VERY FEW BASS

Today was a sad day for me,a spot that has turned up disco silver fellas, bass in day or light for as long as ive been fishining will not for awhile.From Ballycotton to White Bay iv seen the same boat netting time and time agin.I can bang on and on all dayabout the area... has anyone else seen the down turn in the bass fishing around here east cork

Same story all over razor. Short term gain for long term damage.

It seems that these illegal netters are getting a free run at the bass.
Is anybody getting onto the fisheries boards, challenging the boat when he comes into dock, boating out to the nets and pulling them up to destroy them?

If these people are breaking the law they need to be stepped into in a big way if your to have any chance of stopping them.
They are only going to think about stopping if the practice starts costing them money in nets, they have a strong chance of a conviction and there getting lashed by disgruntled anglers.

Most definately a down turn this year.I know people will go on about the cold weather been the reason but i don't buy into it.Most marks in east cork have always produced bass for me and others from feb onwards this year only 4 on the lures ,the shore fishing for them has'nt been great either,alot of the usual spots just appear to be barren.
All this talk about reopening the bass fishery is a joke as far as im concerned as the quality[size] of the larger fish has diminished from most marks that upto recently had plenty of double figure fish,reason been that the commercial fishing for them has never stopped down here and always the same bloody culprits,also the attitudes of so called anglers has changed,in years gone by most people i knew of fishing for bass would never take a big bass for the table but now they take whatever they catch as decent bass have become so rare despite what a lot of people on this site reckon regarding them as almost pests and show total disregard to how long they take to mature,and before im slated i show all fish the same respect bass or cod etc.I take the odd one for the table no probs but also release others.
I just hope im wrong and this is a blip in the cycle of bass fishing but with the greedy netsmen/businesses in east cork i think the outcome is enevitable.
Tight lines

things are very slow indeed at the minute

Got to start somewhere .... an on sea, or in harbour inspection is required after they haul nets and while the catch is on board.
And that could be arranged.
Have you photos of the boat, or identification marks?
Does anyone already know where it lands?

These boats and individuals are well known to the authorities already as many have been caught before but don't seem to mind reoffending as fines are pittance and a joke.Due to the lack of man power on the ground be it due to lack of personnel to keep an eye on things for such large areas or stupid red tape a lot of the netting gets under the radar or cannot be tackled quickly.
I know down here a specific fishery protection group for bass would have its hands full nearly all year if it was feesible to do such a thing,but i'm afraid thats a non runner.I've given up on ever seeing such a day in my lifetime as the culprits between cork harbour all the way to knockadoon and beyond have been giving the two fingers for years to us anglers and will continue to do so no matter if this commercial fishing rubbish gets the go ahead or not.To be honest its already going on and by making it LEGALISED again it will put the nails in the coffin back this way for an already depleted stock due to the greed of a few well known businesses in east cork.
The end

Ya everyone knows this boat and where they land the bass.A photo would not very hard to get and yes this guy has been caught before... so i think they have a smile for the photo.a few lads have told me they read the posts on this site to find out where the bass are in the area ,sly

Yip it would be possible to get nice photos,in fact its been done plenty of times before.Queenstown normally has a few opportunities to get nice snaps for the album or failing that ballycotton pier has fantastic scenary as well

The press are very willing to help if you provide them with news material.
Call the newsdesk of a national paper.
Ask the newsdesk for the tel number of their nearest correspondent/photographer. That who's photos will get published with a 1/4 page of text alongside explaining who isn't doing their jobs to allow this to go on.
Speak with the local correspondent and discuss the best way to make the poachers into "stars" which will motivate the various authorities to stop their activities. Just take care not to go off "half cocked" and set up a pollack photo shoot!

If they have a fancy house or a new car or expensive holidays make sure that gets mentioned too subject to verification, because these guys rarely pay their tax since they made the money illegally, and the taxman can become involved too. You can send an anonymous email to make sure they don't miss out. There is a reporting department with an email address specially for citizen's use in reporting tax dodgers undeclared income.

Profiling the greedy illegal bass netsmen activities and convictions would be a desirable thing for anglers right now, because it will help cut the grounds from the attempt their trade repersentatives are mounting for a legal bass netting arrangement in that region.

Ya everyone knows this boat and where they land the Bass.A photo would not very hard to get and yes this guy has been caught before... so i think they have a smile for the photo.a few lads have told me they read the posts on this site to find out where the Bass are in the area ,sly

Same all over. I'm more and more convinced the only hope is a campaign to have bass fully classified as a game fish along with salmon and trout, and subject to the same regulation.

Ya everyone knows this boat and where they land the Bass.A photo would not very hard to get and yes this guy has been caught before... so i think they have a smile for the photo.a few lads have told me they read the posts on this site to find out where the Bass are in the area ,sly

Same all over. I'm more and more convinced the only hope is a campaign to have Bass fully classified as a game fish along with salmon and trout, and subject to the same regulation.

fully agree hugo,the regulations and protection for bass at present are mickey mouse at best.the current campign againt FIF proposal to open an offshore fishery will,if successful,only preserve the status quo,which is by no means enough.full protection alongside salmon,sea trout in my opinion should be our goal.

eh? You lads sure about that? Salmon and Sea Trout may still be legally commercially netted. If any river system has a surplus of fish over it's conservation limit then that surplus is shared out between commercial fishermen and recreational anglers.

On paper, Bass are currently better protected in law than Salmon and Sea Trout. What's needed is better enforcement of current laws, and possibly harsher punishments for anyone caught breaking them.