Little Killary

People:no one else mad enough

Duration:from noon til 6pm

Tide:flat out at 6pm

Weather:blowing hard, east north east

Bait: fresh Mac

Rigs:pulley

Results: mac, pollack, grey gurnard, dogs....




Report: I've had a few good days here recently so went back today thinking, I'll nip out have a nice days fishing and catch a few ray... Not so.... on arriving with the tide nearly full, even the mackerel where staying away. There was a constant strong easterly blowing down the inlet whipping up waves that lasted all day. Fishing was slow to begin with. Took me about 3/4 hour to get my first mackerel and then in two chucks had bait. After that, had fun with the wind. Ended up holding the rod all day.... Fish seemed to come in waves (excuse the pun). Usually at full tide there can be a plague of small fish that skin the hooks double quick. On a fine day it can be fun with a light rod catching the small gurnard and pollack, but when hoping for something a bit bigger, it can be a nuisance. In total I had 5 dogs, one of which wasn't bad and gave a half decent scrap. No ray today..... next time I'll be checking the wind.... not a good choice in a strong easterly....

Hard luck on the Ray, one of the times I was over there we saw an eastern European that had 2 beautiful Ray in his car; he caught them with a spear gun.

just to even things out, ive seen plenty of people from the east coast with cool boxes and ray carcasses on the rocks

tbh i dont think its just anglers that clean that place out

I've seen some lads fishing out past clifden, they had one of those box's meant for storing stuff under the bed to carry the fish. They got one fish the day that I was there. No harm taking a fish for the table, but can't agree if its for supplying a chipper. The guys I saw weren't from Ireland originally... there were three of them fishing 2 rods each, and seemed to know what they were doing with rigs etc..

People from the east coast. personally I fished Killary 2 weeks ago and caught 10 Ray all of which where released.99 % of all the fish I catch are released. Time to stop pointing the finger there's lads from all over cleaning that Mark out. Rumour even has it a lad from the west coast once took a fish. I know unbelievable.

What are the laws in this county regarding spear fishing.

What are the laws in this county regarding spear fishing.

I don't think they're that strict on spear fishing here in Ireland.

To be fair, someone taking 2 Ray with a speargun isn't going to cause an extinction. Neither are anglers taking one or two once in a while. You can put bag limits on it if the stocks are in danger, but the only way to ensure future stocks, of any fish, is to manage commercial activities and police angling!..... Bring back the rod licence but use the money to pay full time bailiffs!!!

hmm.... not sure a rod licence is a good idea...it's just another tax that won't be allocated back as bigger budgets... I reckon that commercial fishing at a local level has a lot to do with certain places becoming fished out.... You only need to pull a net across a place a few times or lay a couple of hundred baited hooks on a semi regular basis to clean a place out very quick..

Yes, hence the need to police better.... Paid for by.... Properly appropriated rod licence fees! We have some of the best inshore fishing in Europe and its a potential earner for tourism. The government needs to realise that this needs protection and the best way to do this is to fund it with rod licences but only if the money is ploughed straight back in. It works in the UK and nobody there will fosh without a licence as its a 2k fine and there are plenty of bailiffs out checking!

A Irish government could never be trusted to properly appropriate a license fee. It would just disappear into the abyss. Anglers already pay huge taxes @23% on all their fishing equipment ,baiting etc. Maybe that should be used for policing.

I haven't heard any alternative suggestions..... i'd be willing to pay if I thought it might help. Anyone have any alternative suggestions or is this all just hot air??

This topic has been raised and discussed for the last few years in the UK and has gone round in circles with nothing coming out of it . Personally I think most if not all proper sea anglers , (and there is a huge gap between a fisherman and an angler IMO ) would be happy to pay for the sport they love IF there was going to be proven benefits and tighter controls on our fishing . It won't happen , in some regards I wish it would so proper attention would be shown to the fish stocks and the people who are raping our seas for short time financial gain . If you paid a price for a sea licence and got to your mark saw a patrol boat going past checking on commercials , you saw illegal fishermen being prosecuted and fish stocks were recovering noticeably then that would be worth every penny , it won't happen . It took a celebrity chef to launch the fish fight campaign to get something done about discards , the responsible ministers have not a clue , when questioned the fisheries minister in the UK couldn't name four out of six pictures of fish he was shown . If things are the same in ireland as in uk , any money from sea licences would be swallowed up and no difference would be to show . It's very sad but it's the way it is

I agree completely but I don't like to sit idly by while the future of what I love is being compromised by greedy people. The reason people do this is because they get away with it. There is no policing. I mentioned before about the guy I me in achill wo admitted to Netting 'giant herring' as he called them(salmon). He was brazen about it but knew there was no threat to him.

I just think it's such a shame that as large a group as we are we are not willing to ralley together and push to improve what we are passionate about. Instead everyone loves to winge about it..

I think it's truly sad!!

It's bloody frustrating chris and sad that the only people governing the sport that we all love is ourselves . I fully understand the guys who don't feel safe to say anything to a gang of guys taking undersized fish or just generally doing something wrong , I would and have done but I'm sure it will backfire on me one day as it has in the past . Something does need to be done but the truth of it is I really just don't know what . Collectively anglers should have a very powerful voice but we just have to make sure we are all singing from the same song sheet . If you take bass ( personally I am as concerned for all fish stocks not just the bass )as an example the thoughts and comments on this site are fantastic and shows there is a serious problem with bass over here , and the ideas the guys are coming up with are brilliant , but if your read the british angling papers the sections written by irish bass anglers and guides some of which are on here are that the bass fishing is great and quotes like cork harbour is fishing really well , now there is either a problem or there isn't but speaking to anglers where ever I go around cork then bass fishing is in serious trouble according to the guys I speak to , so there seems to be a problem but it's being kept internal , when everyone is singing from the same song sheet and it is accepted there is a problem then something might get done . This goes for all fish stocks , illegal netting and everything else that is ruining the sport that we all love