Ireland spearing 2008

[AegeanSeaHunter]

Nice catch lads.......

Heading out tomorrow as weather is very promising.I will keep you updated....

Heard about a missing diver off the coast of donegal a while ago on the news.........

Hope everything is ok................!!!!!!!!


Regards

Nik

[sunfish]

Nice pollack from the Daunt Johnny.
I went to a reef about half a mile offshore in the kayak yesterday evening. The sounder is useful to find high spots to anchor on! 35ft was the best spot I could find and my divings not on top form yet due to the late start of the season. 50 seconds was about the best I could manage in the current.
Second dive I clipped a big pollack which pulled off immediately. After about six dives I hit one which stayed on and weighed in at 3.9lbs. Saw only small ones after that, and I couldn't stay long as I had to work last night.
When I got back to the car one of my back tyres was almost flat. Why does this always happen when you're in a hurry?
Oh, vis was pretty good offshore, 20ft, but when I checked inshore for bass it was only 6ft. Plenty bass were around but they were small- 2lb to 3lb.
I'll look forward to trying Daunt rock. I've often looked at it on the chart.

[donnachad]

Took a trip to clonakilty today with some friends. The vis wasn't great still there was loads to see, shoals of mullet, some good size dogfish. No bass though. Gonna try and get to a spot near Youghal on wednesday if anybody's interested. What i've seen and heard it looks promising.

[wascally wabbit]

Well lads, happened to be in Galway at the weekend, so went for a couple of dives out near Ceathru Rua. The first was off a coral beach, and as soon as I was in I was surrounded by all sorts of fish. I've dived before, but not snorkelled much, and I couldn't believe that Irish coastal waters had so much wildlife to see. I must have seen about 7/8 different species of fish...

Anyway, of the eating fish there were only pollock, and I took a nice 2 footer, half of which is now in my belly! One thing I noticed though, was that there were quite a lot of lice on the fish. It was a grand healthy one, as I'd been following it for 5 minutes before I got it, but it had about 10 of the manky little things crawling around on it. Does anyone else see them often?

The other thing worth noting was the spider crabs - there were loads of them, and a couple with nice big looking claws and legs. Are they good eating, or not worth the trouble? And is there any special technique to grabbing them without losing a finger?

[foxfish]

A two foot pollock sounds like a nice fish!
The male spiders are the ones to take, they have the big claws. You need a net bag to put them in & then keep the bag suspended under your float.

[abusingelves]

like foxfish said, the males are the ones with the big claws, and the females are not worth the hastle IMHO.

personally i prefer spider claws to the claws of the brown crab.
they taste so much sweeter.

as far as i know, they are fished early in the year in ireland on the south coast, but the bottom falls out of the market when the english (cornwall fishery i think) start fishing for them, so they are largely undisturbed for the majority of the year. i personally don't know anyone up here who has ever targeted them commercially, but they do make up a large proportion of by-catch in bottom set nets.
they are also very dificult to keep alive once caught, unlike the hardy brown crab.

they are also double,triple,quadruple jointed (very flexible) and can reach around behind their own head, so makesure when you get a big one that you keep a good eye where his claws are.

aparently to get them into the bag, on the surface out of the water, just turn them upside down, they will curl up all their legs, facilitatng their being put into the bag easily.

have been out swimming the last few days in my new tri wetsuit ( no hood) and got terrible brain freeze and dizziness the first day. the rest haven't been as bad. makes you really appreciate the hood on spearing suits.

[baldyfish]

just bein nice!!!! anyway, any luck yesterday donnachad??

[donnachad]

No luck yesterday, no luck this evening. Bumping into the mullet there's so many of them but haven't seen any bass yet this year. I think I'll get out wednesday as there's no bass hunting for a month from thursday on.

[sunfish]

Good luck with the bass on Wednesday Donnachad. I'll try to squeeze in a dive before work Wednesday evening. I'll let you know if I get any.
Went out yesterday afternoon, to a reef west of here. Lots of pollack and coalfish around but none looked over 3lb. At one point I was diving 40ft over lots of wreckage and there were one or two very impressive looking wrasse living there.
Vis was very clear, 30ft+ , and this seems to make diving much easier. Once I hit a rhythm, I made repeat dives of over a minute, to 35 to 40ft.

[abusingelves]

now you're getting the viz i was talking about!

30ft + !

i should be able to get out tomorrow evening.

send some of those mullet up my way, haven't seena single one!

[baldyfish]

Ill be making a trip out again fairly soon sunfish. conditions and tide must be perfect though so ill keep on top of it and let you know. ill try and keep it to a weekend. your more than welcome to come along.

[sunfish]

Originally Posted by baldyfish

Ill be making a trip out again fairly soon sunfish. conditions and tide must be perfect though so ill keep on top of it and let you know. ill try and keep it to a weekend. your more than welcome to come along.

Cheers Baldyfish.
Went today for a last crack at the bass before the Irish closed season (15 May to 15 June).
I started at a rocky spot on the coast. The Easterly breeze had a bit of a chop going and although the rough water was manageable, the vis was ruined.
I swam round to the mouth of the estuary and let the tidal rip carry me in. Visibility was much better now and I soon had fish. There were quite a few about but since the bag limit's 2 fish, I like to get one then wait to see if a big one turns up. My 15lb fish of the month chose to stay hidden today. This one weighed 4.6lbs.bass 1 2008.jpg

[foxfish]

Well done mate - perfect eating size.

[donnachad]

Well done sunfish! I got out again today and glad i did, the last day of fishing for a month. Spotted this one in the shallows 4.5 lbs no guts.
He'll be on the barbi in an hour. I've been out nearly everyday since friday and didn't see a bass until yesterday and missed him completely(a very itchy trigger finger). So a good outing today, found a new spot close to kinsale. It's got a island just offshore that gave shelter. I'd like to try there when the seas are calmer.

[foxfish]

Well done mate - perfect eating size.