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Guernsey 2006
- Thread starter portinfer
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
, There was no answer in this thread for more than 90 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
Extreme Noodle Eating!
In August this year, we have a group of young folks from the King's Church heading out to China to support a work amongst foster care families. http://www.careforchildren.com.cn (A charity set up by a former Guernsey resident, Bob Glover)
Part of their fund raising efforts is an "Extreme Noodle Eating Challenge!" - they've been eating noodles in all the wrong places... like... in the cockpit of an Aurigny... in the air. Photographic evidence is produced and donations have been made.
My challenge to the guys is to eat noodles at the bottom of the bathing pools. [with chopsticks of course] Sounds like fun to me!
If I publish the photo evidence here - would you guys like to throw a few quid in the pot?
If you'd like to play - then please PM your pledges to me and I'll set the wheels in motion and get the pics taken.
Many thanks for your consideration.
Marcel
In August this year, we have a group of young folks from the King's Church heading out to China to support a work amongst foster care families. http://www.careforchildren.com.cn (A charity set up by a former Guernsey resident, Bob Glover)
Part of their fund raising efforts is an "Extreme Noodle Eating Challenge!" - they've been eating noodles in all the wrong places... like... in the cockpit of an Aurigny... in the air. Photographic evidence is produced and donations have been made.
My challenge to the guys is to eat noodles at the bottom of the bathing pools. [with chopsticks of course] Sounds like fun to me!
If I publish the photo evidence here - would you guys like to throw a few quid in the pot?
If you'd like to play - then please PM your pledges to me and I'll set the wheels in motion and get the pics taken.
Many thanks for your consideration.
Marcel
Cor la, isn't your freezer full yet?
Well I went out, not too far from where you boys were in yesterday.
Managed to get into the suit alright and the weightbelt didn't feel too bad around me still tender guts so I set off.
10 minutes in and I hadn't even seen a rockie, but that was soon to changed, rounding one bank of weed I saw out of the corner of my eye, not 2m to my left, the biggest tank of a bass I've seen snorkelling yet, this thing was HUGE. Only problem was it was there, looking at me, and my gun was pointing in totally the wrong direction. Trying to act like a log I slowly inched the gun round, there was no way I was going to be able to line it up so I'd just had to take a snap shot square on to my body, if it didn't bolt first.
Slowly, slowly the gun swung, the Sherman was looking at me trying to work out what i was, just as it was nearly in line it turned behind some weed, but it was so big it stuck out both ends, it was now or never...........
Missed, the line rubbed over its back as the spear flew safely wide. :head
The Sherman just shrugged it off, did a full 360 degree tour of me then pootled off, it was 8lbs easily, could well have been double figures
Anyway, after that there was loads of mullet, but I leave them alone, missed another bass, normal size this one, and got a 3lber for me tea
Was good to be wet again, and no ill effects on the old guts. Looks like the bass are here at last!
Well I went out, not too far from where you boys were in yesterday.
Managed to get into the suit alright and the weightbelt didn't feel too bad around me still tender guts so I set off.
10 minutes in and I hadn't even seen a rockie, but that was soon to changed, rounding one bank of weed I saw out of the corner of my eye, not 2m to my left, the biggest tank of a bass I've seen snorkelling yet, this thing was HUGE. Only problem was it was there, looking at me, and my gun was pointing in totally the wrong direction. Trying to act like a log I slowly inched the gun round, there was no way I was going to be able to line it up so I'd just had to take a snap shot square on to my body, if it didn't bolt first.
Slowly, slowly the gun swung, the Sherman was looking at me trying to work out what i was, just as it was nearly in line it turned behind some weed, but it was so big it stuck out both ends, it was now or never...........
Missed, the line rubbed over its back as the spear flew safely wide. :head
The Sherman just shrugged it off, did a full 360 degree tour of me then pootled off, it was 8lbs easily, could well have been double figures
Anyway, after that there was loads of mullet, but I leave them alone, missed another bass, normal size this one, and got a 3lber for me tea
Was good to be wet again, and no ill effects on the old guts. Looks like the bass are here at last!
Sorry to be a spoilsport. Just turning on my conservation hat, how many Bass do you need for a good feed? I want there to be some left for when the water warms up and I decide to go in. Considered it today but decided to just chuck a plug about for an hour, saw one bass which looked at the popper then went off the other way...
Along with my brother I’ve just had the most amazing experience of hunting bass I’ve had in 40 years as a spearo. In two days we’ve caught about 14 bass between us.
However that’s not the whole picture. We’ve deliberately limited our catch by trying to spear the larger bass with headshots. If we had just fired at all the bass then we might have caught double or treble this amount or possibly even more. As I said it’s been amazing and I’ve never seen so many bass before. All of the bass have been a good size of mature fish, averaging about 4 to 5lb.
I don’t think that I’ve discovered a “secret” bass utopia where anyone can go to catch fish. For some reason over 2 days there have been large numbers of bass in a certain area. Tomorrow they’ll probably be somewhere else. They may never be there again in similar numbers. I’ve never seen them there in such numbers before.
Spearing bass is very difficult and requires large amounts of skill usually only gained by long years of experience. Then there’s dedication – I did 15 dives this year in cold and often murky water for zero bass. Most people couldn’t catch the fish we’ve caught in the last 2 days.
We’ve been lucky, exceptionally lucky to have had a chance to make the catch of a lifetime. We’ve also had the experience and skill to exploit it. However, we made a decision tonight, as soon as we came ashore, that we would not fish there again this month. Chances are the fish will be gone soon anyway but whatever we won’t be fishing there.
As I’ve already said we were limiting our catch but even so we knew that this was not enough. Both of us are committed conservationists and have been very vocal in our opposition to over fishing, especially of bass at Boue Blondel. Now our 14 bass pales into insignificance compared to 100 tons or so taken from BB but everyone has to do their bit. We are not fishing spot “X” again this month and we are not passing on info to anyone else. This is our decision, we were not influenced by anyone else and we stand by it.
Dave
However that’s not the whole picture. We’ve deliberately limited our catch by trying to spear the larger bass with headshots. If we had just fired at all the bass then we might have caught double or treble this amount or possibly even more. As I said it’s been amazing and I’ve never seen so many bass before. All of the bass have been a good size of mature fish, averaging about 4 to 5lb.
I don’t think that I’ve discovered a “secret” bass utopia where anyone can go to catch fish. For some reason over 2 days there have been large numbers of bass in a certain area. Tomorrow they’ll probably be somewhere else. They may never be there again in similar numbers. I’ve never seen them there in such numbers before.
Spearing bass is very difficult and requires large amounts of skill usually only gained by long years of experience. Then there’s dedication – I did 15 dives this year in cold and often murky water for zero bass. Most people couldn’t catch the fish we’ve caught in the last 2 days.
We’ve been lucky, exceptionally lucky to have had a chance to make the catch of a lifetime. We’ve also had the experience and skill to exploit it. However, we made a decision tonight, as soon as we came ashore, that we would not fish there again this month. Chances are the fish will be gone soon anyway but whatever we won’t be fishing there.
As I’ve already said we were limiting our catch but even so we knew that this was not enough. Both of us are committed conservationists and have been very vocal in our opposition to over fishing, especially of bass at Boue Blondel. Now our 14 bass pales into insignificance compared to 100 tons or so taken from BB but everyone has to do their bit. We are not fishing spot “X” again this month and we are not passing on info to anyone else. This is our decision, we were not influenced by anyone else and we stand by it.
Dave
Dont be sorry Andy, that is a relevant question. My answer in this instants is, about seven, depending on size. That is seven fish between two people. I think three fish of 3.5-4.00lb is about what I need to feed my family.
We could of shot more Bass, maybe seeing 50 or so. We also saw dozens of mullet + numerous wrasse, all of which we left alone.
Having said that, three bass is a very good catch & certainly not a average.
We could of shot more Bass, maybe seeing 50 or so. We also saw dozens of mullet + numerous wrasse, all of which we left alone.
Having said that, three bass is a very good catch & certainly not a average.
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"....and we are not passing on info to anyone else. " Hmmmm Well I know it wasn't at my favourite secret big bass spot... Went there this morning ... up at 5:30am and into the water around 6:45 or so... alot of swimming - someone got the tides slightly wrong (me !) - thought it would be slacker than it was but ended up doing my infinity pool training (but about a mile offshore).
Anyway had a great dive - saw alot o mullet and I am in no way at all bitter and twisted about the distinct lack of big bass at my secret big bass spot
Might be going in tomorrow morning - might try a different spot
Good catch Dave and Mart Got the smoker going yet ?
Shame about the tank Tom but at least you are seeing them Better luck on the next dive... glad to hear that you are back in the water
Oh ... might rig for tuna ... heard on the Cornwall report that they have seen a bonito (a metre long tuna type fish according to two witnesses) by their local jetty Might need a reel....
Cheers
Ed
Well I know it wasn't at my favourite secret big bass spot... Went there this morning ... up at 5:30am and into the water around 6:45 or so... alot of swimming - someone got the tides slightly wrong (me !) - thought it would be slacker than it was but ended up doing my infinity pool training (but about a mile offshore).Anyway had a great dive - saw alot o mullet and I am in no way at all bitter and twisted about the distinct lack of big bass at my secret big bass spot
Might be going in tomorrow morning - might try a different spot
Good catch Dave and Mart
Got the smoker going yet ?Shame about the tank Tom but at least you are seeing them
Better luck on the next dive... glad to hear that you are back in the water Oh ... might rig for tuna ... heard on the Cornwall report that they have seen a bonito (a metre long tuna type fish according to two witnesses) by their local jetty
Might need a reel....Cheers
Ed
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spaghetti said:
Spaghetti the Mullet we catch over here can be very strong in flavour, too strong for many Englishman. Our Mullet are not very consistent in flavour either, some are far stronger than others.
I find the best way to deal with a Mullet is a combination of preparation & cooking.
Here is my method of cooking Mullet: Fillet your fish, remove skin & MOST importantly remove the lateral line (the red flesh) This is the reason Mullet taste so strong, the red meat. Remove all the red even if it means sacrificing some white flesh.
Based on 1lb of flesh, chop a teaspoon of Dill, 1 garlic clove, teaspoon of coriander & a small amount of fresh chili. Add all ingredients into a food processor + a half teaspoon of salt, a half teaspoon of sugar & a tablespoon of olive oil. Process into a course consistency & make into small patties & fry in olive oil until crisp on both sides.
You can add more herbs if you like but you wont taste the fish. But you can make a dipping sauce out of the same ingredients with perhaps more chili & sugar.
Hi Boys,
Sorry bout the moan, I fully know the conservation benefits of the spearing way of fishing in the selectiveness and "luck". Been having a nightmare time at the moment with conservation issues following the Black Fishing saga. I am privy to a lot of information in my position from various sources and at the moment the Guernsey Press has been up to some nasty tricks and has been incredibly biased towards commercials making the RSA's and conservation minded individuals (of whom there are a lot reading this) look like they alone are causing the stock downfall where commercials are being praised for their supplying details about the recreational fishermen selling fish illegally and desecrating (sp.?) stocks.
The fight for RSA and tourism in Guernsey is looking really lost at the moment as the GEP refuses to report both sides of the story and the literally dozens of letters they have had contradicting the black fishing saga with REAL evidence. To all those who want to know the rest of the story behind my moan, best ask someone privatley for a link to info. (Foxfish, OMD, Magpie, Me can all tell you).
Andy
Sorry bout the moan, I fully know the conservation benefits of the spearing way of fishing in the selectiveness and "luck". Been having a nightmare time at the moment with conservation issues following the Black Fishing saga. I am privy to a lot of information in my position from various sources and at the moment the Guernsey Press has been up to some nasty tricks and has been incredibly biased towards commercials making the RSA's and conservation minded individuals (of whom there are a lot reading this) look like they alone are causing the stock downfall where commercials are being praised for their supplying details about the recreational fishermen selling fish illegally and desecrating (sp.?) stocks.
The fight for RSA and tourism in Guernsey is looking really lost at the moment as the GEP refuses to report both sides of the story and the literally dozens of letters they have had contradicting the black fishing saga with REAL evidence. To all those who want to know the rest of the story behind my moan, best ask someone privatley for a link to info. (Foxfish, OMD, Magpie, Me can all tell you).
Andy
ADM
To add to your woes I have to confess I have also shot my first Bass yesterday. And hopefully it will not be my last. Also took a nice mullet today. New suit works a treat. The Pelagos is working well but I am struggeling like anything to get the wishbone to seat properly. Perhaps you have some advice that I could use. I have filed the spear a bit and it worked well for a bit but it slips and I have the fat finger to prove this. :crutch
To add to your woes I have to confess I have also shot my first Bass
yesterday. And hopefully it will not be my last. Also took a nice mullet today. New suit works a treat. The Pelagos is working well but I am struggeling like anything to get the wishbone to seat properly. Perhaps you have some advice that I could use. I have filed the spear a bit and it worked well for a bit but it slips and I have the fat finger to prove this. :crutchAttachments
Well done Chris. No longer a virgin eh!
Andy, I think that it's really good to have blokes like you around. Your work for conservation is not unappreciated. I know that you know that spearing is a pretty conservation biased method of fishing.
One of the reasons I participate in this excellent thread on this excellent forum is to get information out into the open. Personally I try to write as many informative reports as I can while hopefully keeping them interesting. I have tried to be as truthful as any fisherman can be bearing in mind the nature of that particular beast. So it's good to see all the times we catch nothing getting an airing as well as the trophy pic's of dead fish.
Anyone who wants an insight into spearfishing in Guernsey could do worse than sitting down and reading last years Guernsey Summer fishing in full. There are some wonderful trip reports there of people having a great life experience and often not even catching a cold let alone a fish.
Must end with this note though, from the summation of last years thread "Hopefully next year as well as more members more people will be writing reports". So how about some details of your experience Chris, for starters.
Dave .
PS went tonight around Bordeaux. Saw very little (no bass) and caught nowt. Nice dive though.
Andy, I think that it's really good to have blokes like you around. Your work for conservation is not unappreciated. I know that you know that spearing is a pretty conservation biased method of fishing.
One of the reasons I participate in this excellent thread on this excellent forum is to get information out into the open. Personally I try to write as many informative reports as I can while hopefully keeping them interesting. I have tried to be as truthful as any fisherman can be bearing in mind the nature of that particular beast. So it's good to see all the times we catch nothing getting an airing as well as the trophy pic's of dead fish.
Anyone who wants an insight into spearfishing in Guernsey could do worse than sitting down and reading last years Guernsey Summer fishing in full. There are some wonderful trip reports there of people having a great life experience and often not even catching a cold let alone a fish.
Must end with this note though, from the summation of last years thread "Hopefully next year as well as more members more people will be writing reports". So how about some details of your experience Chris, for starters.
Dave
.PS went tonight around Bordeaux. Saw very little (no bass) and caught nowt. Nice dive though.
You have a new speargun but your wife is going to SAspicer said:
[Have you read Miles' Bluewater Hunter thread?]rofl Well done the Foxy bros - super catch
. Great photos. Excellent report. Seems like a lot of you guys are seeing bass & mullet action now -perhaps Summer (or Spring anyway?! "Mayvember" - indeed!) finally arrived.
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Nicely done Chris! Good to see we're all in the fish. That looks like a lovely gun as well.
As far as the wishbone goes mine is now sorted and hasn't slipped once, but I did do a lot of filing, of both the notch and the wishbone. From you pics the bit that goes round the notch looks to be very long, the back end of it may well be pivoting against the part of the spear past the notch, try filing this as a steeper angle, see if that helps.
One other thing, because of my own finger damage probs I bought this thing called a loading crab, its a little plastic gismo that clamps on the wishbone and spear and you pull it back using two handles, so your fingers aren't in the firing line. I was a bit sceptical but used it yesterday and it works very well. Its a bit of a faff and another thing to carry around but if it makes you more confident...
Here's a pic of my bass the other day, and one of this loading crab jobby.
As far as the wishbone goes mine is now sorted and hasn't slipped once, but I did do a lot of filing, of both the notch and the wishbone. From you pics the bit that goes round the notch looks to be very long, the back end of it may well be pivoting against the part of the spear past the notch, try filing this as a steeper angle, see if that helps.
One other thing, because of my own finger damage probs I bought this thing called a loading crab, its a little plastic gismo that clamps on the wishbone and spear and you pull it back using two handles, so your fingers aren't in the firing line. I was a bit sceptical but used it yesterday and it works very well. Its a bit of a faff and another thing to carry around but if it makes you more confident...
Here's a pic of my bass the other day, and one of this loading crab jobby.
Attachments
OMD here are the details of the experience - losing my bass virginity
The weather was perfect I had just picked up Beardy and my diveskin camo wetsuit at the postoffice and I rushed home from work with a SA friend (Otto) who was here on a visit. Beardy met up with us at my home and we headed out to Foxy's hole. It was an hour before Neap low so not a very promising tide but we were all eager beavers. Viz was very good and we ambled out quite quickly. I was checking out some bootlace weed when I noticed three large mullet cruising about three meters from me. I let the first two pass and shot the third but hit it a bit high and after a mighty struggly it tore loose and off it sped. Continued poking around and saw some huge wrasse. Beardy promptly shot one and Otto followed suit. I did not want to christen my new gun with a wrasse and kept looking for Mr. Bass or mullet. In a little gully with some bootlace there he was facing me head on he noticed me and started to turn. I took a deep breath and carefully sighted along the spear and let fly. He took off with the spear safely lodged in the middle region.
Grabbed hold of the fish and double stringed it. Killed it with my knife and shared the joy with Marcel. Short time later Marcel also picked up a bass and hooted with glee.
We waited for the tide to turn so that we could enter the pond but after about two hours we were still waiting. I kept looking around and took a similar shot at another bass but missed. Saw another few that zoomed off. I decided to swim back the long way and Marcel and Otto made way accross the rocks. Great day and nice fish.
The following day we went out with my little dingy - together with Otto, Stefan (dentist friend). Initiated Stefan in the sport (helps to have two wetsuits etc.). He took to it so well that we dived for five hours. We went along to the outer reef at Perelle and amongst the bare rocks in about five meters of water I spotted some nice mullet. They did their disappearing act but I kept looking around. In the shallows about two meters of water once again bare rock I spotted a noce mullet and let fly. Bit over anxious and missed it. Little bit later same story. This one came back and took a carefull look at my impotence as I was franticly hauling back my spear. I rounded another large outcrop and there it was feeding in amongst the pebbles. It saw me and slowly started to move. I took the classic double handed fully extended stance and sighted carefully just behind teh gills. I let fly and it was on. It fought well but was thoroughly speared. I strung it and finished it with my knife. Saw some more but nothing within distance.
Got back to the dingy and headed off towards Vazon. Noticed that my wishbone did not want to seat at all. Fortunately had another rigged rubber and swopped as the wishbone was bent. Explored this new area and saw loads of wrasse and other small pollock, spider crabs etc. Did a few good drops and really enjoyed the experience. Stefan was franticly signalling me as he had his sights on something. Turned out he had just missed a wrasse that was hiding under a rock. I promptly dispatched of it. He missed another very large one (over 8 pounds) and I didn't. Only saw one small bass though. BBQ'd the lot. What a week-end. :t
The weather was perfect I had just picked up Beardy and my diveskin camo wetsuit at the postoffice and I rushed home from work with a SA friend (Otto) who was here on a visit. Beardy met up with us at my home and we headed out to Foxy's hole. It was an hour before Neap low so not a very promising tide but we were all eager beavers. Viz was very good and we ambled out quite quickly. I was checking out some bootlace weed when I noticed three large mullet cruising about three meters from me. I let the first two pass and shot the third but hit it a bit high and after a mighty struggly it tore loose and off it sped. Continued poking around and saw some huge wrasse. Beardy promptly shot one and Otto followed suit. I did not want to christen my new gun with a wrasse and kept looking for Mr. Bass or mullet. In a little gully with some bootlace there he was facing me head on he noticed me and started to turn. I took a deep breath and carefully sighted along the spear and let fly. He took off with the spear safely lodged in the middle region.
Grabbed hold of the fish and double stringed it. Killed it with my knife and shared the joy with Marcel. Short time later Marcel also picked up a bass and hooted with glee.
We waited for the tide to turn so that we could enter the pond but after about two hours we were still waiting. I kept looking around and took a similar shot at another bass but missed. Saw another few that zoomed off. I decided to swim back the long way and Marcel and Otto made way accross the rocks. Great day and nice fish.
The following day we went out with my little dingy - together with Otto, Stefan (dentist friend). Initiated Stefan in the sport (helps to have two wetsuits etc.). He took to it so well that we dived for five hours. We went along to the outer reef at Perelle and amongst the bare rocks in about five meters of water I spotted some nice mullet. They did their disappearing act but I kept looking around. In the shallows about two meters of water once again bare rock I spotted a noce mullet and let fly. Bit over anxious and missed it. Little bit later same story. This one came back and took a carefull look at my impotence as I was franticly hauling back my spear. I rounded another large outcrop and there it was feeding in amongst the pebbles. It saw me and slowly started to move. I took the classic double handed fully extended stance and sighted carefully just behind teh gills. I let fly and it was on. It fought well but was thoroughly speared. I strung it and finished it with my knife. Saw some more but nothing within distance.
Got back to the dingy and headed off towards Vazon. Noticed that my wishbone did not want to seat at all. Fortunately had another rigged rubber and swopped as the wishbone was bent. Explored this new area and saw loads of wrasse and other small pollock, spider crabs etc. Did a few good drops and really enjoyed the experience. Stefan was franticly signalling me as he had his sights on something. Turned out he had just missed a wrasse that was hiding under a rock. I promptly dispatched of it. He missed another very large one (over 8 pounds) and I didn't. Only saw one small bass though. BBQ'd the lot. What a week-end. :t
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