You can, and they're good eating, just didn't feel like it with this one. It followed us up from the bottom and hung around for quite a while being friendly so just tried to get some footage of it.
-
Welcome to the DeeperBlue.com Forums, the largest online community dedicated to Freediving, Scuba Diving and Spearfishing. To gain full access to the DeeperBlue.com Forums you must register for a free account. As a registered member you will be able to:
- Join over 44,280+ fellow diving enthusiasts from around the world on this forum
- Participate in and browse from over 516,210+ posts.
- Communicate privately with other divers from around the world.
- Post your own photos or view from 7,441+ user submitted images.
- All this and much more...
You can gain access to all this absolutely free when you register for an account, so sign up today!
Guernsey 2017
- Thread starterfoxfish
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
, There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 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.
Can anyone help with a fish identification?
I saw a shoal of fish yesterday, about 50 of them, between 300 and 400mm long, silver-white in colour, no colour variation on the body. The shape can best be described a a stretched black bream, so about twice as long as a black bream would be for the equivalent height.
I saw a shoal of fish yesterday, about 50 of them, between 300 and 400mm long, silver-white in colour, no colour variation on the body. The shape can best be described a a stretched black bream, so about twice as long as a black bream would be for the equivalent height.
After some help if possible? Went for a few hours this afternoon down at Saints Bay. The vis was pretty poor but managed to spear a good sized mullet. Unfortunately as I was trying to dispatch it, the barb on my spear (which isn't sprung) folded down and it got away. This is the second time it's happened now. Not good for the fish, and no good for my dinner either.. As a novice I know my technique will be poor, and I'm learning I should probably have it on the stringer before dispatching? But can anyone give any tips? And can you get a sprung barb spear for Beuchat spearguns? Thanks
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hi Ben, Loosing fish is always a risk, especially with softer fleshed fish, particularly mullet which often go loopy when you shoot them. The trick is to not rely on the flopper of your spear (sprung is not normal) once shot you hold the fish and I generally grip the shaft of the spear between the flopper and the fish then stick it on my float/stringer it then despatch. Generally also the better your shot the less likely the fish will escape, with shots through the head/spine and into the body more likely to immobilize the fish.
Failing that you can use a multi pronged spear which can make a bit of a mess and reduce your range, but fish don't get away.
Failing that you can use a multi pronged spear which can make a bit of a mess and reduce your range, but fish don't get away.
Hey Ben, I think you already realise your mistakes but it is inevitable that the occasional fish will escape.
Being calm & only taking 'sure fire shoots' is obviously the way to go however ... the temptation of taking chance shots can be strong!
You can buy twin barb spears or you could slip an elastic band over the spear & under the barb but, the best policy it getting close to the fish & getting a well placed shot.
Sole are possibly the most likely fish to rip off the spear, but 'gut shot' mullet also go crazy, twisting & riving until they open up a big enough hole for the barb to release its grip. However a head shot mullet offers the reverse situation when the spear takes a lot of effort to remove & it is often best to push it right through & unclip the spear from the running line.
I have found the extra power of an air gun can work very well at sending the spear right through a fish so it is only held buy the running line. This means the fish cant use the spear as a lever to open up a big hole but at the end of the day a well placed shot is the way to go.
Always get the fish on your stringer before removing the spear, then always kill the fish by roughly abusing the red gills with you knife or stringer spike. This will ensure death & bleed the fish ( I hate blood in my fish fillets)
Being calm & only taking 'sure fire shoots' is obviously the way to go however ... the temptation of taking chance shots can be strong!
You can buy twin barb spears or you could slip an elastic band over the spear & under the barb but, the best policy it getting close to the fish & getting a well placed shot.
Sole are possibly the most likely fish to rip off the spear, but 'gut shot' mullet also go crazy, twisting & riving until they open up a big enough hole for the barb to release its grip. However a head shot mullet offers the reverse situation when the spear takes a lot of effort to remove & it is often best to push it right through & unclip the spear from the running line.
I have found the extra power of an air gun can work very well at sending the spear right through a fish so it is only held buy the running line. This means the fish cant use the spear as a lever to open up a big hole but at the end of the day a well placed shot is the way to go.
Always get the fish on your stringer before removing the spear, then always kill the fish by roughly abusing the red gills with you knife or stringer spike. This will ensure death & bleed the fish ( I hate blood in my fish fillets)
Thanks guys, really appreciate the guidance.
Looks like it'll be a while before the conditions settle but already itching to get back out.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Looks like it'll be a while before the conditions settle but already itching to get back out.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Went for an impromptu night dive after work with Kerin. Just looked at the bay on the way home and thought fu3k it, why not.
Calm but high.
Clear water and small sole around pretty much immediately after getting in. Saw some Couch's - one each on the stringer. I picked up a lobster and let it go as it was too small but Kerin found a larger one at the end of the dive. Covered alot of ground and saw all the usual suspects including some fat boy gar's, bass, Couch's, sole, eel, grey mullet, Kerin saw gurnard I think.
The real surprise was that we didn't see any red mullet - or Kerin saw one maybe - but I was hoping to see a few worth taking.
There were a couple of sole at about 30cm but we left them to grow. Saw one small plaice that was left too.
Good dive, the calm before the storm
Calm but high.
Clear water and small sole around pretty much immediately after getting in. Saw some Couch's - one each on the stringer. I picked up a lobster and let it go as it was too small but Kerin found a larger one at the end of the dive. Covered alot of ground and saw all the usual suspects including some fat boy gar's, bass, Couch's, sole, eel, grey mullet, Kerin saw gurnard I think.
The real surprise was that we didn't see any red mullet - or Kerin saw one maybe - but I was hoping to see a few worth taking.
There were a couple of sole at about 30cm but we left them to grow. Saw one small plaice that was left too.
Good dive, the calm before the storm
Thinking of selling my Rob Allen Tuna 800 if anyone is interested, bought it earlier this year and have only used is maybe 8 times. It cost me £150 but thinking ill let it go for £75 and throw in the gopro mount for it.
In with Ed last night, well, once I'd gone home to retrieve the forgotten mask I caught up with him anyway. Reasonable viz after the storms and turns out we'd dropped in on a red mullet convention. We both could have taken more than twice as many as we did. Oddly no flatties, again. Bad year for them it seems. Plenty of other stuff to see and shoot though so here's a vid, including some brief footage of Ed's crustacean chaos in the boulders that went on for much longer than I could be bothered uploading.