Iniscarra Lake and Permits,Fines Etc.

calerbass · 10-04-2010 6:36pm #1

Hi, has anyone here ever been to inniscarra lake without a permit and received a fine?

I was there a few days ago fishing for pike with very light gear. I was approached by two fishery officers(while just landing a jack) and asked to see my permit, i explained i had none and didnt know that i required one as i was not from the area and their is no sign to the entry of the lake stating you need a permit, how much it costs, and where you can purchase one etc, as in my experience is the norm and to give people no excuse when they do get caught fishing without a permit/licence.

I explained this to the fishery officers who i afforded good manners throught dealing with them but they didnt seem to have any answer only that there is a sign on the entrance to the lake. When i looked their was no sign on the actual gate to the lake but further up on a tree their is a sign with very small print and on the end their is a line saying you need a permit, not really tourist friendly and definitely not substantial enough and hanging in the wrong place for a start. I have fished plenty places that require a permit and always bought my permit while some of these places are being raped of fish by you know who in their Lidl dingies and fishing gear, without permits. reported them plenty times but never got any reply back from them on the reports.

Further to that, one of the fishery officers walked off with my rod up the road with the other guy and i had to shout after him to ask what is he doing. The guy who gave me the fine who incidently was very jittery, new guy i would say, told me id have to go to macroom to collect it, now i felt like a real criminal, and the guy that took the rod was ignorance personified as all he done was grunted. their was anglers further down and they never approached them either,real fish in the bowl stuff.

Lastly in my opinion they made an error on the docket i got. It had unlawful entry to a fishery(section 178) ticked when i think it should have been failure to produce a licence which is what they asked for. My reason for saying this is because people constantly walk up and down there all the time from what i seen there so they must be a right of way there.

I also asked for a second chance but they refused.

Anyone any views i would welcome them.

Thanks

gbee · 10-04-2010 6:45pm

Seen them in action on the TV. Tough guys ... but and here's the but, you were most likely reported by the other people fishing.

As resources are low they don't patrol too much so they want to make the most of each gallon of diesel.

On the TV show a Polish guy had a very expensive rod taken off him, he had the money to pay the fine but no deal, rod confiscation, fine and a release fee on the rod.

calerbass · 10-04-2010 6:48pm

gbee wrote: »

Seen them in action on the TV. Tough guys ... but and here's the but, you were most likely reported by the other people fishing.

As resources are low they don't patrol too much so they want to make the most of each gallon of diesel.

On the TV show a Polish guy had a very expensive rod taken off him, he had the money to pay the fine but no deal, rod confiscation, fine and a release fee on the rod.

,

Hi,no because i was just after arriving and they were way down ahead of me, i didnt pass any anglers on they way. They did say i could pay the fine there and then but didnt have the cash on me.Didnt say anything bout a release fee on rod either, is that possible too?

coolwings · 10-04-2010 6:52pm

calerbass wrote: »

.... Anyone any views i would welcome them.
Thanks

I doubt there is a polite way to deal with an offender under any fishery law.
The fishery officers did their job. We need a lot more of them given the state of freshwater fish stocks.

The excuse "I didn't know" is likely used by everybody they meet so it is not likely to have much effect.
It sounds like you were given a warning, had your gear confiscated and receipted, and now have the inconvenience of having to collect your gear from the office.

That's a reasonable outcome on some fronts, but tougher on others. How much is the fine?

calerbass · 10-04-2010 6:58pm

coolwings wrote: »

I doubt there is a polite way to deal with an offender under any fishery law.
The fishery officers did their job. We need a lot more of them given the state of freshwater fish stocks.

The excuse "I didn't know" is likely used by everybody they meet so it is not likely to have much effect.
It sounds like you were given a warning, had your gear confiscated and receipted, and now have the inconvenience of having to collect your gear from the office.

That's a reasonable outcome on some fronts, but tougher on others. How much is the fine?

I was plain to see what i was telling them was true as their are no signage stating the cost of permit and where to get them.

Good manners actually cost nothing on anyone, the guy who gave me the docket thanked me for saying thanks to him, lol, as he said i was the first that ever said thanks. If i was caught without the permit so be it, it was the fact that their where no signage telling people is my problem, the fine was ninety euro.

coolwings · 10-04-2010 7:46pm

calerbass wrote: »

... Good manners actually cost nothing on anyone, the guy who gave me the docket thanked me for saying thanks to him, lol, as he said i was the first that ever said thanks. If i was caught without the permit so be it, it was the fact that their where no signage telling people is my problem, the fine was ninety euro ... .

You probably the first that was polite.

Heavy fine. :eek: My sympathies.

SeaFields · 10-04-2010 11:17pm

Im gutted for you.

I spent some very enjoyable teen years fishing that reservoir and caught all manner of fish. From what a recall rudd, bream, tench, ells, gudgeon and perch. My first in each case. We also caught trout and lost a fine salmon one day.

It used to be free fishing. There were plenty of times where we would see up to 20 British anglers together, with all the fancy gear we envied, hauling in big catches. And guess what - some geniuses decided to make a few bob out of them, permit the place and that was the end of that. Bye Bye tourists. :rolleyes: Im sure the local B+Bs, pubs, shops and restaurants were thrilled by that.

I'm guessing you were very unlucky. That reservoir is huge. Impossible to police at the best of times. My advice is take it on the chin and find somewhere else to fish thats free ( probably other parts of the reservoir actually).

steeevo93 · 11-04-2010 9:42am

wow..i was lucky.. the signage in the lake is clear in some places but in most it is stuck up a tree somwhere.. first time i went fishing there two officers came up to me and my dad.. we eere like you and hadnt seen the sign.. thankfully the two men were nice enough to let us off..and go to macroom to buy our permits. they even gave us advice on bait. just makes me realise how lucky i was. i definitley agree though that the officers should focus on certain anglers who just happen to eat anything that swims..and less on local fisherman.

Zzippy · 11-04-2010 10:58am

calerbass wrote: »

Hi, has anyone here ever been to inniscarra lake without a permit and received a fine?

I was there a few days ago fishing for pike with very light gear. I was approached by two fishery officers(while just landing a jack) and asked to see my permit, i explained i had none and didnt know that i required one as i was not from the area and their is no sign to the entry of the lake stating you need a permit, how much it costs, and where you can purchase one etc, as in my experience is the norm and to give people no excuse when they do get caught fishing without a permit/licence.

I explained this to the fishery officers who i afforded good manners throught dealing with them but they didnt seem to have any answer only that there is a sign on the entrance to the lake. When i looked their was no sign on the actual gate to the lake but further up on a tree their is a sign with very small print and on the end their is a line saying you need a permit, not really tourist friendly and definitely not substantial enough and hanging in the wrong place for a start. I have fished plenty places that require a permit and always bought my permit while some of these places are being raped of fish by you know who in their Lidl dingies and fishing gear, without permits. reported them plenty times but never got any reply back from them on the reports.

Further to that, one of the fishery officers walked off with my rod up the road with the other guy and i had to shout after him to ask what is he doing. The guy who gave me the fine who incidently was very jittery, new guy i would say, told me id have to go to macroom to collect it, now i felt like a real criminal, and the guy that took the rod was ignorance personified as all he done was grunted. their was anglers further down and they never approached them either,real fish in the bowl stuff.

Lastly in my opinion they made an error on the docket i got. It had unlawful entry to a fishery(section 178) ticked when i think it should have been failure to produce a licence which is what they asked for. My reason for saying this is because people constantly walk up and down there all the time from what i seen there so they must be a right of way there.

I also asked for a second chance but they refused.

Anyone any views i would welcome them.

Thanks

As many a judge has said, ignorance of the law is no excuse. The onus is on you to ascertain whether a permit is required before fishing. There is no law that says a sign must be there or you can fish for free. If there was, people could just take the sign down and claim free fishing.

As for taking your rod, thats standard practice, many people give a false name and address so never pay the on-the-spot fine. Fisheries officers confiscate the gear as evidence - if the fine was disputed the case will go to court, and the gear will be produced as evidence. Its also more likely that people will pay the fine to get their gear back.

You were fishing illegally - why should you be treated any differently to "you know who in their Lidl dingies and fishing gear"??

Finally, they were correct on the form - unlawful entry to a fishery is how fishing without a permit is legally worded in the legislation.

Pay up and next time make the effort to find out where you can fish for free.

calerbass · 11-04-2010 4:25pm

Zzippy wrote: »

As many a judge has said, ignorance of the law is no excuse. The onus is on you to ascertain whether a permit is required before fishing. There is no law that says a sign must be there or you can fish for free. If there was, people could just take the sign down and claim free fishing.

As for taking your rod, thats standard practice, many people give a false name and address so never pay the on-the-spot fine. Fisheries officers confiscate the gear as evidence - if the fine was disputed the case will go to court, and the gear will be produced as evidence. Its also more likely that people will pay the fine to get their gear back.

You were fishing illegally - why should you be treated any differently to "you know who in their Lidl dingies and fishing gear"??

Finally, they were correct on the form - unlawful entry to a fishery is how fishing without a permit is legally worded in the legislation.

Pay up and next time make the effort to find out where you can fish for free.

Im afraid your wrong, you are required by law to display a sign stating the cost of the permit and where to get them.Not a mickey mouse sign that they have up, a proper metal sign and also along the bank here and there. But i think it actually suits the fishery officers as they can get more fines out and then recite you should have known bla bla bla

I didnt go out to fish illegally(like the Lidl brigade) but yet there faces showed glee that they had me, further more you would expect they would check everyone fishing there and not just me, as i said they stumbled through the whole process, walked off with my rod without telling me, had to run back to tell me that i could pay the fine their and then.

As for taking the rod as insurance for paying the fine, rods are two a penny now, that would nt stop you giving them a false address, all in all they handled the issue very amateurish, not coherent or straightforward,they did compliment me on my good manners which was nt repricated by one of them, as i said ignorance personified.

Zzippy · 11-04-2010 9:11pm

calerbass wrote: »

Im afraid your wrong, you are required by law to display a sign stating the cost of the permit and where to get them.Not a mickey mouse sign that they have up, a proper metal sign and also along the bank here and there. But i think it actually suits the fishery officers as they can get more fines out and then recite you should have known bla bla bla

I didnt go out to fish illegally(like the Lidl brigade) but yet there faces showed glee that they had me, further more you would expect they would check everyone fishing there and not just me, as i said they stumbled through the whole process, walked off with my rod without telling me, had to run back to tell me that i could pay the fine their and then.

As for taking the rod as insurance for paying the fine, rods are two a penny now, that would nt stop you giving them a false address, all in all they handled the issue very amateurish, not coherent or straightforward,they did compliment me on my good manners which was nt repricated by one of them, as i said ignorance personified.

Can you point me to where it says "you are required by law to display a sign stating the cost of the permit and where to get them"? I doubt it, because there is no such legislation.

You are generalising about the "lidl brigade" - is there something wrong with people who buy rods in Lidl or something? Should you be treated differently because you didn't buy your rod there?

Your posts read like any of a myriad of posts in the Motors forum, giving out because they got caught speeding and have to pay a fine. Face it, you broke the law, you got caught. You'll know better next time. If you have a problem with how the fishery officers handled your case, you can complain to the SWRFB head office. Why not do that, instead of coming onto on internet forum to moan, which won't achieve anything...

calerbass · 11-04-2010 10:37pm

Zzippy wrote: »

Can you point me to where it says "you are required by law to display a sign stating the cost of the permit and where to get them"? I doubt it, because there is no such legislation.
You are generalising about the "lidl brigade" - is there something wrong with people who buy rods in Lidl or something? Should you be treated differently because you didn't buy your rod there? Your posts read like any of a myriad of posts in the Motors forum, giving out because they got caught speeding and have to pay a fine. Face it, you broke the law, you got caught. You'll know better next time. If you have a problem with how the fishery officers handled your case, you can complain to the SWRFB head office. Why not do that, instead of coming onto on internet forum to moan, which won't achieve anything...

Their are signs for speed limits ! ! ! You are wrong. Consumer law. Or can the fisheries do what they want like every other establishment in this country. I am right. Stay off the internet if debate bothers you that much. Their is such a thing as freedom of speech.

seamusmcspud · 11-04-2010 10:56pm

Hi lads,
I used to fish inniscarra lake a lot until the small kids came along. I agree there isn't much signage but there is some. I bought a €30 permit last year in Coachford for 2 hours fishing but I'm glad something is being done with the way stocks are going. But a great point has been made that it has killed off the English tourists fishing the lake. Must be lots of money gone from the local economy.

Other comments seem to imply racism and can't condone them! I know that most anglers there have the permits what ever Nationality they are.
€90 is a disaster though!!!!

ironbluedun · 12-04-2010 11:53am

Of course you should be treated with a bit of respect and manners. Far too often inspectors are abrupt when there is little need to be. If a genuine angler makes a honest mistake he/she should be treated with manners and respect. This is what the original post was really about.
If the inspectors come across people illegally fishing or poaching then a more stern, less respecting approach is correct in those circumstances.

Zzippy · 12-04-2010 1:03pm

calerbass wrote: »

Their are signs for speed limits ! ! ! You are wrong. Consumer law. Or can the fisheries do what they want like every other establishment in this country. I am right. Stay off the internet if debate bothers you that much. Their is such a thing as freedom of speech.

Well if you're so sure you're right can you post a link to the legislation that states that signs are required? Saying I'm right doesn't make it so, any more than people writing FACT after making a statement doesn't make it fact.

stylie · 12-04-2010 1:42pm

SeaFields wrote: »

Im gutted for you.

I spent some very enjoyable teen years fishing that reservoir and caught all manner of fish. From what a recall rudd, bream, tench, ells, gudgeon and perch. My first in each case. We also caught trout and lost a fine salmon one day.

It used to be free fishing. There were plenty of times where we would see up to 20 British anglers together, with all the fancy gear we envied, hauling in big catches. And guess what - some geniuses decided to make a few bob out of them, permit the place and that was the end of that. Bye Bye tourists. :rolleyes: Im sure the local B+Bs, pubs, shops and restaurants were thrilled by that.

I'm guessing you were very unlucky. That reservoir is huge. Impossible to police at the best of times. My advice is take it on the chin and find somewhere else to fish thats free ( probably other parts of the reservoir actually).

You are very wrong with that statement. As a person that lives near the scheme and has fishing it for 20yrs I saw first hand the initial increase in popularity with the now empty banks.
All to do with low fish stocks due to poaching Europeans. The coarse anglers left when they started struggling to get a couple of kilos of skimmers and not due to the introduction of permits.
The fisheries officers are enforcing the permits to combat the illegal fishing but it is barely putting a dent in the poaching due to the cheap rods for sale in shops. In two days last year they confiscated 90 rods.
The permit is very cheap for a years fishing so there is no reason not to pay it.

And there is no excuse for not knowing a permit it needed, you should find out about the place you intend fishing before you just stroll up and start casting.

SeaFields · 12-04-2010 4:22pm

stylie wrote: »

You are very wrong with that statement

I have two sources for that statement...one being a angling buddy that used to fish the reservoir very regularly and the other is a friend of my fathers that has a b+b in the area. But feel free to say Im very wrong.

calerbass · 12-04-2010 5:52pm

Zzippy wrote: »

Well if you're so sure you're right can you post a link to the legislation that states that signs are required? Saying I'm right doesn't make it so, any more than people writing FACT after making a statement doesn't make it fact.

I am Right:D

calerbass · 12-04-2010 6:05pm

Zzippy wrote: »

Well if you're so sure you're right can you post a link to the legislation that states that signs are required? Saying I'm right doesn't make it so, any more than people writing FACT after making a statement doesn't make it fact.

Here you go, i ve highlighted the operative section etc etc:D

Overview of the Consumer Protection Act, 2007
4. Misleading Commercial Practices

The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive deals with three distinct types of unfair commercial practices:

Misleading practices (actions and omissions)
Aggressive practices
Prohibited practices (Black List)

5. What is an unfair commercial practice?

According to the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, a commercial practice is unfair if:

It is contrary to the requirements of professional diligence, and
It materially distorts or is likely to distort the economic behaviour with regard to the product of the 'average consumer' whom it reaches or to whom it is addressed, or of the average member of that group when a commercial practice is directed at that group

In other words, when a breach of good faith occurs and the "average consumer" is denied the reasonable standard of skill and care which he or she is entitled.
6. When is a commercial practice misleading?

It is misleading if it contains false or untruthful information or in any way deceive or is likely to deceive the "average consumer", and cause or likely to cause him/her to take a transactional decision that he/she would not otherwise have taken.
In the context of determining if a trader has incurred a misleading practice, two considerations must be taken into account:

Would the action cause the "average consumer" to take a decision that he/she would not otherwise have taken (the "average consumer test"), and
The trader's professional diligence i.e. the general principle to act with good faith in the trader's field of activity and the expected standard of skill and care

The "average consumer test" also applies in the context of Aggressive Practices. The second test does not apply.
No test is required in the context of assessing actions under the Prohibited Practices (Black List). These actions are considered unfair in all circumstances.

calerbass · 12-04-2010 6:07pm

Zzippy wrote: »

Well if you're so sure you're right can you post a link to the legislation that states that signs are required? Saying I'm right doesn't make it so, any more than people writing FACT after making a statement doesn't make it fact.

http://www.consumerconnect.ie/eng/Hot_Topics/Guides-to-Consumer-Law/Consumer-Protection-Act/4_Misleading_Commercial_Practices.html

All fact.:D

coolwings · 12-04-2010 6:44pm

All very interesting but I don't think this applies to fishing and the exercise of fishing activities in assumed to be free fishing areas.

The truth is all fishing is owned by someone or other. However some landlords are absent, or do not enforce their right for payment, so we call those places "free fishing". But they are nothing of the sort.
Now in ESB reservoirs in particular, the ESB owns the reservoirs, the lake beds, and immediate surrounding land.
In some cases the ESB runs a fishery, and in other cases they lease the use of the water rights to a club.
I do not know whether Iniscarra is managed by the ESB or by a club, that is a local matter. However the onus is on all anglers to ask or ascertain in advance, just as you must ask for permission to cross land before crossing it, not during, and while being accosted by the owner for trespass.

The signs - well they are not an offer to sell goods, so how they would come under consumer legislation would surprise me greatly.

The fine seems high, but you know that's the Ireland of the present. Nefarious activities on fishing waters have brought us larger fines, because they are necessary, and it's a tough pill for the OP, but we are all the better for knowing fines are no longer a mickey mouse inconvenience but a deterrent, and best avoided.

I thank the OP for bringing us up to date. I sympathise because I might have been lax and tempted to "fish and find out" in his place. I won't be tempted so in the future.
As far as "the injustice of it all is concerned" what happened here is there was a shock at the size of the justice imposed.

The difficulties of finding out about the fee structure:
http://www.swrfb.com/fishing/coarse/inniscarra.htm
It took me 30 seconds to find it. I don't think any adult can claim they didn't know these days as a valid way of getting a warning instead of a fine.

All that is left is the good will of the waterkeepers and fishery officers, and that is dependent on two things: the attitude shown by the angler caught "poaching" and the number and attitude of the other hard core poachers that the staff have to deal with on a regular basis on that water. Play it right and you might be getting a warning of a fine if there is a next time. You are not entitled to a warning however.
The OP played it right but it didn't work. Life sucks.

Zzippy · 12-04-2010 7:38pm

calerbass wrote: »

Here you go, i ve highlighted the operative section etc etc:D

Overview of the Consumer Protection Act, 2007
4. Misleading Commercial Practices

The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive deals with three distinct types of unfair commercial practices:
Misleading practices (actions and omissions)

Aggressive practices

Prohibited practices (Black List)

5. What is an unfair commercial practice?

According to the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, a commercial practice is unfair if:
It is contrary to the requirements of professional diligence, and

It materially distorts or is likely to distort the economic behaviour with regard to the product of the 'average consumer' whom it reaches or to whom it is addressed, or of the average member of that group when a commercial practice is directed at that group

In other words, when a breach of good faith occurs and the "average consumer" is denied the reasonable standard of skill and care which he or she is entitled.
6. When is a commercial practice misleading?

It is misleading if it contains false or untruthful information or in any way deceive or is likely to deceive the "average consumer", and cause or likely to cause him/her to take a transactional decision that he/she would not otherwise have taken.
In the context of determining if a trader has incurred a misleading practice, two considerations must be taken into account:
Would the action cause the "average consumer" to take a decision that he/she would not otherwise have taken (the "average consumer test"), and

The trader's professional diligence i.e. the general principle to act with good faith in the trader's field of activity and the expected standard of skill and care

The "average consumer test" also applies in the context of Aggressive Practices. The second test does not apply.
No test is required in the context of assessing actions under the Prohibited Practices (Black List). These actions are considered unfair in all circumstances.

And where in that text, pray tell, does it say that a sign must be erected to tell you that you must pay the owner of the fishery a permit?You can try to confuse people with legal jargon but if its completely irrelevant to the issue don't expect them to be fooled. I'd like to see you challenge the fine in court by quoting that piece of legislation

There are rivers and lakes all over the country, in some places a road runs along a river and access is very easy. Is the fishery owner supposed to put signs every 5 yards along a river so that anyone caught illegally fishing can't have the excuse that they didn't know.

Several people have explained to you by now that the onus is on you to ascertain whether a permit is required. Its very easy to find out, as coolwings has pointed out. If you can't go to the trouble of finding out, then it's your problem if you get caught.

stylie · 13-04-2010 8:59am

SeaFields wrote: »

I have two sources for that statement...one being a angling buddy that used to fish the reservoir very regularly and the other is a friend of my fathers that has a b+b in the area. But feel free to say Im very wrong.

So anglers that have spent 100's of euro getting here and getting all the appropriate supplies, anglers that are used to paying for their national license and daily permits, baulk at the cost of 30e for a year long permit ?

calerbass · 13-04-2010 7:03pm

coolwings wrote: »

All very interesting but I don't think this applies to fishing and the exercise of fishing activities in assumed to be free fishing areas.

The truth is all fishing is owned by someone or other. However some landlords are absent, or do not enforce their right for payment, so we call those places "free fishing". But they are nothing of the sort.
Now in ESB reservoirs in particular, the ESB owns the reservoirs, the lake beds, and immediate surrounding land.
In some cases the ESB runs a fishery, and in other cases they lease the use of the water rights to a club.
I do not know whether Iniscarra is managed by the ESB or by a club, that is a local matter. However the onus is on all anglers to ask or ascertain in advance, just as you must ask for permission to cross land before crossing it, not during, and while being accosted by the owner for trespass.

The signs - well they are not an offer to sell goods, so how they would come under consumer legislation would surprise me greatly.

The fine seems high, but you know that's the Ireland of the present. Nefarious activities on fishing waters have brought us larger fines, because they are necessary, and it's a tough pill for the OP, but we are all the better for knowing fines are no longer a mickey mouse inconvenience but a deterrent, and best avoided.

I thank the OP for bringing us up to date. I sympathise because I might have been lax and tempted to "fish and find out" in his place. I won't be tempted so in the future.
As far as "the injustice of it all is concerned" what happened here is there was a shock at the size of the justice imposed.

The difficulties of finding out about the fee structure:
http://www.swrfb.com/fishing/coarse/inniscarra.htm
It took me 30 seconds to find it. I don't think any adult can claim they didn't know these days as a valid way of getting a warning instead of a fine.

All that is left is the good will of the waterkeepers and fishery officers, and that is dependent on two things: the attitude shown by the angler caught "poaching" and the number and attitude of the other hard core poachers that the staff have to deal with on a regular basis on that water. Play it right and you might be getting a warning of a fine if there is a next time. You are not entitled to a warning however.
The OP played it right but it didn't work. Life sucks.

I am Right and i'm not some thug with a rod or a poacher unlike the the guy who walked off with my rod without telling me and for your information good manners cost nothing,like i afforded them and not the attitiude i got from them.

are you a fishery officer???:D

coolwings · 13-04-2010 8:02pm

calerbass wrote: »

I am Right ..

With capital "R" too I see.

But I didn't say you were right or wrong ...
Relax and chill man. You need to destress or you'll not live to retire and fish every day.

calerbass wrote: »

... not some thug with a rod or a poacher unlike the the guy who walked off with my rod without telling me and for your information good manners cost nothing,like i afforded them and not the attitiude i got from them...

Not some thug, agreed, but an unintentional poacher .... we all gotta take the results of our actions whether intentional or unintentional.
( Unless we bought over €5M of property on borrowed money and pack an FF card that is. Then anybody and everybody else pays .... until election day comes ......:mad:
Q: If they had all won the gamble and got rich would they have given a red cent to us? )

calerbass wrote: »

...are you a fishery officer???:D ..

Nope! Used to carry a Waterkeeper's Warrant for the Liffey though. Does that mean we can't be friends?

blackest · 30-05-2010 9:27am

Congratulations on this thread being the only place on the net to find out what the fee is for coarse fishing on inniscarra.

It wouldn't hurt for the ESB to actually mention the cost on their website.

It's an interesting problem fishing in Ireland. coarse fishing is free you only need a license to catch salmon and sea trout. Only the reality is there are very few places to fish in ireland as the banks are all in the hands of private land owners.

Even sea fishing there are limited options for fishing most of the piers are closed and some locations nets are sunk in the water purely to catch fishing hooks.

Fishing in ireland is so messed up, in the UK you buy a rod licence and join the local club which normally is affiliated to other clubs in the area which means you can have 2 anglers fishing the same stretch of water holding two different club books.

private lakes are common and you can usually buy a day ticket for a few quid. If you go fishing on club waters you can buy a day ticket from the bailiff if he comes along.

It's also quite usual to buy your club book from the local tackle shops, who would have thought it.

I have yet to see anyone fishing on inniscarra despite the relative low cost of the permit.

I feel real sympathy for the guy who got fined because he should have been given he chance to get a day ticket or even a year ticket. Certainly the experience isn't welcoming and gives the impression that fishermen are positively discouraged from fishing in ireland.

daveq182 · 22-01-2011 10:58pm

so can any1 tell me exactly where i can buy a permit to fish there??and is it legal to fish right above inniscarra dam??and im not a regular on that big lake,so id appreciate if any1 gave me some specific details on where to fish on it...thanks very much.

blackest · 23-01-2011 3:11am

It's mentioned earlier in the thread but you can get a permit in coachford. It's a little shop on the right if your coming from the cork direction. Coachfords pretty tiny so you will find it on the road through it.

Can't really say where to fish, for such a huge place there seems to be limited access to most of the reservoir.

You can put a boat on there for €50 with a small engine but you need to get in contact with the ESB for that. It's pretty limited for launching. Most access is private and that goes for fishing too.

To be honest I found it horrible poor access, poor fishing and full of snobby arses who resent you breathing the same air as them.

To be honest I've ended up going to the coast and sea fishing although it can get a little crowded on the few piers your allowed to fish off.

Think next summer i'll be trying a few beaches and maybe getting a place on a charter boat.

seamusmcspud · 23-01-2011 12:19pm

the shop is called Kathleen's. I bought a permit last year and only ended up fishing it twice. The standard of Pike fishing has gone back quite a lot there imo. I also tried for the bream, rudd, carp and all that and i can't say that i'd any great success at that there either last year. Lots of algae around during the warmer months with very poor fishing. They're there somewhere ...... let me know when you find them .....;)

calerbass · 24-01-2011 4:14pm

daveq182 wrote: »

so can any1 tell me exactly where i can buy a permit to fish there??and is it legal to fish right above inniscarra dam??and im not a regular on that big lake,so id appreciate if any1 gave me some specific details on where to fish on it...thanks very much.

Hi you can get the permits in Murrays outdoor store on patrick st in cork and also in the tackle shop in Blarney.

If you dont get the permit and get caught its a 90 euro fine as happened to me,not intentionally mind you, what happens is two fishery officers will appear, one keeps you talking while the other makes off down the river bank with your gear ha, and good manners cost nothing, i was going to appeal the fine as their nothing telling you how much etc for the permit and where to get it from where i was fishing.But its a waste of time appealing it because its the fishery officers boss that decides ha. I since got the permit.Fishing is very poor there.

coolwings · 24-01-2011 9:01pm

Calerbass:
If you have the permit. Call the office and tell them that. They may be willing to return your gear. I have heard this done in other cases, but other locations. You've nothing to lose by asking.

Iniscarra Lake and Permits,Fines Etc.

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