Dorset Spear Fishing 2011

[devondave]

Just pan fry the whole fish.
Did you keep the liver?
It's a great delicacy.

 

[Tunny]

All,

What video format is accepted on Deeperblue for uploading?

I have a small clip I put together and have tried WMV and MPEG but no joy yet....

Cheers

Ryan

 

[Dan_r]

Hey guys, Stupid nooby question now. Ive noticed the wind has picked up here today and the bbc website says its coming in from the south east. Does that have any effect on any spots around the purbecks? Thinking of going into st oswalds / man o war again this afternoon or evening

 

[podge]

Hey guys, Stupid nooby question now. Ive noticed the wind has picked up here today and the bbc website says its coming in from the south east. Does that have any effect on any spots around the purbecks? Thinking of going into st oswalds / man o war again this afternoon or evening

Hello Dan, depends on the strength of the wind, that direction will be blowing in to that area on sort of an angle to the beach. Shouldn’t be to bad though and if you do go let us know what its like as we’ll be coming along that way tomorrow on the boat, going to stop at Mupe for a look and work our way back down the coast.
Good luck

 

[Dan_r]

Hello Dan, depends on the strength of the wind, that direction will be blowing in to that area on sort of an angle to the beach. Shouldn’t be to bad though and if you do go let us know what its like as we’ll be coming along that way tomorrow on the boat, going to stop at Mupe for a look and work our way back down the coast.
Good luck

Thanks Podge.

I didnt see anything there the other evening except loads of small pollock and one half decent one which i missed! It looks such a fishy spot though so now ive got a real wetsuit im gunna have a good poke around and see what i can frighten

 

[Dan_r]

Got this afternoon after getting a bit more lead for my weight belt (still didnt make any differnce!). I was going to get in at lulworth but fancied Worbarrow Bay. Pulled up in the car park and headed straight back out as it was heaving with people and cars. Paid a fiver and parked at Kimmeridge and trecked all the way round to Broad Bench and headed into the water to have a look around the little bay to the right as ive caught many bass plugging here.

The usual numerous small wrasse, pollock, sandeels and other white bait. Did see 2 small bass fly past then happened to swim right on top of a very nice bass (5-6lb aprox) which i guess didnt see me coming. BLOODY MISSED right from above. I could have cried haha.

As the tide started pushing in a few mullet appeared on the ledges but were to far and fast. Then i saw a very nice sized Wrasse. Ive never eaten them but my old man says he used to enjoy them as a kid so i thought i would have a go. This one i got (not very taxing).
Got home and weighed it and it was 5lb smack on. Compared to a few i saw the other side yesterday it was a tiddler.

I spent a bit of time removing the bones from the fillets and skinning it and i must say, the 2 fillets look bloody lovely. Very flakey a bit like cod. Thats my tea sorted for tomorrow!! Ive gathered that some people dont like taking wrasse but i took this purely to see how it tastes.

Cheers

 

[Sean Keenan]

Got this afternoon after getting a bit more lead for my weight belt (still didnt make any differnce!). I was going to get in at lulworth but fancied Worbarrow Bay. Pulled up in the car park and headed straight back out as it was heaving with people and cars. Paid a fiver and parked at Kimmeridge and trecked all the way round to Broad Bench and headed into the water to have a look around the little bay to the right as ive caught many bass plugging here.

The usual numerous small wrasse, pollock, sandeels and other white bait. Did see 2 small bass fly past then happened to swim right on top of a very nice bass (5-6lb aprox) which i guess didnt see me coming. BLOODY MISSED right from above. I could have cried haha.

As the tide started pushing in a few mullet appeared on the ledges but were to far and fast. Then i saw a very nice sized Wrasse. Ive never eaten them but my old man says he used to enjoy them as a kid so i thought i would have a go. This one i got (not very taxing).
Got home and weighed it and it was 5lb smack on. Compared to a few i saw the other side yesterday it was a tiddler.

I spent a bit of time removing the bones from the fillets and skinning it and i must say, the 2 fillets look bloody lovely. Very flakey a bit like cod. Thats my tea sorted for tomorrow!! Ive gathered that some people dont like taking wrasse but i took this purely to see how it tastes.

Cheers

Nice write up Dan. Strange one wrasse with a lot of conflicting stories out shooting and eating. Let me know how you found the eating?

 

[spearo nobby]

well done dan on your catch. i never use to shoot wrasse until a lad i work with said if i see a big one shoot it and he will cook it for me as they are good eating. he was right. i tend to put them in to fish cakes and soups. i dont shoot them often as they are a pain to prep.

 

[Paul M]

VERY pain! So I only gut them and after gutting I salt them and smoke with heads and scales. After smoking you can separate the meat much easier.
Some people smoke their fish even with guts - they use to say that such fish is more tasty and juicyrofl

 

[Dan_r]

Cheers guys. You are right about being a pain in the arse to prep but the fillets look very tasty indeed.

Im cooking it up tonight so will let you know how it is

 

[foxfish]

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!

 

[speerolee]

Maybe to late, but can anyone give a vis report for chesil from west bay - the cove and or portland harbour. Not sure how much this SE wind has killed the vis; I guess ringstead or ossmington will be out of the question???

Will be leaving at 5pm regardless, unless I hear otherwise. Will report when I get back.

Thanks

 

[Spearo Si]

I was told a few good and bad things about wrasse when I started, so I gave it a go for myself too. They certainly get more attractive to shoot when you dont see a lot else but now I've tried it a couple of times I am happy just to leave them, they're better to watch than they taste in my opinion.

I am intrigued by the smoked wrasse idea though which I have heard is meant to be good.

By all means give it a go, but you'll probably find that there are better fish to go for quite quickly!

 

[Dan_r]

Grilled the wrasse this evening for my tea and i was pleasantly suprised. Just grilled with some soy sauce splashed over. Thats about as adventourus as i get in the kitchen im afraid haha.

Got into mar o war bay this evening for an hour or so. Vis was bloody awful until i got tight to the rocks/reef in the middle then it cleared up. As i got out something large and silver zoomed off from under me. Think it was a bass but not 100%. I spent most of the dive creeping around the rocks. Startled a pair of mullet but didnt get a shot off. Futher along i saw another mullet going off to my left which i managed to shot!!!

Not only was it a mullet, it was a golden grey mullet. I was so pleased and it was a perfect shot! Now the drama starts....got it off the spear and was trying to get my stringer up and it jumped straight out of my hands and slowly swam away and down. After reloading i dived down and managed to get hold of it again and safely on the stringer.

Missed another bigger mullet which stayed close and after fumbeling trying ot reload quick manage to bend my wishbone. I managed to sort that out then below my noticed flapping in the tide....AN EMPTY STRINGER!!

Bloody gutted!! After searching i couldnt find it so had to give up as crab food!

 

[devondave]

Dan,
how do you string them?
I string through the eyes, it's the most secure place I think.

 

[Dan_r]

Dan,
how do you string them?
I string through the eyes, it's the most secure place I think.

I go through the mouth and out through the gills....or the other way round, i cant think now you mention it!

 

[devondave]

Used to do the same until I lost a fish.
Now I have a slim spike on good cord, looped to a snap link.
String through the eyes and when taking the fish off, undo the snap link and pull the cord through the fish, trying to thread the spike back through the eyes is a pain.

 

[Dan_r]

Thanks for that Dave il be doing that from now on. Totally gutted i lost it! I know when i lost it, when i was trying to bend the wishbone back in to shape whislt treading water. I put my stringer on after i put my belt on so it wasnt where i usualy have it. In the words of Captin Manarin....STUPID BOY

 

[podge]

Had a good day yesterday out in the boat, bit of wind chop on the water but the vis was fantastic as long as we stayed out from the rocks a bit. We were going to start along Mupe Rocks but it was to exposed to the wind so settled ourselves under the cover of White Nothe, tried in close for a mullet but as I said no vis so back out on and around the sand patch’s it was. Had a nice Bass come in on aspetto and promptly lost a spear as the running line snapped, so Bass and spear off into the blue, followed the line that the bass had taken and after a few dives was lucky enough to find my spear but of course no bass attached to it.
Came across a Sunfish while in the boat, some weird fish that is and no question about it! Good to see though, Fat John found a Scallop in some deeper water about one mile of Osmington so we all spent a while scouring the sea bed but it was just the one so he through it back for a hopeful bit of good karma next time we’re out.
Good day out even if the wind was blowing and the fish few and far between. No pictures this time as I forgot the camera, shame as I would have liked to get a few shots of that Sunfish.
Happy Days Gents.

 

[kkdavids]

I go through the mouth and out through the gills....or the other way round, i cant think now you mention it!

Most fish through the gills and out the mouth is the most secure way. Mullet I push through from under the chin through the top of the head (watch your hand!) - bass I string through the inside of the lips