Ireland spearing 2008

[johnnybuoy]

:mutegood point dave. i do a lot of night scuba and have dived in ireland and lived in ireland all my life, bar 1 or 2 years. no matter what way we look at it the fish is still going to be killed day or night. someday i might take the spear out at night.................:mute

 

[Old Man Dave]

Johnny and Nik you might enjoy these home grown videos. First 3 by my mate DB member Magpie and last one by me.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qigBQ0tTq1c]YouTube - Another Guernsey Dive[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9uG2eLdEFw&feature=user]YouTube - Guernsey Halloween Dive[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd0U-2J23OA&feature=related]YouTube - Scallop Freediving[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9Y5yD8nUvU]YouTube - Creatures of the Reef[/ame]

Dave

 

[danas]

Dave, some cool videos!!!! first class!!
question for everybody - when its better go for spearfishing on high or low tide???

 

[scottwilson]

danas hightide is usually fishier but you will probably find that some of your local spots fish better at different states of the tide.

 

[foxfish]

In Guernsey where I live, we hardly ever go in a high tide, its useless!
Low water on the other hand is the best for us in fact very often we plan our holidays & diving plans around the big spring tides.
The weed that bass so love to sleep & hide in is found on low tide & the flatfish are found at diveable depths, 2 - 10 mts instead of 10 to 22 mts at high tide.
I guess it depends what you want to catch?

 

[donnachad]

The weed that bass so love to sleep & hide in is found on low tide & the flatfish are found at diveable depths, 2 - 10 mts instead of 10 to 22 mts at high tide.

Has Guernsey a 10 metre tidal range??

 

[foxfish]

Yes, we have about five 10 metre + tides a year maybe more, we have two or three days of big spring tides every two weeks.

 

[AegeanSeaHunter]

great vids really.
Plenty of life and colours down there!!!!!!!!!

Tell me something,is there a lot of squid in these waters and what kind of rays are edible????

Cheers

Nik

 

[hinsleydave]

virgin, first timer

hi all im buying my first gun

, could you recommend a good one, im going for a 90 or 100 cm, i snorkel off clare ireland vis is prety good and im planning on targeting bass, thanks confused dave :head:head:rcard

 

[Old Man Dave]

In brief Nik and applying to the whole UK as a general area.

Squid are common. They mostly only live a year. Born in deep water in January they migrate, eating and growing, until eventually turning around returning to their birthplace they spawn and die one year later. They reach about 8lbs max and are almost entirely nocturnal. Personally never seen one in the daytime but seen loads at night. There are also cuttlefish. Similar in most ways but common in the daytime as well as at night.Cuttles live on sandy bottoms while squid are always free swimming. Both are supposedly good eating.

Edible rays are the thornback, small eyed, undulate, blonde and spotted. Not so edible are the stingray and the electric ray. All the edible rays are mainly nocturnal but are seen to a lesser extent in daytime. Thornbacks are a common inshore species reaching 20lb, although not common here in the Channel Islands. Small eyed and undulates are less common and smaller, up to 10lb. Blondes are big, to over 30lb, but are found offshore and seldom below 40ft. Spotted ray are rare and small, under 5lb. Rays need to be “winged” skinned and left to rest in a fridge for a few days before eating. They are an important UK commercial fishery for human consumption.

You would need to check which of these are available to you locally but most if not all the above exist in southern UK.

Dave

Anyone help out Dave H with some gun advise, he has the OMD stamp of approval

 

[donnachad]

Hi Dave welcome to the fishy forum. You might think about a 75 or 90 cm gun which imho is plenty for the vis we get. Scubastore - Diving Gear and Dive Equipment, Diveinn is a good place to start looking, you'll have delivery in a couple of days. I use an omer myself, i dont think there's much difference between manufacturers at the starter level. Where in clare are you?

 

[AegeanSeaHunter]

Hey Dave

Thanks for the info.

They are really very tasty both of them.

5 years ago i was at the end of a tiring 4 hour session back home.I was near the boat ready to get out of the water.Took a good breath and went off for the last dive of the day.

Approaching the sea bed i saw a big massive sillouette lying down.Had a good shot,opened the reel and went up for the surface.I spent about 5 minutes of pulling,releasing and underwater skiing to control the creature.

Gave the gun to my friend on the boat and he started pulling the ray to the surface.

Guess what next...........The minute the ray came up,started giving .....birth.

I was shocked!!!!! 4 little ones if i remember well came out,swam around the boat for a couple of minutes and took off to the deep.

I was relieved that they survived at least.

The ray was about 22lb gutted.

Regards

Nik

 

[Spaniard]

I would ditto the 75cm - 90cm gun; 100cm probably too long unless you can afford more than one gun and if you plan to spear in clearer waters on holiday, e.g. mediterranean.

 

[scottwilson]

Re: virgin, first timer

hi all im buying my first gun

, could you recommend a good one, im going for a 90 or 100 cm, i snorkel off clare ireland vis is prety good and im planning on targeting bass, thanks confused dave :head:head:rcard

Dave I use a cressi comanche 90 which is a great gun. I do find it a bit long for the murkier days so a 75 might be a better gun to start with.

( 75,90,110 all refer to the length of the barrel)

whatever you choose dont make the same mistake I did with my first gun and leave it in the back of you car without ever cleaning it.

 

[Old Man Dave]

Her you go Nik http://www.amator-balikcilik.com/galeri/data/media/175/Rays.jpg

Dave

 

[sunfish]

Re: virgin, first timer

hi all im buying my first gun

, could you recommend a good one, im going for a 90 or 100 cm, i snorkel off clare ireland vis is prety good and im planning on targeting bass, thanks confused dave :head:head:rcard

Hi Dave, did you decide on a gun yet? As Donnachad said, Scubastore gives quick service so long as the item you order is in stock.I find if I order on a Sunday evening my parcel arrives Tuesday morning.

 

[togo]

Hello guys

Long time no see on the forum as my family and work did keep me busy away from the shore. I had my first dive of the year yesterday in Hook Head just before the light house.

Was very lucky as I decide to avoid rosslare and wexford (close to dublin) with this morth east blowing wind. Great visibility 5 to 6m at some point but no good fish. Did not see a pollack above 500g even the wrasse were small. Shot only the biggest wrasse that I saw which is about 1.500kg for the sashimi.

Got one of my biggest spider crab I'd say 2.5kg it was a male with long claws (sorry for vocabulary is it spell this way). Did look in holes to find any lobster but nothing apart from small brown crab. Saw at least 10 small sharks brownish don't if is that you call tope???

Found really nice gulley where I'm sure bass will be around on low tide.

Sorry didn't offer a lift to dublin guy as I was rushing to got early at home.

Will be off the same spot the monday 1st june and will leave dublin (santry) by 5h30 in the morning and back to dublin by 3 or 4pm.

Looking for spot with mullet anbd scallops do you know guys some of them around Hook Head????

Cheers Togo

 

[stone_shot]

Guess what next...........The minute the ray came up,started giving .....birth.

I was shocked!!!!! 4 little ones if i remember well came out,swam around the boat for a couple of minutes and took off to the deep.

I was relieved that they survived at least.

The ray was about 22lb gutted.

Regards

Nik

Are you sure it was a ray? Rays lay eggs - they don't give birth to live young.

 

[AegeanSeaHunter]

Hey lads

Got a few nice spider crabs last month cooked them and ate them.

The place is full of them and very good size.

The problem is that there was a smell of nitrogen of them.

I know there is a farm above that cove,is there a possibility that the fertilizers are washed in the sea?????????

Nik

 

[AegeanSeaHunter]

Are you sure it was a ray? Rays lay eggs - they don't give birth to live young.

Hey stone shot.

just found that in wikipedia:
Mating season occurs in the winter. When a male is courting a female, he will follow her closely, biting at her pectoral disc. During mating, the male will go on top of the female (his belly on her back) and put one of his two claspers into her vent.[6]
Most rays are [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovoviviparous"]ovoviviparous[/ame], bearing live young in "litters" of five to ten. The female holds the embryos in the womb without a placenta. Instead, the embryos absorb nutrients from a yolk sac, and after the sac is depleted the mother provides uterine milk.[7]




I am positive about the small ones.



There is a possibility that the one i got was a sting ray.



Nik