Bass.... C&R or 1 for the Table. Info and debate

Seeing as everybody else on the forum seems to be contributing to this :D here are my cents on the topic.

This is a fishing website, a website about catching fish and people like eating fish so obviously some of them are going to kill them. The purpose of the website is to share fishing information.

if someone puts up a fishing report and gets a bad comment about whether or not they killed a fish they are going to feel bad and they are not going to put up another report. so questioning whether the angler killed the fish is contrary to aims of the website.

I've done this myself I was one of the eejits that chimed in when seanp and Bigcol had that great bass session (sorry sean,col)) if we are that rabid about bass protection we should not be fishing for bass in the first place. no matter how careful you are you are eventually going to catch a bass and its not going to survive. also if we are that obsessed about it maybe we should be patrolling the local beaches for nets instead of fishing. That would get old real quick.
so i think the next time you go into the angling reports section of a fishing website you should try not to be shocked and outraged at the sight of dead fish even if its a bass.

this whole defence that 'he put it up there so i have a right to have a pop at him' is complete carp (sic) its an angling reports section.
Angling reports = Dead Fish!!!!!!!!!!

ok


Its not on to give out to people when they make reports even if you have the best of intentions and any negative comment is giving out. its not 'voicing you opinion' its just giving out and thats not going to change their minds.

Back to this old chestnut again :D :D

I've tried to understand why there is so much debate around Bass in particular, rather than other species.

Personally I think it's because many anglers get so much enjoyment and sport out of Bass. For me, there is something very satisfying about heading out as the sun rises on a calm summer morning, with nothing apart from a rod, a reel and few lures in your pocket, and experiencing the anticipation as the rising tide begins to pick up pace and slip over the rocky reefs.

Then, with nobody else around and only the sound of the waves lapping, your rod doubles over and the peace is shattered by a commotionin the water. As you begin to take control of the fish, you start to wonder "Is it well hooked?", "Is my drag too tight?", "Will I be able to keep it out of the kelp?", "Is it over the magic 10 lbs?". I have never experienced the same adrenaline rush with any other fish in Ireland. Catching even a moderate size fish will probably keep me very happy for a few days. (I'm not what I would consider a prolific Bass angler, so my satisfaction barrier is quite low and I'm not greedy.)

Despite the availability of new rod, reel and and lure technology, this is still a very basic form of fishing. You can probably spend less than €100 on a rod, reel and some lures and still be a successful Bass angler, experiencing the same excitment as someone who has spent ten times as much (although perhaps not as reliably or as frequently).

I don't think anyone who has had an experience similar to this can help caring about the future of Bass.

Returning to the issue of photographs, in reality, when someone queries whether a fish was killed, they are not asking whether that specific fish was killed. Instead, they are asking whether the angler is regularly going out and killing large numbers of Bass. Personally, I would prefer to see a photograph of a responsible angler with one dead Bass, rather than not seeing a photograph of an irresponsible angler with 10 dead Bass.

its uninformed angler, or the angler who just dont care that will eventually , ruin all the stocks and leave us only with memories like teacher just described... to maintain bass stocks i have vowed to myself to put every single one back (unless its deep hooked)...i will take a pic and be proud, but thats just me, i have heard of diff nationalites and same nationaities bagging loads of bass and flaunting them as if they were mackeral, a far faster growing and multiplying species!! so what can we do as a whole? in relation to these anglers, its only a small percentage ruining it for the rest of us, and the rest of the future!! if an angler takes 10 bass, and ten of us put one back, in my eyes we have helped!!

In my opinion a responsible angler will help stocks even if only a little. The only way anyone could make a BIG difference is if Ireland had an no commercial fishing zone like Iceland. i don't see why not. isn't the waters around Ireland theirs to do with what they will? If it makes the country unpopular so what? I doubt very much whether it would affect tourism or any other trade apart form the fishing industry which would increase. What i don't understand is if there was oil in Ireland(which there is!) the country wouldn't give it away would it? Fish in the long run could be just as valuable as oil. you cant eat oil can you? you cant renew oil can you? you can eat fish and fish breed and renew themselves if properly managed.

Rant over.

Fish in the long run could be just as valuable as oil. you cant eat oil can you? you cant renew oil can you? you can eat fish and fish breed and renew themselves if properly managed.

I'm guessing you don't have a car ... :lol:

Of course i dont......however i was just sayin that the oil is supposedly gonna run out in 50 years....if there was a no fishing zone around ireland then the fish stocks might last 150 years......

The only way anyone could make a BIG difference is if Ireland had an no commercial fishing zone like Iceland. i don't see why not. isn't the waters around Ireland theirs to do with what they will? If it makes the country unpopular so what? I doubt very much whether it would affect tourism or any other trade apart form the fishing industry which would increase.

Actually the waters around Ireland are not ours to do with what we will - they are governed by the EU who set fishing quotas and say what boats from what countries can catch what amount of fish in our waters. Has been that way since 1973... giving up our fishing rights was a trade off for getting large farming subsidies over 30 years. Read a report a cpl years ago - since 73 Ireland received €45bn in subsidies, but in that time other European fleets caught €180bn worth of fish in what were formerly Irish waters.

if we are that rabid about bass protection we should not be fishing for bass in the first place. no matter how careful you are you are eventually going to catch a bass and its not going to survive. also if we are that obsessed about it maybe we should be patrolling the local beaches for nets instead of fishing. That would get old real quick.
so i think the next time you go into the angling reports section of a fishing website you should try not to be shocked and outraged at the sight of dead fish even if its a bass.

this whole defence that 'he put it up there so i have a right to have a pop at him' is complete carp (sic) its an angling reports section.
Angling reports = Dead Fish!!!!!!!!!!

ok


Its not on to give out to people when they make reports even if you have the best of intentions and any negative comment is giving out. its not 'voicing you opinion' its just giving out and thats not going to change their minds.

I'd agree strongly with this post. I'd also add that you should consider going vegetarian too, just to be sure to be sure.

Anything else really smacks of hypocrisy, especially if it's only to keep the likes of that organisation beginning with P off anglers backs and not based on any REAL PERSONAL PRINCIPLES.

I usually do catch and release esp for bass but I always think one of these days I' ll take one for the pot not too big not too small something that 2 people would be able to get a meal out of.

tbh I'm not really a threat to fish stocks with the amount of fish I catch any way. :oops:


eoinmag: just to clarify my point was that we really shouldn't be that upset about pictures of fish, i was not suggesting course of action.

although the walk would do me good

I've done this myself I was one of the eejits that chimed in when seanp and Bigcol had that great bass session (sorry sean,col))

No worries at all there Bob, we haven't posted any reports since then as we have been struggling from the shore, well should I say Col has anyway :D
Sean,

cheers

I have not read all the comments here so what I have to say may have been said already.
Keeping a fish as long as it is in season and a legitimate size is a matter for the conscience of the individual. Just like religion, I suppose, what one believes is a matter of choice. In what is a sport there is no room for absolutes. Moderation should be the order of the day.

The fish at the core of this thread was caught in South Wexford, generally a good spot for bass.
You can take my word for it, as one born and bred there, that illegal drift and stake nets placed close to shore in places like the back strand in Tramore is doing for more bass than all the anglers put together.

This is the kind of abuse, happening daily, that we should be trying to stamp out.

All this is just my opinion, but I have a particular dislike for poaching at this level.