Catch and Release dilemma..

Guru Maith Agut

While fishing recently in Virginia, Cavan I stumbled upon some Latvian lads "fishing" with rods (and landing nets). They were rather on the stocky side so I wasn't going to intervene. Needless to say they were keeping anything medium sized (pound or upwards size) that they caught in plastic bags... Now these were Roach, Hybrids and some nice sized Bream. Is there a law as regards taking these Coarse fish out and using them for food? The reason I know they were going to eat them rather than use them for dead-bait was that I was approached by one who asked for a light (cigarette) and I asked him why he was not putting them back. He shrugged his shoulders and in the worst possible attempt at english tried to explain how he was'nt earning much money and at home in mother Latvia they had lovely lakes too but with no fish in them (.. wonder why that could be :rolleyes: ) and that they loved eating these fish and were very good for them. Luckily 'twas a big lake they were fishing in but it begs to wonder if it had been a smaller one they wouldn't be worried if they cleared it out... I know I'm slightly exagerating there perhaps but in principle if everyone was to do this then there would be shag all decent catches for us serious anglers. It pisses me off!! :mad:
I did mention it to him and he said they would only take a few for their dinner but his friends seemed to be taking a bit much interest in what I was saying then so I beat a hasty retreat. The last thing I wanted was to be "sleeping with the fishes"...:eek:

Bemused

jd

From the Indo


http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1556114&issue_id=13639

[FONT=Arial, Verdana, Arial]Tempers frayed in illegal coarse fishing dispute[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial]
Eugene
Hogan
TEMPERS are reaching boiling point along the River Shannon as rows break out over illegal and over-fishing of coarse stocks by Eastern Europeans.
Fist fights have broken out between local anglers and non-nationals along the river bank. Traditionally all coarse fish - pike, bream, roach and perch - are put back by both native coarse anglers and UK visitors. However, in other parts of Europe such fish are relished as delicacies.
Some enterprising visitors are netting hundreds of coarse fish at a time and selling them. The Shannon Regional Fisheries Board has erected multilingual signs along the river, informing anglers of rules limiting the number of pike (3.5 kilos) that can be taken, and the bar on live bait.
Moves towards a bag-limit for all coarse fish are advanced. Local angler and Shannon Regional Fisheries Board member Jim Robinson says stocks remain plentiful, but the threat from netting and over-fishing can't be underestimated.
"The stocks are not as depleted as perceived just yet but we cannot become complacent. Moves are being made to introduce new regulations and that in its own right shows that there is a problem and it is being recognised," he said.
"There is a lot of anger out there on the part of anglers over this and we have had confrontations in some areas like Plassey (near Limerick) between our own anglers and Eastern Europeans. Many years ago we had a problem with the French coming over as they saw pike and perch as delicacies and they were taking big numbers out and selling them to pay for their holiday."

[/FONT]

vibez

Im sick of dis shish. I was walkin along river boyne yesterday anyone who know the ramparts, a heaven 4 underage drinkers!! anyhow, myself and d missus wer walkin off few pints along walkway and far side off river 5-10 eastern europeans, fishing away. it looked like they were spinning.

on way back from walk 1 of dem cot sumthing and it was either a very small pike an even small salmon or a (sum how) trout. 1 of the other lads grabbed the unknow fish and hit it few times with baton. i whistled over and wave to tro back in but they paid no attention.

IM SICK OF DIS ****.. something has to be done and fast. I think we need to get some sort of police system for our waters or there will be nothin left. I dont give 2 ****es if these people are starving i work 50 hours a week get paid **** have more loans then AIB. These fukers need 2 be stopped, anyone any ideas im all ears :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

dillon_the_rabb

Hi All

From what I have read and seen first hand, this is very common all over the country. I am from the UK, and have been living over here in Dublin for nearly 2 years, and I have never seen anything like it. There was a problem similar to this on the river Lee in North London, where a load of 'non nationals' were taking fish and stuffing them into bags. Some of them even had impromptu BBQ's on the bank, and were BBQing the perch and road they were catching! Needless to say, this was stamped out because the river is a day ticket venue, and these day tickets were issued by the local club, and they got the police involved.

I believe something needs to be done, and quickly. Maybe having fishing clubs taking over these waters is a good idea in the sense that club officials would be able to police the venues, and stop these thieves. Then again, there are probably more lakes in Co. Cavan alone than fishing clubs in Ireland

One thing I am sure about, this will continue until the CFB actively puts a stop to it, by that I mean catch the bastards at it, and bang them up. There are rules, regs and laws in this country that are there to stop this sort of thing, but without enforcement, they're not worth the paper they're written on.

Rant over!!

Cheers Guys n Gals

Matt

grudgebringer

Saw a similar issue a while ago in a man made carp stocked lake in a park in Dublin, the carp were only introduced a mere few days and the eastern euros were in pullin' them out by the dozen :eek:

This didn't go down too well with the locals who most certainly didn't want their newly stocked carp lake becoming a Polish Supermarket...needless to say, this was one of those occasions that was not finished so 'diplomatically' :cool:

Seemed to do the trick but subsequent reports have them spotted down there at night poaching...need eyes in the back of your feckin head for these guys.

WORSE still was one of my favorites....I like to fish on the Clonee Canal in Dublin in particular for the nice head of Tench it holds....I was aghast to find on one particular occasion a HALF eaten tench carcas on the bank...these are sick people...there are few enough of those babies to be dealing with them like that....I was disgusted....:mad:

Any petition for a change in angling laws and the handling of catches to improve this wil lcertainly have my signiture.

Guru Maith Agut

grudgebringer wrote:

I like to fish on the Clonee Canal in Dublin in particular for the nice head of Tench it holds....

Tell me more.. Where is there a canal in Clonee? Have you fished it lately and if so how's it been? PM me if you'd prefer to keep it private... I know I wouldn't want the whole world knowing the good spots we find. Maybe we could trade some venue info

grudgebringer

Guru Maith Agut wrote:

Tell me more.. Where is there a canal in Clonee? Have you fished it lately and if so how's it been?

Hey there, it's on the Clonee - Lucan road - not sure where you're located but if you're in Lucan and heading over the bridge over the Liffey towards the strawberry beds there's a junction, straight or left for Clonee, right for Dublin/Clonsilla kind of direction.
Go left or straight at the lights, doesn't matter which, and head down this road (kinda country back road) until you come to a hump back bridge over the railway tracks/canal.
Immediately after this bridge there is small layby on the left where you can park. Head down the canal and after about 700 yards you'll start to come across match pegged spots, keep going though until you get to al least peg 72, the further down the better the fishing usually gets.

I haven't fished it since the summer (in my old age I'm becoming a summer fisherman but when the weather starts to improve the tench start to raise their heads. They are mostly tagged and stocked but there is a really good head of 3+ ib'ers which will fill a net quickly. There is also a few bream but it's pretty hard to get them to stick, it's actually easier to keep the tench in your swim....

Groundbait is a MUST, maggots and castors are perhaps the best bait though I've got a few nice tench and bream from there on sweetcorn.

Also, if you're interested for a bit of 'extra' sport there's some pretty fiesty Pike in there too, generally you'll know they are around as they'll be gnawing on your fish on the way in - keep one as a deadbait and pop him in and you're guarunteed a hit straight away, my biggest out of there was 9 1/2 pound on a 14' match rod with 6Ib test, great fun

Along with those mentioned there's plenty of roach and hybrids there, very hard to find a 'true' Rudd any more but there's a few of them knocking about. Perch also but mostly stunted....you may also be unlucky enough to pull in the odd eel, seems to be a few of them there.

It's a nice peaceful spot with plenty of water to fish - if you're not after the tench I could still expect a good day out of it but don't expect to be carrying any great weight in roach, most are pretty small, tough to get one in excess of a pound or so. Ideal water for pole fishing too if you've got one - not really a great spot for feeder or ledger, more suited to pole/stick float

If yo ever pay it a visit, let me know how you get on, BTW, Lucan Angling and Shooting store is quite close to it so it's always worth popping in to ask Pat in there how it's been fishing lately.

Enjoy

Guru Maith Agut

grudgebringer wrote:

Hey there, it's on the Clonee - Lucan road - not sure where you're located but if you're in Lucan.

I'm in Virginia in Cavan actually. Always looking for new spots though, especially if it involves Tench... Used to more into Bream fishing and still enjoy it but you can't beat the fight you get from a 4/5lb Tench and they're superb looking fish too! There are some good spots down here for Bream but not so good for Tench. I have fished the Canal before down near Portlaoise at Vicarstown (don't know if you 've ever been there) with a friend of mine from there and had a super day once with 5 Tench of over 4lb with a few nice Roach and some medium size Bream. I don't think I'll ever beat that day tbh. Everything just went right, for once.. Started at 4:30 a.m. and had a full net by 3 p.m. Have been back since and to no avail

grudgebringer wrote:

Head down the canal and after about 700 yards you'll start to come across match pegged spots, keep going though until you get to al least peg 72, the further down the better the fishing usually gets.

Are there actual stands there or is it just fishing from bank?

grudgebringer wrote:

I haven't fished it since the summer (in my old age I'm becoming a summer fisherman

Ah yes I know this feeling you speak of The warmth of the sun is greatly needed to entice us from our hibernatory slumber lol

grudgebringer wrote:

but when the weather starts to improve the tench start to raise their heads.

What's the earliest in the year you've caught Tench there? I thought the Canal was good for fish all year round (bar the really frosty days)...

grudgebringer wrote:

there is a really good head of 3+ ib'ers which will fill a net quickly

That's what I like to hear

grudgebringer wrote:

Groundbait is a MUST, maggots and castors are perhaps the best bait though I've got a few nice tench and bream from there on sweetcorn.

Have you groundbaited the night before or do you just setup early and wait for them to appear after laying your g' bait in the morning?

grudgebringer wrote:

Also, if you're interested for a bit of 'extra' sport there's some pretty fiesty Pike in there too

Great, I'll keep that in mind

grudgebringer wrote:

very hard to find a 'true' Rudd any more but there's a few of them knocking about. you may also be unlucky enough to pull in the odd eel, seems to be a few of them there.

Yeah shame about the Rudd, 'tis the same up here really and as for eels, I seem to have had one of them everywhere I've fished to date.

grudgebringer wrote:

It's a nice peaceful spot with plenty of water to fish

Is it sheltered at all? As in, are there trees on both sides of the bank as most of the canal stretches have...?

grudgebringer wrote:

Ideal water for pole fishing too if you've got one

Haven't invested in one of them but may consider one if I start to fish the canal more often. Have to convince the missus to get me one for my B' day!

grudgebringer wrote:

If yo ever pay it a visit, let me know how you get on

I will of course. Thanks for the info

grudgebringer wrote:

Lucan Angling and Shooting store is quite close to it so it's always worth popping in to ask Pat in there how it's been fishing lately.

And finally, last question! I presume he stocks all the appropriate baits i.e. Maggots, Hemp, Sweetcorn etc. Does he have any tinned luncheon meat? I believe thats supposed to be good for Tench too..
Cheers
D

grudgebringer

Guru Maith Agut wrote:

I'm in Virginia in Cavan actually.

Cool, I love it there, have fished L Ramor on several occasions, beautiful bream in there and some nice roach

Guru Maith Agut wrote:

Are there actual stands there or is it just fishing from bank?

No, just markings on the bank to indicate a peg, that's all.

Guru Maith Agut wrote:

What's the earliest in the year you've caught Tench there? I thought the Canal was good for fish all year round (bar the really frosty days)...

I actually feel that this is not true for this canal, I've fished it during the winter and it's dead. From around March/April if it's getting warmer then it improves and in the peak of summer it's really good, be warned though it gets busy down there when it's fishing well :rolleyes:

Guru Maith Agut wrote:

Have you groundbaited the night before or do you just setup early and wait for them to appear after laying your g' bait in the morning?

It's sufficient to groundbait the day you're there, generally you'll get in some skimmers until they are fed off then the bigger guys will start to arrive. Regular feeding then is required to keep em in there.

Guru Maith Agut wrote:

Is it sheltered at all? As in, are there trees on both sides of the bank as most of the canal stretches have...?

The stretch is mostly sheltered on either side by bushes/trees but in some areas it is totally open

Guru Maith Agut wrote:

And finally, last question! I presume he stocks all the appropriate baits i.e. Maggots, Hemp, Sweetcorn etc. Does he have any tinned luncheon meat? I believe thats supposed to be good for Tench too..

Actually he is a bit unreliable for bait, usually maggots are available but hemp/sweetcorn/luncheon meat are pushing it for him :rolleyes: I'd bring some bait myself if you're coming down!

Anyway, if you make it there, enjoy!!

Guru Maith Agut

Cheers! Its in my fishin' diary for sure.

pshar84

i agree with the whole catch and release idea 100%.
the whole idea behind it is that you have your fun catchin the fish and return them safe for someone else to have the same experience.
i remember last year i was fishing in greenore for mackrel and there were a crowd of non irish people there, probabley eastern europeans and they were fishing and drinking........they were really annyoing the other anglers