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Dorset Spearfishing 2007

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
Sailors... You just have to love em! Shame about the Canary but I had been doing that since North Wales.
 
Chesil today

Dived Chesil today (tides looked better than further east). Calm with v. little wind (0mph forecast at Swanage, 2mph at Portland). Viz fair to very good - mainly good although milky. Forecast for the weekend is not so favourable though. Good to see the old toilets have been replaced by a fancy new refreshment & toilet complex (unfortunately closed!).

Hundreds, possibly thousands of small pollock about (and codling according to the fishing store), although not much else. I took two of the biggest ones I saw & caught a third by hand (no kidding -- it was hooked internally in a gill raker with the line & swivel still coming out of its mouth). Caught a glimpse of bass out of the corner of my eye, so I brought the gun round on it while looking away from it -- he seemed to know the trick as it shot off like a rocket: I just saw the tail at it disappeared at high speed (strangely, the accompanying pollock carried on swimming round me!). Didn't get a shot. Fairly small perhaps around 42cm-ish?

I tried an aspetto on the way back and just saw a fair size mullet (2.5lb-ish?) swimming away fast just as I touched down in the middle of another shoal of pollack. Again, no opportunity for a shot. My speargun had been working ok after a bout of problems but failed to fire once today -trigger fully pulled back spear stayed put! (Unloaded & gave it a firm tap with my palm & seems ok now. I thought Chesil isn't gritty but my wetsuit was covered in black grit, like coal or ash. 'Found a big, shiney, heavy french fishing lure just laying on the sea floor. Unfortunately too heavy for my rod.

The beach anglers were frustrated as you could see shoals of mackeral coming in chasing bait fish (perhaps the transparent fish I saw about 8" long - launce?) but never quite got within in casting distance. There was talk of flat fish (plaice I think) at the other end of the beach (Abbotsbury and another village, I forget the name).

As we left, a local boy was heading out to catch squid with a handline & lures* from a boat. Apparently he caught 8.5 stone (more than his own body weight) of squid yesterday!:king [*Squid lures: The Tantalizing Squid]
 
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Reactions: foxfish
Does anyone shoot the squid and any tips?

Just been in scotland salmon fishing.....NNNaaaDDDaaa caght..iF I had a spear gun though!!!!
 
Stay close to structures and large bright lights.
 

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Good day
Excuse me for interrupting the thread.
Can I please ask you to visit the BSA forum , http://underwaterfishi.10.forumer.com/ , and have your say on some potential proposals on size limits , number restrictions etc that may or may go through to the BSA AGM.
Some of you may not be BSA members or competitors but, like it or not, what happens within the BSA will have an affect on UK spearos.
Have your say !
Regards Paul
 
Reactions: Almostafish
Hi Paul

Just wondering why the BSA Competition catch limits and sizes will affect every UK spearo.

I am a member, I don't do the comp thing, I do support some of your ideas but please don't think a bunch of well meaning guys in a club laying down rules and regs are going to influence how, and what, I am going to fish for.. Ever.

Ta.

B.
 
Reactions: Pastor
Hi
The BSA represent the UK spearo in its official capacity on issues like the recent banning threat in Wales. It presented a unified objection to it with legal input.
The BSA represents UK spearfishing when dealing with the Fisheries Offices.
If the BSA makes a bad decision , not saying it has or will, on anything that comes into the public's eye the consequences will be felt by all. The public is now more aware than ever of falling fish stocks.
I ,personally, am involved as I belong to the London International Club; LIC have a reasonably strong ethical basis of spearfishing. Representing LIC on a National / International level is the BSA. The competing members of the LIC ; and other BSA members; believe there are some very basic changes that could be made to promote more ecologically sound methods of competing.
There is also a very good chance in the future that limitations such licences, bag limits etc will come to all UK spearos. Would you rather some thought goes into this via the BSA competition mechanism now than when it comes. The BSA will probably represent us all in this situation.
I have done my bit to bring the fish population under control :naughty and am a keen spearo but I still do not like to see fish being shot unnecessarily. Size and bag limits go some way in stopping this.
If I am able to help in this way and all it takes is a bit of input / communication then I am happy to do so.
The above are some of the ways I see how the BSA rules affects us.
 


Sorry all at the BSA but I’ve got to agree with the above.
You boys can do as you wish within the BSA and what ever you do will be fine by me as long as you don’t try ramming it down other people’s throat, you leave us be and vice versa.
No offence meant but I can’t be doing with people telling me what I should or shouldn’t do at the best of times let alone when I’m on my own time and doing nobody any harm.
Again sorry for the negative vibe
Best
Paul

 
Reactions: Almostafish
Just noticed this exchange. I Know most on this thread got fed up of talking about competitions but I don't think Paul's trying to tell you what to take. He's offering you input into the direction competitions go. Nice one Paul.
As to it affecting you, if comps get spearing banned, in Wales or anywhere else ( south Devon?) you will be skulking around with your spearguns hidden, trying to avoid cops and objectors.
Many thought hunting with dogs wouldn't be banned and it had hundreds of times the number of supporters that spearfishing has. It didn't have a powerful commercial fishing lobby against it either. This discussion should go on a separate thread but If BSA offer you any say over what they do I'd advise everyone of you to take it. Spearfishing is illegal in Holland and Germany among others and could very easily be banned in the UK. Don't you all realise this?
 
Reactions: Almostafish
Aye Sunfish, I do understand that spearfishing is banned in many places and to be honest what is going to get spearfishing banned in this county is one PETA person watching a BSA competition weigh in, god forbid they understood that the competitors rarely eat the total of their catch and most of it ends up going to the local restaurants.. Pure KILLING FOR SPORT. Do you understand that?

Guys shooting every fish they see and then discarding the smaller ones as they swim to shore is also something thats going to bite everybody in the arse!

My idea is that spearfishing would have a much better profile and much less of a chance of being legislated ( Correct PPE sir! ) if Comps were fazed out over the next few years.

But... Thats just my idea and I have no wish to tell anybody else what to do, or what they should do.

If they ever ban spearo.. Well.. They have to catch me first.
 
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I completely support Sunfishes comments. Paul is trying to help us all by mitigating the most public and potentially negative image of the sport portrayed through the comps.

Whether you agree with comps or not is not where he is coming from. He is also not trying to tell anyone what to do. What he is trying to get support for is a more ecologically sound set of principles for the comps so that we as a whole group don't suffer from the images of mass slaughter of either the same type of fish (e.g. masses of triggers/Pollack) or small fishes (the size limits for Pollack is only 36cm) influencing some fishing authorities.

I for one do worry that my sport might get banned as a result of some knee jerk reaction from some local authority (e.g. South Wales earlier this year) as a result of this stuff.

Thanks Paul.
 
Reactions: Almostafish
Hey James I'm just not getting you here, you say comps are the problem, twice, and you are looking for a nicer way to perform a slaughter??

I objected to being told that the actions of the BSA affect all UK spearos. They have really no more say than you or I.

I know they are trying to do good but they all get a bit lost in the " BRITISH spearo club " thing and loose sight of the fact that they are just a bunch of guys who spearfish, and to be honest they are the organizers of the main problem that they are fighting against... The Competitions and the public perceived idea of the mass slaughter. Which lets face it does happen.

More views on this perhaps are needed. I am not against comps but for fuc*s sake guys own up to the results of your actions.
 
please read and understand what Paul is saying in his post...this is not all about competitions it is about spearfishing in general with regards to fisheries and local by laws (which will go through the BSA for the sport of Spearfishing) - So dont jump on your high horse regarding competitions, decisions made go deaper than that.
PS - the comment regarding dumping smaller fish when swimming to the shore, i would love to know where that came from!, as i have never seen or heard of that happening before

Thanks Paul for your post
 
Reactions: Almostafish
Ok.. I see it like this. My views and mine alone.

The Comp's are what the public see, they see lots of guys come ashore with all sorts and sizes of fish, all dead, for the name of Sport. They see the fish being unceremoniously treated and finally dumped into a bin bag into the back of somebody's car for disposal.

Now forgive me for this but it this not the " Perceived image problem " and part of the " Mass slaughter " idea?

I don't think that spearfishing would register on the political radar if it was not for the comps that the BSA organize.

So for the BSA to be our savior when they are actually perpetuating the negative image, I see this as a bit hypocritical. We shall save you from the negative results of our actions.. Yeah!

My views are my views, and and in the nicest possible way, if you don't like them well, you get the idea.

And as for smaller fish being dumped for bigger fish, wake up mate! It happens. Dont ask for photo evidence or GPS positions etc but be aware that it just does.

Apart from me having the audacity to question something somebody posted how about the question did any body else get wet today?
 
Reactions: stuckinsurrey
 
When I took on the job as a moderator here I said that I would still be me but in this situation it is difficult to express my own opinion. So if you would acknowledge that these are my own personal views and they don't reflect the position of deeperblue in any way:

My opinion of the BSA is well known, Yakdiver, Alison, Dick Splash, Up North, Tea bag, myself to name but a few are still waiting an apology for the treatment we received from your organisation four years ago.
If you are so keen on giving our sport a good light then stop your competitions or at the very least stop the public weigh ins. Have any of you ever stood back at one of these events and witnessed the public distaste? I am 100% behind Almostafish and Podge except in my case it is personal!

As for dumping the smaller fish, wake up mate, what do you do, say "no I wont shoot that one, I'll wait for one a few grams heavier"?
 
Reactions: Almostafish
I am also against spearfishing competitions and as I said in my original post, I'm glad they no longer take place in Ireland. I'm going to vote on the BSA poll though, as I'm a member of their forum and I'll do whatever I can to moderate the effect competitions have on spearfishing law.
I'm glad people have finally come out and declared against competition. I was begining to think no-one cared.
 
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