MACKEREL IN DECLINE

Message

#1 Post by **alannelson** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 2:31 pm

I for 1 reckon that ive had the worst season that i can remember catching mackerel for bait.
now u cant guarantee catching bait for ur session and u need ta buy back up bait just in case.
mackerel move off in winter to deeper water to the continental shelf were cold water meets warm and of course the deep sea trawlers know this and scoop them up in hundreds of tons.
any opinions welcome

#2 Post by **stevecrow74** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 2:57 pm

this year seems to have been a bad one all around for mackerel..
but compared with the numbers that were around last year to the year before that its hard to tell...

#3 Post by **fenitbob** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 3:02 pm

I had a reasonable year they were getting them fairly consistantly in fenit all summer but no big insane shoals, they were coming in in smaller groups which meant that you were not going to catch them on feathers but would catch them on baited float. is this a change i suppose so

#4 Post by **frodo baggins** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 3:11 pm

I BLAME THE NON NATIONALS!!!!!!

I'm messing, relax! ya it was a poor enough season, the spots that i fish that used to produce all the them have become very hit or miss in the past 4 to 5 years. I suppose the only rational explanation is super trawlers. I don't understand how skippers and crews from ireland and other crounties can be so ignorant and unwilling to listen to fact and reason.

the only solution is to go back to living in mud huts, hunting and gathering, and marrying our damned attractive cousins.

Patrick

#5 Post by **corbyeire** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 3:11 pm

their quotas for mack have gone up this year! - they are allowed more under these bizare bycatch rules

better they count the bycatch anyway and get some descent statistics on the state of play!

BR

#6 Post by **alannelson** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 4:08 pm

True i've wintnessed a hole pier flogging feathers/traces and the 1 fellaw using a float with a slice ov mackerel the only 1 catching.
there's all this talk about bass stocks and rightly so, but where would we be if 1 ov the most important fish in the marine food chain is wiped out and ov course its the most versatile and effective baits we use.

#7 Post by **Richie07** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 4:09 pm

Caught the same quantities that I've been getting for the past few years but they have been alot smaller than usual.

lazycod · #8 Post by **lazycod** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 5:41 pm

I for 1 reckon that ive had the worst season that i can remember catching mackerel alannelson

Cant say I agree I had the best year ever from the Co down coast even fly fished for them with great results. As for size I have noticed that the earlier part of our mack run we get bigger fish then we get the smaller fish around august. I have been taught a lesson from this site I never new handling mack can damage them I always thought they were a hardy fish. Feel a bit guilty now after releasing so many over the years :cry: :cry: Lazy

#9 Post by **alannelson** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 5:57 pm

I was told that after there handled and put back they swim off and die a few days later.

#10 Post by KK » Wed Dec 06, 2006 6:08 pm

This year was my best ever for mackeral, they never really came around my way but this year they were everywhere i was picking them off a pier with my hands and putting them in a bucket for bait in skerries. An yea human skin damages the mackerals thin menbrane skin and they die within 48 hours of been touched by humans

#11 Post by **dbrock** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 6:14 pm

def my best year to date couldn get away from them anywere i went to be honest was quiet sick of em

#12 Post by Al » Wed Dec 06, 2006 6:19 pm

Have to say i had found the Mackeral fishing good this year, whenever we went out to get bait they were always there, in big numbers too! Maybe it's just in certain areas though? :?

#13 Post by **alannelson** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 6:27 pm

Flip you'se boys down south seemed to get more than your fair share. up north were i fished was bleak with maybe one or two good days that was it. next season send a few up round are way!!!

#14 Post by **wilson** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 7:13 pm

didnt have that great a year myself not as good as last year i would usually take a couple of trips out just to fill the freezer up certainley they were there just not in good numbers and not a great size is it any wonder! watched a programme one nite on the tv about irelands biggest trawler they were out for mackeral it was unbeliveable what they caught these guys know the migratory path the fish take and what time of year they show up they lifted tonnes of fish in one pass

#15 Post by **gearoid mc s.** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 8:53 pm

found it very good this year they were back in the estuary the second year runnin before that they werent in the estuary for about 20 years!

#16 Post by **shambobala** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 10:03 pm

I had a pretty good year for them, west cork and clare were both producing steady shoals, maybe not as big as in the past but good numbers none the less.

Didn't have much luck last year though :-(

#17 Post by **hairyconger** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 10:12 pm

disaster this year for me they were there just didnt seem as interested in what i had to offer :? seen them following lures to the surface well into novemebr in strangford lough :shock: .. i have had 2 mackeral all year

#18 Post by **col** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 10:26 pm

poor year for me, but in saying that I seem to have been unlucky and allways missed the shoals :cry: . However in Donegal I did conect with a few mackerel this year which were one of the first reports of them from that particular bay/area for many years according to locals.

#19 Post by **blackiemc** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 11:00 pm

Hello,
If you want a snapshot from around the country during the summer check out this link

http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org/bull ... highlight=

"Mack Reports '06 here (last post sept 12th in 'shore angling reports')

I wanted to get reports (forum users report where they are at the time)
on macks on one thread going for a few reasons, which I still think are good ones

1. Macks are good to eat yum yum
2. Knowing where they are (with help from forum) increases chances of getting some action for those of us who have an occasional blank :shock:
3. Help ease the hunt for fresh bait or for freezer
4. Try fly fishing/light tackle if you know they're about
5. Bring nippers if you know they're about, I can tell you they'll never forget!
NEW very good reason!
6. From year to year such a report could be used as a comparison to discover if there really is a decline going on

That thread got contributions from less than 20 people in a few weeks, but it was viewed by over 3,200 (just out of the site's top 10 'viewed' threads).
To get it really working it needs to be supported by lots of people reporting where macks are and aren't being caught

What are the views out there?

Blackie

#20 Post by **dtsacs** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 12:40 am

One of the best years yet for Mackerel in the Dublin/Wicklow area.

They came in early, all the local trawlers seemed to fill their quota quickly which left the place alive with shoals of Mackerel. Howth/Irelands Eye area was unbelievable.

I heard stories of Balbriggan harbour and surrounding streets being full of dead Mackerel thrown around by kids etc.

I did notice that there was a lot of small ones about but equally I bagged plenty of large ones also.

They got a lot more scarce further south towards the Wexford area for some reason.

Ah well I'm happy with a full freezer load - will save me a few bob next year.

Damien