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Ireland spearing 2007
- Thread starterabusingelves
- 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.
Foxfish, flatties are a favourite of mine to eat, but I never see them. I'm sure I swim over lots! As Paddyc23 says, any hints would be welcome.
Finally got my zodiac launched and went for a spin round Dunnycove bay. Stupidly ran out of petrol and had to hitch a tow from a friend who was nearby. Ever felt stupid? At least I didn't have to paddle back.
Finally got my zodiac launched and went for a spin round Dunnycove bay. Stupidly ran out of petrol and had to hitch a tow from a friend who was nearby. Ever felt stupid? At least I didn't have to paddle back.
Well I can tell you how it works over here - I mainly look for plaice & sole but we have rays & most of the other flatfish like turbot & brill.
We always hunt on a low tide, the lower the better.
You don't always need to dive that deep usually 10 to 30' range but you do need a level of fitness & stamina.
Look for nice clean sand or gravel near the edge of a strong tide.
Dive to about 3' off the bottom & swim along for about 30 seconds prodding the sand with your spear where anything looks like a lump or outline of a fish.
Rest for a couple of mins then dive again.
Keep this up until you feel something soft under your spear, this could easily be a buried flatfish.
Sometimes you can spot unburied fish from the surface if the vis is really good.
We always hunt on a low tide, the lower the better.
You don't always need to dive that deep usually 10 to 30' range but you do need a level of fitness & stamina.
Look for nice clean sand or gravel near the edge of a strong tide.
Dive to about 3' off the bottom & swim along for about 30 seconds prodding the sand with your spear where anything looks like a lump or outline of a fish.
Rest for a couple of mins then dive again.
Keep this up until you feel something soft under your spear, this could easily be a buried flatfish.
Sometimes you can spot unburied fish from the surface if the vis is really good.
I,ve encountered a few flounder and plaice usually by swimming over them and they usually frighten the sh 1t out of me. I have only seen pretty small ones and they usually take off at a rate of knots and far enough away so i don't see where they land. Its usually in shallow water about 3-4m. Last time i saw a good plaice was in Malin beg Donegal and he just sat there in about 10 m.
I've seen the odd plaice but I prefer hunting around the kelp so I don't expect to run into them that often. The one big one I did manage to spot I missed from about 6 inches away:head
Used to get great flounder back home - up to around 5 pounds, but that was blowing bubbles at about 100 ft - no way in hell I could even freedive to that depth, much less stay there long enough to shoot somethingrofl
Used to get great flounder back home - up to around 5 pounds, but that was blowing bubbles at about 100 ft - no way in hell I could even freedive to that depth, much less stay there long enough to shoot somethingrofl
any info on south of france
Hi all, hows da head....Ill just get into it, im heading to the gulf of leon in october november time as ive been offered a big job working on boats in martega for the yr, Has anyone been there before or know any info on spearfishing in that area or the south of france, licence, laws, types of fish, im looking into doing my advance p.a.d.i out there as i got my open water diving course here severly months ago, so any info would be a big help.
Hi all, hows da head....Ill just get into it, im heading to the gulf of leon in october november time as ive been offered a big job working on boats in martega for the yr, Has anyone been there before or know any info on spearfishing in that area or the south of france, licence, laws, types of fish, im looking into doing my advance p.a.d.i out there as i got my open water diving course here severly months ago, so any info would be a big help.
just heading out now in the dingy to my spot, this times a little different im taking my mum with me, she wants me too teach her, so hopefully we catch, weathers fine 38.c at the moment 5.45pm here wind speed is 5knts ssw, not to bad, ill let ye know how we get on, i know im not in ireland anymore but ill still post replys to keep this forum going, adious amigos
Paddyc23
Here in California a few of us dive for Halibut. The preferred method is to drift an incomming tide over sand bars at bay openings. Keep the safety off and your finger on the trigger, as you'll only get a second to react. It's hard to keep your concentration when looking at nothing but sand. When you see bait fish, expect to see the preditors. Since we drift with the tide, you want to hold a teather to your kayak, and connect it to your gun handle. I shot a 22 lb Halibut early this month. If you shoot a big one, expect to go for a ride. If you teather your gun handle to your kayak, you won't loose the gun if he runs and you have to surface for air.
Here in California a few of us dive for Halibut. The preferred method is to drift an incomming tide over sand bars at bay openings. Keep the safety off and your finger on the trigger, as you'll only get a second to react. It's hard to keep your concentration when looking at nothing but sand. When you see bait fish, expect to see the preditors. Since we drift with the tide, you want to hold a teather to your kayak, and connect it to your gun handle. I shot a 22 lb Halibut early this month. If you shoot a big one, expect to go for a ride. If you teather your gun handle to your kayak, you won't loose the gun if he runs and you have to surface for air.
Had a great weekend Sunfish thanks for asking I got 31m cwf ( is this a national record?) and 16m cwnf but I didnt do the surface protocol properly on the no fins dive and got a red card. I dipped my mouth back under the water for a split second. I learnt a lot over the weekend and it was great meeting up with so many of the names here on db. Deepesr dive was to 60m so I have a bit to go yet.
Cheers foxfish but the mantra for the rest of the year is "must go deeper" lol. I wanted a depth I knew I could do as it was my first comp and the nerves were going to be at me a bit which they were in the final count down but the dive went fine and I dont think I was near any limits. It was still nice to see the safety divers at 15m though.
Nice dives Feargus, cwf and cwnf are the disciplines I'd be interested in if I was going to try for depth. I'm not competition minded, but I'd certainly enjoy improving my personal best.
I'm just back from a diving session now. It was a bit choppy when I set off. The wind was from the S.W. and the wave tops were crumbling off in foam as I paddled out towards a headland to get some shelter and it was nice to know the wind would be behind me on the way back. I started out at the hole where I failed to catch a lobster a few days ago. It took me 13 dives to find the hole again and no lobster there this time!
I spent the rest of the session looking for big pollack. Plenty there but none looked over 5lb and I already have some fillets in the freezer so they stayed there. I twice swam through a shoal of scad. One of the shoals suddenly panicked and took off with a thunder of cavitation but no predators appeared.
Totalled 41 dives, deepest 55ft longest 1min44seconds.
I'm just back from a diving session now. It was a bit choppy when I set off. The wind was from the S.W. and the wave tops were crumbling off in foam as I paddled out towards a headland to get some shelter and it was nice to know the wind would be behind me on the way back. I started out at the hole where I failed to catch a lobster a few days ago. It took me 13 dives to find the hole again and no lobster there this time!
I spent the rest of the session looking for big pollack. Plenty there but none looked over 5lb and I already have some fillets in the freezer so they stayed there. I twice swam through a shoal of scad. One of the shoals suddenly panicked and took off with a thunder of cavitation but no predators appeared.
Totalled 41 dives, deepest 55ft longest 1min44seconds.
Feargus, last night I was reading a thread on pipe masks. Do you use one of these for cwnf ? They must be a help as you can equalize your mask while wearing a noseclip, so your arms are free to swim. The thread has several designs for making these, and is in the freediving section.
I didnt use one myself sunfish bennyb had one and used it to great effect along with a nose clip for equalisation. There are also fluid goggles that dont need to be equalised but do obviously restrict your sight a bit. Benny made his own from a swim mask similar to whats in the threads but I better try and get a nose clip first.
I was out this morning but the sea was more suited to tow in surfing than diving but am hoping to hit st johns in donegal tomorow theres a bay there thats nearly always sheltered.
I was out this morning but the sea was more suited to tow in surfing than diving but am hoping to hit st johns in donegal tomorow theres a bay there thats nearly always sheltered.
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well sheltered bay it was but the vis was crapola about 1ft I guess. You knew your where on the bottom when you hit it an hour and a half away for nought but i did get a go on one of the lads seadoo scooters which was cool enough.Hope the vis is better down south lads
All power to you for trying Feargus. I must admit, I didn't have the heart for it. I had a couple of ideas for places to, try but in the end I decided to wait 'til Tuesday. Magic seaweed says it'll be better conditions then. My wife is taking the kids to England for two weeks this Wednesday so I'm hoping the summer will start soon!
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