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Ireland spearing 2008

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 90 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
dave i totally agree. smaller fish have a way nicer taste. if im taking cod or pollock on rod i take the smaller 1-2lb ones. i have a friend who takes the bigger ones so none goes to waste.
nice turbot too. i do a lot of deep sea angling but the turbot here are scarce now. the irish record was caught in cork harbour about 5 miles from my house on "turbot bank". beautiful fish. are they still fishing well over your way??
 
Guernsey and the neighbouring Channel Island of Alderney are the most famous places in the UK for angling for turbot and brill. We have offshore snd/gravel banks with feirce tides which are the favoured habitat of the big flatties. Saddly I think they are being overfished and each year there are less fish. Charter boats make the trip fron the English south caost ports in large numbers and there are rumours of angling boats landing up to 200 brill/turbot from a 2 day trip :rcard. Then there's the trawlers :vangry.

Because of the nature of the areas the fish are in freediving would be difficult and dangerous. We scuba the inshore banks with hand spears but even then it aint easy.

We get a few fish inshore and every year I land a few brill and turbot to about 5lb while freediving. Very occasionally a big one will get lost and turn up in the bays.

A few more pic and links. Brill in my boat from an offshore bank taken on scuba and a catch taken inshore free diving.

http://www.amator-balikcilik.com/galeri/data/media/175/brill.jpg

http://forums.deeperblue.net/669525-post1701.html

Dave
 
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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.

Hi Richie,
Weather permitting I might be out Fri evening at 7pm in Mullaghmore with a friend who has a boat we intend. Otherwise I will be around Sat afternoon possibly depending how busy the shop is and then Monday busy on Sunday. What time are you down at on Friday?
 
the irish record was caught in cork harbour about 5 miles from my house on "turbot bank". beautiful fish.
Johny, how deep is the turbot bank? Do you think it could be worth a look freediving or is it out of the question?
Is it the bank in the harbour entrance near Whites beach. I think that one has nets on it sometimes so could be dangerous at the moment with the plankton clouding the vis.
 
I went diving on a reef about 200 yards offshore today. I didn't see any big pollack but I brought one back to eat. It looked around 3lbs. I didn't weigh it but I did count the sandeels in its stomach. There were 83 of them! No wonder it looked fat.
 
overfishing........i thought people would practice more catch and release these days. some fishermen just catch to show people on shore. CAMERA!!!!
sunfish, i could get you onto the bank on slack and it would be about 25-30 feet. very fast run of tide so you have about a half hour window but id be up for trying it. must plan a day very soon because the winds and swell are right down for the next week. daunt is due a visit too.
ill check when im free. when suits you? im around most days and evenings as im laid off now. bliss!
oh and the dolphins are around too and feeding on large sandeel so might pay them a visit too.....
 
Hi Richie,
Weather permitting I might be out Fri evening at 7pm in Mullaghmore with a friend who has a boat we intend. Otherwise I will be around Sat afternoon possibly depending how busy the shop is and then Monday busy on Sunday. What time are you down at on Friday?

Hi Feargus,
I'll be in Sligo at about 11am on Friday and probly be around most of Saturday too.Are you going to be diving with scuba gear or snorklng off your friends boat?
 
I cooked my last pollack in a foil package in the oven, so it was stewed in its juices for a while. It came out really mushy, and I can't say I enjoyed it too much. I'll try the newspaper wrapping, and maybe grill or fry it next time.
Thanks for the advice
 
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overfishing........i thought people would practice more catch and release these days. some fishermen just catch to show people on shore. CAMERA!!!!

Turbot and brill fetch at least £4 a lb whole weight gutted (cash no questions asked)from the "back door" at any restaurant. They cost twice that to buy. For many people it's a dream catch and they take it home to eat but after the first few greed rears its ugly head.

WW why don't you try spearing a smallish one (1 to 2lb), gut it ASAP, scrape the skin to remove scales, fillet it (classic "J" cut with no bones), leave on the skin and then fry the fillets in hot oil till crispy turning once. Eat with bread and real butter but no chips or veg. Drink tea with it. Might not work for you but usually works for me

Dave
 
sunfish, i could get you onto the bank on slack and it would be about 25-30 feet. very fast run of tide so you have about a half hour window but id be up for trying it. must plan a day very soon because the winds and swell are right down for the next week. daunt is due a visit too.
ill check when im free. when suits you? im around most days and evenings as im laid off now. bliss!
oh and the dolphins are around too and feeding on large sandeel so might pay them a visit too.....

Low tide is 09.10 and 10.08 on Saturday and Sunday morning respectively. Either of them suits me. Weekday daytimes I can't do because of school runs. Weekday evenings I work Monday, Wednesday and Saturday nights, so that leaves Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evenings but it's near dark on evening low tides at the moment.
Tide shift is 2.7 Saturday and 3.0 Sunday.
What do you think?
 
Hi Feargus,
I'll be in Sligo at about 11am on Friday and probly be around most of Saturday too.Are you going to be diving with scuba gear or snorklng off your friends boat?

Hi richie if Philippe is out we will be snorkelling from his boat. if not its a relativly short fin out anyway but if the water is calm the baot opens up a lot more areas. We dive in Mullaghmore off the donegal road where are you basing yourself ?
 
i know dave, and it p****s me off big time. i saw foreigners (eastern europeans) taking about 20-30 coalies and pollock of about 10-12cm away in a bag from the quay wall near my house. i would have said someting but u never know who your dealing with. just shows how sport turns to greed.
Sunfish i have your number so ill give you a shout. this weekend is probably out because of a christening and a sick head that goes with it the next day. monday is a possibility because its a bank hol...u workin that morning?
 
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Feargus,
that sounds great,havent dived from a boat before so I'll look forward to that.I'll be all over sligo surfing but I might be staying in Mullachmore with relations so that would work out well.I'll pm you my no. and we'll arange something.
 
Hey Richie-
Sorry for disappearing off the face of the Earth last weekend. Was hoping to get out but my son broke out in some sort of weird rash and had to go t o hospital. Will try to meet up with you another time.
chris
 
Went to Nohoval cove after work, forgot to pack my fins :head:rcard:naughty:vangry It was a bit swelly but went in anyway. Found out its difficult to spear in a swell with no fins but did bag a pollock 3 or 4 lbs. Sea should be calmer at the weekend have plans for most of it but should get a dive in monday
 
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