Cornwall Spearfishing 2006

[Old Man Dave]

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/aquarium/pages/sandsmelt.html

Dave .

 

[Pastor]

As for the spearing Salmon and Trout..... like Dave said it's an odd, old law but is watched closely by the sea fisheries.

Ignorance is no defence in a court of law.

Thats a nasty fact! Not only can they dump a mega fine on you, they can and have confiscated any kit used to poach said salmon and that includes your car if you used it to drive to your location :inlove

 

[Pav]

foxfish and oldman dave,

spot on guys!

they are lovely fish to watch. I kinda feel like a proud dad when in the water and these guys come and join me. I'm shore they are seeking safety by me from the hunters :martial

 

[Huw]

Indeed these smelt are lovely fish, infact, the first ever bass i shot was drawn in close to me by a shoal of them!

I mentioned a page or so back about that local guy who caught a huge number of pollack just off Fowey... seems like he made the news:

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/dis...uleName=InternalSearch&formname=sidebarsearch

It seems to me that this would be an area for spearos purely because this guy and his mate managed to take a huge number of fish, whereas a spearo could have selectivly taken the few fish that he wished, and caused minamalist damage to the stocks around that location. Although it is an extremely impressive catch, i would much prefered to hear about a couple of spearos taking perhaps a brace or two of top sized fish than the "40 pollack in 6 hours" type of statement. Having said this i am sure that jelously fits into it somewhere lol :hmm

Anyone who reads the Cornish Guardian can find this story on page 64 of this weeks edition plus a picture of the lucky man and a brace of very impressive pollack.

Does anyone out there know any more about the exact whereabouts of Hatt Rock? Or does anyone perhaps know about a website or shop where i can buy a nautical map of local wrecks... surely there is some sort of thing out there????

Huw

 

[dave]

Hatt Rock is about 10 miles offshore, the shallowest point is about 90ft if memory serves me correctly. The fish would have been in 150ft plus. I think it is a continuation of the same bit of strata as the Eddystone and Hands Deeps.
It is quite common for angling charter boats to take huge catches of pollack, particularly from wrecks. The fish can't be returned as they tend to blow up their swim bladders while being winched up from depth. Not sure what happens to them, as most charter boats do not have licenses to sell fish..............
For charts, check out www.chartsales.co.uk - dirt cheap discontinued and cancelled charts. Be aware that wreck positions are not always that accurate. "Dive South Cornwall" by Richard Larn, from the Diver Guide series has lat and long for most inshore wrecks
cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk

 

[foxfish]

foxfish and oldman dave,

spot on guys!

they are lovely fish to watch. I kinda feel like a proud dad when in the water and these guys come and join me. I'm shore they are seeking safety by me from the hunters :martial

Here in Guernsey Roselet are present all year round, in the winter they accumulate in the harbours. There used to be Roselet fishing competitions to see who could catch the largest number in a set time (usually 3 hours)
The good guys would catch 300+ I guess nowadays they would be the bad guys! Still the fish did not go to waste, they were sold & the proceeds went to the lifeboat. Roselet are delicious to eat very sweet & flavorsome.
I normally go a couple of times a year & catch a few for the table.

 

[Huw]

Hatt Rock is about 10 miles offshore, the shallowest point is about 90ft if memory serves me correctly. The fish would have been in 150ft plus. I think it is a continuation of the same bit of strata as the Eddystone and Hands Deeps.
It is quite common for angling charter boats to take huge catches of pollack, particularly from wrecks. The fish can't be returned as they tend to blow up their swim bladders while being winched up from depth. Not sure what happens to them, as most charter boats do not have licenses to sell fish..............
For charts, check out www.chartsales.co.uk - dirt cheap discontinued and cancelled charts. Be aware that wreck positions are not always that accurate. "Dive South Cornwall" by Richard Larn, from the Diver Guide series has lat and long for most inshore wrecks
cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk

Dave...

Thanks alot, i think this has cleared up the confusing area that i was concerned about. I am very familiar with Foweys waters, and some other local fishermen had told me that the guy had caught the fish just a few hundred yards offshore, and then when i saw the name of the rock in the paper i just assumed/figured that Hatt rock was just offshore from fowey too. Just backs up the quote on your website about taking local fishermens advice with a pinch of salt :hmm .

As for the swim bladder thing... i used to fish with a rod and line in every spare moment of time that i had and so i know about this, in fact on most of the chartered trips i went on, the smaller fish with the ruptured swim bladders went to the gulls :hungover and the rest are kept by the people that catch them.

There used to be Roselet fishing competitions to see who could catch the largest number in a set time (usually 3 hours)

I have had small competitions like this with my buddies. I think the record between us was 60 or so! we kept them all in a livewell, and returned most of them at the end. I work in the local aquarium and so i would put abut 10 or so into a tank for a few months before releasing them too! As far as i am concerned, if the fish go to a good cause or are returned heathily, then fishing for numbers is fine!

Do you have a personal record foxfish, or did you just spectate?

Huw.

 

[foxfish]

There used to be Roselet fishing competitions to see who could catch the largest number in a set time (usually 3 hours)

As far as i am concerned, if the fish go to a good cause or are returned heathily, then fishing for numbers is fine!

Do you have a personal record foxfish, or did you just spectate?

Huw.

Yeah I do, I came third one year with 187. I think that was in 1992, it was good practice for the Guernsey freshwater fishing team.

 

[Mr. X]

...it was good practice for the Guernsey freshwater fishing team.

Guernsey has a freshwater fishing team?! Don't you have a good enough time seafishing?! The owner of a local fishing store told me the other day that even pike caught round here must be returned now (and the season for them doesn't start until October ... because of the weed; weed is no longer an issue, due to dredging, but the season remains). Guess I'll be sticking with seafishing.

BTW thinking of getting a new fishing rod (have been using Nick Nack's 6.5 ft cheap but excellent carbon spinning rod but he is starting to use it himself now). Any suggestions? Thinking of perhaps an inexpensive 2-piece 9 ft carbon spinning rod, cork handle, rated for lures 3/8oz-1+oz (10g-30+g). Might need a new reel too (2000/2500/4000 size?), although I finally managed to fix my old Abu 505 (super little reel - 30 years old). I used the 505 for coarse fishing but it was really designed to be a top notch spinning reel; not sure if it was intended for salt water though(?). [Have seen them selling on ebay for £25-£69]. Saw a 10ft "Diawa Whisker" spinning rod on sale (normally v. expensive)recently rated for 10-60g lures -- seemed like it should handle most situations; perhaps too fancy for my needs though. Anybody tried the telescopic travel rods? (e.g Abu Exciter(!?) - seems cheap but good).

Back on thread: Just tried booking a caravan on the Lizard, first choice booked up . There are other options though . Fowey sounds good; a good friend of mine (whose father is Cornish) rates that general area for beauty too.

[Anybody else find the headline to the article above very Cornish? "POLLACK GOLDMINE IN SOUTH FOWEY" ...fish, gold & mines all in one short phase!]

 

[foxfish]

Yes Guernsey has a freshwater fishing team. There are no rivers in Guernsey which makes it even more amazing that we gained a bronze medal in the world freshwater angling championships. This was fished in 1992 on the river Erne at Enniskillen in Northern Ireland.

 

[Doc]

Mr X
On you way down stop in at the dreaded Trago Mills. amonst the tat and pasties for grockles they do actually sell some good fishing gear really quite cheap.
Get out quick though or you'll end up with loads of handy little bits n bobs. bit like lidl but more vulgar

 

[Huw]

Yeah I do, I came third one year with 187. I think that was in 1992, it was good practice for the Guernsey freshwater fishing team.

WOW...put me to shame then!

Does anyone out there have methods that they would reccomend for bbq prawns? i usually wrap in tin foil with pepper and lemon and then just leave for 10mins, but am just wondering if anyone else has any suggestions that they would like to share? Similarly... can mussels be cooked on a bbq?

Cheers,
Huw

 

[Pav]

Last few weeks have seen and taken a few bass around the 3lb mark. Yesterday 1st suprise was a flatie! probably a dab. Never see these at this spot.
Then saw a smooth hound? at least 1 of the dogfish family. I love watching these. Not shy at all.

Then small Bass, and getting tired I came upon a LARGE bass. The biggest I have ever taken is 7lb and this was at least 1/2 that again. A darker colour so he was difficult to spot. Didn't get to line the gun up and as he went I dived into the weed. I was thinking how i'd never see it again and how I should have had a shot when he came back! don't know what happened but I kinda was so worried about missing I didn't take a shot until he had again turned and swam out of distance.. never to return! Took me most of last night to get over it, especially as I came back empty handed on this trip. Went back in tonight but best I could do was 1 3lb bass that came by as I was in the weeds.

 

[paddythefrog]

15mins, 20 is just a bit too much I prefer a good homemade mayo myself along with the bread and the wine better be white and fresh! Most of the meat is in the pincers/legs, this statement is only applicable to males. What you want are females because inside their bodies, the white core is filled with a much nicer white meat whereas with the male is more prone to being empty.

summary -- big male good for large pincers/legs. Females make for the best eating due to internal body being filled with much nicer flesh that what you get from the pincers/legs but it requires a little more work.

Things just warming up nicely here now, bass were late arrivals this year in Brittany but I did manage to stumble across this 2.5K bream. Whole shoal of them of equal size arrived in front of me in 3M water, quite a sight for sore eyes having not seen anything else on my dive. Shot it straight through the gills behind the head and it did a hilarious ring a ring a rosey around my spear like a spinning top before I could get a hold of it
UK is looking good gents!

 

[Mr. X]

BEHIND YOU PaddyTheFrog! (Looks like somebody is trying to garotte you!)

Mr X
On you way down stop in at the dreaded Trago Mills. amonst the tat and pasties for grockles they do actually sell some good fishing gear really quite cheap.
Get out quick though or you'll end up with loads of handy little bits n bobs. bit like lidl but more vulgar

Strewth, woodburners for £49 (sorry multifuel stove), dome tents for £15 & a rather nice ZEBRINA(?) HARDWOOD PATIO DINING SET too . Better leave plenty of room in the car!http://www.tragomills.co.uk/liskard.htm

Good point though, it should be possible to get fishing gear while on holiday. Thanks

 

[Pav]

Shellfish are distracting me!

Today I went out with no bag / no lobster stick so I would not be distracted. I decided early on to drop down to an undercut ledge. The only thing to greet me was a good size lobster at the front of his hole!! No bag. No stick...

Went on to find one good size bass in the kelp but after diving and him not appearing surfaced and then found him again directly underneath me. Shot from the surface and missed.

Later a Bass of about 3lb passed when hiding in the weed but missed a shot.

Everything else was small. Again a lot of smooth hounds? etc cruising around the reef.

Interested to know how others cope with Lobster. I use a baited homemade noose but its a pain to carry if you want to focus on hunting fish. The few times I've tried to pick them up my fingers have come too close.

 

[Old Man Dave]

I do it like this.
Dave
[ame="http://forums.deeperblue.net/showpost.php?p=597144&postcount=475"]DeeperBlue Forums - View Single Post - Guernsey 2006[/ame]

 

[Mr. X]

...
Interested to know how others cope with Lobster. I use a baited homemade noose but its a pain to carry if you want to focus on hunting fish. The few times I've tried to pick them up my fingers have come too close.

SurfNSpear (the lobster :king) posted an article on his technique recently - 'fraid I can't recall the thread. I believe he just uses his hand though.

If you don't have a bag, I read the Ozzies often just tie "crays" into their float lines. I was tempted to do this with crabs 2 & 3 the other day as they wouldn't go in the bag. I think they just clove-hitch them in (yet another use for reputedly useless clove hitch).

Sounds like you are having a pretty good year so far Pav!

[Wonder if any of the signal cray techniques would work? A lobster is just a big crayfish really...isn't it?]:hmm

 

[dave]

lobsters; just grab them! If you are quick and decisive they will not normally manage to get you with the claws, and if they do, just take it like a man
I either tie lobsters in my floatline , or stuff them under my weightbelt if I dont have a float (be careful what they can reach with their claws though!). A friend of mine even carries cable ties so he can keep the claws shut! Someone else carries a roll of insulating tape, and tapes them to the floatine, or tapes up the claws and stuffs them up his wetsuit
Next time you catch a lobster, put it in a rock pool, and spend ten minutes playing around with it, it will give you a much better idea of how fast they can move, and their range of movement, and make you a lot less nervous dealing with them in future
As an aside, I think it is illegal to use tongs to take lobster, and i have a feeling nooses are classed as tongs
cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk

 

[paddythefrog]

lobsters; just grab them! If you are quick and decisive they will not normally manage to get you with the claws, and if they do, just take it like a man
I either tie lobsters in my floatline , or stuff them under my weightbelt if I dont have a float (be careful what they can reach with their claws though!). A friend of mine even carries cable ties so he can keep the claws shut! Someone else carries a roll of insulating tape, and tapes them to the floatine, or tapes up the claws and stuffs them up his wetsuit
Next time you catch a lobster, put it in a rock pool, and spend ten minutes playing around with it, it will give you a much better idea of how fast they can move, and their range of movement, and make you a lot less nervous dealing with them in future
As an aside, I think it is illegal to use tongs to take lobster, and i have a feeling nooses are classed as tongs
cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk

lol, I can just imagine a crowd of people gathering on the rocks to watch some guy playing with his lobster in a rock pool, little do they know he's in training to land many more in the future rofl

Excellent idea, I must give that a try sometime, they're tricky little bliters! I've only ever come across 2 and successfully landed one of 1.2K, being more fish orientated in my diving. It's illegal to use tongs or spear them here in France and I'm fairly sure it is also the case in Ireland, perhaps Huan could enlighten us?