Ireland spearing 2008

[sunfish]

Went out near clonakilty today. Swam out nto a reef, without the gun, just for a look. Vis about 2 metres. I dived to sit in a hole in the reef and saw a 3lb pollack. Wished I'd brought the gun!
I swam inshore and got the gun, then swam the inshore rocks to look for bass. I saw none so hopped in the car and moved along the coast, nearer Clon, to try again.
This time I saw a good bass coming towards me but I moved the gun too quickly and scared it off.
I saw a couple more and also some mullet, but didn't get lined up on anything.
Well done on the bass Dennis.I think I need to catch something soon.
The vis isn't great but at least it's fishable.

[sunfish]

I worked a nightshift last night then set off East a bit early this morning for a shoredive. I was hoping for a bass or maybe two. I swam from the beach then round onto the reef, finding a slight chop running, a high tide, and reasonable vis. Alright so far then!
Almost immediately I spotted a bass going under me, but didn't line up on it in time. For the next half mile I saw only small pollack 'til I came to an area of stringweed that's usually good. I kept seeing grey shapes off in the gloom, so I dropped to the bottom and inside 30 seconds a bass came in head on. As it turned away I hit it, behind the gill, but a bit low. After a short struggle I got a hand on and soon it was on my stringer. Twenty yards on I got a second so that was it-bag limit for bass.
I swam to the seaward edge of the reef now and as I drifted down into a gutter, a pollack appeared from behind, passing right in front of the spear. Couldn't miss! As I swam back along the outside edge I shot two more pollack and saw a couple of shoals of school bass. It's great to see them, they're the future.
Just before I reached the beach I saw three mullet. I'd been wondering where they were.There're normally more mullet than bass.july bag.JPG Bass, 5.7lbs and 3.9lbs. Pollack, 5.4lbs, 3.0lbs and 2.9lbs.

[foxfish]

Wow nice catch mate!

[donnachad]

Nice catch Dave. How are the new fins? Nice to hear there's loads of bass around now that i'm up to my neck in work

[baldyfish]

nice catch dave. got wet myself today. took a few beginners snorkeling at oysterhaven. surprisingly good vis for the conditions. even got a dive in too(scuba). must try and get out tomorrow evening on the flood and see if i can bag a bass or 2.

[phishfood]

Hi everyone, cudnt believe it when i stumbled on this thread
yesterday. never realised there was so many spearos here
in ireland! im living in sligo and have been spearing a couple
of years only moving from polespear to gun last month
when i got me a new RA 90cm. pretty impressed so far!!

up till now ive been mostly headin out on my own so it
would be great to meet up with any of you folks and
put in a bit of water time. i have to admit my depths arent
that great but lookin forward to learning as much as i
can from everyone on here,

Cheers, colin

heres some pics from last summer in kerry. Tasty triggerfish!!

[dechann]

Forgive my innocence Phishfood, but how does your pole spear work? Does it fire a spear? or is it like a spear where you just lunge at the fish when they come into your range?
Welcome to the Forum.

[baldyfish]

used a pole in hawaii last year. there is a band at the end which you put around your thumb and stretch to the top and twist the pole once to stop it bending. leave go and away it goes!! u gotta find it after though.....

[baldyfish]

nice triggers by the way. rare fish. do you prefer the gun to the pole?? i found the pole great in clear water where its easier to find if you miss the fish. here in ireland i think it would be difficult to retrieve though withbad vis....

[sunfish]

Hi Colin, I love triggerfish,-tasty indeed .
We may be having a gathering later this year. Check here http://forums.deeperblue.net/uk-irel...gathering.html
Welcome to DB.

[fcallagy]

Hi colin and welcome to db im based in sligo as well. We are more focused on freediving but one of us is a spearo who likes to spear for his supper and some of the other guys from the thread I have met up with here in sligo or nearby. We usually train in mullaghmore on monday nights. there are about 4 of us on average but we wont br training this monday as i am in uj at the doubledip comp.
where are you spearing at present?
Give us a shout at some stage as we usually get out once over the weekend as well.

[phishfood]

Thanks for the welcome guys!

I would love to meet up with everyone for a get together.

My polespear is slightly different from the one you
have used baldyfish. i think that may have been a
hawaiin sling but open to correction. basically u
stretch the rubber down the pole and hold it
in place until u fire. then the rubber stays naturally
in ur hand. very effective but it takes more
work to get a good shot off than the gun.

got to say i enjoy both, the pole feels a bit
more primal but just isnt as efficient so as u said
bf the better the vis the more likely i am to use it.
a nice warm day helps aswell.

got out for 3hrs today. tried a new deep spot for
pollack. got some nice dives but no fish.
then hit up the exposed coastline of a place
called raghly near where i live. picked up a small
spider crab straightaway unfortunately i dont have a
bag and it proved a bit of a handful. so much so that when i finally spotted a mullet i missed then kept missing!! hit a
number of shoals but
very frustrating. finally bagged the smallest mullet ive
ever hit.(it honestly looked bigger under water)
will make a tasty supper

[phishfood]

Hi feargus, i actually hit up mullaghmore quite a bit
im not sure what u think of the cleanliness of the
local mullet but they are certainly easy to catch.

after that it is mostly around where i live, raghly and
ballyconnell. still hunting out spots, theres just so many
to try!

if u were willing to let me tag along with you guys and do
a bit of training that would brilliant. i really need to work
on the freediving element so to hook up with some experienced
divers like yourselves would be a real help. maybe we could
exchange numbers?

cheers, colin

[fcallagy]

no bother colin be glad to have you along. I,ll send you a pm with my number.
I saw a few nice size mullet at the back of the castle in mullaghmore where we dived on sunday. The larger pollock seem to have gone in to hiding. where did you get the triggers?

[donnachad]

http://forums.deeperblue.net/dorset/...tml#post724568 Might be of interest to those partaking in the activity of spearfishing in the northwestern european area.