Guernsey 2018

[Fro-in-shorts]

Hi all been a bit lazy with dive reports recently as mine are all much the same.....go dive, find lobsters, don't say where....
Took my gun this time and went to a new spot (west coast) to look for lobsters and maybe take something silver.
After 2h of lobster hunting I finally found my first decent lobster (the kelp growth is making it a nightmare hunting the reefs) oddly enough with bands on. I spoke to a guy cricking on foot and he said a store pot had been split open. A 2nd lobster and decent spider followed shortly after.

On the way back Ed who I was diving with spotted a shoal of Gilthead in about 2-3m of water on the edge of a group of bass. I popped over and did a number of drops and no joy, nothing wanted to come near. Heading into the shallows where it was a little choppy/murky in 1m of water a gilthead suddenly shot past me, I managed a reflex shot on it hitting it just under the dorsal fin. Sufficed to say it was long gone and I was gutted

I did another hour and a half thinking a another opportunity might present itself. Sure enough I saw one large black spotted dinner plate hare past me in the shallows, then a 2nd 5min moving slowly and just out of range. They are skittish at the best of times but gave chase anyway and just managed to get within longshot range.

Sufficed to say jammy shot but very happy with the result

 

[little sarge]

2nd dive of the year for me this afty. Went to a west coast location which was new to me for a group dive with Edd, Brandon, Ed and Matt.
Was abit choppy and viz was very patchy in places. I was enjoying drops and watching bass pass at a million mph and others coming in to say hello. I saw a couple of nice silvers (6lb+) but with the viz as it was they saw me first and off they went. Nice to get in again and managed 3hrs without getting cold.
Left with a couple of nice eating sized silvers, thanks guys nice to catch up

 

[Brandon89]

Five of us got together for a group dive today, not the best conditions, slightly bumpy and the vis wasn’t great but still managed to stay in just over 3hrs.

Saw a lot of bass while stalking the bootlace, but mainly small. I had one swim past which was bigger so took a shot and managed to hit it.

On the way back in I saw some bigger fish but by the time I had seen them it was to late.

Ended with just the one fish but had a pretty good dive.

 

[MacTulie25]

Managed to get my first dive of the year in yesturday after too long on dry land and i wasnt disappointed . i decided to try a mark id had my eye on for a little while and it was great so lots of bass all whilst stalking in the bootlace , and some nice ones at that one of around 6-7lb and a second of easy 8 plus ubfortunately i think i was so shocked at what i was seeing i didnt have an opurtunity to take a shot but amazing to see we found a nice streach of water where the was a good gental flow of tide in the weed this with the precence of large shoals of sandeels is why i think the bass were there. After struggling to relocate this little strip of bootlace and tide i decided to move on and hunt elsewhere , i came across more bass but this time of a smaller size, finally i ended up with a mullet of 2 and a half lb which i was satisfied with and called it a day after that all in all i saw around 10 -12 bass 2 nice size mullet as well as the one i took , very keen to get back in if anyone fancys a dive this week ? Cheers Mac

 

[westcoaster]

5.5 hours in the sea over the wkd, Saturday was the first dive with the gun, had some back problems which has limited my dive sessions so far this year, one thing about diving its really good for your back, feels a tonne better already.
Went out to one of my regular spots on Saturday, saw a couple of 5lb bass, and 4 others around the 3-4lb mark, 2 of them came swimming towards me and screetched the brakes on when I made a noise at the wrong time, too far for a shot, I had one chance of a shot but the fish was too far away, got really cold and the shivering spooked off any other fish I saw so got out, good to be back in the water regardless.
Went out Sunday with the guys, was choppy and a fair amount of sea water at times down the snorkel, didn't see a lot for the first couple of hours, but everything came to life for me in the last hour, was stalking through the bootlace when I glanced that all too familiar grey head cruising ultra slowly through the bootlace, hovered for a split second behind the bootlace that separated me from the fish, just enough time to get a nice shot and a 4lb'r on the stringer. Took about half an hour to reload my gun as was wrapped up all over the place. Continued stalking and saw heaps of shoals of bass, some swimming under me in the bootlace, could have taken some other smaller fish but was happy with what I got, some stonking great mullet in the shallows on my way in but not close enough for a shot. Body feeling it now so a couple of days rest and hopefully back out again. Great to meet up with the guys again, really looking forward to the season ahead.

 

[Tipticiter]

Do you guys have much interest in these neap tides for spearing? I was tempted to try this evening (mainly to brush of the cobwebs)but not feeling it after a 4k swim, think i'd probably fall asleep. I've always preferred springs but wondered if maybe i was missing out on something.

 

[Brandon89]

i personally don’t mind, neap or spring both can be as good as each other

 

[westcoaster]

i personally don’t mind, neap or spring both can be as good as each other

Snap, a like the nip tides, depends on the place but some spots can be very productive - don’t miss out
Some of us with kids have to go out when the opportunity comes up, I’ve shot bass 4 hours before a low, even high tides if Im desperate to get out the house for some peace and quiet. [emoji12]

 

[foxfish]

You can find fish at any state of tide, when I started spearfishing around 1970, most divers hunted flatfish.
It made sense to dive the biggest spring tides at low water. That ment the fish could be found in shallow water.
Bass can be very susceptible on spring tides as you can very often find them resting in the string weed.
I prefer neap tides for bass, really calm days on a dead neap usually sees lots of bass in the extreme shallows.
For lobster and crab, spring tide lows but if you are a deep diver, then any time for them really.
I prefer neap tide lows for night diving beacause I feel safer!
Having said that I would add that .. developing knowledge of a certain spot should involve diving at all states of tide in that spot.
My Brother Derek, hardly ever went anywhere other than Port Grat but he knew the bay like no other and caught more specimen fish than you could shake a stick at.
I remember when he told the story about being out when the fog came down very thick, he was way outside the bay in deep water but found his way back by diving down to see which way the weed was moving and recognising the sea bed!

Changing the subject.. I went in today, first time this year, I know there has been lots of negativity about the bass resritsions but ... I must say I saw more bass today that I have for many years!
Going to try out my new filleting knife...

 

[MacTulie25]

Hi guys , im after some advise ive been looking at camo suits what id like to know is what mm thick suits do most use , also is two piece better or single what are the pros and cons of each.

 

[portinfer]

5mm two piece with hood built into the jacket.
Off the peg if you need it sooner rather than later and are average shape.
If you feel the cold and also for spring and autumn you could also buy a 2mm vest for under the jacket.

 

[little sarge]

Personally I have a camo 5mm 2 piece with long johns as that way you double up to 10mm on your torso and use a 2mm vest in winter as Ed mentioned and it’s fine. I have dived with a black and camo suits and I don’t think it makes a lot of difference. If you were only changing your suit because you want camo I wouldn’t bother until your current one is futu.

 

[MacTulie25]

Ive found a two piece apnea suit 5mm with a hood that im going to use thanks for the help guys i may find it a little cooler than my black semi dry suit, but should help me get down on some drops as my previous one was rather buoyant and had to carry alot of weight on my belt

 

[Fro-in-shorts]

What are people’s thoughts on pisettes? I came across one for the first time the other day and as comical as it was, it made a lot of sense to me.

 

[westcoaster]

Got into the sea yesterday afternoon, vis was rubbish as expected, but thought I’d give it a few go, spent first hour and a half searching for flatties on the very low tide, vis was fine on the bottom but it was barron, current was running fast and didn’t take long to get across the bay, nothing really so swam back in towards bay and hunted the bootlace areas, saw something big below me in a few meters of water, but gun was wrong side of a heap of weed, took at shot eventually but missed, continued through the lace and in some parts struggled to see my spear, waited in a few spots and a bass came to say hello, on the stringer, 5 mins later shot a mullet, was on the spear but spinning like mental and then ripped off, called it a day after that, took the Omer Cayman 75 out for the flattie and bootlace hunting in bad vis

 

[denian]

You can find fish at any state of tide, when I started spearfishing around 1970, most divers hunted flatfish.
It made sense to dive the biggest spring tides at low water. That ment the fish could be found in shallow water.
Bass can be very susceptible on spring tides as you can very often find them resting in the string weed.
I prefer neap tides for bass, really calm days on a dead neap usually sees lots of bass in the extreme shallows.
For lobster and crab, spring tide lows but if you are a deep diver, then any time for them really.
I prefer neap tide lows for night diving beacause I feel safer!
Having said that I would add that .. developing knowledge of a certain spot should involve diving at all states of tide in that spot.
My Brother Derek, hardly ever went anywhere other than Port Grat but he knew the bay like no other and caught more specimen fish than you could shake a stick at.
I remember when he told the story about being out when the fog came down very thick, he was way outside the bay in deep water but found his way back by diving down to see which way the weed was moving and recognising the sea bed!

Changing the subject.. I went in today, first time this year, I know there has been lots of negativity about the bass resritsions but ... I must say I saw more bass today that I have for many years!
Going to try out my new filleting knife...

Hi mart hope your getting bass for us ! Very nice knife you have there did you make it ? It wouldn't surprise me a all .im having knife issues I keep picking them up for pennies sharpening them and trying them out !trying to upload a picture

 

[foxfish]

Hi Ian, no I bought it from Japan in an auction, it is around 45 years old, hand made from folded steel.
It was in very poor condition, very rusty and no handle, it took me many hours to re shape and polish it, I built a new handle too.
I have since bought another one from Japan, a slightly more expensive one with the makers name and the previous owners name engraved into the steel.
The first one cost me around £60 this new one is about 30 years old and cost 70 something but still needs a hell of a lot of work!
I also bought a set of synthetic wet stones but I don’t talk about how much they cost.
However I am just working at the very low end of Japanese Deba knives, many sell for thousands of pounds.

I have been thinking about offering One as a prize for the competition.....if I can get it finished in time....

 

[foxfish]

The new one and the first one finished

 

[denian]

VERY nice ! I have noticed they always have knives like that when cutting very epensive tuna and sushi .whats it like to cut with ?

 

[foxfish]

I have not had much practice but it is a learning curve as you need to be wiping the blade after every cut to avoid leaving moisture on the blade!
However I love the ritual way of useing a deba knife, it is so fecking sharp that you need to be conscious of every second it in your hand.
I wish I had bought one 40 years ago, I might of then been be able to do it justice.