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Guernsey 2011
- Thread starter Jonny250
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
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Well Jonny & myself made the most of the great weather & took my boat out to the north west coast for an afternoon's rod fishing, we caught a few bream, pollock, gurnard, cuckoo wrasse, ballan wrasse & a single mackerel.
Looks great for tomo too...
Looks great for tomo too...
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Would love to, Jonny, but have to work. All of this playing in Sark had given me a backlog of routine jobs.
Thanks to Beardy for joining me on a night session last night, we found the fish!
Seen, but not all taken were lots of sole, quite a few scad, red mullets, cuttlefish, a red gurnard, a TUB gurnard, a bass, chancre, and probably others that I've forgotten...
Thanks also to foxfish for a great afternoon fishing, great to be out!!!
Seen, but not all taken were lots of sole, quite a few scad, red mullets, cuttlefish, a red gurnard, a TUB gurnard, a bass, chancre, and probably others that I've forgotten...
Thanks also to foxfish for a great afternoon fishing, great to be out!!!
Had a good dive in at bec du nez drifting down to fermain today; good vis, flat calm and very pleasant. A little hard swimming back against the tide before exiting at fermain for the walk back up, but well worthwhile
Thanks once again to beardy for joining me. Let me know when the freezer is getting full
Thanks once again to beardy for joining me. Let me know when the freezer is getting full
Hi Jonny,
A very cryptic account of your dive.....did you catch something special?
I have been in 2day 2. At 07.30 this morning, I set off in my little boat with with my friend Cobus. We dived the south west coast of Jersey
It was a stunning autumn morning, no wind, not a ripple. The sea was slightly grey and still recovering from recent storms so vis was only about 10feet. The best part of the day was seeing a real lunker of a bass. I had just leveled out in the kelp, in about 30feet, when a 3lb pollack raised up about 6 feet infront of me, I just watched the pollack and then slowly looked around to my left to find that I had landed right next to a real monster bass. She was resting in the kelp. She was on my left side , only three feet from me and parallel to me. We were facing opposite directions. Her tail was in line with my head. Her head was somewhere opposite my thigh area. Unfortunately i was tucked right into the kelp and the bass, and I, were was surrounded by kelp stalks. My gun was pointing forwards so I couldn't turn it! For some 20seconds I lay there, I could see every detail of her scales and fins. I gradually began pulling my gun back underneath me and started to try to move it to point side wards. I got in line with her tail but as i did so,I watched the black backed monster shake slightly, raise her huge dorsal and then with a gentle movement of her tail glide silently away into the gloom. I knew turning rapidly was useless and wouldn't result in a shot, so I just waited and then quietly surfaced. I spent another 15 mins having a good look around but she was nowhere to be seen . Guestimate of 10-12lb. A close encounter but not close enough! At the end of the day, I had three bass all about 4lb and 3 decent pollack, so didn't go home empty handed.
A very cryptic account of your dive.....did you catch something special?
I have been in 2day 2. At 07.30 this morning, I set off in my little boat with with my friend Cobus. We dived the south west coast of Jersey
It was a stunning autumn morning, no wind, not a ripple. The sea was slightly grey and still recovering from recent storms so vis was only about 10feet. The best part of the day was seeing a real lunker of a bass. I had just leveled out in the kelp, in about 30feet, when a 3lb pollack raised up about 6 feet infront of me, I just watched the pollack and then slowly looked around to my left to find that I had landed right next to a real monster bass. She was resting in the kelp. She was on my left side , only three feet from me and parallel to me. We were facing opposite directions. Her tail was in line with my head. Her head was somewhere opposite my thigh area. Unfortunately i was tucked right into the kelp and the bass, and I, were was surrounded by kelp stalks. My gun was pointing forwards so I couldn't turn it! For some 20seconds I lay there, I could see every detail of her scales and fins. I gradually began pulling my gun back underneath me and started to try to move it to point side wards. I got in line with her tail but as i did so,I watched the black backed monster shake slightly, raise her huge dorsal and then with a gentle movement of her tail glide silently away into the gloom. I knew turning rapidly was useless and wouldn't result in a shot, so I just waited and then quietly surfaced. I spent another 15 mins having a good look around but she was nowhere to be seen . Guestimate of 10-12lb. A close encounter but not close enough! At the end of the day, I had three bass all about 4lb and 3 decent pollack, so didn't go home empty handed.
This day last year, OMD was chopping apples ready for cider making the next day - the next day he was dead!
Dave had only been seriously ill for a few months, he was positive of mind & hopeful for the future but that was not to be...
"Today, I took out Dave's friend & boatman for an emotional journey in my little boat.
OMDs friend had plenty of great OMD stories to tell including a couple of near death experiences too!
I was shocked to find out that "somethings" Dave had decided not to tell me - scary things too!
On one occasion Dave was descending on Scuba & down about 80' as his boatman moved the boat off, Dave's bobber got caught up in the prop & 380hp dragged him at high speed back to the surface!
I occasionly felt, that Dave, was one day, going to get in trouble on or "in" the sea!
His knowledge of our locale waters was amazing to say the least - but, his passion for the sea was sometimes too great!
I very often became worried when he was going night diving alone in bad conditions & thought that perhaps he might find a gill net, get caught up & drown or maybe something like getting lost in the fog at night but, I never thought he would die from cancer!"
We both concluded that Dave would of wanted us all to carry on as normal but, for anyone who new him, that would be a difficult challenge indeed!!!
However - in the best spirit of all things......
We (that's me & his son Tom) will be drinking a bottle of 11 month old OMD cider while making more of the new batch of OMD cider.
I have decided to always add a bottle of last years cider to the new unfermented apple juice so we will always have a little bit of Dave's peeled apples in the drink
Dave had only been seriously ill for a few months, he was positive of mind & hopeful for the future but that was not to be...
"Today, I took out Dave's friend & boatman for an emotional journey in my little boat.
OMDs friend had plenty of great OMD stories to tell including a couple of near death experiences too!
I was shocked to find out that "somethings" Dave had decided not to tell me - scary things too!
On one occasion Dave was descending on Scuba & down about 80' as his boatman moved the boat off, Dave's bobber got caught up in the prop & 380hp dragged him at high speed back to the surface!
I occasionly felt, that Dave, was one day, going to get in trouble on or "in" the sea!
His knowledge of our locale waters was amazing to say the least - but, his passion for the sea was sometimes too great!
I very often became worried when he was going night diving alone in bad conditions & thought that perhaps he might find a gill net, get caught up & drown or maybe something like getting lost in the fog at night but, I never thought he would die from cancer!"
We both concluded that Dave would of wanted us all to carry on as normal but, for anyone who new him, that would be a difficult challenge indeed!!!
However - in the best spirit of all things......
We (that's me & his son Tom) will be drinking a bottle of 11 month old OMD cider while making more of the new batch of OMD cider.
I have decided to always add a bottle of last years cider to the new unfermented apple juice so we will always have a little bit of Dave's peeled apples in the drink
I only met OMD once when I was first introduced to night diving. I was staggering back from the Wayside when I bumped into him exiting the water. I had never even considered that people would be so mad as to dive after sunset. He very generously offered to introduce me to the 'dark' side of the sport, but I mislaid the hastily scribbled phone number and never met him again.
A missed opportunity which has been partly filled by Jonny and his generosity.
A missed opportunity which has been partly filled by Jonny and his generosity.
Hey mart, just thought id say, im sad to realize its been a year since omd's passing, he was a true inspiration, a real legend, and a marker to judge all acolades against, if i've done and seen half as much as omd before i kick it i will be a very happy man.
A great post Mart and I'm glad you can think of some happy memories of Dave, as well as of course some sadness. I only knew him for a few years but he taught me so much about spearfishing, fishing, and generally what we like to call bodging, although with Dave's amazing knowledge of anything to do with engineering etc. it was far from that. Fortunately, unlike Spirit, I did get to go on my first night dive with him, and he was very patient when I got tangled up and had all sorts of little problems. He also (typically) very kindly pointed out a plaice and let me catch it, which I still managed to cock up! I also remember when I had a problem with my Mamba losing pressure, and Dave helped me dismantle it, then we dropped the vital ball bearing on his patio, never to be found! He was devastated that his kind attempt to help had failed, but of course when I found a replacement he got it all sorted for me. ( p.s. I now have a supply of 6mm stainless ball bearings if anyone needs one!)
Dave's posts were always very entertaining, and wonderfully written. You could publish them as a book! Ellie bravely did a brilliant tribute to him at her wedding, so he wasn't forgotten there either.
So here's to OMD, we all join you in raising a glass to an unforgettable character and another great contributor to DB, which Foxfish has continued.:waterwork
Dave's posts were always very entertaining, and wonderfully written. You could publish them as a book! Ellie bravely did a brilliant tribute to him at her wedding, so he wasn't forgotten there either.
So here's to OMD, we all join you in raising a glass to an unforgettable character and another great contributor to DB, which Foxfish has continued.
:waterworkBooked a suite in Chateau Chaire for Sarah's birthday but Condor are offering £15 day returns for the feast so we might do a few lunches as well..