Dorset Spearfishing 2006

[fearthespear]

Don't give up on us yet...

Went rod and line fishing this weekend and it turns out that there are bass still around. Not just the odd one either! I am going in next weekend (viz permitting) to my fave bassing spot. Its got to be worth a look! I thought that there wouldn't be much about this time of year. Maybe i'm dreaming...

[glowworm]

I read the Guernsey thread with envy Old Man Dave.Had plans to try some night dives last year but the weather was rubbish.What light source do you use??Haven't been in for months as winter is a very busy time work wise but i will make up for it in the summer.

[Old Man Dave]

Night diving is great, no make that, an amazing experience. In a way it's a bit too easy - if you can find the fish.
You can touch bass and mullet so dispatching then fron 6 inches range is that simple. Sole and red mullet are mainly nocternal and again if you see them they just sit there. As for squid, again you can touch them.
Personally I find at this time of year there's no point going daytime. Almost no fish, cold, poor vis.
At night I don't aim to make big catches, just to enjoy the sensation and to add a few bonus fish for the table at a barren time of year.
Gearwise I am using a £20 technisub cheapo torch with £30 worth of rechargable batteries. It is more than adaquate and can last 2 hours plus. On a clear night you can illuminate the bottom in 15ft from the surface and see fish. I also use a £10 head torch (waterproof to 30metres deep). I switch this on just to see when stringing fish etc.
However, what's been a revelation is the number and size of prime fish in 10ft of water or less. You never see them here in daylight.
Give it a go. Even if you don't catch big fish it is an amazing experience.
Dave

[deirmendjian]

Originally Posted by fearthespear

Don't give up on us yet...

Went rod and line fishing this weekend and it turns out that there are bass still around. Not just the odd one either! I am going in next weekend (viz permitting) to my fave bassing spot. Its got to be worth a look! I thought that there wouldn't be much about this time of year. Maybe i'm dreaming...

Be sure to post your results/experience.

[deirmendjian]

Originally Posted by Old Man Dave

Night diving is great, no make that, an amazing experience. In a way it's a bit too easy - if you can find the fish.
You can touch bass and mullet so dispatching then fron 6 inches range is that simple. Sole and red mullet are mainly nocternal and again if you see them they just sit there. As for squid, again you can touch them.
Personally I find at this time of year there's no point going daytime. Almost no fish, cold, poor vis.
At night I don't aim to make big catches, just to enjoy the sensation and to add a few bonus fish for the table at a barren time of year.
Gearwise I am using a £20 technisub cheapo torch with £30 worth of rechargable batteries. It is more than adaquate and can last 2 hours plus. On a clear night you can illuminate the bottom in 15ft from the surface and see fish. I also use a £10 head torch (waterproof to 30metres deep). I switch this on just to see when stringing fish etc.
However, what's been a revelation is the number and size of prime fish in 10ft of water or less. You never see them here in daylight.
Give it a go. Even if you don't catch big fish it is an amazing experience.
Dave

I would absolutely spring for an even more expensive lighting set up than that - say, where'd you get a head-lamp for just 10 quid, though - if I were anywhere NEAR decent shore-diving conditions (based in Essex). Alas . . . maybe it's time to stop griping and grab a charter boat out to where you're at!

[SurfnSpear]

I was thinking about using a Glowworm with one of those Eveready Lantern batteries clipped on!! Just got to catch him out at night!

[Mr. X]

Originally Posted by deirmendjian

It's just like that one guy's signature on this board says: "it will take you to exotic lands, beautiful waters . . . ruin your marriage, drain your bank account"

Criminy. I should have gone to Southampton or Sussex or some university in Dorset instead of freakin' Essex. Better yet: I should have stayed home on the So. Cal. coast, chock full as it is with white sea bass, halibut, lobsters, calico and sand bass, leopard shark (they're absolutely delicious), lingcod, cabezon and more - at several different shore spots, all within less than an hour's drive from my parent's place. Life is retarded.

I would think Southampton, Portmouth, Exeter & Plymouth (& Swansea, Aber, Bangor?) might be decent spearo Uni's! (No Cornish University that I can think of...pity, I bet that would be popular -- might provide some revenue in the off-season too).

Come to think of it, aren't there a load of extraordinarily pleasant Universities in your native Cal.? (CalTech, Berkely, UCSD, Davies, ....) Surely some are near the sea?

Re. Headtorches, UK mini/micro 40(?) about 10 pounds off ebay -- I got 2 there (by accident -- but the way I am loosing gear at the moment...). It won't cut through the particle matter I have been seeing though. Neither will the much more powerful Omer Moonlight Pro.

[Spaniard]

Originally Posted by deirmendjian

Hey All,

I'm just getting done with my vacation time here on the sunny - but currently murky - california coast. I've been out a couple of times since I've been back. In two days, I'm back to Colchester, UK, and the closest decent shore-diving, I've been told, is Bognor Regis, which is about 2 and a half hours away with a car that I don't have.

I have a new suit that is awesome. I have a new gun. I have fins and a mask that I love, and I really, really, do not want to give up spearfishing for the next 8 months while I get my Master's degree.

Please, do any of you guys know of ANY shore spots that are close by Colchester? Near Clacton? Or would I have to drop some quid on a beater and pay you guys a long ass drive visit in Portland and Weymouth and Dorset to get my spearing in? Let me know.

Try contacting London Club at www.spearfishing.org

I think some members might spear in your area or nearby

[Mr. X]

Originally Posted by fearthespear

Don't give up on us yet...

Went rod and line fishing this weekend and it turns out that there are bass still around. Not just the odd one either! I am going in next weekend (viz permitting) to my fave bassing spot. Its got to be worth a look! I thought that there wouldn't be much about this time of year. Maybe i'm dreaming...

A couple of people told me that fish stop feeding in Winter (I have to point out that my speargun really doesn't care about that). Have no idea if it is true (or a gross generalization) -- I am sure some people on the forum (maybe Flyfisher?) would know.

[Spaniard]

Some fish eat less but unless a creature is hibernating you need food to power the system so you can't just stop. Some species, like Bass, over-winter in the Western approaches getting ready to spawn which is why you rarely catch them around UK mainland in winter

[Flattie basher]

The latter months of the year October, November, December and the beginning, March, April and May are when we had our biggest bass last year (and the year before). Its also when we had the best viz, especially from October onwards. That said the beginning of the year can be badly affected by May Bloom (plankton)

[glowworm]

I think we might need more than a lantern battery Surfinspear

As for the lack of fish and feeding during winter months,fish do move into deeper warmer water when it gets cold.Most fish also spawn in the earley part of the year so maybe we should leave them to get on with it and ensure future stocks.

Just my two pence worth

[Mr. X]

Originally Posted by Flattie basher

The latter months of the year October, November, December and the beginning, March, April and May are when we had our biggest bass last year (and the year before). Its also when we had the best viz, especially from October onwards. That said the beginning of the year can be badly affected by May Bloom (plankton)

Were you out at sea (boat or Isle of Portland) - or shore diving from the main coast? I read somewhere that Bass head to the South West in winter ...doesn't sound that plausible (all the bass hanging out around Lands End?)...but perhaps there is a grain of truth in it(?).

[deirmendjian]

Originally Posted by Mr. X

I would think Southampton, Portmouth, Exeter & Plymouth (& Swansea, Aber, Bangor?) might be decent spearo Uni's! (No Cornish University that I can think of...pity, I bet that would be popular -- might provide some revenue in the off-season too).

Come to think of it, aren't there a load of extraordinarily pleasant Universities in your native Cal.? (CalTech, Berkely, UCSD, Davies, ....) Surely some are near the sea?

Re. Headtorches, UK mini/micro 40(?) about 10 pounds off ebay -- I got 2 there (by accident -- but the way I am loosing gear at the moment...). It won't cut through the particle matter I have been seeing though. Neither will the much more powerful Omer Moonlight Pro.

Certainly are. I've applied to UC Santa Cruz for my Ph.D. for next fall . . . needless to say, I don't like the department there that much, but I'd hit it up for 6 or 7 good years of nor cal spearing! The water conditions are generally much better up there, I think, and the kelp forests . . . the majestic kelp forests. To me, that cold-water diving is even more incredible than a lot of the tropical places.

[fearthespear]

I'm hearing that...if the anglers are still having them, they are still feeding! If my cold gets better i'm deffo going to hunt around Portland for some late season doubles (cough!)