The deadline to enter the second online lottery for ‘brown tags’ for wild salmon angling on the Lower River Lee is 5pm on Monday 20 March.
A further 40 brown tags will be issued on Wednesday 22 March, following the first lottery for 45 tags on 27 January, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.
Under brown tag regulations, an angler who wishes to ‘harvest’ a wild salmon and keep it must attach a brown tag as well as a standard blue tag to the fish.
To help conserve stocks of wild salmon within the Lower River Lee, No 5 or Cork District, a total of 180 brown tags will be available for the season — which closes on 30 September — and will be distributed to anglers with a 2023 rod licence through a series of online lotteries.
Anglers interested in entering the second draw are being asked to apply online between now and 5pm on Monday 20 March only.
Applicants must provide their name, contact address and telephone number and they must also quote their 2023 Salmon Licence number. Only one entry is permitted per licence holder into the draw.
Anglers with a 2023 rod licence who are not allocated a brown tag are only permitted to fish for salmon on a ‘catch and release’ basis on the Lower River Lee, where the salmon is returned safely to the same waterbody.
Further details are available from the Inland Fisheries Ireland website at fisheriesireland.ie or by phoning its Macroom office on (026) 41221.