I almost forget to send in my DAERA annual catch return. In all honesty this was an easy mistake to make as I never made it north of the border to do any fishing this year what with Covid-19 lockdown travel restrictions. Just thought I would clarify for you guys what you must do regarding Northern Ireland catch returns. You do this online and it only takes a few seconds if you have been diligent in recording your catches through the year. Simply go to the website and follow the instructions:
https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/publications/application-anglers-catch-return
You need to record all your fishing trips and what you caught. By far the easiest way of doing this is to add each trip at the time instead of waiting until the end of the year. Trying to remember dates and exactly what you caught is a real pain so do yourself a favour and get into the habit of filling in the form promptly. Once you have completed the form you will receive an email from DAERA like this –
Greetings!
We wanted to inform you that we received your fish catch submission made on the DAERA license/endorsement/permit number.
Have a nice day and enjoy your fishing!
This year I wasted good money because I bought the annual licence and permit in early January, before the pandemic had struck. I will wait until the situation improves before purchasing the paperwork in 2021! The same goes for my annual salmon licence here in the republic, who knows what restrictions we will be living under in the months ahead. It’s a shame as I enjoy the ritual of popping in to buy my licence. It feels like the year is getting started and the winter is coming to an end.
While I am at it let me remind you that in the Republic you can fish for coarse fish with a maximum of two rods. In the north you but a licence for one rod. If you want to fish with more than one rod you need to buy another licence.
Claretbumbler 
That’s a new one on me. I assume if I fished in NI the system would intuitively change the last paragraph of the reply to “That’s unlucky, have you thought of trying golf?”.
Is the return for all fish or just game fish?
If it isn’t too early too say it – all the best 2021.
Clive
LikeLike
Hi Clive, the return is for all fish, game and coarse. I totally accept the need for the return, how else will the authorities know what fish have been caught? It is a bit confusing though and you need different licences for different areas in the north.
2020 has been a different and challenging for all of us. Thank you for taking the time to connect with me, I value your thoughts and advice greatly. I hope 2021 is good to you and yours, especially mrs. sidestream. Who knows, we all may meet up at Cropredy next year!
LikeLike
Our stewarding tickets for the New Forest Folk Festival have landed in our in-boxes. I’ve just looked at the Cropredy line up. Whilst it looks good its hard to commit serious wonga to any up coming event, as I’m just nut sure how far through the vaccine process we’ll be even by the summer. Maybe a Saturday ticket one year for me. Slightly embarrassingly looking at the pricing structure I remembered that I used to sneak the daughter in as an under 12 for longer than I should have – but at 27 she still gets asked for ID in pubs so it was remarkably easy to do. Doesn’t make it right, but Fairport have taken their share of cash off me over the years!
Btw has the RoI approved any vaccines yet? When we did the Christmas phone calls the aunts were all for us visiting in the summer but I noticed Mrs. Sidestream was politely non-committal. However, her godfather is 93 and although he seems indestructible, it’d be better if we visit sooner rather than later.
The a fish from every County is a fascinating idea so it was fairly easy to engage and I think there are about 3-4 people I interact with on Word Press and that is probably about right for me. Plus your blog has about the right level of digression for me (i.e some digressions but remains a fishing blog). I think digressions are something I need to curb on my own blog in 2021.
Anyway Happy New Year!
Clive
LikeLike
While I would love to be planning on going to Cropredy this August I am not sure what we will be allowed to do by then. I think I’ll wait until nearer the time before making a decision, knowing that I run the risk of not getting a ticket. I guess they will be in short supply as those which the band sold for the 2020 gig are going to be honoured this year.
The question of ‘digression’ in our blogs is an interesting one. By far the most popular posts on my blog are the fly tying ones. I can put up a post on how to make a Green Peter and it will be read by hundreds but chatting about a day on the river or canal gets only a few hits. It is maybe a bit egotistical but I prefer writing about the actual day’s fishing rather than how many wraps of tying silk to take around a hook. I suspect some people find my ramblings a bit hard to follow as I cover so many different subjects but it is a fair reflection on my fishing over here. I guess I am trying to say write what you want, don’t try to meet other peoples expectations.
I am very aware of the poor quality of my photographs and will address that later this year. I used to have a good camera but it died over a year ago (being dropped on cobble stones seems to disagree with cameras for some reason). Then in June last year my good mobile met a messy end when it got thoroughly soaked while I was on lough Conn in very rough conditions. I’ll replace both bits of kit this summer when funds allow.
The Irish government have announced the roll out of the first doses of vaccine but are openly saying it will be well into the summer before significant numbers of people receive the jabs. Infection rate has sky-rocketed here and will stay that way for a while. I know of so many people who have simply ignored the advice and have been attending house parties etc for the past few weeks. We have a difficult few weeks ahead I am afraid.
Best wishes for the New Year Clive, let’s hope we both catch a few fish in 2021
Colin
LikeLike
Good point, my blog started out as just a modern way of maintaining my fishing log (previous paper logs and even a Word log have all gone west) so yes my main audience is me. So, yes I’ll continue write what I want and aim to reflect ‘what does he know of fishing that just knows of fishing’ without boring myself. I’m not sure writing up your trips, and including context, is egoistical as fishing is after all what we do and if you are going to roam the 32 counties some geographical/historical/folklore context is necessary. Imagine a blog about walking a long distance footpath where the writer just talked about walking. As to viewing numbers perhaps fly-tying is more international that plundering a few roach?
I never noticed the quality point iro your photos, probably because I’m not very techie and had long assumed Word Press does some compression thingy to photos as even the ones I take on my DSLR look poor on Word Press.
Covid has been tough for everyone, but it will be a while before confidence returns to a point that allows the arts and music to recover. I volunteer at a local arts centre (bar, usher and box office) and the manager was saying that even when it is theoretically back to normal he doubts people will immediately feel comfortable sitting close together and we may have to drip feed back to capacity.
My circle has knuckled down over the festivities, but the less said about Premier league football (soccer) players and some of Mrs Sidestream’s friends the better. The sister-in-law is a GP in East London and says it’ll be months until the UK are through the vaccination cycle …
Clive
LikeLike