Cornwall 2009

[redvanrob]

I've a question about reels on guns; my omer xv gold turned up the other day and has a reel attached, is there any point to keep it on the gun, it just seems to complicate things? I can only see the point in having one if I've inadvertently speared a submarine at depth and need to reel it in from the surface.
Any pros and cons on the reel issue would be very welcome.

 

[Lazuli]

Went in at Falmouth today. Sat and waited for high tide and the slack as there was a fair bit of chop. As soon as the tide turned we went in and it just seemed to get choppier. Still had to go in for a saltwater fix regardless. Glad I did as on my first dive there was a nice Pollock below me waiting to be nailed. Shot him at close range and watched some of the fillet fly off him rofl (too much power rofl). His mate clocked the carnage and legged it. Never got him on the stringer. Vis was ok in places but variable. Not much else to be seen (but I bet badlander will be along soon with a double figure Mullet!!).

Got mobbed by gulls as I was gutting the fish. Not a bad day all told.
Cornwall Barbeque sounds good. Not sure if I'll can make the next bank hol though.
Laz

 

[Pav]

Thanks for the suggestions and reports. Due to personal circumstances at the start of the week I could not imagine surfing or spearing again. Paddled out reluctantly today and enjoyed my surf... and on the mend. Salt water is a wonderful thing. Thanks for the help.


REDVANROB,

If you search for the XXV Gold thread you will find reference re. the reel. I took mine off (you push the small plastic pins out and slide it off). Then later put it back on! as I often spear locally without a bouy and find the reel useful.

Last year I started to spear with a bouy in my local waters towards the end of the season so may opt to remove it again! (why no bouy?... shallow water / swell / weed = nuisance. However learnt the hard way and have had my brush with a boat.... so see the value of the bouy even when you don't expect boat trafic.)

 

[diver9]

Pav,

Glad your getting the mojo back - good luck

Diver9

 

[badlander]

It's amazing what a surf can do to your head.Good to hear you're feeling better.

No speared fish for me today.Swam out at Maenporth at 7am but it was pretty murky...probably 2-3m at best which just didn't ecite me too much.Swam about a bit and called it a day after an hour.Spent the day on the boat and caught a few makerel so not totally fish free.

 

[badlander]

Anyone been in the water today yet?

 

[REddie]

Had a nice dip this morning and just thught I would let you guys know that there was some good vis on the south coast. I dived around Port mellon which was 3-4m vis but had developed a bit of a chop on the water from the N breeze blowing over. On the way home I drove by Hemmick and the conditions there looked much better.

I reckon any sheltered S Coast spot should be good today. Hope you have better luck than me. I was looking for Bass and Mullet in the shallows just after dawn in the early light but to no avail. I tried the deeper spots there but at LT the deepest was only about 20'. Plenty of Pollack but nothing worth pulling the trigger for. Still it was a good chill out couple of hours marvelling at huge shoals of sand eel and iridescent colours of young wrasse.

 

[diver9]

Jeez,


Just at my normal getting in point - thanks for the heads up - probably one of the Looe boys dropped it and its been drifting in from deeper water - trouble is it can get busy with pleasure craft in Talland (hence why I use the float) and someone is bound to tie up a prop and crack the rocks.

Stay Safe

Diver9

 

[diver9]

Shiny1

Safety first and thanks again - don't worry, your secret is safe with me, no one else will know!!!!!!!!!

Stay Safe

 

[Pav]

can no one remove it if it is a risk to shipping? RNLI?? .. fishery people etc?

 

[diver9]

I gave the MCA a quick bell as we let them now when we are night diving etc - they are getting someone in to check it out.

Stay Safe

Diver9

 

[gutshot]

Cheers for the messages of support guys. The op went well and the doctor told me that because of how he did the op i should only be out of the water for around 6 weeks. Thats better than the 2-3 months i was told before. Then i managed to give everyone a scare as i was about to leave the hospital due to a bad reaction as they removed the canular from my hand. A paniced nurse also managed to scare my wife too!! Anyway, life is very dreamy now due to the pain killers:friday.

Back to redvanrobs question about reels. I swear by them. I dont use a float too much unless in an area with boats around. It removes the need to pull the fish to you if you let the reel pay out after a shot when you are near the end of your breath! Try it for a while. You may find it works for you or not. Any other questions about then just PM me and i will be happy to explain how i use mine.

 

[Lazuli]

Hi Guys, hope you all had a good sunday.

Went for a dive with my girlfriend today at falmouth. Both managed to take a decent Flounder each with Al taking the bigger of the two (which is cool as its her first speared fish:friday). She's turning into a proper spearorofl. Water was ok with both of us managing a couple of hours reef work. Saw some big spider crabs but left them as they are not our scene. A few small pollock and other little'uns around. Vis was worse further out so we stayed in relatively shallow water.

Spearos galore today. Saw two lads going in at Castle Beach. (If you are reading this guys, for god's sake get yourselves a float as there are nutters in speedboats about and you were invisible in the water once you were out at Pendennis point. Even members of the public were concerned about your safety.)

Also saw three guys suiting-up at Swanpool.

All-in-all a pretty good day.

Cheers , Laz

 

[Gaz D]

Thanks for the suggestions and reports. Due to personal circumstances at the start of the week I could not imagine surfing or spearing again. Paddled out reluctantly today and enjoyed my surf... and on the mend. Salt water is a wonderful thing. Thanks for the help.


REDVANROB,

If you search for the XXV Gold thread you will find reference re. the reel. I took mine off (you push the small plastic pins out and slide it off). Then later put it back on! as I often spear locally without a bouy and find the reel useful.

Last year I started to spear with a bouy in my local waters towards the end of the season so may opt to remove it again! (why no bouy?... shallow water / swell / weed = nuisance. However learnt the hard way and have had my brush with a boat.... so see the value of the bouy even when you don't expect boat trafic.)

Pav,

What happened - if you don't mind me asking?

Obviously some kind of near miss with a boat.

Sometimes, when I'm on the bottom, I might hear a boat that suddenly sounds as though it is right on top of me, which is scary, and I become very worried about surfacing - but obviously you can't stay down for ever.
Invariably, when I surface, I find that they are actually some way off. But 'boat busy' areas do make it so difficult to concentrate on the hunt.

I dread an encounter with a boat.

Hope you are back to normal soon.

All the best,

And stay safe,

Gaz

 

[Pav]

Cheers Gaz,

had a better couple of days. Problem with the situation was I couldn't imagine feeling any other way.

Re Boat Incident ;

Firstly I hate floats! (or that maybe should be I used to hate floats). It was a couple of years ago. Locally we have minimal boat trafic. I had been in Cornwall and gone in at a spot with a slip, but no boats to be seen. I figured I was going to hunt around the rock outcrops, and in water boats wouldn't risk coming into.

I am pretty deaf in the water! I had followed a nice feature out into deeper water in pursuit of fish and hadn't realised I had got so far away from the rock outcrops which were my protection. I noticed the outboard sound and lifted my head up.... Boat about 2m off me. Passed me to my side. Needless to say I accept floats now, and have started making use of the storage they offer.

Lesson learnt!

 

[gutshot]

When i use a float i fly an "A" flag from it too. I did have an incident a few years back off newquay. The speed boats which take tourists out from the harbour buzzed around where we were diving. They didnt pay any attention to what floats where in the water. I have even heard they use buoys to slalom around! My buddy saw me dive and said the boat passed within a few feet of where i was! I was down refusing to come up as i could hear how close it was. Very scary. I now contact newquay harbour and call up the guys who opperate the speed boats to inform them i am there and how long i intend to be in for.

 

[redvanrob]

Cheers guys for reel advice, I've decided to take it off for now and just get used to the gun before trying it out agian.

Gutshot,

Good to hear you'll be back in the water sooner than expected. Just a few questions that might keep you busy answering while recovering: How's it all feeling? Did you get both ears done? What was the procedure? Was it in Treliske?

To cheer you up, I have yet to see a bass this year where I bumped in to you last season. They probably saw/heard me first and scarpered since the vis has been a little dodgy to date.

Speedy recovery

 

[diver9]

Personally always use a float as the emits who use boats in the summer have little regard for peoples safety when spearfishing! I have seen them actually go in close to see what the float is (obviously some think they are attached to a lobster pot and that there is a free lobster to steal in it) - usually when I am at the surface and see them approach - showing the tip of the spear always tends to make it clear what I am doing and they veer away.

In one situation It was obvious that the person in charge of towing the wakeboard had absolutely no idea how close to the rocks they were and the bext day when diveing them I found the fin from a wakeboard at the bottom of a 20m rock - says it all really!

Having said that I also use mine as storage for goody bags and spares and after the other week it also doubles as a bouyancy aid in emergencies!

Stay Safe

Diver9

 

[Gaz D]

Cheers Gaz,

had a better couple of days. Problem with the situation was I couldn't imagine feeling any other way.

Re Boat Incident ;

Firstly I hate floats! (or that maybe should be I used to hate floats). It was a couple of years ago. Locally we have minimal boat trafic. I had been in Cornwall and gone in at a spot with a slip, but no boats to be seen. I figured I was going to hunt around the rock outcrops, and in water boats wouldn't risk coming into.

I am pretty deaf in the water! I had followed a nice feature out into deeper water in pursuit of fish and hadn't realised I had got so far away from the rock outcrops which were my protection. I noticed the outboard sound and lifted my head up.... Boat about 2m off me. Passed me to my side. Needless to say I accept floats now, and have started making use of the storage they offer.

Lesson learnt!

Do you use a drop weight that you can detach from your belt, which anchors the float to the seabed so that yoiu can dive around it, and then recover it an re-attach to your belt before you move on?

 

[badlander]

Had a very brief dive off the boat down falmouth way early this morning.Vis was patchy but okay 3-6m. It felt really bassy but only saw 2 both of which were small and fleeting.Just eyeing up google earth now as i might head down the Lizard to try out a new spot i've had my eye on.Bit of a drive and a trek so if the vis is shank i'll be gutted.