When you said ray I assumed you meant thornbacks or blonde (which are technically skates) which lay eggs. Stingrays do have live young.
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Ireland spearing 2008
- Thread starter sunfish
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
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When you said ray I assumed you meant thornbacks or blonde (which are technically skates) which lay eggs. Stingrays do have live young.
I was out on Friday, and paddled to the end of a local headland but due to east winds, there was no safe anchoring spot, so I came back to a sheltered cove where I managed 18 dives before racing off to pick up my kids from school.
On Saturday I chose the Western side of the same headland. It fishes less well, but at least was sheltered. Near the tip I found a small shoal of pollack. Since none were over 4lb I left them in peace.
I found a very good set of rock ridges on the way back. They start at 15ft depth and drop to 40 in places, and being full of holes and crevices, they need a thorough looking at. I only had time left for half a dozen dives , but found a small lobster first dive. I must go back to find some big enough to bring home. Made 52 dives, deepest 44ft, longest 1min14secs.
I took the kids out today (Sunday) and we had a great time snorkelling around, looking at wrasse and crabs and stuff, then we cooked up some winkles and sea lettuce. Yum yumroflroflrofl.
On Saturday I chose the Western side of the same headland. It fishes less well, but at least was sheltered. Near the tip I found a small shoal of pollack. Since none were over 4lb I left them in peace.
I found a very good set of rock ridges on the way back. They start at 15ft depth and drop to 40 in places, and being full of holes and crevices, they need a thorough looking at. I only had time left for half a dozen dives , but found a small lobster first dive. I must go back to find some big enough to bring home. Made 52 dives, deepest 44ft, longest 1min14secs.
I took the kids out today (Sunday) and we had a great time snorkelling around, looking at wrasse and crabs and stuff, then we cooked up some winkles and sea lettuce. Yum yumroflroflrofl.
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Went to west Cork yesterday with a few friends, Toe Head bay on the advice of Sunfish. A beautiful spot well sheltered from the strong wind. We went in at low tide and had to swim a bit to get any depth. Just got one pollock of a couple of pounds. Never got deeper than 7 metres, longest 1;34. I think thats my longest so far.
Hi Dennis, are there still shoals of big sandeel there?
If you swim until you're almost past the cove on your left, then turn right, (west) the water goes to 30 to 35 feet where the rock ends in sand.
The best spot though, is right at the end, near the tidal currents.
If you swim until you're almost past the cove on your left, then turn right, (west) the water goes to 30 to 35 feet where the rock ends in sand.
The best spot though, is right at the end, near the tidal currents.
was spearing in kilkee the last bank hol on the high water. great spot. really great vis there and plenty of fish. needs to be flat calm though because it can get nasty there with the current around the rocks. first or last 2 hours of the tide are safest in that situation.
saw plenty of mullet, wrasse and pollock. no bass but it has potential(closed season till 16th june) for them.
If you have not baught a gun i recommend a 90cm euro style. suit up with a 5mm so you can use it in winter without turning blue!
Any other questions you have im sure the lads here can help you out with.....friendly bunch too:friday
anyways happy spearing, and dont dive alone.
johnny
Hi Sunfish, you mentioned that you wouldn't take a pollack under 4lb? Is that a legal limit or a personal one? I took one today of 3.5lbs, and had two big fillets off it. But do you think that is too small?
As with the one that I caught two weeks ago, I noticed about 10 sea lice on the fish, does anyone else get these? http://www.marlab.ac.uk/Uploads/Images/EnvImpactFishFarms3.jpg
Was out at the lowest of tides today, on a nice shallow beach with soft sand and plenty of rock and kelp. There were some huge wrasse, even a few of them schooling. I understand that they're not too tasty, so I didn't take any, but they were completely unafraid of me, and I had a great time following them around for a bit.
However I was hoping for some flatfish, and didn't manage to find any. Does anyone here get them regularly, and would you know their habitat?
As with the one that I caught two weeks ago, I noticed about 10 sea lice on the fish, does anyone else get these? http://www.marlab.ac.uk/Uploads/Images/EnvImpactFishFarms3.jpg
Was out at the lowest of tides today, on a nice shallow beach with soft sand and plenty of rock and kelp. There were some huge wrasse, even a few of them schooling. I understand that they're not too tasty, so I didn't take any, but they were completely unafraid of me, and I had a great time following them around for a bit.
However I was hoping for some flatfish, and didn't manage to find any. Does anyone here get them regularly, and would you know their habitat?
wascally,
no size limit on pollock. just better to target big ones. there so plentiful why not wait for that bigone?
on the subject of lice.........i do mooring repairs and im always covered in lice after cleaning a dirty mooring. i know they only live in salt water and feed on fish flesh so i presume it is not healthy for fish to be heavy with them. this is the reason you see fish like bass and salmon breaching. the landing force knocks off the lice.
lice affect fish farms greatly but im not too sure how much of an effect they have on fish such as pollock.
anybody know? although ive never seen a pollock with more than 5 or 6 lice on it.......there still good to eat:inlove
To answer your question on plaice...sandy beaches with surf(low vis) or generally on sandy/shale banks with a good run of tide. they lie here waiting on the bottom for food to pass. i usually see them on dives between rocky and sandy patches. very easy to find and catch at night on a sandy beach too in calm conditions,
johnny
no size limit on pollock. just better to target big ones. there so plentiful why not wait for that bigone?
on the subject of lice.........i do mooring repairs and im always covered in lice after cleaning a dirty mooring. i know they only live in salt water and feed on fish flesh so i presume it is not healthy for fish to be heavy with them. this is the reason you see fish like bass and salmon breaching. the landing force knocks off the lice.
lice affect fish farms greatly but im not too sure how much of an effect they have on fish such as pollock.
anybody know? although ive never seen a pollock with more than 5 or 6 lice on it.......there still good to eat:inlove
To answer your question on plaice...sandy beaches with surf(low vis) or generally on sandy/shale banks with a good run of tide. they lie here waiting on the bottom for food to pass. i usually see them on dives between rocky and sandy patches. very easy to find and catch at night on a sandy beach too in calm conditions,
johnny
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Hi Wascally, at the moment I've a few fillets in the freezer, so unless we're having fish for dinner, I'm only taking bigger ones.
When you start shooting pollack, all the other pollack get nervous and you might miss seeing a big one. The bigger fish are way more nervous and are normally the last to approach as you wait on the bottom.
Thanks johnny,
Was in kilkee on may bank holiday. Think is see ye coming out on to the beach, will have a look about this weekend. thanks for the advice ...
B...
Hi all,
will anybody be around Sligo on Friday or Saturday to hook up for a spearing session.
Or if anybody from Dublin is interested in coming down,let me know,Will be leaving Dublin early Friday morning,camp somewhere,and come home Saturday afternoon.
will anybody be around Sligo on Friday or Saturday to hook up for a spearing session.
Or if anybody from Dublin is interested in coming down,let me know,Will be leaving Dublin early Friday morning,camp somewhere,and come home Saturday afternoon.
Those are fair points lads, so I'll wait for the bigger pollack next time. Does the meat get tougher or more tender as the fish get bigger? My experience with Pollack is that the meat can get really soft (to the point of being mushy), and you need to be careful about cooking it.
On the sea lice: I know that they're a big problem in Galway, but I'm sorry to see you have them down in Cobh too. I've heard that they've recently been treating some bays/inlets with anti-lice chemicals, and have wiped out a lot of the crustaceans in some areas. However thats word of mouth, so I don't know if it's true.
Was out in Barna again today, and swam around over the sand for ages without seeing a single thing! Went back to the inlet afterwards, and found loads of mullet as usual. There was even one shoal of about 30-40 fish.
On the sea lice: I know that they're a big problem in Galway, but I'm sorry to see you have them down in Cobh too. I've heard that they've recently been treating some bays/inlets with anti-lice chemicals, and have wiped out a lot of the crustaceans in some areas. However thats word of mouth, so I don't know if it's true.
Was out in Barna again today, and swam around over the sand for ages without seeing a single thing! Went back to the inlet afterwards, and found loads of mullet as usual. There was even one shoal of about 30-40 fish.
bc_lk, hinsleydave, danas and heron - I'm not long at it myself, but the main advice I'd give you now is to make sure you know the legal requirements for what you can and can't catch.
Also, there are a few places on the internet that give aerial photos, and these can be useful for picking dive spots.
Also, there are a few places on the internet that give aerial photos, and these can be useful for picking dive spots.
On the bigger fish the meat is a little firmer though still flaky. If you wrap them in newspaper overnight it seems to toughen them up a bit. Don't know if the ink is poisonous though.
Pollack breed and grow faster than fish like bass and mullet so taking a few small ones won't affect the population but they're quick learners, and if you want big ones it's to your own advantage not to spook the population.
Sunfish you are the true Pollack hunter mate .
Is there an actual minimum size for pollack, I always gauge around the 35cm mark as the smallest I take ( very seldom though) but like you say they grow hell of a quick and there is certainly no shortage of them.
Is there an actual minimum size for pollack, I always gauge around the 35cm mark as the smallest I take ( very seldom though) but like you say they grow hell of a quick and there is certainly no shortage of them.
We don't get many large pollack around here, well not in shallow water anyway. From the boat I get some on the rods up to about 5lbs, occasionally bigger. My personal best on the spear is only 4lbs or so but there again I don't target them.
Eating wise I only eat the ones under about 1.5 lbs. Fried up crispy fillets taste okay. Personally I find the larger fish very bland, although the very largest ones in double figures have nice large flakey flesh with a texture similar to cod. Sorry guys but rather eat a decent wrasse anyday.
Min legal size here is only 30cm, probably 3/4lb. I like to just take a couple between 1 and 1.5lb on the spear and then move on to look for something else.. Fish of this size are a common shoaling fish and not too hard to spear.
Ireland is known for its inshore pollack fishing and I imagine that they are a fun fish to target, especially the larger ones.
Hats off to Sunfish who seems to be the pollack king :king.
Dave
Eating wise I only eat the ones under about 1.5 lbs. Fried up crispy fillets taste okay. Personally I find the larger fish very bland, although the very largest ones in double figures have nice large flakey flesh with a texture similar to cod. Sorry guys but rather eat a decent wrasse anyday.
Min legal size here is only 30cm, probably 3/4lb. I like to just take a couple between 1 and 1.5lb on the spear and then move on to look for something else.. Fish of this size are a common shoaling fish and not too hard to spear.
Ireland is known for its inshore pollack fishing and I imagine that they are a fun fish to target, especially the larger ones.
Hats off to Sunfish who seems to be the pollack king :king.
Dave
Pollack are an underated eating fish. They have a tendency to go 'high' i.e. mushy/soft/smelly, much more quickly than other 'white' fish. Try and gut them whilst still at sea and leave them on float/stringer. Eat them or freeze them as soon as you can and you will find that they are a tasty as any other fish! There is a marketing push now to get people to eat pollack instead of other fish and chip shop favourites and flavour-wise they are not wrong! I just hope that this does not translate into mass-trawling of pollack as a species 
I have enjoyed goujons of pollack, fresh from the gun and they were excellent!
I have enjoyed goujons of pollack, fresh from the gun and they were excellent!
bc_lk,Did u say u saw me that w/end? was that you i was talking to? were u in the camper van?
