Evening Echo Cork Edition Article - Shame on Dumpers

[phanover]

There is an article in this evenings Evening Echo entitled "Shame on Dumpers" by Tom McSweeney. It's about the growing litter problem at "De Wall" in Monkstown. He has included a photo of some of the stuff he picked up last Sunday morning including the usual discarded line etc etc. It makes for uncomfortable reading.

As someone who fishes there regularly I have to agree with his sentiments. The place is a bloody tip and unfortunately it reflects badly on all of us. I would appeal to all forum members who fish there (and I know thats a lot) to make a special effort to clean up when they leave, even when it's not their own litter. I've been told from "those in the know" that local residents are very drunk off and there is a real danger of the County Council stepping in and banning fishing from "De Wall" altogether. It would be devastating to the local sea angling community if we lost what is one of the best Cod marks in the county (if not the country).

Paul

[petekd]

Fully agree with what paul just said there, the amount of old line, food wrappings, bait wrappings, old bait etc is disgraceful. Its not just a minority either thats causing this, its all the way along. I cannot for the life of me understand why people leave bait lying around, crab legs, shell everywhere etc.... Horse them over the side for gods sakes, something will eat them.

When it comes to general rubbish, whilst I in absolutely no way condone what people are doing leaving there stuff behind, I think there is a serious need for more litter bins on The Wall, the only one I am aware of is about halfway down the grassy patch. Suits me cos thats where I usually fish but its nowhere near adequate. I took a carrier bag full of stuff from just a couple of metres either side of my spot on Sunday (The Life buoy) and dropped it in the bin. Its not just an eyesore either, love em or hate em there are loads of cormorants etc around this spot and whatever your feelings on them, choking them to death on old line and rigs is not the road to go down.

Its a sorry sight but unfortunately, one that is all too frequent in popular fishing spots, anyone who fishes the Bridges of Ross in the summer will testify to that.

We all take bags, we all have buckets, if everyone who fishes there just cleans up around them it will reduce the problem. I laughed, the first day I fished the Wall at the bloke next to me who was threatening to come down with a brush and sweep 5 yards either side of him but you know what, he had a point. Galling as it may be to clean up after these morons, at least your doing your bit to keep things right. Noone can have a pop, as passers by in the past have if your area is clean and tidy.

Most genuine anglers (not the cod/mackerel bashers who turn up for the quick kill) have respect for their surroundings, unfortunately, those sentiments arent shared by everybody, its a shame and I would hate for myself and the rest of us to be tarred with the same brush as these morons. Only way we can avoid that is by doing our bit, unreasonable as it is.