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Guernsey 2009
- Thread starter Magpie
- 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.
Yes I was pleased with todays haul. I have only managed a couple of bass, a couple of plaice, one wrasse and one mullet for my total catch this year so far. We have been having a really tough time over here. Vis has been poor mainly due to the big tides and some neverending strong winds, but mainly there just doesn't seem to have been any fish.
Today was so different from say monday when 2 of us spent 2 hours far out working really hard for no fish even seen. Hopefully this will see the start of our season proper.
I usually only take a few mullet to eat and today I selected the best 4 from the many shoals that were about. They were fine fish all between 4 and 5 pound. Saw about 20 bass in total, some in shoals and some singles. Nothing bigger than 5lb though. Fired 4 shots at the bass and got them all. Was pleased with that.
Yes, Mart is back from Cornwall and I suspect he will nab a couple of bass along with my brother Derek. Would be nice to smoke the wrasse but not sure if the smokehouse is ready as it was undergoing renovations. The bass will all be eaten by tomorrow but I think those wrasse fillets will go into the freezer with the mullet for later use.
Now that the round fish are sorted where at them flatties? Maybe tomorrow.
Dave.
Today was so different from say monday when 2 of us spent 2 hours far out working really hard for no fish even seen. Hopefully this will see the start of our season proper.
I usually only take a few mullet to eat and today I selected the best 4 from the many shoals that were about. They were fine fish all between 4 and 5 pound. Saw about 20 bass in total, some in shoals and some singles. Nothing bigger than 5lb though. Fired 4 shots at the bass and got them all. Was pleased with that.
Yes, Mart is back from Cornwall and I suspect he will nab a couple of bass along with my brother Derek. Would be nice to smoke the wrasse but not sure if the smokehouse is ready as it was undergoing renovations. The bass will all be eaten by tomorrow but I think those wrasse fillets will go into the freezer with the mullet for later use.
Now that the round fish are sorted where at them flatties? Maybe tomorrow.
Dave.
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Nice catch Dave - I cant wait to get my nashers around one!
The big smokehouse is being used as a winter wood store at the moment as I simply have not got around to summer mode - as yet.
Cornwall was great, I have posted a bit on their thread, it is amazingly like a vastly bigger version than Guernsey!!
Some of the big food restaurant chains are really cheap, Wetherspoons for instance sells pints from £1.30 - £2.50 & house whine @ £6.95 a bottle. To be honest if you are a foodie then we struggled to find anywhere to compare with our restaurants even the fish n chip shops smelt like pot-bait.
Plymouth was really interesting for us at least although some guys seem to think I was joking when I said we liked Plymouth?
The big smokehouse is being used as a winter wood store at the moment as I simply have not got around to summer mode - as yet.
Cornwall was great, I have posted a bit on their thread, it is amazingly like a vastly bigger version than Guernsey!!
Some of the big food restaurant chains are really cheap, Wetherspoons for instance sells pints from £1.30 - £2.50 & house whine @ £6.95 a bottle. To be honest if you are a foodie then we struggled to find anywhere to compare with our restaurants even the fish n chip shops smelt like pot-bait.
Plymouth was really interesting for us at least although some guys seem to think I was joking when I said we liked Plymouth?
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Hello there everyone. The writer about mermaids is back. And I have good news. After far too long a time working at this -- it’s not done, just to make that clear at the front end -- including a slow job of editing the sections I have finished and over a months work of work that had to be scrapped because the story wasn’t flowing right, I have finally gotten my mermaid to her fiction Channel Islands-based island, and in the next scene, she’ll go into its waters for the first time! rofl
(Also of note, just yesterday, I wrote the word “ormer” in my story for the first time, and I just less than a minute ago added it to my spelling checker.)
I may well be writing to you much more regularly since my mermaid is in C.I. type waters and I’m sure to think of questions that can best be answered by people with direct experience.
So let me ask for your advice now. I’ve mapped my plot outline to specific dates in the calendar, since I know that what the oceanic conditions are like would vary throughout year. So, my mermaid enters the sea for he first time on October 11. What would you typically see/feel/or even hear when swimming on that date? (In the daytime). What’s normal visibility? What fish would be particularly abundant or particularly absent. I want to include a birds flying/swimming through the water to grab a fish in its bill. That would be a shock for my mermaid, to see a bird dart past her in the water. Is hat plausible for that time of year?
My understanding is that October is the stat of the rainy season for you -- or has a huge increase in rainfall, at least -- but I do feel justified in weighting the weather in my mermaid’s favor for now, so I won’t be raining. Maybe later in the day, but not during her swim.
Also, I should mention that my fictional inland of Tane is a cross between a lot of Sark and a little Jersey, with my mermaid entering the sea in the Jersey-ish part (from a place roughly based on the harbour outside Gorey Castle.) So I don’t know how much experience you have swimming near the other islands or really how much that matters, but please bear that factor in mind.
Also, wen you say that water is milky, (this elated to recent posts, not my previous question) is that more caused by churning water or growth of plankton? Or is it both?
Oh, and happy (belated by a few weeks) Liberation Day!! :friday
(Also of note, just yesterday, I wrote the word “ormer” in my story for the first time, and I just less than a minute ago added it to my spelling checker.)
I may well be writing to you much more regularly since my mermaid is in C.I. type waters and I’m sure to think of questions that can best be answered by people with direct experience.
So let me ask for your advice now. I’ve mapped my plot outline to specific dates in the calendar, since I know that what the oceanic conditions are like would vary throughout year. So, my mermaid enters the sea for he first time on October 11. What would you typically see/feel/or even hear when swimming on that date? (In the daytime). What’s normal visibility? What fish would be particularly abundant or particularly absent. I want to include a birds flying/swimming through the water to grab a fish in its bill. That would be a shock for my mermaid, to see a bird dart past her in the water. Is hat plausible for that time of year?
My understanding is that October is the stat of the rainy season for you -- or has a huge increase in rainfall, at least -- but I do feel justified in weighting the weather in my mermaid’s favor for now, so I won’t be raining. Maybe later in the day, but not during her swim.
Also, I should mention that my fictional inland of Tane is a cross between a lot of Sark and a little Jersey, with my mermaid entering the sea in the Jersey-ish part (from a place roughly based on the harbour outside Gorey Castle.) So I don’t know how much experience you have swimming near the other islands or really how much that matters, but please bear that factor in mind.
Also, wen you say that water is milky, (this elated to recent posts, not my previous question) is that more caused by churning water or growth of plankton? Or is it both?
Oh, and happy (belated by a few weeks) Liberation Day!! :friday
October is a time of plenty in our sea, most fish are fat & full in readiness to move into deeper water for the winter months.
In October the sea is still warm & sea birds plentifully, Shags are the most likely bird to see underwater (often mistaken for cormorants) but Guillemots (like a puffin) catch their food underwater & are quite common too.
Visibility is always variable but October can be very clear, milky is not one of my terms but poor vis is usually caused by rough weather & takes a few days to clear.
The other cause for poor vis is algae, we can get algae blooms thoughout the spring & summer but not in October.
I cant help you with Jersey but Sark is famous for clear deep water & good stocks of fish.
PS Gannets are a common sea bird but I have never seen one underwater.
In October the sea is still warm & sea birds plentifully, Shags are the most likely bird to see underwater (often mistaken for cormorants) but Guillemots (like a puffin) catch their food underwater & are quite common too.
Visibility is always variable but October can be very clear, milky is not one of my terms but poor vis is usually caused by rough weather & takes a few days to clear.
The other cause for poor vis is algae, we can get algae blooms thoughout the spring & summer but not in October.
I cant help you with Jersey but Sark is famous for clear deep water & good stocks of fish.
PS Gannets are a common sea bird but I have never seen one underwater.
By the way some of you might of missed Spags birthday http://forums.deeperblue.com/beach-bar/83075-spaghetti-birthday-boy.html
Nice catch Dave. That's more fish in one dive than I've had in two years!
Had a load of flatties last season but all were in deep water 40m + round the south coast. Had a few sole this year in shallow water 15m or so from the east coast but that's all. No Plaice, no Brill, no Turbot. Hurumph. Did see an electric ray off the east coast and a bruiser of a blonde in 50m on a wreck north of Herm.
Finally managed to try my dry suit this weekend at Saints. Ahhhhh - bone dry and really comfy so I'm well chuffed! Vis was below average - maybe 12ft or so.
Might slip in for a spear-a-la-wan later this week.
Had a load of flatties last season but all were in deep water 40m + round the south coast. Had a few sole this year in shallow water 15m or so from the east coast but that's all. No Plaice, no Brill, no Turbot. Hurumph. Did see an electric ray off the east coast and a bruiser of a blonde in 50m on a wreck north of Herm.
Finally managed to try my dry suit this weekend at Saints. Ahhhhh - bone dry and really comfy so I'm well chuffed! Vis was below average - maybe 12ft or so.
Might slip in for a spear-a-la-wan later this week.
I find it interesting that many of our top spearo's find their bass in deep water & in caves
(post 82 http://forums.deeperblue.com/uk-ireland/81682-sussex-report-2009-a-6.html#post768995) where as we have always hunted them in the shallows.
Obviously we have changing times & dramatically less bass each year, maybe we need to change tactics.
Well, when I say "we" I dont actually mean "me" as I cant dive deep anyway!!
(post 82 http://forums.deeperblue.com/uk-ireland/81682-sussex-report-2009-a-6.html#post768995) where as we have always hunted them in the shallows.
Obviously we have changing times & dramatically less bass each year, maybe we need to change tactics.
Well, when I say "we" I dont actually mean "me" as I cant dive deep anyway!!
i can barley do 25ft and have a good amount of time down, let alone 40+, i find it amazing how they can pull off such dives, ive put 20 seconds on to my time down this week but thats only because ive started to practice my breathing again,
maybe one day i will be able to..........
maybe one day i will be able to..........
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I've done the odd bit of scuba and even caught the odd flatfish that way. Even dived a few wrecks ( http://forums.deeperblue.com/754470-post276.html ) ( http://forums.deeperblue.com/uk-ireland/81682-sussex-report-2009-a-5.html#post768305 ) although I don't do the deep stuff. About 30 metres is my limit. Who do you go with? Not one of Squeakers party?
Dave
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It is interesting Mart, the fish must be there in the deep water and caves here, but it'll take a better man than me to go find them. Maybe if we had some 70ft viz....
Anyway, was in yesterday after work mid west. Viz was pretty good but not sparkling, could make out the bottom in 8m which is the best I've seen for a long time.
Saw lots of life, but no bass. Dunno why they weren't there, they should have been, there was shoals of baitfish, sandeel and roselet everywhere, along with the usual rockies and small pollack.
Started out deeper for a while, was surprised how quickly the hold has come back with very little practise, but after an hour of 1.20min aspettos with no joy I went and mooched the shallows but there was nowt of interest there either.
Good to be able to see where I was going for once though!
Oh, and twice I was sure I heard a gun go off but couldn't see anyone else in the water
Anyway, was in yesterday after work mid west. Viz was pretty good but not sparkling, could make out the bottom in 8m which is the best I've seen for a long time.
Saw lots of life, but no bass. Dunno why they weren't there, they should have been, there was shoals of baitfish, sandeel and roselet everywhere, along with the usual rockies and small pollack.
Started out deeper for a while, was surprised how quickly the hold has come back with very little practise, but after an hour of 1.20min aspettos with no joy I went and mooched the shallows but there was nowt of interest there either.
Good to be able to see where I was going for once though!
Oh, and twice I was sure I heard a gun go off but couldn't see anyone else in the water