Dorset Spearing 2009

[fishfox]

me and chris picked a couple up a year or so ago,just chucked them in a pot for a few minutes,most of what we ate was in the legs and claws,very tasty,especially with the beer we also drank! oh yeah happy birthday chris.

To make Spider crabs worth while don't bother with anything with claws vertically thinner than 1.25 inches and as already stated only go for the males. There is also a load of good white meat where the legs join into the main body. It is a bit fiddly to get at, but well worth the trouble if you cut into and split the "hip" compartments with a knife. I like to eat them simply boiled in water, with some nice bread and a decent chilled white wine.

For maximum enjoyment take your time, get all of the white meat and eat whilst viewing the sunset from the beach. Life doesn't get any better!

 

[cesar]

Ole!!!
Yes,fishfox,that is the secret ,eat it slowly and patiently,enjoy the nice sweet meat flavour,but definately take your time.To me it is a delicacy.

 

[Gaz D]

Justy got back from Guernsey and about to gop out for a dip in the water. I'll get those crab recipied posted later (if I'm back in time - v.busy at the mo). They are not mine, I got them from Hugh Fernley Whittingstal's River Cottage Fish book, if you have access to it. There's a couple in there: one for lingine, and one for devilled crab - both really good. Also tells you how to 'pick' the crab properly (i.e. how to get all the meat out properly - but you can forget it if you think I'm typing that lot out as it's several pages long!)

Cheers,

G.

 

[Broseidon]

Justy got back from Guernsey and about to gop out for a dip in the water. I'll get those crab recipied posted later (if I'm back in time - v.busy at the mo). They are not mine, I got them from Hugh Fernley Whittingstal's River Cottage Fish book, if you have access to it. There's a couple in there: one for lingine, and one for devilled crab - both really good. Also tells you how to 'pick' the crab properly (i.e. how to get all the meat out properly - but you can forget it if you think I'm typing that lot out as it's several pages long!)

Cheers,

G.

Deviled Crab:






Spider Crab Linguine

 

[the_milkman]

I've tried the latter - very, very good!

 

[rascolor]

Hi guys any one know wat the viz in the water around portland now
planing to go on boat with pablo this weekend for the first time in this year,nead calm water and small wind this weekend. And some fish for supper

 

[tonyiannu]

Hi all
is anyone willing to get into the water for Sunday???
Please send me a PM.
PS.:Anytime~~~~~Anywhere.
Cheers
Toni

 

[Spaniard]

Sequential posting.. I know I know.. But

To address this issue of a little formal training I could run another Vobster meet in a month or so if there is the interest?

Its a free (Part from you need to pay entry to Vobster lake, about £15 and bring enough booze for the obligatory after dive bbq) training day just to get everyone on the same page for summer and give people the chance of a bit of first aid/freedive knowledge and to meet everyone. No promises but with the right word here and there you leave with enough to get you some more depth/time/ another few years of safer diving.

I am off to sea shortly but have email access to if your interested then PM me and I will sort something out.

I urge all of you to follow Bryn's advice - a bit of training will help all of you regardless of how many years experience you have! One day you might have to rescue your dive buddy or be rescued yourself! We should all have some basic knowledge, I enjoyed every minute of mine (well it was Tanya teaching ;-)) Joking aside, it is an investment worth every penny!!!!

 

[podge]

I’ll second all of the above, Bryn’s a more than fair teacher and put’s the case for formal training well.
As for the saving of my dive buddy, only if he had pies, beer or the car keys on him, but if he had better fin’s than me, well ask Bryn…roflroflrofl

 

[scottmcblue]

Hey Podge, took yours and glowworms advice got myself a H.dessault 75 carbon. It arrived the other day. Awesome bit of kit, so light! well happy! cheers guys.

 

[Broseidon]

Hey Podge, took yours and glowworms advice got myself a H.dessault 75 carbon. It arrived the other day. Awesome bit of kit, so light! well happy! cheers guys.

Where do you actually buy Dessault guns from?

 

[Gaz D]

Broseidon,

Good effort on those recipies mate. I was actually gonna sit down and type the lot out (hence delay whilst I psyched myself up).

Are you gonna put those other pages up for picking and cleaning the crabs?

By the way, I've tried the devilled crab recipie. Very nice, but recommend you go easy on the non-crab parts of the ingrdients, as it can swamp out the crab a bit (experiment and see what is best for you).

There are plenty of spiders about at the moment, including some really big males.

 

[Gaz D]

I took this Dover Sole yesterday evening. It weighed in at just under 2lb, so nice size for the plate, but I'm a bit concerned about a nasty 'wound' it seems to have. Initially it looked as though it might have had a previous encounter with a speargun, but the 'hole' looks a bit too big for that to be an explanation.

Could it be some kind of parasitic attack?

Should I eat it (or should I cook it up for my girlfriend?)?

Would it be safe to eat around the hole?

If anyone has seen this sort of thing before (and survived eating it) I'd love to hear from you.

All the best,

Gaz.

 

[Gaz D]

Where do you actually buy Dessault guns from?

I'd like to know a bit more about them too. Can you you tell us why you like them so much fellas - difficult to get indepent info any other way.

 

[scottmcblue]

hi lads,
i bought my gun from a french company, as i struggled to get one in the uk. i did try the deeper blue shop first but didnt have what i wanted in stock and couldnt give me any idea when they were getting more. the company i actually bought it from was called Mio Palmo, who is an official dealer of H.dessault. the website is in french but you can use google to translate the page, l spoke to bloke called Denis, who just faxed me over an order form printed in english, which i filled out with all details and faxed back, no fuss!

 

[glowworm]

Glad to see you got your gun Scottmcblue.

Denis @ Mio Palmo is a legend really helpfull and speaks good english.I have brought alot of kit off them in the last couple of years including a 90cm carbon gun:inlove

The dessault kit is very well made and there is a big choice.

 

[chrisreynolds]

Does anyone know where i can buy an ice blade? mine has snapped across the screws :head

I really only want to shell out for a single blade.....is it possible to get them as singles?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks chaps.

Ps. I'll probably need talking through the swapping process as it'll be the first time i've done it.

 

[Trelawney]

I took this Dover Sole yesterday evening. It weighed in at just under 2lb, so nice size for the plate, but I'm a bit concerned about a nasty 'wound' it seems to have. Initially it looked as though it might have had a previous encounter with a speargun, but the 'hole' looks a bit too big for that to be an explanation.

Could it be some kind of parasitic attack?

Should I eat it (or should I cook it up for my girlfriend?)?

Would it be safe to eat around the hole?

If anyone has seen this sort of thing before (and survived eating it) I'd love to hear from you.

All the best,

Gaz.

Hey Gaz
I would say that someone has had a shot at that sole already. Sole fight like crazy when speared, and can all to easily be lost. All the thrashing around they do can cause the damage seen on the one you have. Just cut around the wound when filleting to neaten it up. Tasty Fish!!:friday

Cheers, Chris

 

[scottmcblue]

nice fish glowworm!

 

[Old Man Dave]

Dover soles have often got wounds on them. I think these are mainly from 2 sources. First off commercial fishing. Mono static tangle nets are used to target sole and knowing how strong sole are they often must rip free of the mono which I'm sure cuts into them. Also soles are a main target of beam trawlers which drag literally tons of chain with a net attached over the sea bed. The chain digs into the seabed and "kicks up" the soles into the following net. Some soles must escape and be damaged. Secondly soles are a common food for some predators but especially conger. Both fish are nocturnal and I have caught a fair few conger with soles in them and also seen soles with perfact conger shaped bite marks on them.

I have caught a lot of soles with old injuries partly or completely healed. I have never seen a deseased one. They always seem healthy no matter what state they are in.

Sole do have parasites on them but they are skin parasites that look like little black hairs on their backs. Never seen worms inside a sole.

Personally I'd eat your fish and any such fish as long as it didn't look deseased. Cut around the "bad" bit if it makes you feel better.

Hear you had a GG as well. Now they are good eating. Better than a sole in my opinion.

Dave.

PS any bank will change our real money into your mickey mouse stuff at an exchange of one to one with no fee. Just pop in your high street branch. Good excuse to come back though if not. Catch you next time.