Archive for August, 2013

The Essence of Sea Angling

Saturday, August 24th, 2013

Two feet below the surface tightly packed herring fry swam close to my rocky perch, suddenly, long darting flashing shapes snaked amongst the terrified mass snapping here and there. Launce having balled up the shoal moved in for the kill, behind them out of the depths, like a World War One fighter squadron of old flying out of the sun, appeared tiger striped mackerel and they meant business. Josh and Sean, two local teenagers enjoying the last days of their summer holidays were already running feathers through the frenzy. “Look full house, ah s##t one’s fallen off”, the joy on the lads faces saying it all.

Summer mackerel, our heritage, where would we be without them.

Nature in full view and a right of passage re-enacted annually since the dawn of time, instantly I was transported back to my youth. Firing out a silver toby, letting it sink then retrieving, the hit, the zig zag fight, and to cap it all the mackerel falls off just as I’m swinging it ashore, laughs all around then off again. The shoal wasn’t big staying around for a little over an hour before eventually moving on. However the calm surface regularly dimpled first here, then there, with fry jumping clear of the mini predators below, the larger chasing bretheren occasionally head and tailing.

At session end we all had a enough mackerel for tea, young Sean had caught his first conger whom I’ll quote, “that fish has made my summer”, and Jay God bless him helped me to understand this LRF business, of which more later. You can take all your economic surveys, holiday visitor numbers, specimen fish tales, celebrity anglers, the latest piece of tackle that’s going to change the world and place it all, well you know where. Yesterday afternoon in the company of Josh, Sean, and Jay encompasses all of what sea angling is about, the rest ultimately is bollox………….

Ennereilly, August 2013, a Slow Death

Wednesday, August 21st, 2013

In the early 1990′s this writer gave up beach casting as a waste of time due to the deterioration in size, quantity, and variety of fish stocks caused by over fishing at sea in conjunction with the annual visible destruction of the offshore environment off the Wicklow coastline inflicted by bottom mussel dredgers, subsequently felt onshore within a year or two of their moving on in the guise of a once burgeoning littoral zone now rendered lifeless.

Waiting for a bass, Ennereilly, Co. Wicklow, Ireland.

By 2007 appalled at the extent of this decline made all too apparent after a first boat fishing trip off Greystones in nearly two decades, the idea for An Irish Anglers World was spawned, a website informed by regular sea angling trips and desk top research highlighting this inshore marine decline while also offering workable solutions. Dusting down the sea angling gear a first foray was made evening beach casting off Ennereilly on the 03/09/2007, a balmy Autumn evening characterised by slack winds and a calm sea.

Aidan Walsh with a summer codling caught on lugworm.

That evening using lugworm codling, flounder, gurnard, and dogfish were beached steadily throughout the session. Another trip added dab to that list and on the 14/10/2007 a fine bass of six pound and a seven pound smoothie brought the species count up to seven. Below is a diary entry for that day and an image of the bass which on being gutted proved to be stuffed with mussel.

Ennereilly, Co. Wicklow, 14/10/2007. Shore Angling, 15.30-19.30pm.

Tide: High Water Arklow @ 23.24 pm.

Weather: Southerly force 3-4. Overcast. Mild.

Sea conditions: Roll on sea, no white horses, single wave on beach, stirred up, no weed, no lateral tide run.

Bait: Lugworm, Ragworm, Frozen Mackerel.

Fish caught: Bass (6.00 lbs), Flounder x 2 (over 30 cms), Smooth Hound (7.00 lbs).

Trace: Two hook paternoster, 18 inch snoods, 2/0 Aberdeen hooks, no beads, 5. Oz grip lead.

All fish caught close in on Lugworm, close to rock forty meters out and to the right of my position. Bass and smoothy gave very light bite indication. Bass caught about 17.30 pm, smooth hound around dusk at 19.00 pm approx. Strong fight from each. Bass had mussel in its gut.

Fished north end of beach, band of weed about 15 meters out running from rocky spur to my left. Gap of about 50 meters to rocky weedy reef about forty meters out and to my right. Other than that sea bed clean. On previous
visit have caught Codling to a little over a pound here, also on Lugworm.

A fine shore caught six pound Irish bass.

Since Autumn 2007 according to diary entry records and file images 16 visits have been made to the same location. Dates and times have varied from May through to December with most sessions occuring between the period July to mid October. Up to Autumn 2010 fishing was consistant across the range of species listed above, with flounder particularly prevalent.

A typical Ennereilly flounder.

Since then it has declined considerably, year upon year getting worse. It is no coincidence that in late summer early autumn 2010 a mussel dredger was seen working in the area, most likely the same mussel dredger reported by the Independent on the 01/09/2010 which was escorted into Arklow harbour twice inside 24 hours for illegal mussel dredging. The skipper was quoted; “We are not fishermen, we are farmers. If we have no mussel seed we have no future.” Typically not a thought given to the wider public or the consequences of his actions.

Smooth hound, Ennereilly strand, Arklow, Co. Wicklow, Ireland.

2011 saw a proliferation of smooth hound with waves of this hard fighting doggie foraging along the shoreline. It was not unusual if fishing two rods for the pair to buckle over simultaneously the result of hungry hounds exiting stage left. Flounder and other species were noticably fewer on the ground that year with fishing trips relying on hounds to make the day. Whereas before rod tips would nod throughout a session if one got the tide and conditions right providing a range of species, now the mark was becoming more an all or nothing job with even LSD’s becoming fewer, the result one assumes of being fished for locally and converted into whelk bait.

Bass off Ennereilly, Arklow, Co. Wicklow.

In 2012 yours truly fished the venue once catching a smoothie, however friend David Murphy fished it on a number of occasions landing mainly hounds with an odd doggie and a surprise ten pound thornie bringing the species count to eight while resurrecting memories of the venues illustrious past. Overall though the fall from grace was manifest and this has continued into 2013 culminating in a session yesterday where accompanied by marine scientist Ed Fahy targeting bass with razor and rag under ideal conditions we blanked. Ed commented, “our baits are coming in untouched, where are the crabs?”

Mirroring the previous Sunday’s experience off Toberpatrick, Ireland’s east coast inshore waters through man’s intervention have become a desert. Mussel dredging is the cause removing habitats once home to a host of interacting species. Now homeless and exposed, possibly also deprived of their natural food they move on, are predated upon or die off. The end result is baits coming in untouched a clear sign of organisms down the food chain disappearing. Without their presence fish, even if they are swimming offshore, won’t be attracted inshore to feed, quite simply “no food, no fish, a sad feature common to the inshore waters off Co. Wicklow where mussel dredging has been practiced for decades. Sea angling, an activity worth €127.5 million to the Irish economy in domestic and tourism receipts is being slowly strangled due to blind political expedience towards a few. This status quo has to change, it cannot be allowed to continue, the above narrative a testament to the truth……….

Postscript, Wednesday 21st August 2013: Talking to an Arklow based angler who I know well, for certain at least one local whelk boat is not only netting LSD’s for bait but is also using smooth hound and bull huss too. Well that explains the reduction in size and numbers of smoothies caught off Ennereilly lately. As stated the whelk fishing sector is unregulated, they just do as they please.

A Kayakfisherman in Ireland

Tuesday, August 20th, 2013

Gary Robinson is an all round angler with a deep interest in all things aquatic. Five years ago Gary purchased a sit on kayak purely to go paddling then had a eureka moment, with a bit of modification one could fish off this, the possibilities are endless. Studying for a marine biology degree in Galway has expanded Gary’s knowledge of the marine and enabled him to try new waters atop his trusty kayak. Interested now in highlighting Irish kayak angling Gary has created the A Kayak Fisherman in Ireland website, detailing his own personal experience of this increasingly popular hybrid of boat fishing.

Gary Robinson, A Kayak fisherman in Ireland.

To date having boated (kayaked maybe?) a range of sea fish from locations as diverse as the Beara Peninsula, Killary Harbour, and the exposed north Wicklow coastline where Gary targeted successfully a specimen forty pound plus tope, the intrepid kayaker has earmarked a twenty pound Lough Corrib pike as his autumn/winter project.

Kayak angler Gary Robinson with his Irish specimen tope.

A Kayakfisherman in Ireland is a project that showcases kayak fishing and Irelands aquatic environment from an individual perspective. A seasoned writer with articles published in An Irish Anglers Digest, Sea Angler magazine, and Hook1, follow Gary’s unique journey of discovery incorporating both a sub and top surface approach, you’ll be hooked………

See also: Craic on a Yak.

Toberpatrick, August Evening, 2013

Monday, August 19th, 2013

A lovely roll on the sea generated by a warm south/south west breeze created a single crumping wave which dissapated with a thump swoosh of sand and shingle along Toberpatrick strand, north Co. Wexford. A six thirty pm 3:1 meter high tide on a rising cycle towards full moon in tandem with the sea conditions screamed fish. Due to it being an impromptu trip and having only ragworm as against an array of bait which normally would have included peeler, lug, and mackerel didn’t deter, the rag, fresh, red and large would definitely appeal to a smoothie, flounder, bass, or dogfish.

Evening fishing on Toberpatrick strand, Co. Wexford, Ireland.

Three biteless hours later with night closing in, after placing baits from the gutter to well over 100 meters out, using fixed and rolling rigs yours truly didn’t wait for full on dark, the untouched ragworm telling their own story. Normally shrimps, prawns, crabs, small fish, something would nibble at the hook presented offerings over the standard ten minutes they are left to fish before rebaiting time. Other than being washed out the rag came in as they went out.

Normally as dusk closes in flatties come on the feed, doggies become more active and hounds make their presence felt. Being just a stones throw from both Kilmichael point to the north and Clone strand south of Castletown bass are a real possibility too. Back in the day Toberpatrick threw up ray, doggies, dab, flounder, bass, hounds, and certainly would have delivered a few decent fish in the conditions presented yesterday evening as light faded. Unfortunately nothing stirred, I could have been casting into a desert.

Yes it was a nice evening going through the motions and chatting to passing beach walkers about the great summer weather Ireland has enjoyed and how dogs love to cock a leg over your tackle box, however, and at this stage one feels like a broken record. When your youngest daughters fishing mad boyfriend at 23 years of age starts to question this shore fishing lark having spent a small fortune on the best of gear you begin to wonder.

Ireland has a wonderful but savagely abused marine resource, sea angling at €127.5 million is the third largest marine fisheries product category after pelagic at €213 million and shellfish at €148.1 million. With 71,000 sea anglers in the country, and 150,000 specialist sea anglers residing in the UK who like to travel to fish staying for up to eight bed night per annum, what are we doing. Ireland has a socio economic goldmine on its hands and we have all but frittered it away because politically we cannot prioritise management policies that engage all stakeholders as against the few usual suspects.

Quickly researching both the Sea Angling Ireland and East Coast Raiders SAC websites told me all that I needed to know, “the beach fishes slow”. In the past it most certainly didn’t,  we need to get our collective act together once and for all, this marine malaise has gone far enough……..

Ennereilly, August 2013

Sunday, August 18th, 2013

As the sun dipped down behind the low mud cliffs we cast our rag and mackerel baited twin hook paternosters to points ranging from 30 out to 100 meters. Instantly my Daiwa surf pole dipped the line dropping slack, rod in hand running backwards while reeling to connect, tap, tap, slack, a flattie for certain. Half a minute later a fat flounder knocking a pound flaps up the sand and shingle bank, nice start.

Evening fishing off Ennereilly, Co. Wicklow, Ireland.

Lip hooked and returned within jig time my second rod registers interest, leaning to disengage the gripper a dull weight heralds a possible doggie double. Out of the surf pops a juvenile tope about the size of an average dogfish plus a pup hound. Now that’s a first, I’ve caught pup tope the length of your palm but not this size weighing between 1.5 – 2.0 lb, strange.

David Murphy Senior with an average smooth hound.

Next in was fishing companion David Murphy with an average hound for the area giving the usual heave ho bite and customary run around. After that fishing settled down to a slow dogfish with occasional pup hound or tope double until between 11.00pm and midnight everything went quite. Casting out a mackerel bait produced nothing, time to go home. Yes the evening was nice, a warm southerly breeze creating a fishy roll on the sea, good company and a few fish beached. Smooth hound, flounder, dogfish, TOPE? Sounds good but you have to read between the lines………and I’m a glass half full person, believe me.

See also: Fishing marks, Ennereilly.

 

August Evening at Roundwood

Thursday, August 8th, 2013

Formally opened in 1863, the south lake at Roundwood created by damming the Vartry River, was commissioned by The Dublin Water Works Committee to supply clean water to the city of Dublin. A second embankment (Dam) was completed in 1923 so forming the upper reservoir. Both the upper (north) and lower (south) lakes are first class mature wild trout fisheries which have a reputation for being dour, however the fishery rewards effort so don’t be afraid to put the time in.

Evening scene, lower lake Roundwood, Co. Wicklow.

Popping up for a couple of hours after tea I was greeted by a mirror calm water upon which a small hatch of silverhorns and an odd plump sedge were dancing in the margins. Here and there mostly out of range one could observe an odd slashy rise. Fishing a dry silverhorn I missed the only rise to my fly while momentarily taking in the view.

August evening on the south lake Roundwood, Co. Wicklow.

A nice breeze from the south or west would have made a difference creating a wave and pushing terrestrials out on the water. Yesterday evening though was about being there waist deep in the stillness, quietly waiting to intercept a rising trout with a carefully placed imitation. The revery remained unbroken…..

See also: http: Last Day on Roundwood.