any anglers here

hi

is there any anglers/ex-anglers here

i was an extremely avid angler 10yrs ago
and it was the the biggest passion i have ever had

just curious as to whether anglers have an
interest in fish keeping as an extension of the fish interest

its not necessarily my situation,
my son came home with a goldfish in a bag one day
and i tried to do the right thing which led to the interest

i have actually in recent years become uncomfortable
with certain aspects of angling and the cruelty aspect
but must say i still enjoy it now and then

having said that i felt for the last 33 yrs that aquariums are inherently cruel, but now i am obsessed,
i always reserve the right to change my mind!

rgds

4

I used to be very big into angling - years ago when I was very young. The thing was I wasn't a very good angler. I didn't care that I never caught anything because sitting for a few hours by the side of a river or lake or on a boat was what I enjoyed. I thought about getting back into it a year or so ago and decided against it - then the opportunity to get back into keeping fish came up and I realised that, for me, having big glass boxes of water with fish and plants happy and healthy was even better than sitting by a river not catching (or even seeing) fish.

Angling is an enjoyable sport, and when fishing for food I think is even better. It's not really my cup of tea anymore, but maybe if I had been better at it when I was young it would be

I used to do a lot of fishing up to last year.. When my daughter was born

Now its a case of grabbing a bit here & there when I can, mostly fly fishing for trout or spinning for perch these days due to the convenience of not collecting bait.

I did get out on a charter boat in Kilmore Quay earlier this year too.

I'm moving house in a couple of weeks though & my new house overlooks a Trout river, is a short walk from a canal & within walking distance of a Salmon river.

roll on next summer !

ya i used to do a bit, loved the may fly, ill hope to be doing a spot of fishing in the next few weeks, then roll on the mackral lol

i am as well

I think I am addicted to fishing and since the trout/Salmon season ended two days I'm starting to get withdrawal symptoms. In a way fly-fishing has overtaken my interest in fish keeping. I fly fish in the sea, lakes and river for almost anything that swims in Irish waters. However, this year I have concentrated on Trout and in particular catching Trout in the Dodder. I had never fished the dodder before this year and it is literally the jewel of Dublin. Most people would think that the only thing you would catch in the dodder is a bad disease but it is exceptionally clean. I have seen King-Fishers, Dippers and even otters (Yes! Otters in the middle of Dublin) in the sections from Ballsbridge to Milltown. It is exceptionally good value at only 10 euro for the yearly permit. I practice catch and release which means you loose more fish than you land but its better for the fish in the long run.

Here are a few snaps from throughout the year....Roll on Next March!









[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3122/2661565310_5b9f8e5495.jpg[/img [img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3122/2661565310_5b9f8e5495.jpg[/img]

Regards

Denis

Some nice fish there Denis.I'm surprised to see that they are still in Dublin!Even more surprised to hear of the otters there.The nearest I have seen them to here was in the Shetland Islands,and in the Isle Of Mull whilst on a trip to see the amazing white tailed sea eagles,a very impressive bird!

Dave

I saw an Otter in the Tolka under the M50 flyover !

Denis - I wonder have we ever crossed paths before, do you fish any of the commercial fisheries or the Tolka or rye water?

Would love to join you for a session on the dodder some time if you would be up for it, I've been meaning to try it out but there's always that problem of not knowing where to start on a new water etc.

Fly fishing for little wild brownies is great craic.

Hi Dave, long time! I would like to get a chance to head to Kerry to see the reintroduced birds down there before they are either poisioned or shot. I'd say they look massive on the wing. Was it worth the trip over? The other bird I must look out for is the kite. Although living in south dublin and working in Wicklow I have only seen one Apperently the winter is the best time to see them as they all return to roost together.

2POC, I haven't had the opportunity yet to fish the Rye or the Tolka but it is on my to-do-list which also includes the Dargle and Avenmore. I only started trout fishing this year with my prior experience being in fly fishing for some Salmon, Pike, Coarse and Sea species.
When the season opens again I will definitely be up for a trip on the river, however you will need a pair of waders as its nearly impossible to fish from the bank. I agree with you that catching small brown trout is great fun there are not the only fish in the river.

I was fishing the Ballsbridge section of the Dodder a few weeks ago when I came across the fish in the below picture. I could not figure out why it had died but I would think that the fish weighed well over ten pounds. That's some fish for a small river and particularly in a river that was considered a sewer up to ten years ago. Nature finds a way!



Regards

Denis

I did the daytrip on Mull on the way to a wedding back in June 03,just a minivan with a few birdwatchers,mostly up from England.I wanted to see the sea eagles mainly,but we saw golden eagles,a load of otters and many other birds which I wouldnt know.I had seen a good few goldens whilst I lived in the highest village in the Highlands for 3 years.On my days off I spent a lot of time with the game keepers,and we would often have huge rows about raptors.I saved many from a belly full of shot,including a pair of peregrines.I also helped in the arrest of some egg thieves.Great guys the keepers,just they dont like raptors!
The sea eagles were blinking massive,truly an impresssive sight.Red kites had been introduced in the area(I lived there 97-00),but I didnt see them.Incidently,the wedding I was heading to,the guy is the RSPB man for the North of Scotland,so if you're heading over,let me know.He also does a lot of stalking and shooting,but not sure of fishing.
I can't fly fish,would love to,but that village was the place,my mates did it,be nothing to get 60 or 70 brownies in a few hours,only wee,but it was all catch and release.I had a river flowing past my bedroom window,and the salmon would come up on their run and we would sit with a dram for watching them jumping for hours.Out that window I could always see,red and roe deer,salmon,grouse,rabbits,snow hares,etc,etc,a magic place.
I better stop the nostalgic rambling there,you'll be bored to tears.

Dave

Sounds like some place Dave..

I actually came across a Peregrine Falcoln with a young chick a while back, mother guarded the chick while the father swooped very low over our heads.

Would be great to meet up in the new season Denis - I used to work out by the dodder & have seen some huge mullet there too.

Certainly wouldn't expect salmon like that in it !

Its supposed to be very nice around Tallaght too.

I have chest waders etc so no worries on that score.

P.s. is that rod a sage? I have a beautiful hardy angel reel at home that I havent used yet.
Im waiting for my 16 euro cheapo special to pack up first but its going strong !

It sounds idyllic Dave. I was in Scotland last weekend and I was astonished at the number and variety of raptor species. I was only in the lower part of the country between Glasgow and Edinburgh so I would only expect that the numbers would be far greater the farther north you went. I'd say it was a big change moving from that idyllic village to the suburbs of Dublin.

2poc, I have seen those mullet in the dodder but I haven't had a crack at them yet. I did however catch my fish mullet on the fly early this year near the dart station in Blackrock. The fish went off like a train and took the best part of 15-20 mins to land. Great fun on a five weight and it was just half a pound short of being a specimen fish. Before I released it I took a scale sample to age the fish and I estimated it at about 15-16 years. Proves the fact that they are very slow growing.



Out of curiosity, who does one talk to about getting a permit to fish the Tolka and how much does it cost? The rod in the picture is a Orvis Clear Water 5#, great piece of kit but very expensive to buy in Ireland. I picked this outfit up in the states at a fraction of the cost.

Regards

Denis

Denis,theres no shortage of wildlife around Dublin,2 legged I'm talking...

Denis - you can buy a permit for the Tolka in rorys & abc - last time I bought one it was 20 quid for the year which is amazing value.

I have caught fish over 4lb & have seen fish caught over 7 in it.

Its amazing what lurks amongst the shopping trolleys

Nice mullet btw, I havent caught one on the fly but caught them in Barcelona on a spinning rod using squid.

Hi Guys,
That is a nice mullet but if you want big try Balbriggan or skerries harbour or try the estuary of the delvin or nanny rivers in gormanstown and julianstown huge!! shoals of fish during the summer and huge!!!!! fish among them,there is also a few bass always knocking around in amongst the large shoals of mullet and if you are really lucky the odd salmon or seatrout have also been known to take a fly (ROGANS GADGET)
I have recently been to Scotland with a group of friends on our regular october trip salmon fishing on the Nith and must agree that the wildlife is only fantastic we comment on it to each other every year and reckon that it is because Scotland has retained a large part of its natural woodland,everywhere you look there are trees

I used to be mad into angling, a member of Munster Coarse anglers, and spent most of my freetime on the banks of some river or another watching the day go by no matter what the weather, there are some fantastic streches of water down here, the mulcair river for trout and salmon is a must, but for coarse, my real passion is behind ul by the black bridge for bream up to 8lb avg, wyrlls end anacotty for pike (got a 35lber from here), O'Briens Bridge for fantastic bream, tench, rudd, roach, pike and some of the biggest perch i've seen. also a run of the shannon by meelick which has suicidal bream (throw themselves on the hook) my best bag from there was 250lbs of bream in 5 hours