Winter Fishing

Deer Hunter DL

what kind of fish would one fish during the winter as in from now till spring , i normally fish salmon and trout during spring and summer

coolwings

Winter species are in freshwater, pike, roach, perch, and in the sea cod & codling, whiting, pollack, coalfish.

Also fishing related activities like tying flies for next season, hanging round tackle shops gossiping, rod re-ringing, servicing reels, spinner & spoon making, collecting awards from the Specimen Fish Committee (!).

Next there are the club AGMs, fishery maintenance like cutting up fallen trees, clearing pathways, fixing bankside access stiles over fences and bridges over ditches and so on.

October is a good time to rake gravel areas where spawning will soon happen to remove silt that chokes eggs and increases mortality of the new generation.

If there is a club hatchery there is stripping adult broodstock, and looking after the ova.

If the guys are serious about it there are mink traps to be baited and set.

Some people do all these jobs and have great fishing, others just fish and wonder why they catch so little..... Talk to the club committee and ask them what is going on.

For the really involved angler the closed season is quite short really ..........

Doc Farrell

feel free not to answer this coolwings but what do you do for a living?

my day is stress, annoyance and bills.

i'm hoping to move away from the city soon and the things you write about seem like heaven to me.

coolwings

Doc Farrell wrote: »

feel free not to answer this coolwings but what do you do for a living?

Me, I work in a model shop. Helps pay for the fishing.

Doc Farrell wrote: »

my day is stress, annoyance and bills.

Ditto.

Doc Farrell wrote: »

i'm hoping to move away from the city soon and the things you write about seem like heaven to me.

I was a member of the Dublin Salmon Anglers for years ... I used to be on the committee. I also helped out in running of some other fisheries, before family needs took over my spare time!

For a while the Liffey was run the way the sea trout rivers in the west are run. The Liffey salmon increased at the time.

Some fisheries are run like a business, no stone left unturned, no job undone, etc. Professionally run. Like Delphi, or the Erriff. And it's necessary: wildlife needs protection these days, rivers need looking after.
There are some fisheries that are well run, but on a thin budget, like the RFB fisheries. Once again the results are clear, much better than the ummanaged waters, but they have lowish stock levels. At least the stocks are of good fish which shows the RFBs are doing it right, as best they can within their limited budgets.
And there are still other waters, really just clubs formed to grab a bit of water, and "make it private" so as to keep "the others" out so the members can take as many fish as the river will produce. Can you imagine a farm where the farmer only takes adult animals out NOT going to ruin.
In these cases the river is like that. Soon it produces exactly the amount of fish that respresents the investment in time,money and effort put into it. Given time there are no coincidences in angling IMHO.

And yes, helping to run a fishery is a great fun, (but hard work) thing to do! I'd encourage anybody with an interest to step up at the club AGM, and find out what's really happening behind the scenes. Your catches will improve, on account of the caliber of the people you are hanging out with.

Cormdogg

Sounds good, Ill have to ask at my clubs agm, because the only interaction I get from most of my clubs "commitee members" is asking for my pass or telling to "eff off" before I even open my mouth! Boo-urns! Had some miserably cold days shore fishing beginning around March last year so hopefully Ill give a good go at Winter pike fishing instead this winter,less breezy. Is there higher or lower activity with pike/perch in the colder months?

coolwings

This month, if we get a settled period, is the best time of the year for pike.