The terms of the ‘adventure’ are devised at the beginning of episode one at the Bay View Hotel in Ballycotton. In this opening scene, the viewer will be introduced to the extraordinary range of fish species that inhabit the waters around Ireland. Presenter Lucy Hunt will be given the task of circumnavigating the island in the company of local boatsmen with the remit of catching a specimen of as many of these species as possible. The presenter will also learn about the scientific significance of her journey, why Ireland is uniquely placed (literally) to tell this story and will therefore enlist the help of the country’s leading marine scientists to accompany her on the journey to discuss his or her area of expertise. The scientist chosen for each episode will have direct relevance to an area of research that’s pertinent to each leg of the journey.

Clockwise from top left: undulate ray, wrasse, triggerfish, smoothound

For example, when Lucy’s voyage takes her into warmer waters she will be accompanied by marine biologist Dr Anne Marie Power of the Marine Science department in NUI Galway who will describe how species like the Oceanic whitetip shark, normally found in tropical waters, is now swimming around Ireland. Then, as her journey turns north into cooler waters, Lucy will be joined by international fisheries scientist Ken Whelan. Dr Whelan will discuss the possible scenario of a slowing down of the warm ocean currents that give Ireland its mild climate, resulting in much cooler conditions both on land and at sea.

The adventure devised in this opening scene will create a series that will showcase the diversity and beauty of Irish sea angling and that will also have a narrative structure that tells a bigger story.

During the course of six episodes we will be:

• filming the “mile of fish” along the Conniger Point, Dungarvan where the waters are teaming with golden grey mullet, thin lipped mullet, gilt head bream
• catching tope off strands in Co Mayo
• catching codling in winter on the shingle beaches of Wicklow
• catching smoothound and ray on a north Wexford beach in spring
• rock fishing for pollack and wrasse on the Beara, Iveragh and Dingle peninsulas
• mullet gliding in on the floodtide in quiet late-summer harbours
• saltwater fly-fishing for garfish and mackerel
• bottom fishing for ray in the Shannon Estuary
• wreck fishing in deep water for conger, ling, pollack and coalfish
• deep-sea fishing from traditional world-reknowned harbours like Westport, Fenit and Kinsale
• fishing for exotics in the South West - Albacore tuna are frequent visitors in September,

Trigger Fish have been common in last few years, Sting Ray are a prolific sport species caught from the shore at Tralee Bay where there’s also Undulate Ray – if you’re lucky!

The series will feature the three distinct types of sea-angling practiced in Ireland:

1. Shore Angling: spinning, fly fishing and bottom fishing from beaches, rocks, estuaries, quays and piers. This is probably the most widely practiced form of sea fishing, and is enjoyed all round the coast, being most popular south of a line from Galway to Dublin.
2. Inshore Angling: trolling, bottom fishing and spinning from self drive small boats in bays and sheltered waters.
3. Offshore or Deep Sea Angling: trolling, bottom fishing, wreck fishing, and drift fishing for shark. This is the form of fishing on which much of Ireland’s international sea angling reputation has been built. It is most popular in the south-west, west and north-west of the country.