ANGLING NOTES:MAURICE Neill sends this facinating note on his exasperation at the bewildering array of licence requirements for game anglers to fish on the Border.
“Fishing licence arrangements on this island have always struck me as a barrier to tourism. My fishing base is Kesh on the Donegal-Fermanagh border.
“Lough Erne is at the door and to fish for brown trout I must have the Northern Ireland Fisheries Conservancy Board licence (FCB) and the Department of Culture Arts and Leisure permit (DCAL).
“On the Eany River, 40 minutes north, I need a licence issued in the Republic to fish for salmon and sea trout, but no licence to fish for brown trout. A short distance northeast, on the Finn river, I need the Loughs Agency licence and a relevant permit if I wish to fish for salmon, but nothing for brown trout.
“If I wish to fish the Mourne River, 40 minutes east at Sion Mills, one of the best salmon waters in Ireland, I can do so for just £5 (€5.43) a day – if I have the Loughs Agency licence, the DCAL permit and a ticket issued by Sion Mills Anglers.
“To visit a rainbow trout fishery in Northern Ireland (NI), I require a relevant licence from either the FCB or the Loughs Agency. To visit a rainbow trout fishery in the Republic of Ireland (RoI), I require no licence.
“In August I caught a decent brown trout in the Waterfoot River, which forms the border between NI and the RoI, near Pettigo. I was standing in RoI when I hooked it but had to cross to NI to land it.
Maurice asked a lawyer friend: “If I was a resident of the RoI, and had no licence for brown trout, have I committed an offence in the UK?” He was told: “An interesting one for the European Court”.
Maurice goes on: “Try explaining all this to a visitor who simply wants a few day’s trout and salmon fishing in the Border area and hope they don’t ask about the different coloured tags. One licence for the whole of Ireland would make good sense.
“The Good Friday Agreement identified waterways as an issue in need of cross-Border discussion and given that the Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, Martin McGuinness, is a salmon angler, I am surprised no action has been taken.”
(Maurice Neill is course co-ordinator, Newspaper Journalism, at Belfast Metropolitan College.)
-The largest Irish salmon taken on rod and line in almost 20 years was caught during the last week of the season on the River Nore near Kilkenny city. Local angler Martin White hooked the enormous 14.5kg (32lb) fish on prawn in an area of the river known as "Minister's Hole".
Scale samples have been sent for analysis to the research scientists at the Central Fisheries Board. Martin is registering his catch with the Irish Specimen Fish Committee. Records show the salmon is one of the 15th heaviest caught by rod in Ireland.
“This is a fish people dream of catching and I plan to get it mounted so I can have it forever,” he said. During September anglers were permitted to take one salmon if they had been issued with a special gill tag by the Southern Regional Fisheries Board.
-The fisheries board is roll out of its educational programme "Something Fishy" again this year. Developed in 2004 by the Central Fisheries Board in collaboration with Blackrock and Monaghan Education Centres, the programme will be delivered to over 100 schools. Contact Mark Corps at 01-8842672.
-England's Rob Tough and Tom Duncan-Dunlop have won the 2009 World Carp Classic. The pair produced a stunning performance to beat competition from 126 pairs from 21 countries to claim the £10,000 (€10,860) first prize at the event at Lac de Madine in north-east France.
Surviving on just 12 hours sleep throughout the six-day, non-stop competition, the duo bagged an event-record of 26 fish, weighing 347.5kg, to easily beat their rivals, Dutch pair Koos Walters and Bert Teuben (8f, 125.65kg), and Robert Ceaus and M Gulke of Germany (8f, 123.45kg).
The aptly named Tough, from Dartford, Kent, said: “This is the highlight of my angling career. We were totally exhausted at the end and surviving on adrenaline.”