Irish Extra July & August 2021

Irish Extra July & August 2021

October 26, 2021 Archives 0

 

 

For the first time in nearly a decade of Irish Extra, I missed a deadline in June…its a long story…But July & August are combined.

 

 

It’s been a busy summer here with many new arrivals. Puppies & then Guinea fowl that hatched under the Bantams and of course our usual batch of ferrets. For many years I didn’t breed ferrets, always having a reliable supply each year from Aaron Henry who always produced really good kits that worked very well, but Aaron gave up ferreting some years back and since I was unable to find kits that had the quality and work ethic his did I decided to breed my own. I am a believer in the school of thought that the quality of the ferret is definitely not what is was. The popularity of ferrets as pets as well as many people breeding for colour and then we have all sorts of types like “Angora” ferrets coming out of the woodwork, it really has become necessary to rely on yourself or genuine rabbiting aficionados to produce quality ferrets. The same can be said of nets and netting. Quite often I am asked where can one obtain a top quality long net or batch of purse nets for the rabbiting job. The answer is simple, obtain them from fellow rabbiting men, people who do as you do and know exactly what you need! There are many rabbit enthusiasts who also enjoy rigging long nets and hand making purse nets & these of course are of a different type than the mass produced stuff.  Now is the time to purchase equipment that you may require such as nets, a time too that always makes me think of the late Philip Lawton who was a stickler for “giving everything a once over in August”. Now is the time to check your ferret finder and collars, replace the batteries and be sure they are working. Your lamps, batteries, guns, long nets and everything you rely on in winter, its too late to check them in September or October, to wake on a frosty morning and realise something has a fault when your ten miles from home and have a keen dog looking at you can really ruin the day!

 

 

 

 

Packham Pwoblems!

 

It seems that the Packham possy crossed the pond recently by contacting the Department of Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland. DAERA recently opened a consultation with a view to “certain changes” which were to completely remove herring gull, lesser black-backed gull, great black-backed gull and rook from its 2021/22 general licences in September 2021. There was initially some speculation that these changes had been considered as there had been a previous discussion around the shooting of Feather on a Sunday (Not permitted in Northern Ireland) and that this had been the cause of the license renewal. However, it appeared that our friends in “Wild Justice” had been in contact with DAERA, and have posted the letter in their website. However, The British Association for Shooting and Conservation quickly highlighted a number of concerns regarding the consultation, including the fact that the department had not published the evidence that led to its decision to propose removing these species from its general licences.

BASC had also highlighted an imbalance in the consultation, whereby those who did not support the department’s proposals were required to provide evidence and/or comment, yet those who supported the department’s proposals were not required to provide any further detail.

In addition, BASC highlighted the fact that while the department had advised that it would still consider individual licences for herring gull, lesser black-backed gull, great black-backed gull and rook, the department did not provide any further detail in relation to the Individual Licences, i.e., the application process, any cost involved, processing timescales and any general or specific conditions which may apply.

BASC has urged the department renew the general licences in September unchanged, for a further year, meanwhile BASC will continue to support DAERA in any review of the general licences, which must be evidence-led.

 

Angling News

I received quite a surprising photo recently from a friend. His uncle Michael Murray has been a life long Angler had a surprising catch in the local and well known river “Faughan” in Northern Ireland. The Pike, more often associated with coarse angling fisheries and lakes than rivers was a surprise catch for Michael on a recent trip when he was fishing for Salmon. A local “Loughs Agency” representative suggested it was the first recorded Pike on the river, however Michael was hesitant to agree as he has heard rumours of Pike being caught some decades ago, but these may have never been recorded.

I was mighty impressed last week when Galway man Ned Cusack who is 102 years old & from Gorthnahalla, Moycullen, was back on familiar ground at the Galway Weir Fishery where he caught two Wild Atlantic salmon and one non-native Pacific pink salmon. A Cork native and former army officer was instrumental in the state acquiring the Galway Fishery, and he managed it for a number of years. His love of angling stretches back over nine decades to his youth when he learned to fish on his local River Function near Mitchelstown, being taught to fly fish by a lady angler.

“I was delighted to land not one, but two beautiful, well-conditioned, wild Atlantic salmon – and very surprised to land non-native Pacific pink salmon, one of only five reported in the country this year,” he said.

And in what was a poignant note on a special day, he also attributed his good fortune to his late wife Eileen ‘who was helping me from above’. Eileen died on July 10 last year, after 76 years of marriage. Eamon Cusack was with his dad last Wednesday, when Ned again showed his angling nous.“Once the fish were on, he managed them relatively easily,” said Eamon. “There were a few hairy moments when the first fish headed for the white water, and I thought the salmon would take off down the river, and my heart was in my mouth. “But Dad calmly kept the fish in the pool and brought it to the net. I guess you learn how to handle fish in 90 years of fishing. To be honest, I did not think he would have the strength to manage the fish, but I was wrong,” he said.

While my own father hasn’t reached 102, he managed a Salmon himself last Saturday morning on our local river “Roe”. The Roe holds a special place in my fathers heart and my own as it does with every local angler as it is the river we all grew up on and my fathers own life has been intertwined with the river and a lot of it has been spent there since he was a child, fly fishing. I have many memories of waking on a Saturday morning to find he had been fishing, returned and left for work while a large salmon or two rested in an old metal bath tub filled with ice at the back of the kitchen.

Well done Team Ireland

The Irish HPR team travelled to the “Game Fair” at Ragley on 23th – 25th July. In attendance was my old pal Derek Oconnor amongst the rest of the Irish competitors and the team place a fantastic second, with Wales coming third. A great achievement for all the teams involved and a fantastic weekend for HPRs and the Game Fair itself. I was feeling quite disappointed not being able to attend as I had planned as I was too busy with work. Well done again Team Ireland, 1st place in 2022!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *