was that they would also, in the interests of fairness, be interviewing people from a sector of the commercial fishery industry who seek to re-open the fishery and exploit the species. This fear is borne out of the realisation that the supply of national airtime and promotional opportunity would be given to an industry that has already placed the species on the verge of extinction prior to 1989 and could effectively destroy the species again in a time frame of less than one summer season.In fact re-opening the commercial bass fishery would in effect destroy much more than that.
If you are a journalist, an angler, a shop keeper, a tackle dealer – what can you do to help?
Some ideas:
- Write to Simon Coveney – simon.coveney@oir.ie and tell him of your investment and experiences in bass fishing in this country, ask all your angling friends to do the same
- If you have travelled within Ireland and stayed overnight ask the B+B or guesthouse/hotel/restaurant/shop/pub to do the same – link the network to your bass fishing
- Lobby your local politician or representative – keep copies of all correspondence
- If you are a member of an ANY angling club ask the angling club secretary to write to Minister Coveney on behalf of the club and its members
- If you know of any person in IFI or Failte Ireland express you concerns in writing and ask for an acknowledgement
- Write about your concerns in your newspaper, magazine or website / social media
- Connect to and inform if possible other conservation minded groups perhaps like The Countryside Alliance
Skelton climbed out of the boat and, running the line through his fingers lightly, began to wade the tidal creek. The mosquitoes found him quickly and held in a pale globe around his head. He waded steadily, flushing herons out of the mangroves over his head. At one point, he passed a tiny side channel, blocking the exit of a heron that raised its stiff wings very slightly away from its body and glared at him. In the green shadows, the heron was a radiant, perfect white.
He stopped a moment to look at the bird. All he could hear was the slow musical passage of tide in the mangrove roots and the low pattern of bird sounds more liquid than the sea itself in these shallows. He moved away from the side channel, still following the line. Occasionally, he felt some small movement of life in it;but he was certain now the permit would go no farther. he had another thirty yards to go, if he had guessed right looking at Rudleighs partially emptied spool.
Thomas McGuane – Ninety-two in the shade
I guess it’s that time of year for me, all customers have finished for season 2012 and I have a little freedom and time to fish for myself! Thoughts on a season.
I wish.
Lately it’s been pretty hectic for many reasons and at times I have felt, a lot like many other people in this country I’m sure, that I am doing too much maybe. At the moment this is a hard cold fact of nature and it is necessary for ‘survival’. The semester for the BSc degree started way back four weeks ago, I have been lucky to have started on an IT systems implementation contract during mid-September and of course I still had commitments for guiding bass fishing customers up to this weekend, so it’s been breakneck to be honest and I feel a bit tired at the moment.
It might seem difficult at times but these simple elements are links in a chain that must remain connected. This year’s college semester subjects are Sustainability & Regulation and Human resource management in the tourism industry, challenging no doubt but the degree is part of the overall strategy regarding development of my angling tourism business. One of the highlights of this year (there has been some) was to finish as runner up in the Wexford business awards tourism category. It has been remarked to me that considering the competition it was no mean achievement for a one person show.
There is always the fear of coming out of the back end of a fully committed season at the close of October and not being able to find employment for six months. April of the following year is a long ways away and this challenge has always existed for as long as I have been guiding. Being seasonally self-employed has its draw backs too! Things are terribly difficult at the moment for many people and so I have been very lucky indeed with my short contract, considering the current state of the country. It cannot be denied that this continued financial stability supports the momentum of the guiding business in terms of insurances, public liabilities, promotion, maintenance, development, planning and the normal associated costs of any professional operation.
As any hard working bass guide in this country knows it’s a difficult task, not done to put large sums of money in the bank but more as a ‘lifestyle choice’ really, the associated challenges are met as best and as professionally as you possibly can whilst other challenges arrive from sources both predictable and from time to time completely out of the blue. Lobbying pressure is continuously exerted on government ministers regarding the re-opening of the commercial fishery very little is done to examine, promote or engage with the sustainable alternative – I often wonder how exactly does this happen and why?
The last and most important of these links is of course the customer and their angling experiences. Much has been made of the season of 2012 and no doubt as I gain time around me I will write about my own experiences and thoughts of the season here on this website. I am lucky that the customer base I have consists of wonderful people possessing patience and understanding. With many cancellations, put backs, changes and long silent fishless hours it has been beyond doubt the most challenging and frustrating season in Wexford since I started guiding in 2003. I can only say to any customer thank you at this stage for your patience over the season, please expect to hear more from me before Christmas on an individual basis.
The fish are the hub upon which all of this spins and ultimately the environment within which they live is where I guide visiting tourist anglers. This changing angling environment has forced me to re-think the business model, I have had to adapt to the increasing recreational angling pressure on locations in Wexford, many of which were only up to recently empty and silent. Where there was once otter families you will now find four wheel drives! Travelling tourist anglers look to find fish of course but also peace and a ‘sense’ of wildness and isolation, this has largely disappeared from the Wexford coast. What I need most of has become more difficult to find and manage at home.
Coupled to that is the decrease in fish numbers I have experienced on the Wexford coast all season long.
As is normal I have continued to work with Irish based businesses, local restaurants, shops, tackle retailers, fly tiers, B+B’s, charter boat skippers and I hope that through this network of local associations some strength of the many socio-economic benefits of bass fishing can be realised. This is the best way to counter any threat from the commercial fishery, but many people including anglers don’t realise that they are playing an important role in protection and it remains difficult to collate important data.
So after the tenth year of guiding on this coast I am happy and yet deeply concerned. It was a year in which I have learned that even when you speak the truth fabrication and exaggeration seem to hold more importance and credibility!
It’s been a tough year, the toughest so far, for many reasons but I’m out the far side and ready to continue into 2013.
With a new range of Irish tied and designed saltwater sea trout flies, Echo saltwater fly rods a new one day saltwater fly-tying workshop, pike fishing on the fly all evolving and nearly ready, I’m already looking forward to and planning the new season!
It ain’t over yet, its just beginning!
Jim Hendrick
Its the end of another remarkable Irish bass angling adventure. During the last few days the experiences these guys have been lucky enough to have had, have been remarkable. Fish over 80cms and others > 75 over long hard days with many fishless silent comfortable hours in wonderful environments, but the result – little in quantity but generally great in quality. Max landed another fine sample yesterday – @ 77cms
We took a little ‘freshwater’ break during stormy midweek and we tried for some ‘toothy critters’ – going ‘green’ is always a nice change and the pike provided many many opportunities even if they were a little switched off. Pike, bass, wrasse, pollack all landed over the last few days.
Thomas and Max spent a guided week here with me last year – already a third year is on their minds! Roll on 2013 thanks for the company guys!
Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off – then, I account it high time to get to sea 
as soon as I can.
Moby Dick – Hermann Melville
A late mid-autumn Wexford bass bonanza!
Thomas has a habit of catching nice Autumn fish in Wexford – a returning customer who travelled last year from Holland with his friend Max – they took some nice fish almost to the day – see this post from October 2011 –
Todays second fish came in at 80 cm’s
We have an interesting week ahead and hope to see a few more like this – Max is next in line I guess! Great fun and great company too! Hang on to your hats tomorrow.
‘You know, so much of fly fishing, at least as much as the sport relates to migratory or season-dependent fish, is about anticipation and planning, more than it is about how far you can cast, or what bug you have tied on, or any of that.
And sometimes, no matter what you do to prepare, no matter how far you’ve trained that cast, and no matter how sexy those bugs you tied up over the winter are, it’s still ultimately about finding yourself in the right place at the right time.
And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
To the extent more of us figure that out, that’s good for fly fishing’ –
Kirk Deeter – Editor at large – Field and Stream
Visit the fly shop HERE
THIRTYARDS 
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