Sea Fishing in Ireland

Fri, 05 Sep 2008

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Sea Angling in Ireland

The Irish coastline, over 3000 miles long, is washed by some of the cleanest and clearest seas in Europe. It is also one of the most varied, with dramatic cliffs such as those in Donegal, Mayo and Clare; many miles of wide strands with their arresting contrast of blue sea, white surf and pale sands; and stretches of rugged rocky coastline and quiet estuaries. This variety offers unlimited opportunities to the sea angler, who can find somewhere to fish almost all the year round. Ireland's climate may give mixed summer weather of sun and rain, but because its seas, especially on the south and western margins, benefit from the warming influence of the North Atlantic Drift they can be fished from spring to late autumn for species found elsewhere only in the summer months. For this reason unusual warm-water species often turn up in catches here, fish such as trigger fish, red mullet, red bream, sunfish and amberjack. But Ireland's shores are near the divide between cooler north Atlantic waters and the southern influence and they accommodate many cold water species also. In all, over 80 species can be caught from Ireland's seas. And this fishing is as easily accessible to the angler who seeks solitude and peace in one of the least populated countries of Europe as it is to the fisherman who wants to enjoy sport in the company of other anglers.

Ireland is recognised as being the outstanding angling destination in Europe. The vast variety and quality of our fishing has given the country a reputation of which we are justly proud. Ours is an island of approximately 500 km in length x 300 km wide, with a very high ratio of water to land (1 to 35). There are virtually thousands of lakes and 14,000 km of fish bearing rivers. The Irish climate is well suited to sport angling. It is temperate and kind to the angler with moderate summers, mild winters and adequate rainfall throughout the year. The warm waters of the North Atlantic Drift lap the south and west coasts, giving us a milder climate than our geographical location would indicate. The result is a fabulous mixture of cold and warm water fish species, capable of exciting the specialist or casual angler on the annual family holiday. In fresh water, they range from Carp, more attuned to warm waters, to the Atlantic Salmon and the Char, which are really north Atlantic and Arctic species. The marine species range from the cold water Cod and Coalfish to the Mediterranean loving Bass and the mid Atlantic Blue Shark. Many Irish people enjoy fishing but we are happy to share our "riches" with our fellow anglers from all over the world. Few of us, however, fish for coarse fish (freshwater species other than the salmon and trout family) which means that our magnificent pike, bream, tench, roach, rudd and eel fisheries are largely left to the tourist, as is much of the sea angling, particularly along the south and west coasts. Lakes, rivers and coastal stretches are surveyed and mapped, fisheries are managed and stocked, while banks and access routes to the waters edge are developed to ensure the visitor gets directly and easily to the hotspots. Most of the angling is organised around recognised angling centres which specialise in catering for the angling tourist. Salmon and trout fisheries are usually the property of an individual, club, organisation or the state and permission to fish is generally required except in the case of the state owned lakes, such as the Great Western Loughs and the Lakes of Killarney. Some waters have seldom, if ever seen a rod and line but exploration is always an enjoyable part of an angling holiday, so do not be afraid to "have a go", it might well result in the fish of a lifetime.
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Fishing Regulations in Ireland
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SEA ANGLING
BASS
It is prohibited to take and kill more than two bass on any one day.(Bye-law No.667)
Minimum overall size limit of 40cm. From tip of snout to end of tail
Closed season from 15th May to 15th June.
Note: Penalties for breach of the above laws include confiscation of tackle and heavy fines.
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Sea Angling Seasons in Ireland
There is no close season for sea fishing in Ireland so it may be practised all the year round. Those fish which feed throughout the year, such as flounder, cod and coalfish can be fished for in every month. Species such as wrasse, pollack and dogfish, which are most active in the warmer months, have a natural season extending from April to about October. The influence of the Irish climate, as well as the habits of the fish, has to be taken into account.
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Bass Bye-Law
Bass is a protected species in Ireland and there are some restrictions. Fish under 40cm may not be kept, and there is a bag limit of two fish per angler per day. It is prohibited to fish for bass during their spawning season, 14 May - 14 June.
All sea angling is subject to monthly rhythms of high and low water. 'Spring' tides or high winds may put some shore marks out of condition from time to time, and affect boat angling. Coastal winds and waves can render boat fishing unsafe for short periods. However, the shore angler in Ireland will always find sheltered waters available when others are affected by tides or gales.
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Boat Sea Angling
Inshore fishing from small boats, especially during the months from May to September, is a growing trend. There is no better means of appreciating the intimate connection between the life of Irish coastal communities and the sea, than to fish from a small boat equivalent in size to the craft that almost all Irish fishermen used until recent times. Many visiting anglers bring thir own purpose-built 14-18 foot boats to a growing number of centres where guidance on where to go, and on safety issues is available. This is the best way of exploiting the places which are unexplored by bigger craft or inaccessible to the shore angler. All species are available. Great sport can be enjoyed on warm days of late summer when using light spinning tackle for mackerel or pollack. The adventurous angler can try fly fishing. Or one may bottom fish for ray or bigger species - perhaps for tope in places such as the Shannon Estuary, using a mackerel caught earlier in the day as bait. Fishing from a small boat driven by a powerful outboard engine requires a careful assessment of weather conditions, but if the angler follows local regulations and advice, and keeps a weather eye open a safe, enjoyable trip is assured.
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Wreck Fishing
Wreck fishing in deep water marks can be very productive. There are many charted wrecks off the Irish coast, some lying in water over 50 fathoms deep. Many more wait to be discovered and the angler who is in a boat fishing such a wreck for the first time can experience unforgettable sport. It may take an hour to reach these marks, but the time is worth it because of the size of the conger, ling, pollack and coalfish which are boated from them. Other species such as turbot and megrim can also be caught. Anglers who specialise in this fishing use rods in the 20/30lb class and reel lines of 30lbs test, and such gear may be hired from charter skippers.
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Deep Sea Angling
Irish deep-sea fishing is associated with charter boats and is a very sociable form of angling. Traditionally, these craft headed to deep water marks from centres which became famous and still provide superb fishing Westport, Fenit and Kinsale. Nowadays, charter boats can be hired from a greater number of centres and they fish for such species as blue shark off the south and west coast, for big conger, ling and cod from sunken wrecks, and for tope and flatfish over sandy ground. Charter boat fishing is lively and interesting even before a line is cast; the skipper will assemble a group of anglers who may or may not know each other at the beginning of the day, but who will surely be well acquainted by the end of it, especially if they have had sport with a big shark or skate. Usually tackle may be hired, so all the angler needs is a good set of waterproofs and a sense of adventure. The skippers have well equipped speedy craft and modern navigational aids but for most, who have come from several generations of fishermen, their knowledge of the sea is as instinctive as breathing. A lot of local lore is passed on during the day and even more in the evening when the boat is tied up and the catch distributed and the scene shifts to a waterfront pub.
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The Marine Sport Fish Tagging Programme
The majority of Irish skippers participate in the Marine Sport Fish Tagging Programme organised by the Central Fisheries Board. To date over 30,000 fish have been tagged and released including such species as shark, tope, monkfish, common skate and ray.
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Shore Sea Angling
Irish shore angling is among the best in Europe. Almost every type of shore fishing may be done, for a very wide range of species, throughout the year.
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Storm Beaches
One of the great experiences of Irish sea-angling is to fish a west coast storm beach when a big surf is running. From a distance these strands seem to have tables of water in ascending height to seaward, each edged with foam. Close-to they are roaring tiers of surf, swelling and then pounding ashore, leaving a waste of suds in their backwash. The careful angler can wade among the breakers because the strands are for the most part shallow and safe, and enjoy there incomparable angling, equal to salmon fishing or indeed any other form of fishing. It will be necessary to get local advice on safety before fishing these beaches. The stocks of bass, which was once the primary species sought here are now in recovery, but ray, flounder and dogfish are plentiful. A fat Kerry flounder, big enough to fill a pan, is good eating. Tope may be caught on some of these beaches, and also off strands along the Clare, Galway and Mayo coasts. They offer magnificent sport and for that reason are now invariably returned alive.
The beaches of north Wexford offer super smoothound and ray fishing in spring, while the shingle beaclies of Wicklow, and the Cork coastline produce codling in winter.
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Rocky Shores
There are many miles of rocky shoreline. Two of the rock fisherman's favourite species, pollack and wrasse are common. There is great fishing for these species from the craggy shorelines of the lovely Beara, Iveragh and Dingle peninsulas in the southwest, but they may also be caught in similar locations in the north west and south west coasts. There is also very good rock fishing off the islands, such as Valentia in the south-west, and along the Clare coast.
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Harbours
There could not be a greater contrast between surf fishing and shore angling for mullet. The tope or bass are bold and vigorous. Mullet are shy fish most often seen in the quiet parts of Ireland's shoreline. Harbours and inlets are favourite places to find them. They will glide in on the flood tide and show themselves by swirls and bow waves in the shallow flats. Catching them with float tackle and a light freshwater rod is a delicate task but can be done at will in the summer months all around Ireland's coastline. When hooked, mullet will test both tackle and nerve; they are wonderful fighting fish.
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Big Game Fishing
For a long time, Ireland has been recognised for its marine sport fishing. The vast variety and quality of our angling has given the country a reputation of which we are justly proud. Sea fish captures range from the humble dab through to blue shark and the mighty common skate. However the large ocean going big game fish remained strangely absent from anglers' catches despite almost annual stories of lines being torn from reels and terminal tackle being smashed by unseen giants of the deep.
For over 30 years, Kevin Linnane, former Sea Angling Officer and Angling Manager of the CFB, had a vision that one day the big game fish of the American East Coast would fall to rod and line on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. Despite many attempts, including two visits to the Porcupine Bank, 100 miles off the west coast, no big game fish showed.
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Tuna from 1980 to the mid 1990s
In the early 1980s hopes were boosted by reports from the commercial fleet. Several blue fin tuna, (Thunnus thynnus), the hardest fighting game fish of them all, were landed at Fenit, Co. Kerry. Pair trawlers working on the herring grounds at the mouth of the Shannon Estuary had taken these fish, some of which ran to over 1,000 lb. (454 kg).
By the mid 1980s, super trawlers working out of the port of Killybegs, Co. Donegal, were mid-water trawling the local inshore waters when blue fin tuna began to show up in catches of mackerel and scad. Again giants of more than 1,000 lb. were caught. Obviously the tuna were feeding amongst the shoal fish and the very real possibility of catching big game fish in Ireland began to materialise.
In the mean time the quality and number of purpose built angling charter boats increased all around the Irish coast. Fishing took place in deeper and deeper waters and soon numerous reports filtered through of surface sightings of "fast moving fish". It was thought that many of these sightings were of Albacore, (Thunnus alalunga). Charter boat skippers were not the only people to make sightings. Increasingly shoals of blue fin tuna were reported by fishery patrol vessels from the Northern Regional Fisheries Board, particularly in the vicinity of Rathlin O'Beirne Island on the north-western corner of Donegal Bay. Furthermore some of these sightings were made in mid-summer dispelling the theory that blue-fin tuna were a seasonal visitor only to be seen in the autumn months of September and October. Indeed some fish sighted were observed less than 500 m from the shore!
Blue fin tuna catches had become quite common on the west coast by the mid 1990's, but still no fish had fallen to rod and line. It was abundantly obvious that these great fish may be available to the big game fisherman, but nobody was prepared to invest the quite considerable amounts of money required to gear up an angling vessel to join in the hunt.
When in 1997 illness caused Kevin Linnane to retire from the CFB, it began to look as if his dream of big game angling in Ireland would never be realised.
Suddenly, and almost out of the blue the very next year, a South-West skipper, Derek Noble, fishing from brand new boat "Nicolisa", took several Albacore to 25 lb. (11 kg) while trolling 60 miles west of Caherciveen, Co. Kerry. Five rods had been employed, two attached to outriggers and three fished from the stern. Each trailed tango-type American lure rigged in a daisy-chain pattern. A subsequent trip yielded a new European 12 lb. line-class record of 28.25 lb. (13 kg). Big game angling had gone Irish. The month was July.
In late September, sightings of Blue fin tuna intensified in Donegal Bay. Commercial boats continued to take fish - up to 20 blue fin tuna to 700 lb. (318 kg) were recorded eight miles north of Downings, Co. Donegal. Irish international boat angler, Michael McVeigh decided to take the plunge and "tool up". He ordered a new boat that would incorporate a number of innovative features including swivelling stern rod holders, and fighting chair.
The year 2000 came rolling in and again in July Derek Noble took Albacore, repeating his previous year's feat.
Michael McVeigh was champing at the bit, eager to set out after the blue fins. Delays in delivery of his new boat however, may have cost Michael his place in Irish angling history.
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The Bluefin Tuna Experience 2000
While Michael waited for his boat to be delivered a 75 year old ex-commercial fisherman, Alan Glanville was afloat aboard Brian McGilloway's "Suzanne" only two miles out from Killybegs. Alan had watched East Coast anglers fishing for Blue fin tuna while on holiday in the United States and had decided to have a go here.
Remembering the tactics used on the other side of the Atlantic Alan fished with 130 lb. class boat rod and a Penn International reel loaded with 200 lb. mono. The bait was a large squid-type trolling lure.
On the 24th of September 2000 the moment Kevin Linnane had dreamed of for so long became a reality. The squid was taken by a huge fish that moved off at great pace. The strike drove the hook home and a blue fin tuna was on! When the fish was finally brought to the boat it tipped the scales at 353 lb. (160 kg). Unbelievably, considering the long wait for the first fish, Alan did it all again the very next day. Only this time the fish was bigger.
The 25th of September 2000 saw Alan Glanville set a new Irish record for blue fin tuna - a huge fish of 529 lb. (240 kg) that took three quarters of an hour to boat. This fish proved to be the biggest fish ever caught on rod and line in Irish waters.
Three weeks later Michael McVeigh was fishing from his newly delivered vessel "Rosguill" with American big fish expert, Dan Shannon. On just her second day ever on the water the "Rosguill" proved herself when Michael caught a fine blue fin tuna of 344 lb. (156 kg) three miles off Downings.
Dan, who usually fishes the American East Coast from Connecticut to Maine, had always believed big game fish could be caught in Irish waters. He had leapt at the chance to join Michael in his investigations and was not disappointed.
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The Bluefin Tuna Experience 2001
In 2001, two boats met 15 blue fin tuna and a new Irish and European record was set by Adrian Mulloy, fishing with skipper Michael Callaghan. The pair teamed up in October and had action with a number of bluefins to 300lb, again on plastic squid. Then on the 5th of October Adrian caught an amazing fish of 968 lb. A proper fishing chair helped him to subdue the leviathan. The fish was succoured to the side of the boat, the 22 ft. "Leah C", after a tremendous fight near Rathlin O’Beirne Island only 300 yards off land.
The tuna was then towed into Kilybegs harbour where the huge fish was officially weighed and photographed. Michael and Adrian's parting advice was that this record could easily be broken. They saw fish to at least 1,500 lb. break after bait fish.
After a long 30-year wait it took just two short seasons for all of Kevin Linnane's dreams to be realised. Not only has big game angling become an Irish sport - it is receiving international recognition and providing world class fishing.
Sadly, soon after the hectic 2001 season ended Kevin Linnane passed away. His contribution to angling in Ireland and big game fishing in particular will never be forgotten.
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