Salmon caught in the sea

con___manx1

A friend of mine caught 2 salmon from a beach in Wexford. both were returned. He caught them on mackerel stip. first time I have ever heard of anyone catching salmon on rod and line in the sea. Where he caught them is no where near a river estuary either. Just wondering Has anyone else ever caught salmon from sea shore ? I have tried with lures and bait one summer as there were a lot of salmon jumping just off shore but no luck. My friend has a rod licence before anyone asks. Any comments welcome.

realrebel

con___manx1 wrote: »

A friend of mine caught 2 salmon from a beach in Wexford. both were returned. He caught them on mackerel stip. first time I have ever heard of anyone catching salmon on rod and line in the sea. Where he caught them is no where near a river estuary either. Just wondering Has anyone else ever caught salmon from sea shore ? I have tried with lures and bait one summer as there were a lot of salmon jumping just off shore but no luck. My friend has a rod licence before anyone asks. Any comments welcome.

Hmmm never hear of it either but I'm sure someone must have caught one at some stage
What size were they? Are you sure they weren't seatrout u would see them jumping a lot

popsy09

Any pictures ? I'd find it hard to believe only because my uncle is sea fishing a long time and have never heard him or any if his friends talk about catching one and between em I say they have got every species you could name

Are you sure it wasn't a bass ?

floattuber_lee

could be sea trout. caught them in the sea a few times

breghall

if he caught one then i'd call it a very rare incident, but two...! i'm saying sea trout unless i see photos.

dazza161989

There sea trout not salmon

.red.

There was a salmon caught on an east cork beach last summer.

dazza161989

.red. wrote: »

There was a salmon caught on an east cork beach last summer.

If it's the one I'm thinking of that was from an estuary beach

.red.

dazza161989 wrote: »

If it's the one I'm thinking of that was from an estuary beach

No. Theres no fresh water on the beach. Think the fish was about 3lb.

rpmcmurphy

Possibly a seatrout although I do know someone who caught a salmon on a Irishl beach years ago.

Budawanny

i have heard of it from my father. happened about 40 years ago.
exceptionally rare but highly likely these ones were farm escapees.

viper123

I witnessed a salmon caught a good few years ago from the rocks in Tracht beach near Kinvara by a guy spinning for mackerel with a toby. Was about 6-7lbs so a fair lump of a fish.

bizidea

ive heard of one caught off a beach in donegal by a guy who would know the difference between a sea trout and salmon

danbrosnan

All sea trout i'm afraid, sometimes its very hard to distinguish between a good sized sea trout and a salmon, the only way it ccan happen is they have been fouled hooked and that would have to be from an estuary that drains a salmon river...

An example is the cashen in kerry it has happened before, lads have been bait fishing and salmon either migrating back to sea or migrating into the river will be fouled hooked, as far as i know salmon migrate to feeding grounds up north near greenland, they don't actually feed in our shores or rivers, they take spinners, flies or bait out of aggression...

Saying that i would never say never but highly unlikely, defo good size sea trout...

viper123

danbrosnan wrote: »

All sea trout i'm afraid

Bit of a sweeping statement? As I said above I witnessed a salmon caught in the sea.

Kippure

I have seen Plenty of salmon caught off beach's from spinning along the wicklow coast.



Have seen sea trout caught too.

danbrosnan

lads i have never seen it, never heard it, its almost scientifically impossible as they don't feed around our coasts...

Just google it and no results will come back, email the fishery board and i betcha they will say, only in very very rare circumstances like foul hooked etc....

It just doesn't happen, what does happen is that sea trout which can grow to 20 pound are caught and mistaken as salmon, thats whats going on here...

Bogwoppit

danbrosnan wrote: »

lads i have never seen it, never heard it, its almost scientifically impossible as they don't feed around our coasts...

They don't feed in our rivers either!

Seriously, this is a rarity but not an impossibility. I've caught salmon in estuaries before, not a huge leap of imagination to suggest they can get caught near estuaries.

Bw

popsy09

On the topic of salmon not feeding I'n our rivers I seen a clip on Facebook about the river Tay in Scotland where they have a hatchery ,they take all the eggs from the hen fish and keep them in salt water baths and feed them back up to health and take more eggs

The person doing it has strong views on the matter and is convinced they feed In our waters . I'll try find the write up and link it if anything it makes for a good read

danbrosnan

Bogwoppit wrote: »

They don't feed in our rivers either!

Seriously, this is a rarity but not an impossibility. I've caught salmon in estuaries before, not a huge leap of imagination to suggest they can get caught near estuaries.

Bw

Have you pics? Cause if you don't I'm sorry I don't believe u... Lads I know ye might think that I'm being smart and like I know everything but once ever I have heard this happen in a club sea fishing match on the cashen in north kerry...

We have the biggest sea angling in Ireland here in Kerry and also the longest running club, once it's ever happened and the fish was foul hooked, never ever have I heard of a salmon taking a bait in the see, in the moy where I have fished for a number of years ther is a big sea fishing tradition for trout in the bay there...

Never ever a guile told me there has catching a salmon in saltwater happened... It just does not happen, foul hooked then there is a chance...

danbrosnan

popsy09 wrote: »

On the topic of salmon not feeding I'n our rivers I seen a clip on Facebook about the river Tay in Scotland where they have a hatchery ,they take all the eggs from the hen fish and keep them in salt water baths and feed them back up to health and take more eggs

The person doing it has strong views on the matter and is convinced they feed In our waters . I'll try find the write up and link it if anything it makes for a good read

There should be hatcheries like that in all our rivers here in Ireland...

On your point about the salmon feeding in our waters, if they don't get back to there feeding grounds they will starve, a lot the big fish actually die from starvation.. They don't feed I'm afraid they have a migratory pattern that as been there for millions of years, there lives are actually amazing, how they achieve what they do with every obstacle in there way....

Travel thousands of miles to get back to where they were born and travel thousands of miles again to get back to where they feed off the coast of Greenland...

It makes you thnk more that every fish should be put back...

popsy09

I have been trying to get up to the hatchery on the river lee but so far unsuccessful

This man from the river Tay in Scotland (I'll try get a name once I'm back on laptop tmw ) says that they do feed and he is feeding the kelts and has videos of it

I enjoyed reading it as I was always told they don't feed in our waters it's was nice too read his views and opinions on the matter

Budawanny

It's not impossible at all. Just unlikely.
Differences in behaviour and physical characteristics of living creatures are what fuel evolution. Mutations that occur every generation can and will lead to some albeit rare occasions where salmon feel right up to the estuary amongst countless other possibilities.

Bogwoppit

danbrosnan wrote: »

Have you pics? Cause if you don't I'm sorry I don't believe u... Lads I know ye might think that I'm being smart and like I know everything but once ever I have heard this happen in a club sea fishing match on the cashen in north kerry...

We have the biggest sea angling in Ireland here in Kerry and also the longest running club, once it's ever happened and the fish was foul hooked, never ever have I heard of a salmon taking a bait in the see, in the moy where I have fished for a number of years ther is a big sea fishing tradition for trout in the bay there...

Never ever a guile told me there has catching a salmon in saltwater happened... It just does not happen, foul hooked then there is a chance...

The world is a bigger place than Kerry or the moy and I'm sorry dan but you don't know everything.
Personally I don't really mind what you believe me but please bear in mind that the world would be a poor place if we didn't consider that no matter how much we think we might know that sometimes we may be wrong.

I don't have a picture of the few estuary salmon I've caught, then again I have only ever taken one picture of a salmon I've caught, a nice spring fish from carrowmore. I have however caught hundreds of salmon and hundreds if not thousands of sea trout. I have a degree in fish biology and fisheries management and have worked in fisheries all my life.
I know the difference between a salmon and a sea trout.

SeaFields

Budawanny wrote: »

It's not impossible at all. Just unlikely.
Differences in behaviour and physical characteristics of living creatures are what fuel evolution. Mutations that occur every generation can and will lead to some albeit rare occasions where salmon feel right up to the estuary amongst countless other possibilities.

An old man that's since passed always said to me when I was lamenting the fact that conditions were perfect yet we weren't catching fish 'seafields, sometimes the fish don't read the same books we do' .

danbrosnan

Can someone show me a salmon caught at sea? Please!

I have been around fish and angling all my life and I have some education in the subject but for me this is just all not true...

If a salmon was caught in Ireland in the sea it would be big news...

I am only talking about Ireland here also, I don't know much about pacific salmon or king salmon or anything like that...

I actually want someone to show me where and how an Atlantic irish salmon was bait caught at sea...

You see this subject goes far beyond us and our lives... Salmon are on the verge of extinction due to overfishing of there main food source in the North Atlantic, super trawlers are overfishing kree which are then used to feed farmed salmon all over the world...

You see if we are on the verge of an evolutionary change then I personally would not have to worry about this, I have a wee past with this fish that effected my life far beyond anything else...

danbrosnan

SeaFields wrote: »

An old man that's since passed always said to me when I was lamenting the fact that conditions were perfect yet we weren't catching fish 'seafields, sometimes the fish don't read the same books we do' .

The best reply I have ever seen on boards... What happened to these wise old men....

rpmcmurphy

bizidea wrote: »

ive heard of one caught off a beach in donegal by a guy who would know the difference between a sea trout and salmon

I think you and I are both referring to the same incident

Macy0161

Ok, I'm going to bite (no pun intended!), and apologies if it's been covered before, but if Salmon don't eat in fresh water, why do they take bait (both real and artificial) in fresh water? And if it is a reflex or some other reason rather than to feed, why wouldn't they do so in the sea - wouldn't the reflex still be present, so then it's just a question of scale of the sea reducing the chances of you presenting the bait to the salmon in the sea?

danbrosnan

Macy0161 wrote: »

Ok, I'm going to bite (no pun intended!), and apologies if it's been covered before, but if Salmon don't eat in fresh water, why do they take bait (both real and artificial) in fresh water? And if it is a reflex or some other reason rather than to feed, why wouldn't they do so in the sea - wouldn't the reflex still be present, so then it's just a question of scale of the sea reducing the chances of you presenting the bait to the salmon in the sea?

I am no scientist but i have a fair bit of knowledge in this area and i would be happy to be proven wrong, it is a scientific fact that wild natural salmon not from hatcheries , will not feed in freshwater...

The reason for salmon attacking lures or bait is aggression brought on by when they enter freshwater, the reason for aggression is the freshwater and there natural surge to there breeding grounds to breed...

I have never seen or witnessed a salmon caught in salt water in ireland by bait or lure but i have heard of fish been foul hooked...

Salmon undergo a massive change when they naturally change the action of there gills from been able to breath in salt water to freshwater...

I WANT SOMEONE TO SHOW ME AN ARTICLE, BLOG, ETC THAT SHOWS A SALMON IN IRELAND BEEN CAUGHT TO ROD AND LINE IN THE SEA..

Budawanny

caps lock is the one on the left above the shift key.

Zzippy

I've heard of the very odd salmon caught off the coast, generally on spinning gear, haven't actually witnessed it myself but have heard enough accounts that I believe it may be possible. As for salmon not feeding in freshwater, not always true. I've seen photos of a salmon that was caught on dry fly on Corrib - the photos were of the stomach when the fish was cleaned, and the stomach was stuffed full of mayfly nymphs and adult mayfly - it was taking hatching fly on the surface and the angler covered it thinking it was a taking trout.

Mr Bumble

Sorry to disagree Dan but I've seen a salmon caught on a mackerel strip on the point west of the narrows where the cashen hits the sea. I've no pictures but the wife was there too so another witness . July 2005.
It was caught by a South African chef working in the Marine Hotel and he had two beach casters in the surf on the turn of the tide. We were chatting away and one of the rods bounced out of the holder. Big bass was the first thought but it was a good salmon, near 10lbs. I know a sea trout from a salmon and it was definitely a salmon, no doubt.

floattuber_lee

I think everyone is in agreement (apart from dan maybe) that yes it might happen on the odd very rare occasion. The OP did say there was 2 caught. surely this must be pushing the odds so far out that we could say in this case they were sea trout? or maybe escapees?

dazza161989

Mr Bumble wrote: »

Sorry to disagree Dan but I've seen a salmon caught on a mackerel strip on the point west of the narrows where the cashen hits the sea. I've no pictures but the wife was there too so another witness . July 2005.
It was caught by a South African chef working in the Marine Hotel and he had two beach casters in the surf on the turn of the tide. We were chatting away and one of the rods bounced out of the holder. Big bass was the first thought but it was a good salmon, near 10lbs. I know a sea trout from a salmon and it was definitely a salmon, no doubt.

I remember my uncle telling me about that, it was off the far point of the long strand I think

dodderangler

Suprised by a lot on this thread. For an angler to say its impossible or never happened then he's not an angler.
We've all caught fish on something we never thought. I caught a jack pike on a sausage before while camping. A Rudd on a spinner. And other strange things just to see.
They're fish for god sake. They'll attack anything. A salmon to take a spinner at sea is not impossible. Fish passing will take a spinner out of pure aggression.
We all know it to be true. So yes I well believe it even without pics.

Mr Bumble

An escapee is a fair call all right though I'm as sure as I can be that the one I saw was a wild fish. I've a hazy memory of someone taking one from the deep salt water pool at the bottom of the Owenwee near Westport. This wouldn't be a bad time to test the theory. From what I hear there a very steady run of escapees into all the rivers on the south west and south coasts. I've heard 280,000 mentioned but that seems ridiculous/scary. I've no doubt escapees would take anything put in front of them - in sea or freshwater. Was on Currane ten days ago and no sign there.
I've also seen John Wilson fish for Atlantic salmon off Newfoundland on mackerel strip and if memory serves me, up a fjord in Norway. There's plenty of youtube footage of kings being taken on rod and line in the ocean on US west coast. Presumably, if you know where they're feeding and what they're feeding on, it shouldn't be that hard.

Mr Bumble

dodderangler wrote: »

Suprised by a lot on this thread. For an angler to say its impossible or never happened then he's not an angler.
We've all caught fish on something we never thought. I caught a jack pike on a sausage before while camping. A Rudd on a spinner. And other strange things just to see.
They're fish for god sake. They'll attack anything. A salmon to take a spinner at sea is not impossible. Fish passing will take a spinner out of pure aggression.
We all know it to be true. So yes I well believe it even without pics.

To be fair to dan, he is a very experienced angler and has a big pool of knowledge. On most things to do with salmon or sea trout, I would normally defer to him. It would be worth keepiong this thread going. MAybe it happens more often than we think!
btw....did they ever establish whether that big lump of a brownie caught in the Dodder two or three years back was the real deal...someone said they took scale samples but I never heard of a result?

fisherking

On the latest ifi salmon2012 returns there is two salmon recorded from the malahide estuary?

danbrosnan

Well if i am not an angler then i don't know who is, but i just want some one to prove me wrong and show me evidence of a salmon caught in the sea around the coast of Ireland, thats all i am saying, for me, in my opinion its impossible, i am not talking about anywhere else in the world....

I know loads of anglers just spent a whole weekend with a club from dublin fishing down ere in kerry and i have been around angling since a youngfella and i have never seen a salmon caught in the sea....

Do i believe in Ghosts? No! Why? Because i have never seen one!

danbrosnan

fisherking wrote: »

On the latest ifi salmon2012 returns there is two salmon recorded from the malahide estuary?

They got a lot of things wrong in the records, like the commercial numbers of salmon caught around the coast of ireland..

stylie

dodderangler wrote: »

A Rudd on a spinner.

That's not uncommon at all. My friends and I caught quite a few big Rudd from a private lake back in the old days. Small spinners and the Rudd were big, around the lb and over. We thought nothing of it, wasn't strange to us at all.

Better add my 2cents to this debate. Salmon can be caught in salt water, some Scottish fisheries do very well targeting them in very salty water but two on Mackeral strips just doesn't happen, they are Sea trout.

macscoob

i took one(sea trout) on ballygarret beach wexford.....it was at night fell to a lug. it was a beaut.

danbrosnan

Mr Bumble wrote: »

Sorry to disagree Dan but I've seen a salmon caught on a mackerel strip on the point west of the narrows where the cashen hits the sea. I've no pictures but the wife was there too so another witness . July 2005.
It was caught by a South African chef working in the Marine Hotel and he had two beach casters in the surf on the turn of the tide. We were chatting away and one of the rods bounced out of the holder. Big bass was the first thought but it was a good salmon, near 10lbs. I know a sea trout from a salmon and it was definitely a salmon, no doubt.

I have known very experienced anglers mistaken big sea trout as salmon... But I find very hard to believe, not calling you a liar at all... Gonna actually try there a few times this year after that story, had he a licence lol!

Mr Bumble

fisherking wrote: »

On the latest ifi salmon2012 returns there is two salmon recorded from the malahide estuary?

one or two every year if you look back - broadmeadow river - used to be the best sea trout river in Europe according to the legend but there's someone fishing it for salmon. Often wondered would it worth drifting a boat in the lagoon behind the railway line. Anyone done that? Kayakers?
Dan, I saw a salmon caught and you know the spot well. You could say it was caught in freshwater because the push out from the Cashen is very strong but it was outside the estuary proper.

Not wanting to be a smartass but look here - this is pretty definitive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4CJVU6sF4U

Birdie Num Num

danbrosnan wrote: »

Well if i am not an angler then i don't know who is, but i just want some one to prove me wrong and show me evidence of a salmon caught in the sea around the coast of Ireland, thats all i am saying, for me, in my opinion its impossible, i am not talking about anywhere else in the world....

I know loads of anglers just spent a whole weekend with a club from dublin fishing down ere in kerry and i have been around angling since a youngfella and i have never seen a salmon caught in the sea....

Do i believe in Ghosts? No! Why? Because i have never seen one!

I saw a ghost in the sea last week!

dodderangler

Birdie Num Num wrote: »

I saw a ghost in the sea last week!

I seen a house fly.
I seen a needle that winked his eye.
But I be done seen about everything when I see an elephant fly.

danbrosnan

Mr Bumble wrote: »

one or two every year if you look back - broadmeadow river - used to be the best sea trout river in Europe according to the legend but there's someone fishing it for salmon. Often wondered would it worth drifting a boat in the lagoon behind the railway line. Anyone done that? Kayakers?
Dan, I saw a salmon caught and you know the spot well. You could say it was caught in freshwater because the push out from the Cashen is very strong but it was outside the estuary proper.

Not wanting to be a smartass but look here - this is pretty definitive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4CJVU6sF4U

Great vid but they obviously fishing in the salmon feeding grounds in the north atlantic, trust me if you could fish for salmon in saltwater in ireland, people would know about it... lol.. I do believe you witnessed it but its a complete flop...

I mean the original op said two were caught in an hour, I'm sorry but thats not true...

I will be fishing the cashen a lot over the next month i hope to god i might catch one..

danbrosnan

Mr Bumble wrote: »

one or two every year if you look back - broadmeadow river - used to be the best sea trout river in Europe according to the legend but there's someone fishing it for salmon. Often wondered would it worth drifting a boat in the lagoon behind the railway line. Anyone done that? Kayakers?
Dan, I saw a salmon caught and you know the spot well. You could say it was caught in freshwater because the push out from the Cashen is very strong but it was outside the estuary proper.

Not wanting to be a smartass but look here - this is pretty definitive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4CJVU6sF4U

Just researched the broadmeadow river there, love little rivers like this, the ones nobody cares about and prove there still fish there, fair play to who catching them salmon his keeping the dream alive....

viper123

danbrosnan wrote: »

I mean the original op said two were caught in an hour, I'm sorry but thats not true...

Got to agree with you there. I know it's possible because I have personally witnessed it but it's needle in a haystack territory. I know of people who do a lot of bass fishing from esturarys etc. and have had any number of sea trout but never salmon. Two salmon would be lottery winning odds...

Mr Bumble

Go back to point above - escapees???
You could use the same argument about sea trout/salmon recognition and suggest that many of the big sea trout caught in the sea every year are salmon. After all, many experienced anglers can't tell the difference .