licence for using nets off a beach?

Netting is alive and well down ere in Kerry, all round Brandon point the place is littered with nets...

Netting is alive and well down ere in Kerry, all round Brandon point the place is littered with nets...

I used fish Brandon a lot (from the boat). I always found the local fishermen "shifty" bordering on unfriendly. It really dawned on me when I went to Ballinskelligs/Portmagee. The local fishermen were great...welcoming, helpful and great craic. The bottom line was the Brandon shower were up to all sorts...netting bass, salmon, sea trout etc. Hence they were suspicious of "tourists". Not a nice bunch... The fishing was/is being decimated by them and the persistent trawling of the bay....I have not been back in a while.

Have found 3 nets in cloghane/Brandon since I arrived on Saturday.

Your description of those lads gave me a laugh Jim, have always found them to be borderline hostile! What kills me is that everyone knows what they are doing and yet nothing is done about it.

**** them every time I see nets I report them and they know I report them, the dolphin pod that has entered the bay might be a blessing, too much attention drawn on the place, there is nets everywhere back there...

Don't take this the wrong way Jim but why don't you speak about the netting in the irish angler, you are in a unique position..

Ah Brandon bay,when I used to live in Tralee and at the weekend and go for a spin back that way I could never get over the amount of nets been cleaned in the fields by "farmers" and loaded back up onto the tractor and trailor.If the farmers were at the netting lark along with the so called fishermen then what hope would the area ever have.
For what its worth Dan getting Jim to write a piece in a magazine isn't going to make a shred of difference ,the relevant authorities are well aware of the goings on and besides Jim is already up to his eyeballs fighting the good fight back here in cork.
As you seem to be so passionate about this netting lark why don't you try and organise a neighbourhood watch type scheme to keep an eye on the illegal netting front.Maybe try organise a meeting with the fishery representatives through your "club"[bring up at the next agm] and see if ye can help them out in someway.At least you may then have access to direct forms of contact with the guys on the ground thus avoiding the middleman so to speak which will mean that some form of quick respone may well catch some of the culprits red handed.
You appear to have the passion and your certainly close enough to the action so try set something up yourself,sometimes its best to put things in motion yourself rather than expecting others to step up to the mark,because in this day and age it rarely happens.

I reported the Brandon bay Mob to the fisheries board three years ago. They were already well aware that the place is getting hammered by the local poachers and they know who is doing it! Their response to me was basically to fish somewhere else!!!

The owner of house we stayed in spent most of his day making miles and miles of gill nets in his back garden. He was indeed a very unfriendly individual especially when questioned about his nets.

Sad to hear that nothing has been done and the place is still getting a hammering!

Not what I wanted to hear. We have seen a few nets there over the years. Most seemed to be saon nets, straight out from the shore.

Don't take this the wrong way Jim but why don't you speak about the netting in the irish angler, you are in a unique position..

No fear Dan! And yes I have/did write about the netting!
I have not written about Brandon in a long time as I have not been down there in a long time.

All the legislation i have seen so far seems to be in relation to salmon nets. Salmon drift nets are rigged differently from bottom gill nets, and are usually twice the depth with a lot more floats. I realize that any net of the 4 to 6" mesh size is capable of decimating the local fish population of any beach, but does anyone know if bottom fishing with gill nets is illegal? I was up to date on this back in the 90s but have no clue what the law is now in relation to bottom rigged gill nets.

Tom.

Still worth keeping any eye on it. Nets are cheap enough, the guy will most likely be back with a new net in no time.

normally within a fortnight via fleabay from Finland.

Touchy subject this one. For many years we made our annual trip to the dingle peninsular staying at cloghane. We fished the Brandon beaches, cloghane and ballyquin and had some great catches with bass to 15lb. Bsllyquin was our banker mark.

We joined the "Brandon bay bass club" which was run from the pub in Brandon ( forget the name). The following year we returned again only to find nets all over the bay and just off the pier end right in sight of the " Brandon bay bass club". We never caught a fish from that beach again.

I went in the pub and told them that's the last punt/euro your getting off me and have never been back. 7 of us putting a grand each into the economy, what a joke.

Cheers mark.

Touchy subject this one. For many years we made our annual trip to the dingle peninsular staying at cloghane. We fished the Brandon beaches, cloghane and ballyquin and had some great catches with Bass to 15lb. Bsllyquin was our banker mark.

We joined the "Brandon bay Bass club" which was run from the pub in Brandon ( forget the name). The following year we returned again only to find nets all over the bay and just off the pier end right in sight of the " Brandon bay Bass club". We never caught a fish from that beach again.

I went in the pub and told them that's the last punt/euro your getting off me and have never been back. 7 of us putting a grand each into the economy, what a joke.

Cheers mark.

I never knew there was a Brandon bay bass club, ya it's like time has stood still around them parts...

I'm not too sure it's running anymore. Was run from Mulalley's bar. I have honestly never had a problem with any of the locals in Brandon, quite the opposite. Always found em very welcoming and helpful. That's why we keep going back. 2 weeks to go. Can't wait.

Fishing off Brandon Pier once, I noticed a dolphin fluke on the harbour bottom, used a german sprat to pull it up to surface and snap a shot before the shifty looking boatmen came back...
reported it to IWDG and they informed me that a bottlenose washed up on a nearby beach that week,minus it's tail - and witha couple of speed holes in it's sides,lung punchture wounds I assume. All because it got caught in an illegal net..

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Fishing off Brandon Pier once, I noticed a dolphin fluke on the harbour bottom, used a german sprat to pull it up to surface and snap a shot before the shifty looking boatmen came back...
reported it to IWDG and they informed me that a bottlenose washed up on a nearby beach that week,minus it's tail - and witha couple of speed holes in it's sides,lung punchture wounds I assume. All because it got caught in an illegal net..

I never had a problem with the locals either, it's the nets I have a problem with...

The people and the area are brilliant,never had a problem in the 6 years we were going there. it was just the total indiscriminate use of nets set inside of the pier right opposite the little stream that runs into ballyquin.

That used to be our banker spot,never blanked there. The last time i returned went down in the dark cast out and snagged up?? when it came light i could then see the nets,thats how close they were to the shore.

never had a fish off it again,don't see the point of returning to catch and return fish that are'nt there anymore and waste my money. shame i loved it there. How much is recreational sea fishing worth to ireland as opposed to illegal netting. The netters are not only taking fish but also custom from the own people.

Cheers
Mark.

I think it is important to clarify..... the average punters down Brandon way are sound out! The Pubs are great...(The curry in Mulallies Hmmmm ) supping a pint sitting outside Murphys looking at your boat on a mooring...pure class!
The problem is with a few local criminal fishermen. Anybody with a boat would know who they are....skulking around, shifty looking and basically not the most genial. There are some fishermen there that are quite sociable but these tend to not be from the area or maybe they are not netting bass, salmon & seatrout.
It is a shame really as this is really a beautiful part of the country....drifting Sauce Creek, the reefs off Brandon Head, drifting Greenfields etc..etc.. Shame really.

I wouldn't still be going there if the locals weren't sound. Been down that neck of the woods for 2 weeks each year for the last 15 years odd plus several day/weekend trips each year. It's a beautiful part of the world and one I'm very fond of. But its really starting to p*ss me off.

Mark - things haven't changed - there was a small net pegged off the middle of Ballyquinn beach this year. Not a big one, but big enough to kill a gannet and 2 terns. It was brazenly staked out from the beach itself. This wasn't someone skulking around, this was set in clear view of anyone walking the beach. 2 German tourists came down for a swim while I was there and turned away in disgust. And there were others in other spots. Same as last year, the year before, the year before...you get the picture.

Cloghane and Brandon rely heavily on tourism and angling tourism plays its part in that. Fishing is still good but has clearly diminished rapidly since I first visited. Yet EVERYBODY knows what is going on and turns a blind eye to the few offenders. Nets are set in clear view of the shore. Netters openly sort their nets on the pier, then drive out to set them in clear view of those on the pier (wouldn't bother fishing Ballyquinn point anytime soon lads). There is blatant trawling of the beaches. Even the priest was giving out about the illegal fishing when I met him and mentioned I was down fishing!!!!! None of the above is hearsay, I've witnessed it all and much, much more. I'd hate to think what local anglers must see if I can see this in only a few short trips each year.

No-one responds to reports of nets. Status quo continues. A real shame.

I wouldn't still be going there if the locals weren't sound. Been down that neck of the woods for 2 weeks each year for the last 15 years odd plus several day/weekend trips each year. It's a beautiful part of the world and one I'm very fond of. But its really starting to p*ss me off.

Mark - things haven't changed - there was a small net pegged off the middle of Ballyquinn beach this year. Not a big one, but big enough to kill a gannet and 2 terns. It was brazenly staked out from the beach itself. This wasn't someone skulking around, this was set in clear view of anyone walking the beach. 2 German tourists came down for a swim while I was there and turned away in disgust. And there were others in other spots. Same as last year, the year before, the year before...you get the picture.

Cloghane and Brandon rely heavily on tourism and angling tourism plays its part in that. Fishing is still good but has clearly diminished rapidly since I first visited. Yet EVERYBODY knows what is going on and turns a blind eye to the few offenders. Nets are set in clear view of the shore. Netters openly sort their nets on the pier, then drive out to set them in clear view of those on the pier (wouldn't bother fishing Ballyquinn point anytime soon lads). There is blatant trawling of the beaches. Even the priest was giving out about the illegal fishing when I met him and mentioned I was down fishing!!!!! None of the above is hearsay, I've witnessed it all and much, much more. I'd hate to think what local anglers must see if I can see this in only a few short trips each year.

No-one responds to reports of nets. Status quo continues. A real shame.

Agree with everything your saying I really do, I suppose like Jim was saying its the people who are out in boats who can really see the destruction that's going on...

It's blatant and I only blame the authority's who else can you blame?

Can I ask you Jim is it the same everywhere or is Brandon unique?