Ireland spearing 2008

[sunfish]

At the moment my freezer's low on pollack for winter, but conditions are good for bass. I decided to go for a dual purpose dive today, starting at a bass spot as the tide was coming to low, and then moving to a reef to look for pollack.
With the big tide the sandeel are shoaling inshore and vis had cleared out nicely - enough to spot fish but not so clear that they become too wary. My plan, as usual, was to shoot a "pot" sized fish (4 to 5 lbs) then look round for a "personal best".
Within 2 minutes of leaving the kayak I had the first fish on my stringer. Over the next 3 hours I passed upwards of 30 bass, the best being 2 pairs of 6 to 7 pounders. No double figure fish though! I took a second "pot" fish and headed for the reef. I only had time left for a dozen or so dives before I had to race off for the school run.
The vis on the reef wasn't great for pollacking and I didn't spot any good ones.
The bass went 4.4 and 4.6 lbs. 21315
Off to Seven Heads in the Zodiac tomorrow.

 

[JRH]

I'm back in Scotland again, but did manage to get out on Saturday at Coral Strand near Carraroe as you suggested. Tide was running fast and the pollock were shoaled up in the reefy / kelpy areas at about 6 m. I took one for pot along with a dog fish (just grabbed it). Did not see a bass, I never see bass. I am envious of your bass stories it seem to me if you want bass for supper you jus go out and shoot a couple.

I can skin dog fish pretty good now but has anyone got a good recipe for them. I dont mind the taste but the kids hate it. Even marinaded in soya sauce and ginger you can still taste the urea or is it uric acid.

 

[johnnybuoy]

went out with donnachad in west cork. bagged 2 bass each and i also got a 6.5lb mullet. my two bass were 3lb and 5lb. great day! donnachad got 2 between 5 and 6 too. got a trigger fish last week too thinking it was a bream. oops. beautiful fish though.

 

[sunfish]

Well done with the fish Johnny. I must say I think your mullet is the best of them. Six and a half is huge for a mullet. Way better than a six and a half bass would be.
The triggers are as nice to eat as bream anyway.Neither has a lot of meat but both are well worth catching. I haven't seen either this year! I haven't even heard of bream being caught on rod and line. I think the bad summer probably discouraged most of them and most triggers too. Did you see anymore triggers this year?

 

[johnnybuoy]

ya the mullet was huge! couldnt believe my luck. he had a hook in his mouth too. a very p****d off fisherman must have been near by! the triggers were out in alihies about 2 weeks ago. took the first one i saw out of excitement. as i travelled out i was seeing triggers up to 3lb but i left them swim. beautiful fish and a huge amount out there. also for the first time ever i saw an unborn dogfish in a mermaids purse but had no camera and when i returned with the camera i couldnt find it. must brush up on my locating by transitsrofl. perfect day for a trip on the boat so might plan something for the flood at half 2.

 

[sunfish]

Myself and my friend Dirk took the zodiac out off Seven Heads today. We started on the Horse rock looking for pollack. There weren't a lot of them and the water was a bit green but I got a couple, best one 5lbs.
We then moved in under Coolim Cliffs to look for crabs. There were plenty of them but mostly undersized.We kept one but then released it on the way back. Too much potting here IMHO.It's a very scenic area and it was a pleasure to dive the cracks and gullies. I clocked up 96 freedives with the longest going 1min15sec and the deepest 39ft.
Before going back we feathered up a box of two or three dozen mackeral for frying and pate.
We saw porpoises while feathering for mackeral. Thank God for decent weather at last.
A grand day out!

 

[AegeanSeaHunter]

good fishing johny

the suit looks good.!!!

 

[sunfish]

Yesterday I paddled out to "Anchor" rock to look for pollack. Vis was a disappointing one metre. I was so fed up I gave up after 6 dives and paddled inshore to go bass spotting. I swam for a mile NE. then a mile back SW. seeing around 30 of so fish in the four to five pound range, with one or two bigger, but none over seven. I needed no bass, and saw no PBs so I shot none.
Today I went to "Horse" rock, where vis was better, in spite of the green tinge to the water. First four dives I took four shots and got four fish! (Lucky day maybe?) I missed the next two then got one more and stopped shooting. From then on I just dived, watching for big ones.
I started late on in the day, diving two hours and making only 24 dives, but thoroughly enjoyed the session. I think I know "Horse" rock quite well now, and funnily enough, the best part for fish seems to be right where the seals hang out.

 

[donnachad]

Nice one SF, got out twice yesterday, Sandycove just after sun up and west cork in the afternoon/evening. It was a bit swelly in Sandycove and the vis was down to a few feet. So i bailed after 20 minutes. In west Cork it was a bit calmer the vis was about 2 metres at best. while on the surface in about 2 metres that unmistakable blue grey colour caught my eye. a 4lb bass stationary in the kelp. i don't know why he didn't spook he was practically facing me. So with him on the stringer i had a good look around. I saw a lot of bass all 4lb or under i left them all in the hope of something bigger but nothing showed. I decided to take the next fish for the freezer, a bass around 3lb. Weather here is lovely at the mo. i've a couple of days off again this week and will be making the most of it.

 

[danas]

Sunfish - you are demon !!!
i was in Galway on Sunday, went to Connemara for a look. is lovely coral beach in there. visibility was around 5-6 meters very good. but not so many fishes. was very shallow waters at low tide only around 3-4 meters max. so lot of small polack and few small wrasse fishes. spoted couple nice size pollocks whent to it and... missed shot. fed up with my gun seac asso 75 airgun. he only shoots and "kills" in range of max 2-3 metres.
what made and lenghts guns are you using? i known you are almost all with rubber guns.

 

[sunfish]

Yesterday Dirk and myself swam out to the end of Galley Head, seal spotting and looking for crabs. There were a few seals around but a distinct shortage of good crabs. I did manage to find one decent, barnacle encrusted old fella, in a crack. He took some getting out and I'd given up on him then had one last try using the "flopper" on my spear as a hook.
Today I went out to Cloughna Rock in search of pollack again. I forgot my compass so couldn't take my land bearings. The only bit of reef I could find was in 70ft of water, rising to 50ft on top of the rocks. I had a few dives but my bottom times were short and no fish seemed to be around. I upped anchor to head in, and within 20 yards I found the proper bit of reef - 55ft rising to around 25 to 35ft. I took proper "inline" bearings straight away!
There were nice pollack around from the start. A bit "spooky" but I took a couple before heading in to check for bream in the shallows. I haven't heard of any bream taken here this year but I live in hope! All I saw in the shallows were some mullet and one small bass. Most years there'd be bass mullet and bream in that spot.
The pollack weighed 6.6lbs and 4.6lbs.
I also took a small but legal crab, as I gave yesterdays to Dirk.

 

[sunfish]

fed up with my gun seac asso 75 airgun. he only shoots and "kills" in range of max 2-3 metres.
what made and lenghts guns are you using? i known you are almost all with rubber guns.

Hi Danas, my gun's a "Picasso" and it's 90cms with 19mm power bands. It'll kill fish at 3 or 4 metres but I prefer to get to two metres to be sure of the shot. In shallow water I get close by moving real slowly but in deeper water I drop into the weed and wait there for fish to come to me.
I have to say that we are lucky here on the South coast. We often have clear water and mostly a good stock of fish too.

 

[sunfish]

I was going to take my youngest two camping this weekend, but Jake has tonsilitis and Rowan has a new cat so I ended up with a free day today.
I decided to look at a new spot, which looked good on the chart. I've been meaning to check this spot for a year or two but its twenty miles East of here and I just never got around to it.
I set off on the mile long paddle to where I expected to find pollack, but on the way, I couldn't believe how "bassy" the coastline looked. I got to the rockspur I was aiming for and anchored in 30ft of water. When I got overboard I found there was a bit of a current going over the spur, and as I landed on the rock, at 26ft, I could see a few nice pollack. Second dive a bass swam up and third dive a shoal of them. I shot the biggest which weighed in at 4.0lbs straight. This bass is a bit special for me. I've been trying to find bass in deeper water (deeper than 6ft) for a few years now and this is my first success. I've found bass on offshore reefs, but only in the shallow water on top of the reef.
I saw more bass, but concentrated on pollack from then, taking three of 6.0lbs, 5.5lbs and 3.6lbs. By now I'd made 29 dives and decided to go and look at the very "bassy" looking shallows I'd passed on the way.
While swimming in I spotted a flatty, another first for me, and soon I had it on the stringer. While stringing it I spotted another two, which soon joined the first! I must have been looking in flatty free zones until today!
As for the "bassy" ground, it did hold a good few bass. I took one shot at a very nice one but it quickly broke loose - the only bad part to the day.
The flats were flounder and weighed 1.5 1.1 and 1.0lbs.

 

[fcallagy]

Nice fishing sunfish hoping to get out this afternoon as I haven,t been out in a few weeks now.

 

[danas]

hi. on 10-12 of October in Kinsale is food festival , i may visit with my family and friends. i will definitely take my spearfishing gear with me. is any good places around there for spearing ? any body would like to join for session ?

 

[danas]

UV-Sport - very good prices on some gear.

 

[SeaBandit]

Anyone seen Blue Sharks?

Was freediving this weekend in Connemara. Was inspired by this links;

Sea fishing centres - Saltwater Angling in Ireland
Blue shark fishing in Ireland

Was in the water for an hour in the first place I tried, a very small harbour area, viz was super 40 foot in places, left speargun in car, of course seen a large bass hunting on a shoal of minnows, pls. forgive my ignorance of fish species. If I had the speargun would only have had a couple of seconds to get an arrow off, fish was swimming near surface, close to shore and quickly shot off. Seen lots of smaller species, variety of sandy, rocky and kelp seabed, was able to get some practice in 40 foot breath-hold.
Next spot I went in was Gurteen Bay, a renowned angling beach, meant to be teeming in fish, spent 2 hours or more in water, with new speargun, felt very brave, in case a big blue tried to nibble my leg!!! Getting used to speargun in water, a new SEAC Arrow 75, started getting comfortable with it. Of course the viz was worse now only 5-10 foot and I didn't see one fish!!! Some nice rock features at high tide though, more good practice.
Main point of my ramble is have any of you guys been diving with Blues in Ireland? Got any snaps?

 

[SeaBandit]

Hi Danas, have snorkelled around Sandycove Island in Kinsale a few times, moderate viz with good underwater features and good access to the water, and all important, pints & chips in Kinsale afterward!
There is a sea swimming club that hold events, swim meets, competitions, etc, and swim around the island, good fun, looking at them in their skivvies with all your gear on, they're probably thinking the same about you!
West Cork is fabulous for free diving & spearing, too many great spots to mention...
[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandycove_Island]Sandycove Island - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

 

[donnachad]

hi. on 10-12 of October in Kinsale is food festival , i may visit with my family and friends. i will definitely take my spearfishing gear with me. is any good places around there for spearing ? any body would like to join for session ?

I've pm'd you.

 

[sunfish]

Today looked like the last bit of diveable weather for a while, so I went to the same place as last Saturday. The tide was wrong for it this time, and there seemed a lot less fish. I was only looking for either "bigguns" or flatties, and found neither, so in spite of seven hours at sea, with maybe five of those hours swimming, I caught no fish!.
Think I might try and squeeze in a quick early morning one tomorrow before the sea goes ballistic.