Monkfish

I'm just wondering are they caught from time to time? I was rereading Ken Whelans book Sea Angling in Ireland last night and he described tactics on fishing for them. In the past I've seen trawlers with boxes of dead ray, as a by catch of commercial monkfish fishing, so they must share the same ground. It just got me thinking......
Has anyone ever caught one?

Patrick

I remember Michael Bourke telling me about catching one himself one night a couple of years ago off Cappagh Pier in Kilrush.

Heard of a big one (40lbs) caught from Old Head pier in Louisburgh a couple of years ago

Catch one or two each year. BUT - less than the size of your hand. In these parts it would seem that the juvenilles come into shallow waters but those of size are well offshore. I recall from the trawlers that off the west coast they are to be found beyond the 300 foot contour on muddy marks. P

i often saw the trawlers in ballycotton bringing them in in good numbers, often too big for a fishbox

Not sure if it's the same in Ireland but over here in Scotland the commercial monkfish are actually angler fish, only the tail and sometimes the cheeks are sold.

The monkfish I remember hearing of being caught in the Fenit area years ago by anglers were the proper monfish or angel shark.

angler and monkfish are 2 completely different species, often confused with each other by those that dont know the difference, and angler fish are often mislabeled as monk in order to sell them in shops and restaurants.

dont know where they ame frombut i saw the remains of a few monk in helvic over the weekend, that and 4 boxes of salmon (is it still legal to target salmon since the driftnet ban)

Paul you are totally right there and the Angel Shark is also a different species too.

Tom.

angler and monkfish are 2 completely different species, often confused with each other by those that dont know the difference, and angler fish are often mislabeled as monk in order to sell them in shops and restaurants.

dont know where they ame frombut i saw the remains of a few monk in helvic over the weekend, that and 4 boxes of salmon (is it still legal to target salmon since the driftnet ban)

Its only legal if you have a draft net licence and quota. Season only runs from May to July, so its highly illegal at this time of year. Contact the local fishery board with details of what you saw.
Not surprised when i saw the location.... :roll:

It's the Skate and Ray debate again!!

Apparently this is what we in the UK and Ireland call a Monkfish (Squatina squatina):
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Species ... php?id=736

But in the USA, Monkfish can be a "market name" for Lophius piscatorius, also called anglerfish.

Maybe it depends on which side of the Atlantic you're on ...

To confuse matters, if you look up fishbase for angel shark, you get lots of things. It looks like angel shark refers to a genus, which includes what I would call monkfish.

:? :? :?

Can get monkfish out of Clew bay