I dont know if there is already a thread on this but I was shocked
to hear and read about new laws that were signed by outgoing minister
Conor Lenihan about the use of bait on the western lakes etc.

It talks about preventing the use of mayflies,grasshoppers,worms etc etc.
It also talkes about the use of barbless hooks and trolling being banned.

If this is going to happen I think it would be the greatest joke yet with regards
to fishing in the west of Ireland and should not be tolerated.

Im a very keen fly fisherman but I never forget how I started fishing and it
was not with a fly rod and thats a fact.I had my first fish dapping mayfly
and trolled and dapped all through my childhood and would still do a bit of
trolling if needed be.

How are children going to learn how to fish if they can not get a fish on a worm or catch a perch or a pike trolling.
Where the hell can an interest come from in angling at an early age???

How about tourism.Look at all the money that comes to an area during the
mayfly season.Its the one and only time of year where there is a good feeling
around the area and a bit of life in the bars,restaurants,hotels and b and bs.

If we keep going on the way we are giving out about this and that and keeping fish and not keeping fish and daft theorys about lakes and rivers
etc etc we will attract the wrong bloody attention and leave ourselves with NOTHING in the end

I hope someone is organising a rally or something against these laws and fill me in with a PM
because I will gladly join in!!

Hopefully the new government will sort this mess out.

Hope to get some more info on this from the Irish lads

Could you provide a source please?

Googled and found this: New angling rules could destroy tourism | The Tuam Herald


It says the 'new legislation' (but quotes no act) states: “It prevents the use of any lure, other than artificial fly in angling for any kind of fish with rod and line”.


Can't see much wrong with that , providing, of course, there is any truth to the matter.

Well I hope there is no truth in it.Good time to nip it in the bud if there is!!

If Conor Lenihan is behind it then it can only be mad legisation.

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An la ag iascaireacht is an la go brea.

Excuse my ignorance but are these measures to be deployed on Loughs Corrib and Mask specifically or all across Ireland??

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Fortis Sub Forte Fatiscet. The brave yield only to the brave.


www.rinnshannon.com

Member of the S.S.F.D 2010

"These include a section, which states the prohibiting of fishing, or attempting to fish, for bass, which John Paddy says, is also an “anti-tourism” measure."

Wow... if this legislation has indeed been passed - I can see two or three prominent SWFF guides around the country suffering badly!

Considering that bass fishing is one of the 'flag ship' tourist fisheries Ireland is blessed with... yet the illegal netting in coastal waters for bass flourishes.

"The most contentious line in the new legislation states that “it prevents the use of any lure, other than artificial fly in angling for any kind of fish with rod and line”.

As with all environmental legislation in Ireland the fisheries resources to police such laws is ineffective anyway...

For those law-abiding guides, BnB's, tacklestores and lodges in Galway/Mayo who rely heavily on course angling tourists this seems pretty bleak.

I is a shame as on L. Corrib a new market for Jerk baiting for pike was starting to flourish and sports anglers from Europe were starting to come in consistent numbers helped by the positive promotion of the L. Corrib pike fishery by certain guides - that will now be squashed!

What happens to the local course angling community?

I presume it was the Greens that were behind this. The autocratic nature of these people, whoever set it down in writing, is sometimes hard to swallow.

That also was my question; hard to tell from the linked news clip. Using Oregon as an example we have several lake and sections of rivers that are 'restricted' to the use of 'flies.'

These come in two formats: Flies for terminal gear and full on fly rods/lines/flies (only). In the first case you can use any type of gear to get the fly into the water (usually a float and spinning rod) but no additional weight can be added (below the float). An example of this would be the 'fly only' season here on the upper Rogue River.

With the 'full on' fly fishing only (North Umpqua river) you ARE restricted to traditional fly rods, lines and unweighted flies. You can use a sink tip line, but this was a change over from just a couple of years back.

Before the 'change,' which allowed sink tip/sinking lines, "The Locals" got around the "no added weight" (fly construction) by tying them up on hooks you'd use to catch a frigging Shark. Fly was 'constructed' on a huge hook with a trailer hook behind. The big hook was cut off at the top of the bend. Met the terms, if not the intent, of the regulation.

Things sank like a rock.

fae

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"The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a
living are now outnumbered by those who vote for a living." -- Anonymous

I've just been handed a copy of the Iris Oifigiúil (official Irish State gazette) -
stating the schedule of new laws passed by Mr Lenihan, Minister of State DOC as of 24th February 2011 to be enforced by the Inland Fisheries Board.

Part 2

Prohibiting the use of any lure other than artificial fly in angling for any kind of fish with rod and line.

Prohibiting the fishing, or attempting to fish, for bass.

Love this one:

Conserving the taking of salmon or trout with draft nets...

For f*ck sake! I'd say this will be a big issue in the months to come.