John Fleming, skipper of the Brazen Hussy in Galway Bay, reports he had absolutely cracking lure fishing in Galway Bay over the last week with all fish a decent average and a lot of cod showing.
On Wednesday John had 15 blues to the boat, which were all tagged and released, and as many more dropped runs. Fantastic sport with sharks circling the boat all day! John has good availability and with such good fishing available at the moment it should be a good day out. To book fishing contact John at 087 7571320.
John Brittain, skipper of Bluewater out of Cleggan (086 277 9622, [email protected]), also reports good ground fishing, with plenty of pollack, ling and cod being caught. John also reports several sightings of bluefin tuna busting through shoals of bait fish, which echoes similar sightings all up and down the west coast over the last few weeks. It seems bluefin numbers are the highest ever seen off our coast this year, which makes the refusal of the Department of Agriculture to permit a recreational fishery all the more bewildering. Ireland has no quota for bluefin tuna, which is the rationale for the decision, but a recreational catch-and-release fishery would not use any quota, as all the fish are released alive again. While other European countries have quota and can fish bluefin, including taking fish off our coast, Irish skippers are not even allowed fish for them in a sustainable manner, denying them valuable charter business at a time when the whole charter fishing industry is struggling. Hopefully sanity will prevail soon and skippers can market a quality big game fishery for next year to match anywhere in the world.
