Cornwall 2012

[Highlander]

Yeah I do a lot of beachcasting so have caught thousands of whiting and that did cross my mind but this was white along the back, my first thought was it was a giant red mullet as they often look white (at least to me) but then it had pollock form.... anyway could just have been a diseased fish? I've had some good bass on the rod, like you say at first light as thats when they hunt most, dusk good too though. What I'm really after is an inshore reef where they chill during the day, like bognor or Portland. Depending on where you're located Tom if you want to buddy up for a night dive I would be keen at some point, need to buy a torch though!
Anybody recommend a torch for under 80 notes? Bring on some good vis and hot days!!

I haven't been night diving, however I happened across this web site & it has a section on dive torches:
Torchy the Battery Boy

I myself have been planning on getting either the Yezl Q2 or the Xtar D06. The guys over in Dorset do a lot of night diving & I know one of them have the two I have mentioned. LEDs are they way forward, the Cree T6 LED is one of the brightest.

If you go on eBay & search for the above there are a few guys that have checked these and give a satisfaction guarantee of some sort.

Scott

 

[TomH]

Sounds delicious, never fancied the meat in the shell! Might have to give it a go.

If you go on the deal extreme website there are some really cheap Chinese dive torches, theyve got the Cree LEDs as well. Quality seems to be a bit variable though, but I guess you get what you pay for at the end of the day.

 

[budleigh spearo]

Intova Compact

is a great torch powerfull for its weight ,

 

[TomH]

Watermanandrew, let me know when you get sorted with a torch and we can go for a night dive!

 

[Panhandle]

I bought the yezl Q2, small very powerful and seems well made. So bright I've used it during the day to help find flatfish

 

[Broseidon]

Torchy the Battery Boy

I've got a variety of Torches from Jim @ Torchy - you can find him on eBay here: eBay My World - big_f_d_d

Cracking guy! From what he's got for sale at the moment I'd recommend:

Torchy iCharge XM-L T6 LED 1000 Lumen 100mt diving torch - induction charging | eBay

Nice, tight beam - when buying a torch you want to go for narrow, focused beam, not a flooding, wide beam.

 

[dorsetdan]

I've got the xtar do6 torch,it's a very bright torch when on max. If your down in Cornwall your more than welcome to give it ago to see what you think?

 

[watermandrew]

Thanks for all the torch suggestions everyone, certainly lots to choose from here! I'll dish out some rep when not on mobile
Dorsetdan I'm located in Falmouth, would love to take you up on that offer actually! How could this be arranged?
Went in Falmouth bay this arvo at gylly, vis was good 4 to 6, didn't see anything worth taking (apart from a decent lobbie which 2 of us failed to extract!) but the breath holds are slowly improving saw some bass and mackerel during aspetto, too small or too fast but nice to see - also encouraging was watching the bass react to different 'calls'. Whether it would work on older, wiser fish I don't know. It appeared that the bass would come in to just beyond range, have a quick check and then leave, but a throaty call had them back in - one came suicidally close to the end of my spear! Progress is encouraging, despite the lack of fresh seafood for dinner tonight

 

[dorsetdan]

I'm in Helston so if you pm me your address I'll drop it around tomorrow if you want? Save you wizzing out buying a torch and not being happy with it.

 

[Broseidon]

You can get the Xtar DO6 from Jim - £59.99 free shipping

Xtar D06 100m Diving Torch Cree XM-L T6 + battery+ charger | eBay

 

[watermandrew]

Massive thanks to dorsetdan for driving all the way over to Falmouth to lend me his torch, utter lad I owe you one pal! Rep rep rep!

 

[jerseymike]

Hi,

So far, we should have 5 Jersey divers going to Gnsy for the DB August "fish in", looking fwd to meeting some of the names. Any of you guys coming?

cheers

mike

 

[googlyfloogly]

Quiet on this thread. Epic dive today. Went in despite iffy conditions because the alternative was staying home and doing boring work related stuff. Viz was not as bad as I'd expected - 3 -4.5m. Shot 1 - bass missed, (I don't think I've ever hit a shot from vertically above apart from flatties) resulting in bent spear. Moved on to trusty old favourite reserve gun. Shot 2 - bass - hit - grabbed it from the kelp, - realised it was a gut shot and that line had ripped clear of gut. Held on tight as I went for the knife, partially brained it, it wriggled, went to adjust my grip, and off it went. Damn, careless, schoolboy error. Do not like to injure a fish and not get it home in to the frying pan. Gutted (err hem.) Next shot - bass- ambitious long range shot, aimed a bit high - bugger me it's a hit - but wait - the spear has actually bounced off it, and the fish is out cold and floating in space. Swam over and grabbed it REAL tight. It's on the stringer. Got one more later on, so turned out to be a good outing, despite fighting against wind and chop and resultant nausea. Goingtothecoast was a bit gutted that he'd opted for Trago Mills instead.

 

[scallywag]

Good effort for getting in, looking at tomorrow afternoon for a dip ( after waking from night shift) but not expecting a very pleasent ride! were you north or south coast?

 

[REddie]

Good ditty Googly - some twisted luck there mate! Having suffered similar loss in the past, I recommend a good grab through the gills then straight on the stringer before any knife work.
Where (roughly) were you at? I'm looking for somewhere that's fishable with a bit of vis tomorrow. Was gonna head down towards Mevagissey way to get away from the SW wind and swell. Anyone got any thoughts?

Ed

 

[scallywag]

Thats my neck of the woods. Going to be a bit of a lottery but its got to be worth a try.

 

[googlyfloogly]

I was in SE coast. Not going to be in again for a while. It had blown up in to a mess by sunday afternoon and is even worse today.

 

[scallywag]

Got in today. My favorite mark is unsighted from where I park so after a short walk through the woods I emerged to be greeted by pretty angry sea full of chopped up weed. It was a toss of the coin moment but I convinced myself how bass love a bit of breaking water and took the plunge. The next hour was a battle against a swamped snorkle and sea sickness. At one point a large mouthfull of water lead to a ground baiting moment which did help relieve the symptoms for a bit :yack. It was a fustrating time chasing shadows and sizing up the small pollack trying to convince myself that they were big enough to take, of course they wern't and I resisted. Finaly made contact with a small shoal of Bass but they were of borderline size so left them to grow up. Then on surfacing from a dive I came face to face with a rather large seal. Took this as my cue to call it a day. Need this weather to change.

 

[sj257]

I too am watching for a break in the weather. This is wearing a bit thin now.

sj

 

[REddie]

Quick report from a swim yesterday evening which finished at around 10...

Found some reasonable vis of around 4-6m on the south coast which I thought was pretty good considering the pants weather of late. All conditions looked great - very overcast and just the right amount of vis to provide confident and inquisitive targets. First 30 min swim through the stringweed produced nothing but pollack up to 2lb so definately not worth an easy shot. Moved out into deeper water of around 8m only to find lots of life and activity but still no silver fish to speak of. Pushed on towards the headland where my buddy (new to this caper) swam over a 3m deep gully which contained a hyawge bull seal - a little unnerving for him in the low light but I chuckled on for the next 10 mins. Dropped down again to about 6m in a gully and was surrounded with pollock but again no solid fish for filleting. I also had my pick of about half a dozen small but plump looking bass drifting in and out but all within range. Fairly similar experience to a lot of the reports on here - plenty of fish but none worth a life to put on the table. Don't seem to be many of the usual 4lb-ers you normally get around cornwall at this time of year. I felt sure that as the light was fading we would come across a pair of decent bass or mullet but no mature fish materialised. Great swim though; water nice and warm and conditions to match. All we need now is some fish!

On a different note, my birthday is around the corner and I'm in the market for another suit and maybe fins. I was over at paignton last week and popped in to Anthony's spearfishing store (great selection of gear). I liked the look of the APNEA Evolution 7mm suit he stocks. Anyone got any experience/views about these suits? The neoprene and build quality look good but I have yet to try one on. I know that a MTM Elios is the gold standard but I always have been an of-the-peg sort of shape. My cressi competition is starting to get a bit tired now (as indestructable as they are) and may have to be retired to a spare or to mix and match with a new 7mm to give me some options.

As for new fins: my gara LD do what they say on the tin but are a bit too soft when I'm holding position in a current or at depth so am looking at upgrading to some carbon/compsoite fins from fins4u. Again any reports would be valuable.

Cheers,

Ed