Irish Specimen Fish Committee Report for 2021
Awards for anglers taking place on November 5th in Dublin
Anglers fishing Irish waters caught hundreds of huge fish in 2021, according to the recently-published Irish Specimen Fish Committee report.
One new Irish record was set by Jim Clohessy from Cork, who broke the existing record for a rare species, the Stone Basse, when fishing off Cork Harbour.
Over 470 exceptionally large fish of different species were caught by anglers from venues throughout Ireland in 2021. The main species were smaller shark species like Spurdog and, in freshwater, Tench, Roach Bream Hybrids and Brown trout dominated. All fish were caught, weighed, measured and released.
Details of these fish and current Irish record fish are in the Irish Specimen Fish Committee Report 2021, which is now available to download from the ISFC website and in print from Inland Fisheries Ireland offices around the country (free of charge).
The Irish Specimen Fish Committee, which is supported by Inland Fisheries Ireland, is an independent all-Ireland voluntary body which verifies and records the capture of large fish caught on rod by anglers in freshwater and marine waters.
The Irish Specimen Fish Committee Awards, when anglers will be presented with their awards and certificates, will be held on 5th Nov 2022 at the Clayton Hotel in Leopardstown, Co. Dublin.
Meanwhile, anglers both at home and abroad will be reading the report carefully to plan their angling trips to catch the big fish in Ireland in 2022!
About the Irish Specimen Fish Committee
Founded in 1955, the Irish Specimen Fish Committee, is an independent voluntary body, representative of angling interests in Ireland, whose principal function is to verify, record and publicise the capture of large (i.e. specimen) fish caught on rod and line by anglers in Ireland, both in freshwater and marine waters. The Committee also ratifies Irish record rod caught fish. The ISFC coordinates and administers the unique specimen awards scheme which is designed to recognize any angler who catches a specimen fish and to publicise the angling venue. Successful anglers are awarded a certificate and a commemorative badge. Specially commissioned silver medals are presented to captors of record fish and special awards are also made to captors of multiple specimen fish (on a cumulative basis). This report is a detailed listing of all particulars relating to specimen and record fish captures in Irish waters in 2021. Over 32,000 claims have been received by the ISFC over the past 66 years. This dataset is one of the most valuable and long-running time-series of its type. The service is free, and anglers catching a specimen or record fish can check the ISFC website for details on how to claim their specimen.
ISFC is funded primarily by Inland Fisheries Ireland and DAERA, some angling federations, individual anglers and its activities are also supported by representatives from the various agencies that serve on the Committee.
Irish Specimen Fish Committee Members 2021
Dr. Robert Rosell (AFBI), Chairman, Dr. William Roche, Secretary, Shane O’Reilly, Treasurer, Myles Kelly and Micheál Hennessy (Inland Fisheries Ireland), Alan McGurdy, Glenda Powell, Stewart McGrane (Game Angling), Dr. Edward Fahy, Der Casey (Coarse Angling) and Brian Cooke (Sea Angling).
