Dorset Spear Fishing 2010

[kkdavids]

It's debateable!
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[podge]

Well first trip out for me today for what seems like an age and it didn’t half feel good to be back in the water.
Launched the boat with Glowworm and straight over to Grove Point for a little look see, vis wasn’t great but easily fishable. Saw a few medium sized Mullet but left them for better things. Unfortunately the “better things” didn’t materialize so back to the boat it was. Saw a couple of spearo’s just getting out as we were moving spots, anybody from on here??
Along the coast a bit we went and had a look around the corner at Church Hope but again no joy and after John dam near swam into a net on the bottom:rcard and what with a bit more swell coming in it was out for a few Mackerel on the rod.
Dropped back in at Grove again on the way back as there was a bit of tide now moving and I missed a donkey Mullet while John had a play out a bit with a few schoolie Bass and Pollock.
Nice to be back in and at least the Mackerel will taste great.
Happy Days Gents.

Speardog give me a shout closer to the August back holiday as I should be down right over that weekend.

 

[tribs]

I've got the same fins Carbon + same fins fiberglass highly reccomandable if you want improve your performance without make a hole in your poket mate:friday.
Hey Dave are you sure he his a nice guy?roflroflrofl

Alga fins. What stiffness would people recommend for mainly shallow -10 metres dives with occasional long surface swims?

Tribs

out

 

[tonyiannu]

Alga fins. What stiffness would people recommend for mainly shallow -10 metres dives with occasional long surface swims?

Tribs

out

I think the medium stiffness is the best but I will consider a better reccomandation from the seller.I use the medium carbon when I go out wuth the boat and the hard version but fiberglass from the shore they do their job and I'm happy with them.Today I tried first time the fiberglass fins hard stiffness from the boat and they where great in the deep beetwen 7 to 11 metres.


For Scottie3030,nice to meet you mate today in the water I hope you enjoied mate :friday

 

[scottie3030]

Good to see you again toni did u have any more luck? You were in that spot for hours we didn't see anythin but mullet all day
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[fubar]

Podge, it was me and a mate you saw climbing out at the point. I was struggling due to accidentaly drinking a gut full of cider on saturday, combined with dodgey vis and the swell running, swimming across the kelp was making me feel decidedly squiffy. We got in at Durdle pier and slowly worked across to the point but it was very quiet. We were going to carry on past the point after a rest but as you hadn't seen much we called it a day. The walk back up the cliff nearly killed me.
Well at least you managed to muster up a few mackerel, it's a long walk back with no fish from the grove - in fact it's an even longer walk with fish to be honest!

 

[slimyeel]

I dive sandbanks quite frequently in front of and near the Haven Hotel and I always have my flag a SMB clearly visible to everyone.... It does shock and surprise me that boat owners here do not know the meaning of a diver down flag.. I understand it as, when you see a diver down flag, you not supposed to be within 50 meters radius of that flag. Obviously where I dive at sandbanks this law would be broken as the groynes are 5 meters from the boat channel.
As I also understand it, entry and exit channels are clearly marked with red and green markers and ALL boating traffic are to follow this course. I also understand that there is no such thing as a 'small boat' channel as they also have to stick to the path guided by these red and green markers. Obviously however, they are small boats with shallow keels and small engines and it is sometimes too easy and to go 'anywhere'.
I am a keen spearo and I have to stick up for these guys you saw. As you say, they were not in the main channel and they had SMB's with diver down flags..... to me, no harm done. Only harm done is that they were approached by a boat with a motor and questions asked as you said you did.... so you must have been alot closer that a 50 meter radius??
I am getting so hacked off...... I was diving at sandbanks in between the green marker and the groynes and a jet ski used my SMB as a turning point. I love my spearo hobby and if I was approached in open water by someone on a rib, I would be SO tempted to spear the tubes of that rib........

So, everyone is entitled to their opinion and I am just sticking up for those guys, sorry, those CLUELESS MUPPETS as you put it..........

Was out in the boat yesterday. On my way back into Poole I could hardly believe my eyes: a couple of clueless muppets diving about 20 - 30 meters out into the small boats channel, parallel to the training banks, just waiting to get themselves sliced up by a prop.

They had floats out but were difficult to see in the chop - I only spotted them at the last moment and was only aware of what they actually were because, obviously, I do the sport myself.

I went back to warn them how much danger they were in but they didn't seem particularly interested (I couldn't quite hear their replies).

I left them to it, but spearfishing like that, in that position, it's only a matter of time before they end up at each other's funerals - and I don't think I'm exaggerating here either: a lot of other people, in much bigger, faster boats than mine, are unlikely to be aware of what they are, and are only interested in burning back to the harbour as quickly as possible.

.

 

[wolf_diver]

Slimyeel I have just looked at the chart and gaz is right, the chart clearly states a Small boats channel running by the training bank with a note in the index telling you boats with a draft of 3.0m or less can use this channel. portsmouth entrance has one too,which can confused boaters as most people know that you travel into harbour on the right hand side as you enter. but both pooles and portsmouth harbour small boats should use the left hand side to come in and out. So it seems that the spearos where taking abit of a risk fishing there which is up to them, but people make mistakes sometimes and gaz was just trying to help i bet. Did these guys fly a flag alpha then??? i bet not because it would have been seen, Floats and even pot buoys are not easy to sea on a choppy day mate. trust me as a dive boat skipper i used to get snagged in pot buoys and have to freedive and cut them free in my clothes sometimes....:blackeye Lucky no spearos on the end i guess.....lol

Jay

 

[podge]

Podge, it was me and a mate you saw climbing out at the point. I was struggling due to accidentaly drinking a gut full of cider on saturday, combined with dodgey vis and the swell running, swimming across the kelp was making me feel decidedly squiffy. We got in at Durdle pier and slowly worked across to the point but it was very quiet. We were going to carry on past the point after a rest but as you hadn't seen much we called it a day. The walk back up the cliff nearly killed me.
Well at least you managed to muster up a few mackerel, it's a long walk back with no fish from the grove - in fact it's an even longer walk with fish to be honest!

To Cider or not to Cider, that’s the question. Always a hard one to answer on a Saturday night.:friday
Nice to almost meet you, if I’d have known that you felt a bit bilious:yack I’d have given you a left around to the Harbour and you could of got a taxi back up to your car.

 

[scottwilson]

August FOM
Is now open








August FOM



We have updated the rules so please ensure you read them ( in full) before posting your enteries, paying particualr attention to the Entry rules 1 - 7​

Rules


To have your catch entered in the UK Fish of the Month (FOM) competition you must satisfy the following rules.

Membership.
1. You must have been a current active member of the DeeperBlue.com Forums, when you made the catch.
2. You must have been a member of said forums for a minimum of one calendar month prior to making the catch.
3. You must have previously posted at least 10 times on said forums under your user name as described in 1. above, when you made the catch.

Catch

1. Your catch must not break any laws currently enacted in the country where it was taken.
2. Your catch must be within any size limits as laid down in the country where it was taken.
3. Your catch may be of any fish species and including cuttlefish, squid, crab and lobster but excluding scallops.

Method

1. You must have been fully immersed in water when you made the catch.
2. If beneath the water surface you may only have been using the practice of breath hold freediving to make your catch.
3. You must have made the catch by hand, using a hand spear, a polespear, a Hawaiian sling, or a speargun powered solely by your own manual loading effort.
4. No method of capture must break any laws currently enacted in the country where it was made.

Entry

1. You must have posted a report of your catch including details of its weight and with a clear photograph, on the DeeperBlue forums.
2. A picture, with a daily newspaper in the background, must accompany the entry to prove date of capture.
3 Accurate scales must have been used to weigh your entered catch and DB staff may request proof of this.
4. All entries must be in by 23:59hrs GMT on 2nd of following month. (e.g. April entries to be in by 2nd May)
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7. All weights must be entered in Pounds and Ounces
Result

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2. A draw will result in the first posted entry winning.
3. Voting will last for 5 days once poll has been set up.
4. You can enter as many times as you like every month but you will be asked to nominate only one entry to forward to the poll.
5. In the event of there being 20 or more individuals entering the competition a short list of 20 will be chosen by DB staff.

Staff decisions on all matters relating to the FOM are absolute and final.

*** GOOD LUCK ***








.​

 

[slimyeel]

Hi Jay,

Cheers for that clarification.... I was just merely sticking up for those two guys. I read posts on here every day and was waiting for a reply to that post I commented on but those guys might not be members here. I have an alpha flag i use which I have just recently extended to make it more visible to the boats and jet ski's at my dive spot at sandbanks.... On a good note...... weather has been brilliant and i should be in the water now, so cheers lol

Slimyeel I have just looked at the chart and gaz is right, the chart clearly states a Small boats channel running by the training bank with a note in the index telling you boats with a draft of 3.0m or less can use this channel. portsmouth entrance has one too,which can confused boaters as most people know that you travel into harbour on the right hand side as you enter. but both pooles and portsmouth harbour small boats should use the left hand side to come in and out. So it seems that the spearos where taking abit of a risk fishing there which is up to them, but people make mistakes sometimes and gaz was just trying to help i bet. Did these guys fly a flag alpha then??? i bet not because it would have been seen, Floats and even pot bouys are not easy to sea on a choppy day mate. trust me as a dive boat skipper i used to get snagged in pot bouys and have to freedive and cut them free in my clothes sometime. Lucky no spearos on the end i guess.....lol

Jay

 

[wolf_diver]

No worries, Blue seas mate!

 

[Gaz D]

I dive sandbanks quite frequently in front of and near the Haven Hotel and I always have my flag a SMB clearly visible to everyone.... It does shock and surprise me that boat owners here do not know the meaning of a diver down flag.. I understand it as, when you see a diver down flag, you not supposed to be within 50 meters radius of that flag. Obviously where I dive at sandbanks this law would be broken as the groynes are 5 meters from the boat channel.
As I also understand it, entry and exit channels are clearly marked with red and green markers and ALL boating traffic are to follow this course. I also understand that there is no such thing as a 'small boat' channel as they also have to stick to the path guided by these red and green markers. Obviously however, they are small boats with shallow keels and small engines and it is sometimes too easy and to go 'anywhere'.
I am a keen spearo and I have to stick up for these guys you saw. As you say, they were not in the main channel and they had SMB's with diver down flags..... to me, no harm done. Only harm done is that they were approached by a boat with a motor and questions asked as you said you did.... so you must have been alot closer that a 50 meter radius??
I am getting so hacked off...... I was diving at sandbanks in between the green marker and the groynes and a jet ski used my SMB as a turning point. I love my spearo hobby and if I was approached in open water by someone on a rib, I would be SO tempted to spear the tubes of that rib........

So, everyone is entitled to their opinion and I am just sticking up for those guys, sorry, those CLUELESS MUPPETS as you put it..........

Here's your response (I've written it now, so I'm posting it):



Hilarious!

Have a look on the chart mate - those 'red markers' that you can see on the training banks (yes, actually ON the training banks) are port hand bouys, marking the port hand side of the boat channel which is 'for use by recreational craft and fishing vessels . . . with a draft of up to 3.0 meters, on the western side of the Swash Channel'.

The same exists inside the harbour, 'for vessels with a draft of up to 1.5 meters, on the southern side of the Middle Ship Channel'.

These are commonly referred to as small boat channels, and 'recreational craft and fishing vessels are to use these boat channels whenever possible' – it's all on the charts.

The Rule of the Road states that vessels travelling along a narrow channel should keep as far as possible to the starboard side of the channel, which means that RIBs etc exiting the harbour should be travelling as close to the Training Banks as they can – and we all know that most people heading for the open sea in a RIB are going to be paying scant attention to the speed limit once they are passed the harbour entrance (certainly, when I used to drive RIBs and other fast boats in the Marines we would come flying along that section at a rapid rate of knots. We had special dispensation to go fast, whereas a lot of other RIB users will be going fast through either ignorance or a complete lack of concern - and that's just a fact of life).

That float that you are dragging around behind you is not superman's cape, it doesn't have a force field around it which repels boats, it's just a small piece of inflated plastic which is often difficult to see by people driving boats (and is probably not understood by most of them anyway – I would hazard a guess that the majority of people coming in and out of the harbour would not have studied for, or taken, their Rule of the Road exam – have you?).

50 meter exclusion zone? What do you expect the continental ferry to do if you are diving in the middle of the main channel with your little marker bouy? Take a diversion down Poole High Street? He isn't going to run aground for you or anyone else (and neither would most other boat drivers, I suspect – they are more likely to think that you are a pot marker bouy).

Anyway, that is not a proper Alpha flag that you have on your float, just an indication to those in the know that there is someone diving in the area – for the purposes of preventing collisions at sea, a true Alpha flag measures 'not less than 1 meter in height' (according to the Rule of the Road – see rule 27(e))..

As for putting a spear into someones boat: apart from all the other dangers involved there could be children on board, and I know of quite a few viloent maniacs who would take pleasure in coming back to make sure that they ran you over if they thought that you had even the vaguest idea of injuring their families or damaging their pride and joy.

I'm not saying don't dive in the channels at Sandbanks or the Training Banks – it's entirely up to the individual if they want to dive an area that has the very real potential to cause harm to themselves and other water users. But it's no good getting upset if people in boats are not getting out of your way in recognised traffic areas – it's the water equivalent of sitting in the middle lane of the M25, or on the rails of the tracks at Clapham Junction, and then expecting vehicles to drive around you. And you must be dreaming if you think that boat drivers are going to put their lives and boats at risk in order to avoid you. They probably don't know what you are and, even if they did, they probably wouldn't particularly care!

I have worked with boats and divers in a professional context (and, indeed, my next job is as a coxswain, working with divers). I approached those guys in my boat in a safe manner, and remained at a safe distance whilst I tried to warn them of the potential danger they were putting themselves in – they chose to ignore it and that's up to them.

The last accident that I heard of involving a RIB in the harbour, the propellor of the boat took the victims head clean off!

It's your choice.

(P.S: I'm not going to start dragging the Rule of the Road out again but, for your information, small boats are not constrained by the same rules as larger boats, and are allowed to go pretty much anywhere).

.

 

[fubar]

To Cider or not to Cider, that’s the question. Always a hard one to answer on a Saturday night.:friday
Nice to almost meet you, if I’d have known that you felt a bit bilious:yack I’d have given you a left around to the Harbour and you could of got a taxi back up to your car.

The cider question is one I constantly get wrong, surely I should of learnt by now.
We were actually parked in the portland museum car park to avoid the savage cliff path, so a lift back to church ope would of been glorious, thanks for the offer, next time (i'm sure there will be one) I might take you up on it. Seeing you motor off into the distance did start the conversation 'We need a boat' as trudging to marks around the island can start to wear a bit thin after a while, especially if it's pants once you get there.
I think the walk back sweated the remainder of the apple juice out of me so it wasn't all bad.

 

[Seadogjock]

Slimyeel I have just looked at the chart and gaz is right, the chart clearly states a Small boats channel running by the training bank with a note in the index telling you boats with a draft of 3.0m or less can use this channel. portsmouth entrance has one too,which can confused boaters as most people know that you travel into harbour on the right hand side as you enter. but both pooles and portsmouth harbour small boats should use the left hand side to come in and out. So it seems that the spearos where taking abit of a risk fishing there which is up to them, but people make mistakes sometimes and gaz was just trying to help i bet. Did these guys fly a flag alpha then??? i bet not because it would have been seen, Floats and even pot buoys are not easy to sea on a choppy day mate. trust me as a dive boat skipper i used to get snagged in pot buoys and have to freedive and cut them free in my clothes sometimes....:blackeye Lucky no spearos on the end i guess.....lol

Jay

There are many dangers out there and not much we can do about some of them. We dive sharky spots because that is often where the fish are. Needless to say we enter the food chain and not at the top of it. We dive deeper and deeper and end up risking the dreaded shallow water blackout. We chase Tuna behind fishing trawlers miles out to sea risking getting lost or being dragged into the blue.

Spearos tend to be hardassed individuals to cope with some of the issues that often arise. Needless to say I do not find it strange at all for a couple of guys to dive where they might pick up a fish or two not caught by the thousands of fishermen in the area. If they had floats with the Alpha flag flying and were not in the middle of a shipping channel then no harm done.

It is a small world out there and no need for name calling. You never know when someone you just called a muppet has to pull your ass out of a hot spot.

Jock
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[Old Man Dave]

I've just edited a bit out of the previous post as it was too close to a personal attack on another DB member.

I've been following this exchange of views and have found it quite informative and an interesting difference of opinion. Personally I found some value in both sides of the arguement and I am not just saying that to "sit on the fence". Now, however, I think it has run its course and you have both made your point.

This would be a good point to stop and let what you've both said be read by people who can then make up their own mind. This is not an order or a command and if you wish to continue you can do so provided you stay with in the rules. Main rule, no abuse, name calling or slurs on or about other DB members. Otherwise :martial .

Dave DeeperBlue Mentor.

 

[kkdavids]

Tribs - i would suggest medium or hard...The way i work out the stiffness is, if you swim on the surface more, then hard. If you do more diving then softer, medium......but no science to it, just my personal opinion!

Alga fins. What stiffness would people recommend for mainly shallow -10 metres dives with occasional long surface swims?

Tribs

out

 

[kkdavids]

as for the training bank/shipping channel debate., i personally wont go anywhere near either, as i have known 1 diver who had to have a metal plate in his head following get hit by a boat on the bank. And another who had a boat hit the bank, launch up into the air, then land on him (with his weight belt saving his life) - PS they are both very, very, very experienced and good divers, who know the area as well as anyone

 

[scottwilson]

Tribs - i would suggest medium or hard...The way i work out the stiffness is, if you swim on the surface more, then hard. If you do more diving then softer, medium......but no science to it, just my personal opinion!

the Stereoblades Waves Camo/Alga Stereoblades Waves camo and alga look awesome !!! need to size my feet up for omer pockets and get a pair

 

[flyflicker]

the Stereoblades Waves Camo/Alga Stereoblades Waves camo and alga look awesome !!! need to size my feet up for omer pockets and get a pair

Just got a new pair of stereoblades from the very nice man, I picked medium stiffness (my age I guess!!) because that was the same as my previous pair. But the new blades seem an awful lot softer and I don't have the same power as I had before, on the plus side it has slowed me down and now seeing a lot more fish!

It would be great if you could to try out the blades before purchase - I know I would have gone for stiffer if I had the choice..!