Wexford Business Awards, runner-up tourism category.

I was absolutely delighted to receive the joint runner-up award in the Tourism category of The Wexford Business Awards 2012 in Whites hotel last night. It was a real honour to share the stage with the other runners-up, Bill and Isobel Kelly of Kelly’s Resort Hotel. Kelly’s Resort Hotel went on to win the overall Wexford Business Award.

The shortlisted finalists in the Wexford tourism award category were

Celtic link ferries
Griffin group
Irish national heritage park
Kellys resort hotel
Morriscastle strand holiday park
Talbot hotel Wexford
Wexford festival opera
Whites of Wexford
Whitford house hotel
South East Angling Ireland

This category was sponsored by Highwind Films

To have been shortlisted within this group of dynamic Wexford tourism business providers was in itself a privilege. To receive the runner-up award was beyond my greatest expectation.

I feel this award will only help to strengthen the validity of the bass fishing product in this country.

Thanks to all my friends, customers and loyal bass fishing network.

For more information regarding the 72 shortlisted finalists visit this link here

Jim

Coastal fishing solutions

The challenges and cycles continue

Sometimes I notice that if I'm ‘researching’ the jet stream phenomena I often come across statements from meteorologists that sound like the following

1. The Jet stream moves because of weather (e.g. warmth or cold somewhere) and or
2. The weather is like it is because of the Jet stream.

Both may be true to an extent but it needs to be clear, the jet stream IS weather so what we really have here is confusion on a description rather than cause.
The question is WHY are it ( the jet stream) and our associated weather behaving rather differently now than say from a decade ago? That’s not for me to say or conclude.

‘The weather pattern is so stuck in a rut that there's every chance that low pressure will dominate our weather for the rest of June and into the first half of July too - meaning more cool and at times wet weather - with a few fine warm days in-between.’

And it's all down to the position of the jet stream. A low lying jet stream is also connected to AMO see this post here on Striper bass decline
 
The risk here is that we incorrectly associate animal behaviour and rationalise exceptions into slots that ‘fit’ our derivations. Ants are flying early or badgers are blacker than white this year – and then we attach a weather pattern as either the cause or the displayed animal behaviour is an indication the end the world is approaching!

The jet stream is a fast moving zone of winds high up in the atmosphere, caused by the temperature contrast between cold air to the north, and warmer air to the south.
It's along this boundary, where warm and cold air constantly battle each other that most of our rain bearing weather systems form.

'The jet stream, for some time now, has been further south than normal - hence the inclement weather.

During 2007, 2008, 2009 the Jet Stream has been at an abnormally low latitude across the UK, lying closer to the English Channel, around 50°N rather than its more usual north of Scotland latitude of around 60°N. However, between 1979 and 2001, it has been found that the position of the jet stream has been moving northward at a rate of 2.01 kilometres (1.25 mi) per year across the Northern Hemisphere'

From my own observations based on fish returns and expectations you could draw some conclusions see here A challenging season, fish behaviour changes because of weather – this has been inherent in this blog for a long long time.

I do know this – when I started guiding in 2003 my ‘management’ of how the weather was communicated to customers at the beginning of the week along with the information pack and the detail etc., the summary went something like this – ‘Guys, looks like we will have a tough day on Tuesday and fishing will be difficult until Wednesday lunchtime’, (or something similar) at the moment I’m looking for a good day amongst several tough or impossible days!

Looking at this forecast it looks like its set to remain difficult for a while.

Mid summer madness, I don’t think so!

 

Fishing remains extremely difficult in ideal conditions, some fish about but generally very patchy. Weather windows, exact timings and presentations with ‘focused’ fishing in otherwise productive locations leading to some results.

The Hook Bass Fishing Festival

October Bass Festival at the Hook Peninsula -

Having been invited, I attended a meeting this morning in Fethard as part of a working group involved in creating a Bass Angling Festival on the Hook Peninsula. Many aspects for the proposed development of the Festival were discussed.

I emphasised my usual cautionary approach to 'development' of the fishery, and having built a small business that utilises the reasons why many people want to come to Wexford and to fish bass, I expressed and re-emphasised that many bass anglers simply like the environment, peace and a sense of isolation combined with a chance of exploration and the challenge of the fishing.

Those same people contribute to local economies throughout the season on a day by day basis in many Wexford coastal communities without using my services or having to experience it through the medium of a Festival.

Anglers use the peninsula and the facilities provided there all of the time, they do so on the basis that it is simply what it is and it already provides what they need. Indeed many are not necessarily bass anglers. Not everyone is aware of this.

This doesn't mean I am opposed to the Festival, I think its an opportunity for the Festival committee to demonstrate and to add and include other bass fishing related activities, some evening presentations, local history workshops, tours of the Peninsula to provide a sense of the magic, the spirit of the place. An inclusive experience for people.

I personally feel we have many local people who could make considerable and interesting contributions to the Festival - Billy Colfer (historian), Jim Hurley (naturalist), Kevin Dundon (chef), among many others too, promoted responsibly through Irish angling press it could be a real opportunity to showcase local expertise, talent and environment.

As a Wexford person who has invested ten years of my life in bass fishing in the area and many places in close proximity , how much I can contribute I'm not entirely sure as its the busiest time of year for me - I do know that the dates the Festival is on I will be just finished working with two returning Dutch visitors!

Friday October 26th - Sunday October 28th

Skiff to ma looo my darlin!

Dark and silent late last night,
I think I might have heard the highway calling ...
Geese in flight and dogs that bite
And signs that might be omens say I'm going, I'm going
I'm gone to Carolina in my mind. - James Taylor



I guess after much deliberation and debate and toing and froing and confusion the decision is made and taking delivery early/mid autumn.

The stars

 

Fishing at 2 am last night I found myself not for the first time looking at the stars.

 

Night fishing always makes me more contemplative. Every splash and wave, every creak of the cast is louder and clearer and at times seemingly closer. The voices of the shore blend into a rhythm of sound and sensation that forces me to focus on the task at hand. Out of that comes the slotting into place of the cast, the safe footing, the minimal vision and the accentuated attention paid to what I am hearing and feeling.

 

I am in the place where anticipation always grows greater as the eastern horizon lightens.

 

Looking at the stars and stripping big flies slowly over a shallow drop-off, I am thinking, and also not for the first time, about my website. Probassfisher is rapidly approaching 3000 photographs, 1000 posts, this is post no. 970, the site represents five years of commitment to my experiences and some thoughts about bass angling in this country.

 

Now I find myself changing in relation to the fishing and what I post on Probassfisher and for how much longer do I want to attend to it. Its not just the fishing experiences I have had this week but those from late last year and early into this year too are making me think differently. There are always the usual questions about the quality of the writing, the structure, the posts, and the content. It’s too big to change it now and it is what it is. Somehow the benchmark of 1000 posts sounds like a stop, a milestone reached, a time for change for me at this time.

 

I love making the site and it makes it possible for me to do my job. Now I’m thinking, wanting to do something different something that is closer to the fishing. What that is I’m not quite sure yet, to be honest it’s probably a more ‘instinctive’ version of Probassfisher, but as I say I’m not quite sure, maybe its something like Thirtyards

 

Maybe it’s a different approach to the fishing and the business.

 

Spontaneity, desire, heightened anticipation, a headlong rush to a location in the wind and rain to fish, hoping that your instinct is right, not really caring if its not – call it what you might sometimes you just know you need to do it!

Jim Hendrick