bullmoose_jackson
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2012
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Last Sunday was my first opportunity to fish since November. While Ireland has been experiencing flooding, rain and storm-force winds, I decided that some time by the river was well-needed, and well-deserved.
I was fishing in a canal that had flooded, and had a reasonable bag of fish, given the coditions - about ten pounds of roach, hyrbids and dace.
Further along the canal from me were three fishermen, all extremely well-equipped and reasonably proficient. One member of the group walked towards me and asked, in a European accent, how I was getting on. We didn't talk much, and he returned to his friends shortly afterwards.
I am inhernelty suspicious of eastern-European fishermen; before anyone accuses me of profiling, racism or zenophobyia, please bear in mind that I have witnessed countless incidents of poaching in Ireland over the previous ten years, all of which have been conducted by eastern-European anglers. Because of my concerns, I spent the remainder of the day with one eye firmly on the group. They were catching reasonably well, and all three were deopisiting each fish (mainly small perch) into a single keepnet.
As I was packing up, two men from the local fishing club came by to chat. We shared a couple of cigarettes and a chat about the day. I noticed that the eastern-European anglers had removed their keepnet, and the three of us began to watch for the fish being returned...
...which never happened. The keepnet and all of its contents were folded into a netbag, which was zipped and placed beside the car.
We confronted the men before they could drive away with the fish. In the sealed netbag were approximately one hundred small perch, dace and roach, some already dead.
We photographed the fish, the men, their car and their gear, and then called the local waterkeeper. He arrived, took identification details and warned the men that they would most likely receive a court summons.
They all pleaded ignorance. One began to cry slightly. They claimed they needed the fish to feed their children, but were driving an expensive BMW.
What surprised me most about this event was the equipment and ability of the men in question. Usually, the poachers I have come across use Lidl or Aldi rods, crude tackle and basic accessories, at best. These men were sitting on Mosella seatboxes, using top of the range Daiwa poles, wearing high-end bibs and braces.
I just thought I'd share - still very angry about the incident, and glad we managed to return most of the fish alive to the water.
I was fishing in a canal that had flooded, and had a reasonable bag of fish, given the coditions - about ten pounds of roach, hyrbids and dace.
Further along the canal from me were three fishermen, all extremely well-equipped and reasonably proficient. One member of the group walked towards me and asked, in a European accent, how I was getting on. We didn't talk much, and he returned to his friends shortly afterwards.
I am inhernelty suspicious of eastern-European fishermen; before anyone accuses me of profiling, racism or zenophobyia, please bear in mind that I have witnessed countless incidents of poaching in Ireland over the previous ten years, all of which have been conducted by eastern-European anglers. Because of my concerns, I spent the remainder of the day with one eye firmly on the group. They were catching reasonably well, and all three were deopisiting each fish (mainly small perch) into a single keepnet.
As I was packing up, two men from the local fishing club came by to chat. We shared a couple of cigarettes and a chat about the day. I noticed that the eastern-European anglers had removed their keepnet, and the three of us began to watch for the fish being returned...
...which never happened. The keepnet and all of its contents were folded into a netbag, which was zipped and placed beside the car.
We confronted the men before they could drive away with the fish. In the sealed netbag were approximately one hundred small perch, dace and roach, some already dead.
We photographed the fish, the men, their car and their gear, and then called the local waterkeeper. He arrived, took identification details and warned the men that they would most likely receive a court summons.
They all pleaded ignorance. One began to cry slightly. They claimed they needed the fish to feed their children, but were driving an expensive BMW.
What surprised me most about this event was the equipment and ability of the men in question. Usually, the poachers I have come across use Lidl or Aldi rods, crude tackle and basic accessories, at best. These men were sitting on Mosella seatboxes, using top of the range Daiwa poles, wearing high-end bibs and braces.
I just thought I'd share - still very angry about the incident, and glad we managed to return most of the fish alive to the water.