Caught red handed

Howdy all,i was told the other day by my uncle who is a keen fisher man that there was two lads caught by the inspectors on ennreilly beach with under size bass in their possession and they were summonsed to court and all their gear taking of them!NOT irish lads i must say!

excellent! doesnt matter if they are Irish or not, just as long as the protection of the speices is being obeyed, hope the news picks up on this and sends a clear message out that anglers are annoyed at people taking small fish that havent had the chance to breed yet!

If true then it's nice to see that they are checking anglers also.

A cautionary note on this and a point I have made before about handling or holding on to undersize bass for the photo call.

While you possible cast out again then rummage around your tackle box for the camera and measuring stick that undersize bass, in the eyes of the law, is in your possession and you are therefore breaking the law.

Now you might get an understanding fisheries inspector who will believe you but then again you may not.

In the past I have removed pictures of undersize bass from angling reports because they showed the undersize bass on a match measure. This was done to protect the posted.
A few posters threw a tantrum others threw the bottle out of the pram and one or two stopped posting for a while.

So the next time you’re on the beach with an undersized bass and are contemplating on going for the photo call, beware you never know who is behind that bush watching

beware you never know who is behind that bush watching

Never a truer word spoken. Especially in reference to Ennereilly

Thanks Donal, I didnt know that, I thought it was if the fish were dead in your possession they threw the book at ya, didnt know they were also against the photo shoot, good to know!

But its not if we ARE going after small bass, If I go after them Im always hopin for that ONE that will pull the rod out of my hands!

As for bushes and Ennereilly hope the same lads hidin in the bushes will arrest those messin with the cars
Alot of lads have been telling me they have been approached by fisherys officers which is always great to hear, some were carrying out a survey on the beaches as well, Finally genuine imputs from the source!!

Alot of lads have been telling me they have been approached by fisherys officers which is always great to hear, some were carrying out a survey on the beaches as well, Finally genuine imputs from the source!!

The ones I'm talking about are carrying nothing. Not even a pair of socks!

If true then it's nice to see that they are checking anglers also.

A cautionary note on this and a point I have made before about handling or holding on to undersize Bass for the photo call.

While you possible cast out again then rummage around your tackle box for the camera and measuring stick that undersize Bass, in the eyes of the law, is in your possession and you are therefore breaking the law.

Now you might get an understanding fisheries inspector who will believe you but then again you may not.

In the past I have removed pictures of undersize Bass from angling reports because they showed the undersize Bass on a match measure. This was done to protect the posted.
A few posters threw a tantrum others threw the bottle out of the pram and one or two stopped posting for a while.

So the next time you’re on the beach with an undersized Bass and are contemplating on going for the photo call, beware you never know who is behind that bush watching

i never thought about it like that . so what happens in a comp then?? if you catch a 38cm bass could you get into trouble measuring it and getting it marked up on a score card then? after all going down that logic, you are in possession of it are clubs aware of this?? surely common sense should prevail in such a situation RE comps or a child posing for a pic of their first bass, even if it is under the allowed legal size? if i remember rightly i think i've seen a few tv shows with henry gilbey catching a bass that would be under legal size and standing doing a piece to camera to show it in all it's glory. i doubt he have the fisheries officers kicking in his front door in to do him for having an under sized bass in his possession at one time. like i said, surely common sense should prevail

Hang on a second - if it gets to the imagined point that a fisheries officer is going to make that call where he sees a guy taking a photo then we are in a very sad place indeed - treat the fish well, make your foto as quick as possible (ie very quick to protect the fish) and all the while you are doing this its evident that your intention is to return the fish - this should be obvious from your behavior.

The majority of anglers are not the problem here - its time we realised that. Its about positive communication and trying to get some interaction going

You don't have to be afraid of the fisheries officer in any way - unless...you are doing something stupid.

http://www.probassfisher.com/search/lab ... %20Respect

true enough gerryl. i know you'll always get a jobsworth in every area of employment . but my understanding was that it is illegal to RETAIN an undersized bass. not to be in possession of one, because that makes no sense from a legal standpoint. if a 1lb schoolie bass decides to take your bait, then surely by that path of logic are you supposed to reel him into the surf an politely ask him to kindly jump off your hook because as soon as you handle him to unhook him you are in POSSESSION of an undersized bass utter nonsense . like jim already said, your intent will speak volumes. a quick measuring of the fish on a measure for a comp or a quick pic when pleasure angling will do no harm or be seen as an illegal act by officers. otherwise they would be lined up at comps waiting to issue everyone with a fine or be handing out court appearences to anyone who happened to catch a bass that was undersized .
and as for removing posts or pics with undersized bass in shore angling reports. that seems mental to me . surely if it was clearly stated in the reports that the fish were quickly and properly returned to the sea unharmed there is no harm done. now i'm not a moderator, so can't imagine what the thought process involved for such a move would be. but it would appear to be a more counter productive measure. i mean do we all just pretend that we don't sometimes catch an undersized bass so as to avoid prosecution??. i fail to see how there was any protection given to site members who post such reports or pics provided they were doing nothing wrong and clearly state their intent to return the fish within the report.
but as for anyone who is taking an undersized bass home for the table. i would like to think the full force of the law would be brought down on them as they are hurting our beloved sport and future stocks. scum in my opoinion.
just my 2 cents.

I think the point here is the welfare of the fish. Surely you can take the photo as soon as possable after the fish is caught and then return it. Holding on to the fish while you bait up again and recast, set your rod in the rest and then take a photo, is more looking after the angler's vanity than the fish's welfare.

Is it just undersize bass to be returned or is it across the board?Not that i keep undersize fish, was just asking

I think as a rule the fish should be back in the water before you bait up again and recast.

@ kopidol From webdsite: The Bass (Conservation of Stocks)Order, 1990
Minimum overall size limit of 40cm from tip of snout to end of tail. Commercial fishing for bass is prohibited, the taking of bass using nets is prohibited, and Irish fishing boats must not have bass on board or engage in transhipment of bass.

Bass Fishing Conservation S.I. NO. 826 OF 2007
The effect of this Bye-law is to impose a bag limit on anglers of two bass in any one period of 24 hours and to provide for a ban on angling for bass during the spawning season (15th May to the 15th June).

Well thats good new so the question is if they where not Irish should they not be told of the size limit of the fish maybe by signpost.....

Well thats good new so the question is if they where not Irish should they not be told of the size limit of the fish maybe by signpost.....

Who's going to pay for the signs? And you can't have a sign at every little cove or bass mark in the country. The onus is on the angler to familiarise himself with the law and abide by it. If I go to another country its my responsibility to make sure I'm fishing according to the local rules...

Well thats good new so the question is if they where not Irish should they not be told of the size limit of the fish maybe by signpost.....

Who's going to pay for the signs? And you can't have a sign at every little cove or Bass mark in the country. The onus is on the angler to familiarise himself with the law and abide by it. If I go to another country its my responsibility to make sure I'm fishing according to the local rules...

Fair point made Kevin, I fully understand what you want to say and I'm completely in favour of less signs littering our beautiful environment, many of them being borderline ludicrous, however, the unfortunate reality of rules and regulations just stands and falls with the ability and willingness of law enforcement. Signs are just a reminder of that and are by no means a replacement for controls through the relevant authorities. I might be a cynical person to rate them as an excuse for our executive forces not having to act accordingly ('Well, there is a sign up there' etc.) which I am not.
Let me show an example how it might work: on a recent fishing trip to a well known angling lake on the continent we (a group of six) were controlled on a daily basis, sometimes even on more than on one occasion (from different rule enforcement organs, and - of course, in their native language!) whereas here in Ireland, there seems to be a complete lack of understanding to the risks posed by people ignorant of their responsibilities to the welfare of our laws and society and therefore the health of our entire sport for generations to come.
I am in no way promoting a police controlled nanny state system, nevertheless, surely a reasonable amount of educational and guarded response to the ever increasing problem of poaching and mindless selfishness of some individuals or even groups surely would be very welcomed by all like minded souls in the interest to protecting our sport and the long term impact on the tourism sector.
Why should we tolerate so called ignorance and lack of knowledge of common law (including the old adage: 'me no speaky zis englis') as an automatic defense mechanism when the perpetrators might be confronted of their wrongdoings with their surely in most cases are fully aware of, silently laughing at our traditions, laws and society? And get away with it?
I honestly do not know why and I refuse to accept this 'nothing can be done about it' attitude as the status quo. Not for me and not for my children, which future I strongly feel responsible for.
Please don't crucify me for the lenghty reply to your post Kev, I was wearing my heart on my sleeve and all rants are over, promised, for today at least.

Maybe we should be discussing and formulating a plan / step forward in relation to this for sea anglers - this might get us somewhere in time for 2012 -

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1959/en/ ... c0292.html