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Guernsey 2010

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.
Some of you guys might not of seen this fish

May I introduce to you Mr Burnard the Gurnard!!!!
 

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In today North east area. Was on the edge of a rip swimming diagonally through as it was only a few metres deep and very fast when I saw a shoal of 4 or so large fish. I shot the only one that came close enough and it weighed in at about 6. It was definitely one of the smaller of the shoal. Never seen that many large-ish fish together, but I saw plenty of smaller fish around. Some too small to shoot and others too quick. My brother was in at the same area and got two shots off but missed both on apparently a couple of OK fish. He also saw quite a few bass. He got a mullet later on in the dive. In for about two hours, patchy vis but never horrendous and sometimes pretty good. 8-10m+ in the best areas probably.

PM if you want exact time and area. Best dive in ages.

Nick
 
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Guernsey Spearing Shops

There are at least 3 main shops stocking spearo gear in Guernsey. Nothing flash but some worthwhile bits are held in stock. Micks fishing (Aladdins Cave complex), Dive Guernsey in the bunker by the model yatch pond and North Quay Marine on the North side St Sampsons Harbour just off the Bridge are the 3 shops.

These shops can be useful and I noticed Micks had some excellent Ron Thompson neoprens socks in cheaper than the ones I got from Apnea. They all stock bands and while not the cheapest if you need one you can walk in and buy and be up and running againin a few minutes.

Two of the shops have been asking me for help/advice on spearo gear. I think the good conditions this year (weather not fish) have encouraged sales of spearing gear.

I have left some DB business cards in the shops with the advice that newbies at least look in on us and hopefully get some good advice.

I am a little concerned at the ignorance of some prospective speargun owners and to some extent the sellers. Any accidents could harm us all. Only last year the police contacted me for an opinion on some new proposals about including spearguns in new firearms laws.

Anyhow Matt at Dive Guernsey wants to sponsor some sort of social, beach barbeque type of event to raise the profile of spearing :friday . Any thoughts?

Dave.
 
One of the things I noticed around all three Channel Islands I visited was that dark band at the high water line, which I came to call "the ring around the island." (That's based on a phrase used in an old American advertisement for a detergent that promised to remove "ring around the collar.") Is there an official name for that?
 
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I am a little concerned at the ignorance of some prospective speargun owners and to some extent the sellers. Any accidents could harm us all. Only last year the police contacted me for an opinion on some new proposals about including spearguns in new firearms laws.

Why - what happened? :crutch
I was defo in the camp of ignorant customer, and also have to say the shop did a good job of mis-selling too (not one of the ones you mentioned).

Anyhow Matt at Dive Guernsey wants to sponsor some sort of social, beach barbeque type of event to raise the profile of spearing :friday . Any thoughts?

Bravo! Maybe a Guernsey comp? a speccie hunt...
I'm always keen to meet up with other spearos, so it could be fun.
Maybe in November when the wind and rain has died down a bit. :headrofl
 
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Maybe in November when the wind and rain has died down a bit. :headrofl
It was lovely out last night but I admit I gave up trying to cast a 7g jig head on the east coast, but tell you what, it went miles on the west coast!!

Much better out of than in the water I reckon... One extreme to the other with this Guernsey weather.
 
Hi my name is Luke, I come from Alderney but live in Guernsey for college, I have a couple of questions on spearfishing as I am young new spearo and any help would be great.
I was wondering what gun size and type would best suits the our waters and spearfishing habitats as I am looking at buying a new one? Also do you recommend double banding it?
Also i don't use a weight belt at the moment and have read and been told that they are a vital bit of kit, what type and weight is recommended to use?

Any Info will be great and useful,

cheers,

Luke Butel
 
Welcome to Deeper Blue Luke.


Gun size, well a 75 or a 90 will be fine. 90 will give you all the range you need in the viz we are now used to over here, and here is no need to use double bands on it. A 75 will be a bit more manouverable in the weed beds and still have decent range, maybe it would come down to how you think you'll be mostly spearing, close range weedbed stalking, or deeper open water aspetto?

Weight belt are indeed essential. You need to be able to dive efficiently and without one you will either not be able to get down very far, or be wasting lots of energy in diving which will massively reduce your dive times.

You can get plenty of fish from the surface in the shallows, but you do need to be able top dive to retrieve fish and gear and just generally see whats out there. All the dive shops have belts (rubber belts are better as they don't slip) and weights, how much you'll need varies depending on your suit and how bouyant you are naturally. Try starting at about 12lbs and work up from there if needed.

If you're just starting out you should aim to always be bouyant and the depths you'll be working at. Don't worry about being neutral or negative until you've got a bit more experience.
 
Ok, cheers for this info it will hopefully get me going on track to spearfishing.

I think ill just keep to the rocky weed beds for now as they hold most the fish I have been told. So for now you think a 75 cm would be my best buy?

Luke.
 
Some beginners find 90's tough to load, especially as many seem to come with 18mm bands these days, so a 75 may be better suited.

If you get into it and want a bigger gun in future the 75 will still be good for night diving so it won't be wasted money.
 
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Hi luke,
try and get smaller weights rather than the larger blocks that dive shops tend to sell, that way you can adjust your weight more carefully and spread the load out. You may end up with a weight vest later on too...
Regarding guns, just be careful which one you buy, i noticed that one of the shops which has just started selling beuchat guns only stock the cheapo thin guns with thin bands and wire wishbones - personally i dont think they're up to much at all. If you see a gun you like, then get on here and post the make/model and i'm sure people will offer you their opinions...
Personally i would suggest that you also carry a sharp knife.
The best advice i got when i started (not so long ago) was to work on being silent/stealthy in the water - good advice! if you have short fins then be aware of how much noise they can make and try and keep the splashing to a minimum.
Let us know how you go...
 
Hi,

Is this guernsey thread still used? New(ish) to the site but would like to know if im the only person not seeing any fish in Guernsey this year? Also where the best spots are as if there are fish out there as I'm obviously not in the right place i?? Havent caught anything since a night dive last year!
 
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Cheers Jonny250, I am looking at getting the Mares Phantom fv 75 tonight and see how it is, also with the weights issue, how much do you think i should get to try to start with? I was looking at ordering 4 3lb weights?

Hi Foxfish, I think its the same Andy, Andy Carre?

Luke.
 
Hi,

Is this guernsey thread still used? New(ish) to the site but would like to know if im the only person not seeing any fish in Guernsey this year? Also where the best spots are as if there are fish out there as I'm obviously not in the right place i?? Havent caught anything since a night dive last year!

Welcome to DB, hut.

It's been a bit quiet the last few weeks although there are still a few bass being caught. Flatfish season proper is about to start.

There are some mullet, pollack and wrasse about, although apart from 2 big wrasse I haven't bothered with these species.

There was a reasonable patch of fish a month ago approx. If you read back you'll see I've had a fair few smaller bass plus some bigger ones to 8+lb and other spearo's had some 6's and 7's. However it is true that Guernsey is way overfished IMHO. Mainly commercial fishing especially Boue Blondel and pair trawling but aven numbers of anglers and God forbid spearo's are taking their toll.

Not much good at the moment with big tides and even bigger winds. Still you don't know if you don't go. Thinking about going tomorrow myself.

Memories of 4 weeks ago http://forums.deeperblue.com/guernsey/85255-guernsey-2010-a-30.html#post811769 :) .

Dave.
 
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