Bait collection advice

Even though this was from LPC - this is good practice we should all be engaged in

Leinster Provincial Council
Brian Cooke
PRO LPC

We have a right to fish and a right to collect bait for our personal use. However, there
are many environmental pressures on our bait collecting areas and in order to preserve
the right we currently enjoy, we must as a conservation based federation ensure that we
act responsibly when gathering bait.
IFSA Leinster is asking all clubs and members to adopt this bait collecting Code of
Conduct.

1. Backfill all holes so that the ground can be re-populated

2. Do not dig around moorings

3. Do not dig or lay bait traps in such away that other users of the habitat will be
endangered

4.Take account of the bait you are extracting and only remove sufficient for your
personal use

5. Do not dig in sensitive habitat areas

These measures will not only protect the habitat and our sport but will also
ensure that the bait grounds continue to produce into the future

and so the rules start. starts with a rule ends with a law or a license.just what we were saying last year

and so the rules start. starts with a rule ends with a law or a license.just what we were saying last year

I read it as more of a guideline than a rule, twinkle.

Fair play Brian, its just common sense stuff we should be doing anyways

4.Take account of the bait you are extracting and only remove sufficient for your
personal use

i agree common sense - sometimes you see lads with enough worms for 10 days fishing and at end of the session theyre dumping the lot - take what you need

Definitely agree with point 1.
It takes a few minutes to kick the sand back into the hole, it allows worms to breed again and also stops the area looking like the surface of the moon.
Dollymount is ridiculous looking now when you go down to get bait

5. Do not dig in sensitive habitat areas

This one scares me to be honest. Where would be considered "sensitive"? I'm sure seeking clarification could open a can of worms. I'm sure all worm beds are sensitive to their local environments and ecosystems. I think driving home Point 4 would have covered this without having to highlighting specific areas.

some of us have been doing all the above since we were kids.as well as putting all under size fish back before there was laws in place .if there are now directives in place as to how we anglers have to treat the digging beds we use for our sport
well then i dont think it will be long before laws and licence will be introduced.

I think it is a way of proving to the powers that be that anglers have their own code of ethics...a kind of self governance in the way bait is collected and how we collect it...and by showing we are responsible can only be good for the image of us as a whole if and when the authorities look at how digginig sites etc are being affected.

The ones doing all the damage to the beds are the so called professional diggers, they have most of the rag beds destroyed it's them that should have to take and SHOW account of the amount of bait that they are taking.

nail on head john. at one time there was only one set of pros digging in dublin and supplying all of the shops with bait.all 3 of them now we have guys getting ferrys just to dig rag. up till last year it had been 10 years since i dug bait in sutton.i couldent get over how soft all the beds were.when we tried to walk on them from constant digging.sinking nearly up to the knees.almost undiggable

I'm new to this forum so perhaps this has been covered before if so I apologise, people on other boards often get angry about re posts etc etc I'll never know why, but they do!

I agree completely that there is a need to conserve the wonderful natural resource we have in our sea angling. However are anglers not the culprits here? Fair enough you dig your own bait and should only take what you need for your session, leaving the place in good condition when you leave. The 'professional diggers' are only in it for the money and anglers are the ones giving it to them. These individuals will dig more than enough just in case this weekend is a bumper one, it makes business sense unfortunately when they don't sell they dump. Sea Angling is free and as you have all seen the senseless slaughter of mackerel every summer and so in recent year we have seen the cod/whiting brigade hitting marks around the country. There are people around who have not a care in the world for conservation and unfortunatley until some thing is seriuosly done about it we can look forward to bait beds and fishing marks being crowded with people who will take more than they can deal with.
Sorry for the rant and sorry if its all old ground. As I said I'm new here. Nice forum by the way and I look forward to learing from alot of you on here

I can't say whether professsional diggers/or anglers are to blame. I imagine though that there are more lads diggging there own bait due to the recession etc. I think if ya only take what ya need and fill in the hole that you've dug then there shouldn't be a problem.