. 826 OF 2007 is below.

"It is hereby prohibited to fish or attempt to fish for bass with any rod, line
or weir during the period commencing on 15 May to 15 June each and every year."

But as Eric said there have been plenty of Lights and cars parked along plenty of well known Bass marks during the last 2 weeks, I also believe there was allot of pleading ignorance to
the Ban at a comp last weekend which I believe the fisheries board attended, more of this
sort of action is needed and further policing too in order to educate.

I also agree with Petekd, there is allot of myth to Bass fishing (too much) which I think
over hypes them. Yes they are a great fish but not near as hard to actually catch as is
made out. I would also agree with the slot limit for retaining a fish to let the small ones
grow and big ones spawn and retain the 2 per 24 hrs, I know allot of anglers return all their
fish anyway.

Was surprised to meet some ERFB people around courtown during the last week, the stock response from all anglers they met on the beaches was "What Bass laws". Nice to see them out and about though, but i think they could focus their energies more on the bigger issues i.e. netting

Is enough being done to make anglers aware of the Bass ban? I can’t remember fishing a Pike venue over the last couple of years where there is not a sign in many different European languages outlining what the Pike bye laws are.
I have also seen many signs outlining the Salmon and Sea Trout bye laws and the catch and release rules on different rivers, even on harbours in the vicinity of Salmon and Sea Trout rivers, but I have never seen any signs or information notices regarding the ban on Bass fishing.
It’s easy to think to yourself, what difference can one angler make? but I believe that if everyone obeyed the law and was mindful of conservation throughout the rest of the year then it would make a huge difference in time.
I also believe that the pen is mightier than the sword and now would be a very opportune time to write to your local politicians requesting that more be done to raise awareness of the Bass bye laws.

Dave

Dead right DaveP, I've seen signs for pike Salmon Trout etc, but then there is the licence fee
to pay for them i suppose would be the arguenment.
The rules and regs should be put up on those "what fish can be caught here boards" you see at
some beachs & peirs and more of these should be errected at the more promenent spots around
the country.

Pete's right, a slot limit should be the way forward. IIRC bass don't spawn until they reach 42-43cm, so a slot limit of 45/50-60cm would ensure that these fish get to spawn at least once before being killed. As it is, a 40cm fish taken for the pot has never had a chance to spawn.

Re signs, who's going to pay for these? The fisheries boards are being bled dry at the moment in terms of funding, there simply is no money to put up signs. Ignorance of the law is no excuse anyway, the onus is on everyone to ensure they are familiar with regulations before going fishing. You wouldn't break a red light and tell the guard you didn't know it was illegal, would you?

Signs were suggested and the response was that they tried that but the signs were removed. The ERFB seemed to be trying to raise awarness as they were handing out plain A4 pages with the regulations on them, cutbacks must be kicking in.

as a guy who fishes in mayo mostly,and never having caught a bass,i would still agree with a ban.i was and am a salmon angler and have suffered from the regs on salmon fishing,but yet i agree with these regs if we want to see the salmon stocks recover. the way i see it is its partly our responcibily to be conservation minded if we want the stocks to recover. bass fishing is the same,bass anglers need to be conservation minded,there is nothing we can do about the idiots that disreguard the ban,all any individual angler can do is respect the laws reguarding a species. on the issue of signs how much does it cost to print a a4 size page with the rules reguarding bass,laminate it,and stick it up in your local bass beach? very hard for someone to claim they did not know the law if its printed in black and white and displayed in a prominant place.

in theory its a great idea, a closed season for Bass. in reality its complete waist of time. without any real policing whos keeping tabs, ive yet to ever come accross a fisheries officer in all my years of fishing, i happen to do quite a lot of it, ive seen quite a few headlights on venues renowned for Bass fish recently during the ban, mabye they are flounder fishing? a fantastic vision in principle but with a lot of ignorant and crafty anglers out there its flawed to the core.

Not picking on eric just because I'm quoting his post alone from the thread but this isn't a problem with the ban per se, it's a problem of the complete failure to enforce the ban. If you see what I mean.

There is a ban, the species is removed from commercial exploitation, and this needs to be enforced. Anything further to this should be looked at in the light of effective efficient policing of what we have already.

in theory its a great idea, a closed season for Bass. in reality its complete waist of time. without any real policing whos keeping tabs, ive yet to ever come accross a fisheries officer in all my years of fishing, i happen to do quite a lot of it, ive seen quite a few headlights on venues renowned for Bass fish recently during the ban, mabye they are flounder fishing? a fantastic vision in principle but with a lot of ignorant and crafty anglers out there its flawed to the core.

Not picking on eric just because I'm quoting his post alone from the thread but this isn't a problem with the ban per se, it's a problem of the complete failure to enforce the ban. If you see what I mean.

There is a ban, the species is removed from commercial exploitation, and this needs to be enforced. Anything further to this should be looked at in the light of effective efficient policing of what we have already.

fully aware of that tanglerat, like i said the ban is a great idea, its a poor reflection on us anglers that we cant stay away from the forbidden fruit for 1 month, more funding has to be issued to the fisheries board. how many officers are employed for the whole east coast? there is simply not enough of them to do the job effectively.

Was surprised to meet some ERFB people around courtown during the last week, the stock response from all anglers they met on the beaches was "What Bass laws". Nice to see them out and about though, but i think they could focus their energies more on the bigger issues i.e. netting

What else would the anglers say

Was surprised to meet some ERFB people around courtown during the last week, the stock response from all anglers they met on the beaches was "What Bass laws". Nice to see them out and about though, but i think they could focus their energies more on the bigger issues i.e. netting

What else would the anglers say

That is exactly what i said to them and as said above ignorance is not a defence and this is part of the problem. Awarness and enforcement are required unfortunately we are not very good at enforcement.

yes the ban is only a small gesture on the part of committed anglers but bass laws have always been there for us. as a junior fishing comps back in the 70s no bass under 14 inches were taken out thats 30 yrs ago.and it was bred to us
by the seniors i aways remember telling a guy taking out a jack about12inchs to put it back he laughed at me.i couldent
understand as aten year old why my dad wouldent tell the police. he was breaking the law in my eyes. only real anglers
really see how desparate bass stocks got. my first bass was 8lb i was 8 yrs old when i caught it. all through my teens i caught bass but none that big .i lived on clones strand every summer we ha d a mobile there
i finally got one last year in kilmore out on a charter 10lb clone beach like many wexford beaches is only shown improvment
recently after so many years of really poor fishing. i think this has to be working. but again its down real fisher men
who have b een abideing by this unwritten law for years

I don't believe the ban is doing any good for the following reasons and they are just my humble opinions! I'm glad it's in place and hope it stays and gets possibly modified to offer more protection.

However..

1. The Ban further enforces the Bass's far over-rated status, thus making it a bigger target for financial gain! Netters and Anglers selling to places they shouldn't be!

2. A higher than average percentage of Bass typically breed from Jan to March.

If the Bass are in such trouble why are so many people catching them so frequently, and the number of lure anglers that have emerged in the last few years is incredible! The Cunnigar / East Cork beaches are continually hammered by nets etc and still the Bass are there in huge numbers as the reports on here will tell you!

Bass are a fantastic fish by all accounts but there's too much baggage attached and we as anglers will never do anything but moan amongst ourselves about nobody else doing anything to help them or us!

I have to disagree keith, I have a few years on ye and bass aren't as prolific as they were in the late 70's early 80's . Bass are inshore, reasonably predictable, and a year or so of netting would have us back to where we were in the late 80's

I also can't agree with your point on the close season having an affect on the price of bass in the market- or are you referring to the banning of commercial fishing?

and

2. A higher than average percentage of Bass typically breed from Jan to March.

I think the research indicates that they typically breed from March to May
http://www.marine.ie/NR/rdonlyres/66CB6 ... /0/ns5.pdf
However breeding is earlier further South eg Portugal may be January/February

I agree a lot of anglers will just moan amongst themselves-few bother making representations to politicians (but to be fair, this may be true of most Irish people regarding other issues too)