Federation members stories: Dan Finlay

What it means to go fishing to some people? Here are a few
federation members stories and experience of the sheer enjoyment and fun you can have with fishing and joining our federation.
This account is from a senior member of ours Dan Finlay, specialising in species hunting and winner of NIFSA all year species hunt 2019.

Fishing for myself isn't always about catching fish, to me it's about getting out and have the freedom, with yourself in nature. I've been fishing since I could remember, I started off with my grandfather Norman lyttle. He use to take me out on a Friday night with him on the boat (Seacat 2) through the Shorts fishing club. I remember going out around the Copelands with my feature trace catching mackerel and herring, and then sticking on the bottom trace fishing for dogfish and cod. On a Sunday afternoon he would have took me along the coastline somewhere fishing for rockling and blennies. Still to today I still fish for all them stuff around the same spots he took me to. Now I set a challenge to try and catch 100 marine species in our waters and I still go out with my grandfather. What I love about the species hunting is you never go after the same species, you never fish the same spots, or use the same tactics, so I like the interest that you never do the same thing over again and it increases the chance of seeing something that you probably never thought we would get here. When you go about the place you will always meet new people and make new friends, this is why I do fishing and wouldn't give it up, because no day is the same. The federation is good because it offers this to new and experience anglers, you always have a warm welcome and people that will help you out. It's good because it supports our local tackle shops and our local skippers, and gets our small country a good hope for the fishing in the future