2009 JIMMY SMITH

marc i think if you check the results from benone as reguards fish caught over the years its been used,and put it against any other venue in ireland benone is hard to beat no matter where you fish people blank!!!.and remember benone is fished at least once every fortnight from september to janurary in a match situation not counting pleasure anglers.its ok saying "benone is the worse venue for a match", but give us alternatives that produce fish in numbers and are big enough to hold 100 plus anglers,with easy access????

Well said Beachcaster , I have results from Benone from a few seasons ago where there are 200 - 250 fish weighed in , with turbot to 11 lb.

There are many comps around the Country that have
80% blanks. One recently where the prizes had to be raffled.

Fishing all around our Coasts is on the decline , to pick
exclusively on Benone is a bit unfair.

Hopefully things will pick up this year for us all

i wasn't having a go at benone as a venue (can have some nice catches up there....bass, turbot and one of only a few beaches in the country to produce decent sole), just basically saying that its can be a hard venue at times and if there were to be a tight ban on certain baits, it could make the scorecards look very empty.

Been veiwing this post with interest, the discussion started regarding bait restrictions for the jimmy smith and has shot off in a few different directions since.
On a couple of the topics raised, Benone, well it didnt really produce last year. but then again, up here, where did??!!
As with any venue it has its bad days, although it also has its good days... which you have to hope for.
The only other suitable venue to hold the possible numbers would have been East Strand Portrush, which would have had to have been fished in darkness, then you would have had some complaining about the cost of having to stay over or a drive to the far end of the island during the early hours.
Im sure for the future if people have better suggestions for the venue to hold over 100 anglers that the guys on the UPC would be glad to hear all suggestions flooding in.
I just hope that a sensible scoring system can be used at it, something similar to what is generally used at Home Nations level, like 18cm, size 4 hooks.
No need to be counting undersize fish, instead reward the anglers who catch fish over the target size. More than likely thats what they will have to do if they make the team out of it.

As far as the bait situation goes, my personal view is that the Jimmy Smith should be a bait provided competition EVERY year, as should all closed gold medal competitions, and master angler championships.... it puts all potential team qualifiers on the same footing to start with, and they will have to be under these circumstances if they qualify to fish in the championship whether it be World or Home Nations.
It would mean an extra few quid on the entry but would save anglers the expense of either having to buy or go digging for their own bait in the lead up to the qualifier.

On the team selection front, well, lets be honest i think in the IFSA that the ongoing saga on teams will never be sorted, everyone has their own ideas as to how to do it. All the arguing and ickering over the head of all that kind of stuff has actually kinda put me off the sport lately, so much so that ive taken up the river fishing again.... dont hear as much bitching on the river to be honest.
The Irish team can hold its own against some of the best that the English system produces as it is...... I am far from what i would call a great angler, personally id say average, i have made a couple of Home Nations teams and went and held my own with the other teams, yes, beaten some of them too.. its a leveler when they only have the same baits as you, thats the thing! In fact some of our 'top anglers' wont go to the big championships even when they do qualify simply because they cant use their own bait at them.... end of the day its a well known fact on the match circuit.

Well said Phil !

How about this - 2009 Home Nations Shore
Fish Size 15cm Hook Size 10

marc i think if you check the results from benone as reguards fish caught over the years its been used,and put it against any other venue in ireland benone is hard to beat no matter where you fish people blank!!!.and remember benone is fished at least once every fortnight from september to janurary in a match situation not counting pleasure anglers.its ok saying "benone is the worse venue for a match", but give us alternatives that produce fish in numbers and are big enough to hold 100 plus anglers,with easy access????

I think my reply was miss read ( My fault). I was quoting RAMPENT Wreckfish.

I actually like Benone. It usally fishes very well.

Good to see the bait ban decsion reversed i think a lot of lads down here were drunk with the ban and were not going to fish the Jimmy Smith.
As for benone it can produce a fair number of fish in the right conditions and tides, but i think a major competition like this should not travel around the country it should be run by central council and the best beach that fishes at the time of the year with a proven record of high numbers of fish should be used oh! an no bait bans.

I am far from what i would call a great angler, personally id say average, i have made a couple of Home Nations teams

Phil,

Thats the point I and others are making....an "average" angler should never make it onto an international team, the current system allows that to happen, selection would only have the best anglers the country has to offer as the team.

Tom.

sorry tom, but i think that is bang out of order....
i consider myself to be an average angler but have held my own at times with the best in the country, and yes, sometimes more than that...
having been on teams with anglers who i regard as great, and some of equal stature to myself, also competing against some of the 'big names' in irish match angling circles over the years i have sometimes finished higher than them, other times not so well..... but thats match fishing for you.
I qualified for an irish home nations team twice through the process that EVERY angler had to go through to make it there.
A few of the team members i have fished with on Irish teams are on the forums here and i know they will come to my defence on this subject, as well as the team manager....
I dont want this to come across the wrong way to the wider forum community , i am not being big headed, purely backing up my earlier statement, i have competed against some at home nations level for all the toher home nations teams who have world championship experience and held my own, so basically i dont see the big point that some try to make about having to be the best in everyones eyes in the federation to represent the federation at an international stage, those who make it through to the team are more than capable anglers, with the coaching system that is presently ongoing within the federation i am sure things will improve. positive feedback and building upon that based on the present system is what everyone in the federation should be looking forward to in my eyes. not putting the average joe on a basic working mans wage, who tries his damnest off....

ps, not a direct dig at you tom, but at the end of the day, if an average angler never gets a chance, in my view the whole system of match fishing is doomed, its the average anglers who are optimistic who keep the federation , no matter what country alive...

Phil,
Whats bang out of order? I stand by the point I made. Any world class sportsman (unless he is a gifted natural) must work past being average on his way to the top. Would you ever see an average soccer player on an international team, or in any other sport for that matter. An average angler will get every chance to fish for his country, when he is good enough and then he wont be average.....my point is...NO international side representing a country should have any average members on the team! I like a few others come to the defence of anglers who are anything but average and never made it to the Irish team....like Stephen Brennan for instance.

What is bang out of order is accusing fellow anglers of "bitching" who are trying to put their debate forward to make the sport better.

I'm not taking a pop at you but have a good read of your post and you will see quite a few contradictions there Phil.

Tom.

apologies, my 'bang out of order' statement was a bit harsh.
with all the systems in place as they are the top anglers still qualify for teams, the likes of Stephen has made it before as far as im aware.
if you go down the selection route you will end up getting the angler who can afford to run all over the country to competitions to build up a cv coming through most of the time. i believe that this is the way it works generally in other places who use the system?

WELL AS FAR AS I'M AWARE STEPHEN BRENNAN WHO YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT NEVER FISHED FOR AN IRISH TEAM AT FULL INTERNATIONAL LEVEL, YES HE DID REPRESENT IRELAND AT UNDER 21 LEVEL.
TO THIS I MIGHT ADD HE HAS GONE FROM THE SPORT AND PROBLEY NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN WHY YOU MAY ASK!
I THINK IT WAS FRUSTRATION AT NOT BEING ABLE TO REACH HIS FULL POTENTIAL IN A NARROW MINDED ORGINAZITION AS WE HAVE.
I HAVE TALKED RECENTELY WITH STEPHEN ABOUT DIFFERENT THINGS AND HE IS FLABERGASTED BY THE BAIT BANS AND HE SAID TO ME "IF I WAS EVER THINKING OF RETURNING THE BAIT BAN WOULD SURELY CONVINCE ME THERE IS NO WAY I WOULD RETURN WITH THAT IN PLACE"

i too have had some experience on the irish home international team and like bigphil would consider myself either average or at a push just above average as a match angler. but while i took immense pride in representing my country and gave 200% while doing so and it must be said held my own against some 'big names' i couldn't help but feel that there was other anglers available who would have increased irelands chances of success including the already mentioned stephen brennan.

for me its a case of putting the ego aside and accepting that if there is someone better than me then he should make the team. its up to me then to put in whatever effort it takes to reach the required level of skill to be counted among the best in the land. the bottom line is if we as anglers want IRELAND to do well individual interests must take a back seat.

having spoken to numerous english welsh and scottish internationals the consensus is that they hope ireland never gets its act together because we have some incredibly talented anglers in this country and we really could be a force to be reckoned with.

i do think the irish federation is trying in earnest to progress but unfortunatley our governing body is littered with 'wise old heads', antiquated ideas and ideals and far too many non-shore anglers and suits.

i too have had some experience on the irish home international team and like bigphil would consider myself either average or at a push just above average as a match angler. but while i took immense pride in representing my country and gave 200% while doing so and it must be said held my own against some 'big names' i couldn't help but feel that there was other anglers available who would have increased irelands chances of success including the already mentioned stephen brennan.

for me its a case of putting the ego aside and accepting that if there is someone better than me then he should make the team. its up to me then to put in whatever effort it takes to reach the required level of skill to be counted among the best in the land. the bottom line is if we as anglers want IRELAND to do well individual interests must take a back seat.

having spoken to numerous english welsh and scottish internationals the consensus is that they hope ireland never gets its act together because we have some incredibly talented anglers in this country and we really could be a force to be reckoned with.

i do think the irish federation is trying in earnest to progress but unfortunatley our governing body is littered with 'wise old heads', antiquated ideas and ideals and far too many non-shore anglers and suits.

Well said, a statement to make us all feel humble! My respects!!

Tom.

cheers tom i live in hope that some day soon IRELAND will be the team to beat!

well said rocketman you hit the nail right in the b***ox there. I think what we need to is make proposals and go on mass to the federation agm and force them to change the rules we have the power to do it.
Why not start a campaign on this site to bring about changes in the federation.