Wednesday 19 October 2011

Slot sizes for Irish bass - II - The Future is beginning

Spending a lot of time with people who are interested in bass angling forces many issues to the surface during the fishing. Conversations over the season varied from the usual talk of tackle, locations and strategies often leading to the inevitable conclusion that at times the fish are very hard to catch and sometimes very easy! Season 2011 has been an ‘exceptional’ season for many reasons which I will post about later in the year. Time and again the fishing words would find themselves tripping over topics like bass fisheries management, protection and promotion within this country.

All favourite topics of mine not! I’m not going there lest I begin to rant which is highly possible, but one of the issues that came up during the summer was the slot size used in fisheries management. I’m not a fisheries manager (which ultimately is an angling behaviour manager) nor am I a fisheries biologist but it does strike me that there may be some sense in slot sizes. Yes there may be pain too!  

A customer asked me a simple question – ‘Jim why don’t we catch more of the big bass?’ I have always believed that catching bigger bass requires more than specific types of lure or equipment, it demands that the angler ‘angles better’ especially from a fly and lure perspective. Catching bass is not straightforward, catching bigger bass regularly is another angling dimension. Accepting that degree of difficulty and trying to understand the behaviours of bigger fish make it challenging.

But is it even more challenging simply because the numbers of better fish are not there?

I know there are several reasons why the fish may not be there more regularly and most bass anglers are definitely not that reason at this time.

So I hear you ask why impose another restriction on anglers? The post was made in a hope that it might force us to think about the fishery and its current management in some small way. Like many things in this country there appears to be no current thinking on the issues facing the fishery or even its further enhancement and continued protection. It needs a real investment, commitment and a sense of national worth at this time. 

Maybe this is the beginning -  A welcome for (bass) fish permit refusal HERE

In the meantime if you are visiting here at this website you may meet with some technical issues from time to time as I move Probassfisher to another platform. I am re-building and configuring the site to preserve its unique identity over the next while. 

I hope you have enjoyed some of the reports from 2011. I will expand on the experiences and wonderful times I had with the people I met and fished with during the season over the long winter months ahead but not just yet........!

Thank you - Jim

New Website

The beginning AND the end…

Forwarded to - The Irish Bass Policy Group (David McInerny, John Quinlan, Shane O Reilly, Mike Hennessy, Dr William Roche, Dr Nial O'Ma...