Ireland spearing 2007

[abusingelves]

right!
i'm relatively new to the forum, and fairly new to spearing, but i think that its time us irish had our own thread to post trip reports and what not on the board.
there are a few of us out there, so why not help each other out.

so as far as i gather, the moderators have to make this thread a sticky, and i can't do it myself.

anyhow, i'll start off the reporting myself, but have no pictures sadly. (i'm working on it)

about 2 weeks ago i got out with my 'new' beuchat rascass 50cm. which proved to be vastly underpowered, but still did what it said on the tin which was reef or hole fishing. so there i am movin nice and quietly around a little bay thing when two nice mullet appear out of nowhere. luckily they circled around and presented for a shot. missed, just over the back. but luckily they were really stupid mullet and they came back again. this time i got a shot at the larger one and bam, direct hit, but what was this? the spear just bounced off!

felt a bit rejected, but recomposed myself and continued on ( that was the last i saw of the mullet) so in about 4 m of water i spotted a nice sized wrasse which retreated in between some boulders. it stuck its head out and i managed to get close enough without sending it running and nice one, a direct hit in the head, but it retreated in between the boulders managing to pull the spear out. so i circled around the boulders and somehow managed another hit which let me pull the wrasse out.

so it was wrasse for dinner the following day.!

now i'm using my 120cm beuchat mundial competition, and there is no lack of power, but it is a bit awkward and i don't like shoting it if there are any rocks which i could possibly hit. the 50cm is going to have to go on the market, and maybe a 90cm will be bought.

anyways, i'll keep updating my own trip reports and that sort of thing. it'd be great if we could share info and that, as there are only a few of us about (the irish coast that is).

 

[fcallagy]

hi abusing good report i am based in sligo and seamunki is i think mayo way who is a spearo i think. i dont spear myself but do freedive. there are a few others south and dublin direction. hoping to set up a regular freediving session each week in mullaghmore at present pol if weather is bad other wise the sea.

 

[sunfish]

Hi there elfboy, this irish thread may be a good idea.If there are enough of us it should take off but I'm not sure how many people spearfish regularly in Ireland.I go 3 or 4 times a week if the weather and sea conditions allow it.
The last week or two, things have been a bit patchy here in W.Cork,due to the weather, but I got out last Saturday [7/7/07] for a couple of hours and kayaked out to a reef near here, taking pollack of 5.4 and 5.5lbs.Tuesday the 10th I paddled out to a wreck near to the same reef.I made 23 dives on the wreck, between 12.09 and 13.48. There were some decent pollack around the 5 to 6 lb mark.I didn't need any to eat and the water was a bit cloudy for good photos so I left gun and camera in the kayak.It was high tide at the time and all dives were in the 40 to 50ft range, deepest 51ft.I'll go back at low tide when the water is clearer and have a good poke about in the wreckage.I'm sure there must be conger, ling, and maybe cod there somewhere.
Thursday the 12th I swam a stretch of rocky shallows where I saw a few bass, and shot one of 5.3lbs for the table.
I'll be out again tomorrow!
Can someone explain to me the exact steps to post photos please.I can then show you some of these fish.I keep a diary of every session with tide times and heights, and weather conditions, water temps,fish weights etc. I'd advise any other spearo to do the same.It comes in v. useful now and again.
Come on now all you Irish spearos, get posting and support this thread.

 

[fcallagy]

Sunfish on the photo end resize them to less than 1024 wide i think, then in a thread or post go to advanced in that you will see a paper clip for attachments it should come up in a new screen "manage attachments" use the browse button to find the picture you want (renaming the ones you want and saving them in a file you can access easily) you can upload 5 at a time to a post. Then click the upload button and they should appear in your post as text with attach beside them. you can use the preview button to see the post before publishing and can always go back and edit it anyway. Give us a shout if any of the above doesn,t make sense, i may not have explained it to well.

 

[abusingelves]

right sunfish. those pollack sound nice! i'm yet to see a bass, but i'm rearing to head for the clare coast soon to see if i could spot them.

far as i know there aren't any here in galway.

i'm heading out later this evening so i'll let you know how i get on.

i've been getting out as often as i can over the last two months.

my old wetsuit being too small for me verticaly, has had to be decommisioned.

my new suit has been ordered from spearo, but that will soon be 2 months ago. must give him a call next week.

so only having the bottom part of my suit (farmer john) has limited my time in the water to just under an hour, before the cold really bites!

i'm working on the depth of my dives, but wouldn't manage 50ft yet.

my dives are under (less than) 10m. but i haven't pushed, as that was usually the bottom.

 

[fcallagy]

i was out today sunday any amount of pollock around but have never see bass here

 

[abusingelves]

well got out at high water today, just near my house. the wind was not in my favour and it was making things decidedly uncomfortable. still managed to stay in for 45 mins.

sadly no fish. saw a good amount of small pollock.

saw one decent pollock, took a shot, missed, and as i was reloading on the surface, a shoal of mackerel swim within range just underneath me!
viz wasn't the best at around 4m.

didn't shoot any wrasse, but i did see a few nice ones.

will try and get out again tomorrow evening, wind is supposed to be lighter.

 

[sunfish]

I went out Sunday,paddling the kayak from a cove at the landward end of a long headland,intending to photograph grey seals,and/or hunt big pollack.As I left the cove,I twice saw seatrout jump and was tempted to anchor up to take a look.I decided to carry on to the western tip, as it was almost low tide.When I got there the seals[normally friendly and curious] wouldn't approach me and there was no sign of sandeels or big pollack.I enjoyed a couple of hours diving to look under slabs at the big wrasse there.I'm trying to teach myself hole and cave diving, but don't often eat wrasse, and didn't want to shoot any.
By then the sky was turning black, and the sea lumpy, so I headed back.As I came into the cove terns were diving on sandeel, so it looked like I made the wrong decision.Live and learn!
As I caught nothing I am trying to post pics of fish caught here last year.

 

[abusingelves]

those pollock look nice! maybe three years ago, a lot of pollock that size showed up near the pier at home, hunting a load of sandeels who showed up first. didn't take any myself. but a friend got about 9 all that size, just off the slipway in about 10m. some of the older fishermen who had been gathered near the slip were well impressed when he lugged his string of pollock past them.

got my new wetsuit there yesterday. its a 5mm elios economy suit from spearo. open cell inner is the way to go. easy on and easy off.

so i had to go out to try it out! finned out to a reef (can be seen at low tide) just off where i was yesterday, and had a good time doing dives in about 7m. saw a monster wrasse dissapear into a hole , and spent a good 15 mins waiting for him to come out, just doing repeat dives, but he didn't, so i took another one which wasn't as big.

saw some fish which looked incredibly like herring. they weren't scad, and they weren't mackerel, but they didn't look to be quiet full size either. any ideas? i didn't think there were any herring left around here. (galway bay)

anyhow, the suit is class. leagues ahead of the old 7mm one.

cave diving! think i'd rather do that on a tank!
the last cave i was in, i can remember my heart rate going well up.

seatrout sound nice. that would be a very nice shot (camera) if you could get it. another fish that has gone the direction of the herring. i've never seen one myself.

 

[fcallagy]

Was out last night in a flat pond literally I have never seen the ocean as flat as last night. We have started a regular training session each monday night, pool if the weather is bad but in the sea last night with a few ropes to 10m as a shake down and checking safety etc and then just snorkelling to 5. Vis was better than expected.


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[fcallagy]

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A few more

 

[spearhunter]

right!
i'm relatively new to the forum, and fairly new to spearing, but i think that its time us irish had our own thread to post trip reports and what not on the board.
there are a few of us out there, so why not help each other out.

so as far as i gather, the moderators have to make this thread a sticky, and i can't do it myself.

anyhow, i'll start off the reporting myself, but have no pictures sadly. (i'm working on it)

about 2 weeks ago i got out with my 'new' beuchat rascass 50cm. which proved to be vastly underpowered, but still did what it said on the tin which was reef or hole fishing. so there i am movin nice and quietly around a little bay thing when two nice mullet appear out of nowhere. luckily they circled around and presented for a shot. missed, just over the back. but luckily they were really stupid mullet and they came back again. this time i got a shot at the larger one and bam, direct hit, but what was this? the spear just bounced off!

felt a bit rejected, but recomposed myself and continued on ( that was the last i saw of the mullet) so in about 4 m of water i spotted a nice sized wrasse which retreated in between some boulders. it stuck its head out and i managed to get close enough without sending it running and nice one, a direct hit in the head, but it retreated in between the boulders managing to pull the spear out. so i circled around the boulders and somehow managed another hit which let me pull the wrasse out.

so it was wrasse for dinner the following day.!

now i'm using my 120cm beuchat mundial competition, and there is no lack of power, but it is a bit awkward and i don't like shoting it if there are any rocks which i could possibly hit. the 50cm is going to have to go on the market, and maybe a 90cm will be bought.

anyways, i'll keep updating my own trip reports and that sort of thing. it'd be great if we could share info and that, as there are only a few of us about (the irish coast that is).

Hi there,

Im travelling to Irland -South East- in August and this time taking with me the spearfishing gear, activity I practised since I was 8 years old.
Would you please tell me the temperature of the sea water at that time of the year and if a 7mm wetsuite will be ideal or maybe just 5mm ??
Is it necessary to request any previous authorization for spearfishing ??
Would appreciate your help...
Thanks

 

[abusingelves]

hey spearhunter. i think its all been said in this here post

http://forums.deeperblue.net/spearo-board/66518-italy-south-west-ireland.html

i'm not sure if there is anyone on this board from the south east. but there are definitely people from the south and south west!

 

[spearhunter]

Please Abusingelves,
Can you tell me if any permission is necessary to be able to spearfish in Irland. 5mm or 7mm wetsuite ? What do you adevice
Thanks

 

[abusingelves]

no licence is required. 5mm wetsuit will be good.i still think you should read the other thread. huan has put a lot of info in there regarding the legal side of things.

pneumatic spearguns are classified as firearms, and as such would require a licence in this country.

so then i'd say read the other thread,its all said in 2-3 pages and is all you need to know.

where are you coming from spearhunter? are coming here on business, or purely for the guinness?:friday

 

[sunfish]

Abusingelves, when I said hole and cave diving I meant hunting as you do with your 50cm beauchat.Like you, I don't like entering caves with only a breath of air.On Tuesday[17.7] I went out to the wreck again to try some photography with F31 [same camera as Feargus has].I took quite a few shots but was a bit dissapointed with the underwater ones.Apart from the close up ones they seemed blurry and greyish.I guess thats why people use wide angle lenses and get close to the subject under water.
As a spearfisher I should be able to get close enough to fish, and I may save up for a wide angle lens for wrecks and the like.
The diving was in the 35 to50 ft range, so low light conditions probably didn't help either.
After 17 dives i made for home as bad weather was coming.

 

[sunfish]

Yesterday I went to look for another wreck, this time off "Sevenheads".I found some wreckage, and a shoal of nice pollack.Somehow I had managed to misjudge the tide times and the current made me leave before I found the main wreck, but as a consolation prize, I found a big Rambo knife like scubies use! It had no leg straps so maybe it fell off their RIB.
I'm planning on going there again tomorrow, when wind and tide should be better.

 

[abusingelves]

hole fishing! now i understandrofl. i almost had you down as an action man type of spearo.

was out last night myself, but was late when i got out ond viz wasn't great. was more of a recon thing. finned around the reef i talked about earlier. saw some nice ground with large rocks and holes for stuff to hide in.

have to get myself a torch. its just not fun when you know there has to be something hiding in these holes.

 

[foxfish]

Looks like your new thread is taking off - great stuff, good reading so far.
I found these little beauties a few days ago in a cave where I live in the Channel islands. I was partially happy with myself as I don't like entering caves that much either!
http://forums.deeperblue.net/attachments/trip-reports/14337d1183835787-guernsey-2007-pict0002_4.jpg

 

[sunfish]

Hi everyone, nice crabs Foxfish. Crabs are one of my favourites, both brown crabs and spiders.
Yesterday I went back to look for second wreck again.This time I went in the morning, just before high tide and it was a good deal deeper.I made a full circuit of the rocks but could still only find smaller bits of wreckage.I'll have to try low tide and further out sometime.
Meanwhile, as I was now getting bored, I moved off to look for good pollack elsewhere.The spot I chose has a row of "fang like" rocks sticking out of the water in front of steep cliffs.I anchored on a 30ft shelf at the base of the fangs as the water is too deep to anchor anywhere else.I swam the length of the rocks then began diving the wall and shelf while drifting back in the gentle current. I soon had a pollack of 4.9lbs then half way back I found a 3.1lb crayfish on the wall about 10 ft below the shelf! First one I've ever seen.
On the way back I got out my small spinning rod to try for mackeral.At first I caught only pollack keeping one of 4.4lbs and returning the others, but eventually spotted birds diving and took 10 mackeral to make pate.A mixed bag.