Revive fly fishing journal–Ireland, a photo essay

Native and Wild – fly fishing across Ireland, an American perspective

Seabass Management–A new future?

Seabass Mgment NGO Perspective

PRESENTATIONS of Inter AC Workshop on Seabass - Dublin, 18 September 2014

 

Dear members of the North Sea, North Western Waters and South Western Waters Advisory Councils,

Dear members of the European Commission and the European Parliament Fisheries Committee

Dear representatives of national administrations from France, UK, Ireland, Spain, Belgium and The Netherlands

Dear invited and scientific experts,

Dear observers,

Thank you for your participation and involvement at the Inter AC Workshop on Seabass held last Thursday in Dublin.

All presentations are now available for consultation at the correspondent meeting site of the NWWAC website (you can find there as well the agenda and working papers):

http://www.nwwac.org/listing/interac-workshop-on-seabass.1529.html

A summary note has also been produced summarising the main outcomes of the meeting and including a proposed way forward and timeframe for completion of agreed actions.

The note has been circulated to the Chairs of the ACs for comments and the agreed version is expected to be circulated/uploaded soon.

Fisheries management

THE BUCKLAND LECTURE 2014

Species without Borders: Science, Politics, Economics and Human Factors

University College Dublin - UCD Science Wednesday, 29 October 2014 at 17:30

Dr Malcolm Winsor
Buckland Professor 2014
Former Secretary General of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation (www.nasco.int)

Are you interested in how we manage our fisheries and wildlife resources at an international level? Do you think the bodies involved do their job well? Are they effective? If not, why not? How can they be improved? Come along and debate these important issues with Malcolm Windsor, Frank Convery, Ken Whelan and a well-known panel of experts in UCD on the 29th October, at 1730.

 

Programme

17.30 pm Registration

17.40 pm Introducton

Professor Ken Whelan will provide some background to the Buckland Foundation  and the Buckland Professorships. He will also outline some of NASCO’s recent work on researching why such a significant proportion of Atlantic salmon are dying at sea. His brief talk will include clips from a soon to be launched film: Atlantic Salmon Lost at Sea.

18.00 pm Buckland Foundation Lecture

"Species without Borders: Science, Politics, Economics and Human Factors" by Malcolm Windsor former Secretary of NASCO

18.45 pm Panel-led Discussion

The Buckland Lecture will be followed by a panel led discussion on the role and function of international wildlife conservation and management bodies – do they work? ….are they effective? ….  if not why not? …how can they be improved?   Professor Frank Convery, UCD Earth Institute and Chief Economist with the Environmental Defense Fund in New York,  will chair both the Buckland Lecture and this important debate. 

Panel  members to be announced shortly.
For further information and to register for this free event please visit:
http://www.eventbrite.ie/e/species-with ... 2951876411

Under the influence II–the grip loosens….

We have been in the grip of an anticylonic system for nearly three weeks now, and it looks like its stuck for another few days, up to Sunday at least. But then on Monday we are released from its grasp and the week ahead looks really good for bass fishing – new moon, nice tides, a swing of systems to the south west and a mid week ‘perfect storm’.

Imagine breaking white water at last!

If you can get your planning right in the right locations it looks red hot mid week. I’m hearing genuine experiences of lots of hard hours done by some of the best bass anglers in Ireland over the past few weeks and it has been tough out there !

As any bass angler knows (depending on your location and degree of  influence) a North Easter / Easter does nothing to excite us…on this coast anyway.

However I wont be confusing a shift in weather patterns that may increase the likelihood of success with the conclusion that all is well with the fishery.

After all its bound to be better for many reasons.

September secrets will unfold before us

The sea drives truth into a man like salt. A coward cannot long pretend to be brave at sea, nor a fool to be wise, nor a prig to be a good companion, and any venture connected with the sea is full of venture and can pretend to be nothing more. Nevertheless there is a certain pride in keeping a course through different weathers, in making the best of a tide, in using cats’ paws in a dull race, and, generally, in knowing how to handle the thing you steer and to judge the water and the wind. Just because men have to tell the truth once they get into tide water, what little is due to themselves in their success thereon they are proud of and acknowledge.

by Hilaire Belloc (27 July 1870 – 16 July 1953)
from On Weighing Anchor
first published in the collection First and Last (1911)

Under the influence–of high pressure!

I sat in terminal 2 at Dublin airport watching the match whilst awaiting the arrival of my French customers. Always tense moments an all Ireland final and the anticipation of a weeks guided fishing that lay ahead. This was one of the larger groups that I had guided in the past few years – there was Philippe, Dennis and his wife Solange, and Giles and his wife Agnes. A challenge no doubt!

The balance lay in striking the correct fishing strategy and timing whilst allowing Solange and Agnes time to explore some of the historic sites of south and eastern Ireland. The group was based in Wexford town at Rosemount B+B for seven nights and six days but we had flexibility to move and travel as the fishing dictated.

The fishing strategy for the next six days lay as follows -

4 Mornings rising tides fishing 04:30 to 08:30

4 Evenings top/falling tides fishing 20:30 to 24:30

2 midday sessions over mixed tides on different but close locations. Room to plan and manoeuvre as the fishing dictated of course.

The three guys have a surface lure fishing obsession and had told me very early in the planning that even if conditions were tough they would remain fishing on the surface in preference to fishing hard diving lures or soft baits. In fact they arrived with no soft or diving lures such was their passion for surface lure fishing.

The guys had been bass fishing together in France for some 20 years  both from the shore and in a skiff in many different locations, travelling was part of their game. They also had regular experiences of tropical fishing in Bijagos, Guinea Bissau, Panama and Gabon – this was to be their first time in Ireland.

Gear was exceptional and front end.

With such a large group, which at times was, travelling all together I had hired a seven-seater from Enterprise Car Hire.This facilitated our airport collections and returns, luggage, it provided significant comfort over a weeks travelling, fishing and exploring. A voyage really, for many reasons, and it needed to work from both dimensions – fishing and tourism both for the guys and the girls, it needed constant management. It was demanding from several different aspects that needed to fit.

The weeks weather was to be strongly impacted by, and remained under the influence, of a constant easterly and north easterly airflow that was a consequence of the high pressure system that lay over Ireland and much of the UK. In fact the high pressure extended into a lot of western Europe too. Mild sunny breezy days with calm evenings and mornings, and as any bass fisherman knows, fishing Wexford under extended conditions such as these was in itself a considerable challenge. This can be at times difficult to convey to customers who aren’t ‘tuned’ to local influences.

Monday came and went as we travelled into the western sections of the coast and on Tuesday we had the opportunity to travel to Cork and work with a film crew.

SEASONS a French film company happened to be in Ireland filming Trout Salmon and Pike fishing – so why not bass? We ventured down the coast and met the guys, and IFI, its always interesting to have French bass fishing customers filmed in Ireland by a French film company, it adds another layer to the possibilities of promotion.

The girls ventured along the coast on a considerable hike, the boys played with their fish as we were overwhelmed by vast shoals of mackerel chasing sprat and sandeel into every gulley available….and so it went, we voyaged into fantastic places every day, simple but inspiring in their uniqueness and quality. And this became our routine

Having spent time fishing or exploring or both, we stopped for refreshments along the way, this was often the case wherever we went during the week, Wexford, East Cork, Dungarvan, Kilmore quay, Kilmore village, the Hook, Tintern Abbey, Kilkenny City, New Ross, Johnstown Castle – Greenacres, The Yard, The little Yard, Mary Barrys, Pat Shortts, Spice, Mackens, Kehoes of Kilmore, The Lobster Pot, The Thomas Moore, JM Kellys, Kilkenny Design, Kilkenny Castle and gardens, Butterslip, Westgate design, the Bullring Market, Corcorans Menswear…..

It cannot be denied the significant local economic impact that such a group has left behind in the many places and businesses which they visited. Across the entire southern eastern region – all in pursuit of a fish and a further experience that is uniquely Irish, and completely sustainable.

The wonderful coastal environments and scenery experienced every day, the relaxed acceptance and fun, the pace, the peace, the sound of silence not subject to any pressure. And of course the fish, the fish, the magic of the fish persists and persists.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you all for making it an experience for me that I wont forget, for making it easy to be a bass fishing guide in places that are close to my heart.

Fin Chasers– Online Fly fishing magazine

 

Issue #1

Issue #2

Issue #3

Issue #4

Issue #6

Issue #7

Current Issue

Putting it together at the moment and over the next few months to hopefully achieve a feature for this magazine - Irish bass fishing on fly and lure.

On the coast, next week…..guiding!

Never alone

 

‘He looked across the sea and knew how alone he was now. But he could see the prisms in the deep dark water and the line stretching ahead and the strange undulation of the calm. The clouds were building up now for the trade wind and he looked ahead and saw a flight of wild ducks etching themselves against the sky over the water, then blurring, then etching again and he knew no man was ever alone on the sea.’

Ernest Hemingway – The old man and the sea

Technical, Economical and Scientific - Bass Data

46th PLENARY MEETING REPORT OF THE SCIENTIFIC, TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC COMMITTEE FOR FISHERIES (PLEN-14-02)

Section 6.3 – pages 51 to 59 pertain to the bass fisheries management

If you would like to see more similar data/reports why not visit this link on my website HERE

Scientific, technical and economical committee for fisheries