Dorset Spear Fishing 2011

[kkdavids]

I have received several pms form members asking about shooting wrasse - I hope this will answer some questions however if you use the search button you will soon see that this controversial issue has been well debated on db!

Wrasse are OK to eat, wrasse are no more difficult to fillet & skin than most fish, wrasse are very slow growing (20 years to reach 5lb) wrasse are territorial & easy to fish out of an area, wrasse are very easy prey, wrasse are beautiful & peaceful fish. (as are plenty of other species)

Why are so many being shot & shown on this forum this year ? - probably because they are such a tempting target & other more desirable fish are not so easy to find or shoot.
I suspect, as bass become increasingly rare, then wrasse will become even more desirable to shoot!

On the otherhand could catching a well populated fish be more sustainable than a threatend species like bass?!

Certainly agree on preparing wrasse as being no more difficult than other fish

 

[speerolee]

Hit several spots yesterday; sandsfoot 1 metere vis at best, castle town along the harbour wall 3-6 meters and a few small pollack a spot nr ferry bridge for 1 lone bass of around 2lb and ended up with a night dive at the cove pipe; saw just one bass and missed, vis was about 4 meters, maybe 5-6 in places.

 

[Broseidon]

On the otherhand could catching a well populated fish be more sustainable than a threatend species like bass?!

Ummm.... Bass are not a threatened species in the UK.

To suggest that people might want to start targeting wrasse, in my opinion, is utter madness. When a fish takes 20 years to reach 5lbs - they'd disappear pretty damn fast and anyway, a fish that takes that long to grow can never be sustainable as a day-to-day catch.

On a note about wrasse eating, after a lot of thinking (due to general forum badmouthing of wrasse taking), I took my first wrasse last week to see what it was like. To be completely truthful, while it worked ok in a curry, the texture, I found, was very mushy and not really that great to eat. The raw flash look amazing, like fresh cod and I had high hopes but on eating, I was sorely disappointed. I wouldn't spear another and I do regret taking it.

 

[misterlizard]

I agree completely - I have taken two wrasse in my spearfishing career, and I won't take another. Like you said, the raw flesh looks very very promising, but doesn't live up to expectations. I have heard that they are excellent smoked, but I don't have a smoker yet! Plus I agree that if they take that long to grow then they would disappear pretty swiftly if we all started shooting them.
However, I was very tempted the other day when I was confronted with a very large wrasse of around 7lb! But I got a couple of bass instead :friday

The raw flesh look amazing, like fresh cod and I had high hopes but on eating, I was sorely disappointed. I wouldn't spear another and I do regret taking it.

 

[speerolee]

I have also taken a wrasse for the table and agree that they do not taste that good at all; very mushy texture; I spat it out! that alone had my mind made on never taking one again. Now hearing that they take so long to grow, I will definitely be admiring their beauty 'without a spear through them'.

Now, how about 'dogfish!!!'

 

[barny02]

All my fish go in a lovely big goody bag which I hang on my bouy, keeps them nice a safe. The bag is rarely used !

 

[barny02]

I have also taken a wrasse for the table and agree that they do not taste that good at all; very mushy texture; I spat it out! that alone had my mind made on never taking one again. Now hearing that they take so long to grow, I will definitely be admiring their beauty 'without a spear through them'.

Now, how about 'dogfish!!!'

No not the dogfish poor little loves :t there far to nice !

 

[misterlizard]

I like the idea of putting the fish in a bag, but I have yet to find a mesh bag big enough to comfortably hold a decent catch, whereas my stringer will easily hold 5 good-sized bass and probably more (I have yet to find out if it'll handle more than 5...).

 

[barny02]

I like the idea of putting the fish in a bag, but I have yet to find a mesh bag big enough to comfortably hold a decent catch, whereas my stringer will easily hold 5 good-sized bass and probably more (I have yet to find out if it'll handle more than 5...).

Ah thats just showing of snigger , I did have fun last year trying to roll a big thornback ray up to fit in bag, nearly drowned laughing at myself rofl

 

[misterlizard]

Ah thats just showing of snigger , I did have fun last year trying to roll a big thornback ray up to fit in bag, nearly drowned laughing at myself rofl

He he he, I can see it now rofl

 

[Spearo Si]

Dogfish - another one of those fish I heard mixed reviews about so tried for myself!

Verdict - better than wrasse, borderline better than nothing, not 100% sure yet, depends what you do with it. I've taken 2 or 3, will probably end up taking 1 or 2 more to make up my mind - thats if I dont see something better!

 

[kkdavids]

Ummm.... Bass are not a threatened species in the UK.

To suggest that people might want to start targeting wrasse, in my opinion, is utter madness. When a fish takes 20 years to reach 5lbs - they'd disappear pretty damn fast and anyway, a fish that takes that long to grow can never be sustainable as a day-to-day catch.

On a note about wrasse eating, after a lot of thinking (due to general forum badmouthing of wrasse taking), I took my first wrasse last week to see what it was like. To be completely truthful, while it worked ok in a curry, the texture, I found, was very mushy and not really that great to eat. The raw flash look amazing, like fresh cod and I had high hopes but on eating, I was sorely disappointed. I wouldn't spear another and I do regret taking it.

You can catch whatever you want to catch, as long as it's legal. People can make their own minds up what fish they target, I'm just saying it's an option.

Mmm with what spearos take on a yearly basis I don't think we are in a position to worry about them being over fished!

 

[podge]

Wrasse, may be 2 or 3 a year, make's a decent enough curry and not to bad in a fish soup.
Dogfish make the best scampi I’ve ever had, my kids rate it above all else that I bring home.
I still prefer a nice bit of Mullet over most anything else.

 

[speerolee]

Wrasse, may be 2 or 3 a year, make's a decent enough curry and not to bad in a fish soup.
Dogfish make the best scampi I’ve ever had, my kids rate it above all else that I bring home.
I still prefer a nice bit of Mullet over most anything else.

Mullet! now your talking. My family love mullet; it's their favourite seafood by far, mine too.

First one I ever speared was in S.Devon, filleted and lightly salted then fried in olive oil on the beach using a portable stove. Very meaty and delicious.

I also batter small pieces of fillets and dip in sweet chilli. That's it I'm going to take a sick day now and bag myself one. Will report later.

 

[BarnacleBoy]

Speaking of menu items ... can you dive for mussels in Devon (or Sussex)? Are prawns or langoustine in free diving range or are they all deep water?

(Excuse me if this is just a daft question - I'm pretty new to all this!)

 

[Fro-in-shorts]

tried wrasse when I first started spishing, and to be honest tasted ok, but anything that easy to shoot should'nt be fished for, they are too dosile slow growing, plus there are other better tasting fish around. Interesting note, heard a large wrass crunching the other day so I went to have a look, found a very large wrass chomping a crab, accompanied by two bass who were contentidly investigating the same thing I was, funny hey

 

[badlander]

Mullet squares, marinated in piri-piri sauce overnight with halved vine tomatoes, skewered and put on the bbq or under the grill......delicious.

 

[Dan_r]

I did enjoy the wrasse but now knowing how slow growing they are wont be making a regular habit of it.

Wrasse aside can i ask for advice on tides. Are there any places to avoid during big spring tides? At the moment im only going to what you guys would say are shallow marks around the purbecks such as just pasted kimmeridge, lulworth and hoping to get to worbarrow this week. Just a bit worried about getting swept away and sirfacing in france haha

cheers

 

[podge]

Go steady up the East side of Portland as the tide can get a bit freaky up there as well as out on the Bill itself.
Tilly Whim can also be a touch on the evil side when the tide starts to give it some, general rule would be if you’re starting to feel the tide pull a bit hard then do your best to swim towards the shore using the tide to take you rather than trying to fight against it. As long as there’s an exit point (that you should know before you get in) it’s much easier to walk back to where you started than to get washed out to where you don’t want to be and having to apologise to the guys in the helicopter all the way back to the shore.

 

[Spiderman]

Speaking of menu items ... can you dive for mussels in Devon (or Sussex)? Are prawns or langoustine in free diving range or are they all deep water?

(Excuse me if this is just a daft question - I'm pretty new to all this!)

Prawns are a fairly common sight in Devon. These were in a hole in about 2m of water.

Mussels are very common. I collect them from some buoy ropes I know that are covered in them as mussels on a rope don't have grit in them like mussels collected from the sea bed.