In angling, there is a hook at one end and a fool at the other, a dictum attributed by a French newspaper to Dean Swift. But only to refute it. We'll come back to that. There has been much justifiable groaning and accusation about the fall in salmon and sea trout fishing here in Ireland. But consider the lot of other countries. In a whole-page newspaper feature on angling in a French daily, a big headline is given to the fact that 75 per cent of the salmon caught in France are from Brittany, but to us here, the surprising figure may be that in all the rivers of that country, they could reach only 2,786 rod-caught fish. This figure is from the Conseil Superior de la Peche, or the Fisheries Board. We shouldn't crow, but in one year the river Moy alone has given 4,000, if memory serves aright.
All the time, however we have heard of almost fishless rivers, where in the past there were plenty. Drift-netting has been blamed for our losses, or depredations by sea lice from salmon farms, a factor that to many is indisputable in view of the rise in fish going upstream when these farms are fallowed at the right time of year. Then we hear of changes in the currents that bring the fish across the Atlantic. But we are not doing so badly. Official figures from the Marine Institute, through the Central and Regional Fisheries Boards gave the declared salmon rod catch for 1997 as 34,300 fish, weighing 91 tonnes. In 1996 the total was 41,509 with a total weight of 111 tonnes.
The actual figure of rod-caught salmon is much higher; for those who buy their salmon licence are bound to make a return of their catch at the end of the season. Not all do, by any means, and there are optimists who reckon that you might double the figure of the declared salmon figure.
There are people who will tell you that the amount of the catch is not the sum total of satisfaction. A wartime French air ace, Pierre Clostermann, declares that fishing captivates him, has always captivated him and will go on doing so. In a troubled, unstable world, fishing is the incarnation of calm and serenity. What is more restful and soothing than to be on the banks of a river and to watch the water flow past, he asks. You are cut off from the world, it is nature's peace. Not every angler is as philosophical as Clostermann, but many believe his attitude to be at the heart of the matter.