I'll just introduce meself first then i need a bit of info..

[guernseybass]

Hiya Guys,

I am just starting my third full season of Saltwater Flyfishing (SWFF), had only one bass so far this year but a few nice pollack and some mackerel too. our season here is just starting but will last until November/December, my best fish last year was 6.5lb in November.

I started tying my own flies in January 2004 and now don't buy flies anymore.

I am one of the founding members of http://www.ukswff.com and you can find me on the forum at http://ukswff.proboards26.com under the same username. i also now have my own small non-commercial site devoted to SWFF in Guernsey - http://www.swff.co.uk which is still being put togther.

When i'm not fishing, i'm an activist for B.A.S.S. and Guernsey's own bass conservation site which i helped set up - http://www.saveourbass.com, by writing letters or generally annoying politicians and commercial fisherman. I also recently joined the NFSA.

Along with seven other UKSWFFers i have just come back from Chatham, Cape Cod, MA - 9 days fishing for striped bass and bluefish - check the pics here on an excellent US forum - [url]http://www.flyfishingforum.com/flytalk4/showthread.php?t=20622[/url] - we'll be going back for 2 weeks next year. :wink:

My next trip is to your lovely shores in september, based on the cork/ waterford border, so any advice on marks tide times & tackle shops will be most welcome.

and of course all the bass ( or any other species) will be returned.

Thanks

Mark.

[MAC]

Nice to meet you Mark... I fish the Waterford area myself quite. I will let you know how the area is fishing before September and pass on a good spot or two if they are fishing well. There are literally hundreds of spots along that coastline and my advice to you is to get the ordance survey maps for the areas and study them before you go. This will give you some good ideas on the areas and aquiant you with our :? roads..."for want of a better word) Keep in touch mate.

Kev

[Tanglerat]

Hi Mark,

Nice to see another B.A.S.S. guy in the forums.

Welcome. :D

[Gonzo]

Also just stopping by to say hello from the UKSWFF website and another B.A.S.S member.

[MAC]

Welcome to the forum Gonzo. Nice to have you guys posting here. Keep posting and let us know how the Bass fishing is going.

Kev

[liamdenneh]

lets try and keep it bout fishing tho boys and not let this forum go like the uk swff one!!!!!!!!

[Guest]

Why, how did that forum go?




Scratching chin wonderingly

[liamdenneh]

clicky and very little info on actual fishing. if all u wanna talk about is the political side of fishing go to bass's website!!!!!!!!!!11 :P

[guernseybass]

clicky and very little info on actual fishing. if all u wanna talk about is the political side of fishing go to bass's website!!!!!!!!!!11 :P

sorry Liam i can't agree with that at all - we're not clicky, newbies are welcomed with open arms, and while most UKSWFFERs are conservation minded, its only to be expected as we don't have the bass protection you enjoy in Eire.

for the same reason we protect our marks.

looking on the board today, i can see lots of threads about bass fishing and not one about conservation.

guys i'd ask you to make up your own mind - with almost 500 active SWFF members since February 2004 we can't be doing much wrong !

mark.

[Tim]

Hey, why is it that everybody’s right and everybody’s wrong all the time :)

Guernseybass, you’re dead wrong about no conservation – this site has a whole section on it and not just bass. See down the bottom of the page. You’d be right that it hasn’t been there that long but with the aid of Sandman and Leon Roskilly, I think it’s really going great guns. Any letters from overseas must count double if sent to Mr. John O'Donoghue TD, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, but so far he keeps sliding mine sideways to Mr Pat the Cope Gallagher T.D., Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. I keep hoping he will get the message that many tourists go to fish in Ireland and it is his business. Anyway, as you know, lots of overseas folk signed the Guernsey Bass petition and I believe you are getting somewhere with their help. If you haven’t written to save Ireland’s fish already, all the names and addresses you might need are listed in the conservation section.

Liamdenneh, I would agree with you that the ukswff looks clicky, with lots of the same people meeting up and they all seem to know each other.
Fact is they are a really nice bunch of folk who welcome fellow idiots with open arms. I speak as a newbie who went along to one of their fishing weekends this year and was made to feel very welcome, even though I had never met any of them before and couldn’t cast for toffee, let alone fish. They are very guarded about where they fish as there just ain’t the same number of places available as there are in Ireland.

Having now upset everyone, I have a personal theory that I would welcome anyone’s thoughts on. In England, particularly, fly fishing always used to be expensive and fresh water, so the ukswff mob really have been doing some pioneering work in the sea, and in fact there are still not many of them. I just have this feeling that Ireland has always had a much greater proportion of fly fishing folk and they have always fly fished the sea, perhaps more in pursuit of sea trout than anything else. So from an Irish perspective, the small bunch of swffers in England may look like a small private club, whereas in reality, they may be only too happy to learn from what I think, is a long tradition of swff in Ireland. Or am I talking out the back of somewhere behind me :? :?

Now I really am in trouble…… :shock:


Tim

[liamdenneh]

this is my own fault but this is the exact kind of thread i hated on the other website!! all we need now are people thretening to leave and then being begged to stay to get the full ukswff experience!!!!!

[guernseybass]

Tim, i didn't mean there was no conservation, i was just saying there is more on UKSWFF and explaining why.

you are right about the meetings - they are so popular because we are still very few in number, and most do involve a few old hands helping out newbies - which is a great way to learn. if it was clicky, newbies wouldn't get a look i think ?

as far as i can telll there is very little history of SWFF in the south, in years gone by herring, cod, and pollack were all caught on flies in Scotland.

from what i can make out, UKSWFFers seem to come from 3 main backgrounds - river trout and salmon flyfishing, sea baitfishing and coarse fishing ( there seems to be just as much interest in coarse FFing).

i think its a pretty good site - the almost daily catch reports themselves are worth their weight in gold, and there are separate forums for flies, tackle, and casting. Even compared to US site standards theres a wealth of info there.

all i can say is that its helped me massively.

cheers

Mark.

[Tim]

Yup,’Nuff politics, lets get back to the original question.

If you haven’t been over to Ireland yet, I can only recommend from personal knowledge the estuary at Courtmacsherry. It is around an hour the other side of Cork to where you are going but if you get a chance, try it, it could be really good. Best at low/rising tide probably as it can get very weedy. I was using a Fidget and a Fagash Lil but any floating fly that makes a good wake is worth a try. If it's a few pollack you're after, there are loads of bays in the area and you can choose which one based on whatever way the wind is blowing. If you’ve been, how did you get on?

Tim

[guernseybass]

I am over from 18th to 25th of September.

am thinking of trying the womenagh river, pilmore strand area or ballycotton, as i am staying in ballyduff - between Fermoy and Lismore.

I was hoping for a couple of days SWFF but maybe more if the blackwater is flooded. :wink:

i may get down courtmacsherry way, well more likely baltimore area as theres a loch Hind there with rapids there that enter the sea.

mark.

[Tim]

I went down the western side of Loch Hyne/Hind and ended up fishing Barloge Creek. There is a channel that goes out to the sea with a few rocks that you can cast from. To the north you can see the exit from the rapids but I think access to them is pretty poor either side. Don’t listen to people who recommend the nearby point called Carrigathorna, unless you can get a lift in a helicopter. It’s a good spot but access is a real nightmare. :shock:
For fishing, if I was choosing between Loch Hyne and Courtmacsherry, Courtmac would win by a mile.
For sightseeing Loch Hyne would be the favourite.
Hopefully, someone who knows the areas better than me can post up and put us right.
Have a good trip.

Tim

[kieran]

Hi

Would the "guest" whom apparently I know please desist from the blatantly libelous post last made here. It will get the site SHUT DOWN.

If you have evidence of what you claimed, pass it on to the CFB, local RFB, gardai, EPA, members of SACN (one of whom is interested and awaiting a PM from you with all the details and one presumes some evidence of the same, and who alerted me to the post in the first place)
but PLEASE do not post something like that again on this website.

IF you can not accept the restrictions that are there to PROTECT the website from being shut down in the very manner suffered by two UK angler websites... take your leave of us. No offence intended.

Thanks

[Guest]

hey kieran, absolute fact documented to the cfb by registered post! nothing done when this evidence was handed to them. didnt think to b honest that i had written anything that could b deamed in any way dodgy. if i did i must apologise for any offence caused. without going thru it again it is a bloody worry and very frustrating though

[Guest]

hey kieran, absolute fact documented to the cfb by registered post! nothing done when this evidence was handed to them. didnt think to b honest that i had written anything that could b deamed in any way dodgy. if i did i must apologise for any offence caused. without going thru it again it is a bloody worry and very frustrating though

[Guest]

MEnt to say this on my last post but forgot. I posted as a guest as I have done on any other occasion I have spoken on bass poaching simply because my id gives away my actual name etc and considering the mentality of some of these poachers and that i am well known in the area, I would rather not have the windows in my car put in while i am out fishing!!! It is not just the fishermen who like these forums remember!
Anyway i didnt mean to get the site into any trouble and will pm u any dodgy bass issues before i go on and post them on the forum.