cunn/29 juno 2006

People:me,coaster.

Duration:8 till 10 p.m.+

Tide:h.w. 9ish

Weather:wet/s. wind

Baitlugs

Rigs: 1 up 1 down

Results: only 5 bass 1 3lb.+
2 small flukes
bad evening tides to slack, netters to active
was out last night 4/5 bass

only!

Cortaz, is this beach a nursery area for bass? Just looking at your catch reports, with some notable exceptions, many fish seem to be 2lb-.

Is anyone reporting this illegal netting activity ot the CFB, Dept of Marine, Gardai etc?

Cortaz, is this beach a nursery area for bass? Just looking at your catch reports, with some notable exceptions, many fish seem to be 2lb-.

Ye know I was thinking the same thing myself.

It's no wonder there are a lot of small fish and few larger ones. Gill nets tend to have that effect....

There is also the argument - Should we fish areas like that..??

up until 2 yrs. ago the avg. weight of bass was 4lb +
its now 2lb due to the amount of illigal gillnetting.
example of what it was like.
june 16/23 2003
56 bass for wk.= 220lb. fished 8 times blanked once
most fish were in the 3 to 6 lb class
every second wk. catchs like this 300/500 for summer every yr. have dates going back to 1978
last yr. 512 bass only about 50 over 4lb.
never seen a 1 lb bass until 2004
c..

did you ever report - or is there no point? :?

There is also the argument - Should we fish areas like that..??

A good argument for fishing the area is to find out more about stock levels, as long as the majority of fish are returned and the fish are given an opportunity to spawn without interference.

With no legal commercial fishery in Ireland, it's difficult for scientific bodies (the marine Institute in particular) to obtain data about stock levels. A lot of the stock level information at the moment seems to come from sampling very small areas or from anecdotal evidence from anglers, like ourselves.

This is disgraceful. If the netting is that endemic and blatant and having such a dramatic effect surely there is somebody somehwere in some capacity who can do something about this.
I know down here we had problems like this. Nothing was done until it was pointed out that the netters probably took the odd salmon too and almost overnight it was stopped completely

Is anyone reporting this illegal netting activity ot the CFB, Dept of Marine, Gardai etc?

There is an ongoing effort to do something about this activity. It's very early days but hopefully there will be long-term positive results for bass anglers.

There is also the argument - Should we fish areas like that..??

hi eoghan
go and argue with the gillnetters/baillifs. i do all the time
besides nit-picking
cortaz

Wasnt having a go at you mate at all, I know you return your fish.

There is also the argument - Should we fish areas like that..??

A good argument for fishing the area is to find out more about stock levels, as long as the majority of fish are returned and the fish are given an opportunity to spawn without interference.

With no legal commercial fishery in Ireland, it's difficult for scientific bodies (the marine Institute in particular) to obtain data about stock levels. A lot of the stock level information at the moment seems to come from sampling very small areas or from anecdotal evidence from anglers, like ourselves.

Very valid point. personally if I saw a net and could access it I would have no problems cutting it.

the netters might have no problem cutting you though

Bring it on...!! :lol:

the netters might have no problem cutting you though

corbyeire is right. You shouldn't underestimate the extent of this problem, the lengths people will go to to protect their living, the influence they appear to have or the level of organization.

No I appreciate that but I feel very strongly about this. If I saw a net I would cut it. End of story.

[alby]

Teacher, I see you mention protect their livliehood, where exactly do the netters sell their bass/salmon etc too, surely if this is assertained the restauraunts etc. could be warned with the threat of fines/closure periods not to buy from unlisceneced vendors. I'm nearly sure there's EU regulations that meat/fish for public sale or consumption must come from a reputable source, much like the regulation a few years ago in which fish shops & butchers can only sell meat products in processed forms, ie. no half pigs hanging in the butchers etc.

I can also see there's nothing to stop someone selling these gill netted fish for a few quid at closing time in some pub in as the Guinness ad says "the back of beyonds", but surely they wouldn't be able to sell 100lbs worth to make it a viable income.

I'm just a recreational angler like most of you but I think that poaching affects us as much as anyone as it is the fish we try to catch which are being targeted by poachers. Rant Over!

As an aside, Cortaz (Arthur), I really enjoy your reports as it's always great to hear of someone enjoying great fishing especially tangling with bass, giltheads etc. and how you've met people from this site and helped them get among the fish, but I can't help thinking you're shooting yourself in the foot specifically posting the places you fish for all to see. Obviously I don't know if any netters read angling message boards on the web, but if was looking to make a few quid I'd be on the Dungarvan Road for Cunnigar right now. Just hoping YOUR stocks aren't effected too much by illegals.

Last edited by alby on Fri Jun 30, 2006 1:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.