Guernsey 2007

[Sarnian]

Bloody 'ell! And I saw nothing at all at the pointy place yesterday afternoon, or at the northern bay this morning! Where's all that great vis everyone's reporting?

No, I meant pics of all those bass they've been getting this time around.

I reckon those f'ing trawlers have scraped all the bass around off the sea bed.

Hope conditions improve for next weekend - I've got Friday and Monday off, if anyone needs lifts etc.

[gsyrider]

HI Sarnian

I think i saw you out at said place yesterday. First time i've been there, shame about the vis. even so, nice place to dive, great scenery! saw a few mullet, too small to shoot but ended up taking home a nice wrasse. It was swimming along, not just sitting there so i thought i was fair game.

Really struggling to hit anything though. out of pracice, or losing my killers instinct and hesitating... who knows.

[Antony]

i was wondering would any 1 be intrested in starting up a Guernsey spearfishing club, because i was in jersey a few days ago and there club seems to be very good, and i think guernsey needs 1.

[ADM]

Hi Anthony, welcome. I think you're looking at the "club" right now...

[foxfish]

Last chance to share an Indian meal with our visitors next Sat, 4 seats left but say so soon!

[foxfish]

Originally Posted by gsyrider

Really struggling to hit anything though. out of pracice, or losing my killers instinct and hesitating... who knows.

I think the answer is to get very close to your target.
You could target practice underwater with you gun but it would be a better long term solution to practice sneaking up real close to your fish.

[Mr. X]

Originally Posted by foxfish

I think the answer is to get very close to your target.
You could target practice underwater with you gun but it would be a better long term solution to practice sneaking up real close to your fish.

gsyrider, some fish are just too quick reacting. Aiming at the head seems to help me(it's tempting to aim at the middle of the fish)...bass sometimes turn away & it seems to be roughly in the plane of the head. Alternatively, if they continue forward, if you don't get the lead quite right, there is still the rest of the fish's body left moving into the target zone. (That said, almost all of the fish I have hit so far have been hit in or near the head. My last miss went about 1cm over the top of the fish though! Usually its hard to tell why you missed but, unusually, in that case the fish did not move until after the spear had passed it).

[Antony]

i saw the best thing yesterday that i think will work really well 4 people who do not have camoflage wetsuits, in sail or surf u can bye a under water camoflage rash vest that u can wear over the top of ur wetsuit original and they r only about 20 pounds.

[sunfish]

Hello Guernsey, I hope someone on this thread can help me out.Yesterday I caught a 3.1lb crayfish [see Irish thread on spearboard in DB hunting section].
While I was holding it, it made a croaking or burping noise.Before I got off my kayak to dive I heard a similar type of sound,that seemed to come from the water and vibrate through the kayak.
Do crayfish make this noise to communicate with each other? Could the other noise I heard have been crayfish also? At the time I thought it must be engine noise from A far off boat, but I hadn't caught the cray at that point.
I have read accounts of people in other countries finding caves full of crays. If anyone knows anything about these creatures I'd love to hear about it ,either here or on Irish thread.Also, please ask fellow divers if they know anything.T2007_07210004.JPGhanks for help.

[foxfish]

Sunfish you will get your reply when my brother OMD logs on later. I wish I could answer your question in detail but Crayfish are not common in our waters anymore!! At onetime the sea was paved with them but that was at least 25 - 30 years ago!! However I have been lucky enough to eat a few in my time, they are superb & although yours is not a big one there will be plenty of meat. The ones I have eaten have been 8-10lb & cost £100 + you can still order a cray if you know the right person but they are not allowed to be landed by divers anymore.

[Huw]

It is fairly common for crays to make a sort of burping noise when taken out of the water. To be honest I always thought that it was just internal air escaping or something, and I think I doubt that they would use any noise to communicate. Never heard one making the noises when in the water.

Huw.

[gsyrider]

Foxfish and Mr.X, thanks for the advise.

Foxfish, i think you might be right, i'm just not getting close enough to them. as soon as i see a fish i shoot.... i need to relax.

i *think* the spear always goes below the fish. I have new bands and a bit of a problem with my shoulder at the min so pulling the band all the way to the back notch is a struggle so i guess thats making the gun less powerful..

excuses, excuses. the only way to get better is by getting wet!

[Sarnian]

Was out for a walk around Bordeaux at lunchtime today, and noticed the shallows boiling with fish - mainly small ones but some bigger splashes too. So I went back to investigate - armed of course!

Of course it was mullet - possibly some small bass as well, they were moving around so quickly it was hard to see them,let alone shoot them. I finally got one small mullet, and later saw some bigger ones further out. Around the Tommy Rock I saw an enormous wrasse - must have been 6-7 lb. Around the back I saw a reasonable sized mullet, in I thought an unlikely place - feeding on rocks. With its head down, it didn't see me and was added to the stringer.

Looking forward to meeting everyone soon - let's hope conditions hold!

[Old Man Dave]

Hi Sunfish. Yes! Crayfish or saltwater crawfish. We call then creakers. Now you understand why.

Looked at a few of your posts. You look to be a deep diver. Crawfish mostly live below 70 foot. That’s below the point at which weed grows. They favour pinnacle reef and strong tide. They are frequently found out in the open in daytime unlike lobster or crabs that favour living in holes. Occasionally they venture into shallower water but not often. Maximum size is in double figures (lbs) and the average is around 5lbs. 10lb males are not uncommon.

Out of water they rub the bases of their antennae together and produce a loud creaking sound. I have never heard it underwater. Have heard a few strange noises emanating from dive gear bags on the quay, muffled by being wrapped in wet suits, but distinctive to the trained ear.

Creakers used to be very common around here but not so now and some people still blame divers for their demise. However as with many things in life it’s not that simple. The traditional pot fishery used a special type of pot, special bait and they were set in special locations. Modern pot fishing does not allow for this degree of specialisation. A few crays are caught in modern pots but not many. Modern pot fishing is carried out in a massively industrial way targeting brown crab, spider and lobster and measuring their catches in tons not in individual numbers.

30 years ago commercial diving for crayfish produced some good catches but the depth of water, weather, visibility, tides etc all limited the effort and hence the total catch. However pot fishermen didn’t like the sight of 20+ crays lining the bottom of diving boats and following considerable pressure but based on no actual evidence, diving for crays was banned. Incidentally the same amount of crawfish per diver was being landed each year so there was no evidence of overfishing as far as diving goes.

About 10 years ago the local government of Guernsey commissioned an independent study of all commercial fishing by all methods. I believe that they recommended that diving for crawfish be allowed but it was far too political a move and was never acted on.

For whatever reason a lot less crawfish is now landed, so well done you. Many people rate the creaker as the best of all the crustaceans.

Dave

[Spaniard]

Howard Jones, many UK freedivers/spearos will know who he is, is currently involved in the following project regarding crawfish here in the UK.

Project180