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Dorset spearfishing 2014

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Anybody been in this week, basic viz report portland to swanage please, and obviously all the double figure bass and gilthead marks:D
 
Got into Portland harbour last night - viz was pretty awful, up to 2m at best, and no fish seen except 1 red mullet, 1 flounder, and 1 bass, all too small to take. Thankfully I had a coolbox full of mackerel from a spinning session over at Chesil beforehand :)
 
i thinking about lulworth cove tomorow any good viz?

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9lb 12oz and 11lb 8oz.
long drive to find vis but had 8m at the chosen spot. it was teaming with bass, large shoals of goos size fish 3lb+ so picked off the better ones, mullet to 7lb, left them alone and lots of bass over 7lb in pairs.

managed to be fussy and pick off the ones that looked like double figures. missed a bigger one.
the walk and swim was extremely hard going.
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hi speerolee If you did find good viz could you tell which site better to go for viz did you hit devon or it was between pool and portland ?
because last night was not very quiet. I did't go. I m thinking about tonight 3-4 am to start if any body wants to go with me let me know 07723748571 ,I live in wookey is not very close .
thats why I don't want to get diving in the muddy water or should I go in plymouth area my spotnot far from there
 
Went to a spot involving a good hike on the purbecks this morning. Viz on entry was poor, you know it is when your hold your gun under your armpit. Improving when moving around the headland. Creeping through string weed in 1m of water disturbed 1 mullet but too quick for a shot, 20mins later around some huge boulders I see a massive head of a mullet, he crosses broadside and bang catch him just back from his gill plate, he goes nuts for 5 seconds then hangs from the surface soldier fashion looking stoned, I gently pull on the line and my spear falls out and down amongst the rocks getting stuck fast. I am in shock at the size of this submarine whilst trying to decide what to do, spear stuck and line tangled everywhere, so I decide on a quick bear hug. WRONG! He slaps me about after coming back to life and slips away, probably looked like I was being attacked by a shark if anyone was looking, I spend a while searching but no joy. Gutted to lose a fish, and what a fish most certainly 9-10lb and proper fat, not all are. Shot a modest bass soon after and missed 3 mullet on the trot. DOH! Took a swim across to more rocks and viz had gone, saw another bass that seemed to swap ends after seeing me a vanish, no chance of a shot. Anybody double wrap their guns? Mines a Comanche 75 and sometimes seems too short and others too long.
 
In again on another medium hike purbeck mark, pretty calm seas with light NW wind. Arrived just on low and viz was decent at 4m, better down deep. Missed another tank of a mullet straight away whilst laid on a huge slab of rock,AAHHH! Spent another 2 hrs drifting east on the flood and saw absolutely f**** all, nothing, zip, nada, this was 3 of us too, only fish of note was a 3lb mullet. Terrain looked great to my untrained eye, huge rocks topped with string weed plunging down 20 foot plus to patches of gravel,sand and kelp, loads of very sharp undercuts, gullies and caves. Spent time hunting the cliff face in shallows and diving in the gullies in the deep and saw only micro pollock and a million wrasse. I know this is my first season, but I'm no idiot and feel I'm doing ok, lots of very stealthy creepy crawly stuff, and spent plenty of time laid on the reef looking down to clear runs and undercuts, but don't even see a fish. Getting despondent. Going to radipole lake to shoot some muddy mullet!Full kit for sale including a wonky shooting gun!!!
 
So it's now nearly August and in this, my first year, I have caught absolutely nothing! The last few times I've been (mostly to dancing ledge) I've not even seen anything worthy of shooting. I think I've fired my speargun in anger the grand total of 2 times!
So what is my point?
1: How long was it before you speared your first fish?
2: Is a 30 second breath hold enough?
3: Can I get out with someone around the Poole / Purbecks area that can show me where the fish are?
Thanks
 
my first fish was 20 years ago on my first outing in a shorty wetsuit snd a sommap cheapy speargun. it was a mullet of 3lb :)

no need for breath holds, you can search in the shallows amongst weed; especially the green blanket weed on rocks, mullet love sifting through.

arrowloopboy will take you out and show you how to be an expert spearo.
 
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my first fish was 20 years ago on my first outing in a shorty wetsuit snd a sommap cheapy speargun. it was a mullet of 3lb :)

no need for breath holds, you can search in the shallows amongst weed; especially the green blanket weed on rocks, mullet love sifting through.

arrowloopboy will take you out and show you how to be an expert spearo.


Lol.....mate you really that old;)
 
Well maybe if he ever stops creating pointless threads that are not open to debate.
 
Not forgetting the record gilthead bream!
My first fish was this year withing 20mins of entering and was a 4lb mullet, mind you missed 3 shots before that, then i realised let em come close, real close. Went on to spear 4 on the trot then. As lee says no need for diving or breath holding to shoot some mullet, just find some of that bright green cabbage weed in the shallows, 1-3m, ideally with lots of boulders and string weed to hide you a bit, i have fiund that they dont really like dense kelp, and be really, really stealthy ( like you're sneaking out of a rough girls bedroom the morning after and definitely don't want to stir the beast!), and be prepared to hang around motionless for 5-10 mins on or behind a rock if a place looks likely and they are quite active and move round a fair bit. Keep your gun pointed midwater and away towards deeper water as they will see you and skirt around and drift off towards the open sea, that way your gun is already pointing where they are going. You can be lucky and see the occasional bass in or around the mullet. I'm certainly no expert but have had a bit of success straight away( better to be lucky than handsome my mrs says!), most mullet I see are within 50ft of the shore and normally in waist deep water, just before high water is normally the best time for me, I normally go on a neap as I find the viz is a lot better, but my mate reckons a big tide sees more mullet coming in close to shore, if you can see them that is. With Dancing ledge you should be on the right tracks for bass, mullet and some pollack( although the pollock are always smaller than you'd think in the purbecks), not telling you how to suck eggs but watch the ebb tide flowing E to W there as it can be vicious and you will not swim against it, the flood seems to only run at half the pace. Last trip in that area I had was 2 hrs before low then 1 hr up on a neap and I drifted a mile in an hour easy and that's close to the cliffs.
 
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