Ireland spearing 2008

[foxfish]

Congers have been a delicacy in my Island for centuries. They were once so abundant that Congers were salted barreled & exported all over the world. This was happening 180 years ago but the fish still remains a delicacy for some!
You need to remove the skin because the fish partly excretes its bodily wastes though the skin. The resulting ammonia tainted slimy coat is very unpleasant tasting.
However the skin can remain if the fish is to be salted or brined & smoked or simply dried. Dried Conger was a particular favorite of Guernsey folk, cutlets of fish were left to dry in net bags under the sun. After several days the fish was then cooked in a low oven for quite some time? the result was then soaked until a spreadable product could be eaten on top of buttered bread.
Properly the best way to eat conger is to cut into shrimp size pieces & coat in egg & bread crumbs, SCAMPY!

 

[bass hunter]

Hi lads,Im heading down to wicklow tomorrow afternoon,found a nice little spot just south of wicklow town.suposed to be good fishing down there but havent tried it yet,looks like its gonna be calm tomorrow too.Anyone on the east interested in heading down??

 

[danas]

Hi lads,Im heading down to wicklow tomorrow afternoon,found a nice little spot just south of wicklow town.suposed to be good fishing down there but havent tried it yet,looks like its gonna be calm tomorrow too.Anyone on the east interested in heading down??

hi,
i find nice place at wicklow south - drive on coust road ,just as you drive pass golf club main buidling. is public car park .go down on small walk way, nice place. i try for 2 days in there, but not see any fish. i may have no luck.

 

[stone_shot]

Hi lads,Im heading down to wicklow tomorrow afternoon,found a nice little spot just south of wicklow town.suposed to be good fishing down there but havent tried it yet,looks like its gonna be calm tomorrow too.Anyone on the east interested in heading down??

I've poked around Magheramore a few times and had poor vis and no fish - I'd be interested to hear how you get on though - maybe I just haven't found the right spot yet.

 

[bass hunter]

I've poked around Magheramore a few times and had poor vis and no fish - I'd be interested to hear how you get on though - maybe I just haven't found the right spot yet.

Yeah Magheramore was the place I was thinking of.Theres supposed to be good fishing down around there so hopefully I'll get one or two.I'll let you know how I get on.

 

[sunfish]

I went out to a local wreck today. Some good pollack were swimming round the boilers.I took one then put the gun back in the kayak while I nosed around looking under wreckage to spot the big wrasse.
On the way back I feathered some mackeral. mmmm mackeral.

 

[danas]

hi,
we went to try Hook Head yesterday . incredible views, very nice place to dive. didn't find any big fish, shot couple wrasses - eat them strait away .
may have more luck next time- will worthed to visit again- super spot for diving.

 

[abusingelves]

sunfish, i do believe you are quite a good shot! or do all your pollock come with a built in head shot? rofl

 

[scottwilson]

Cracking pollack mate

 

[sunfish]

Yesterday I set off to dive a section of reefs off the Seven Heads. This is an area of quite strong tidal currents and as the wind was more West than I expected, it wasn't safe to anchor when I got there. This happens a lot at this spot as the headlands "bend" the wind a bit.
I dived on some old ship wreckage instead, leaving the gun on the boat the whole time. I found one crab but left it. I saw good pollack too but was happy enough to end the day emptyhanded.(Except for a couple of bits of angling gear I picked up).

 

[sunfish]

sunfish, i do believe you are quite a good shot! or do all your pollock come with a built in head shot? rofl

My Picasso gun isn't the most accurate. I hate tear offs so I tend to wait for a clear shot at the gillplate. Often I miss a chance by waiting too long but that's better than a tearoff to me.
When I do hit in a bad place I let the reel run and the fish hit the kelp. If it stays on I can breathe up properly then dive to untangle it. One of the fish last Sunday took three dives to untangle.

 

[fcallagy]

Got out last night but the vis was seriously crapola.Saw a seal on the way in and on the way back but he stayed well out of visiblity while we were diving.

On a better note kudos to Suunto I got a D3 as a present just after christmas that I had bother with registering 6m at the surface and eventually it packed up. I gave it back wheer I got it and got a new D4 in its place just had to pay for post etc.
well chuffed and looking forward to getting out with it.

 

[danas]

Hi,
question - do we need to hold some license for speargun or (and) spearfishing?
friend of my was asked for one.

 

[sunfish]

Hi,
question - do we need to hold some license for speargun or (and) spearfishing?
friend of my was asked for one.

A license is needed for an air powered gun but no license for a rubber band gun. That's the law as I understand it but I couldn't tell you the actual relevant laws to look up. Any air powered gun needs a firearms certificate.
What kind of gun was it? Guarda officers can't be expected to know the law as well as a lawyer. They simply haven't had that level of legal training. Your friend may need a lawyer to sort it out.

 

[abusingelves]

as far as i understand, any device capable of firing a projectile is under irish law classified as a firearm, and requires a licence. read that on an irish shooting discussion on air rifles.

but, that definition of a firearm results in a peashooter requiring a licence:head, which for obvious reasons is not practical.

i was stopped at a checkpoint and checked for tax and insurance, while i had the gun on the backseat ( it doesn't fit in the boot).
as i was driving towards the checkpoint, i was thinking 's#%t this is going to be interesting', but the garda didn't even see the gun, despite talking to me for a bit. i was waved on, and even felt a little let down that he hadn't spotted it! that was paddy's day this year, just outside clifden.

 

[abusingelves]

which brings me to another point. perhaps we should look into organising an association for irish spearfishermen/women/people, or see if we could join the BSA, just in case that we did have to start looking for licences.
any thoughts on the matter?

 

[sunfish]

which brings me to another point. perhaps we should look into organising an association for irish spearfishermen/women/people, or see if we could join the BSA, just in case that we did have to start looking for licences.
any thoughts on the matter?

I think we should look for the relevant chapters of law referring to these matters. This is a subject which comes up now and again.
Anyone know how and where to look for legal subjects?
On page 15 of "Underwater Ireland, Guide to Irish Dive Sites", published by the Irish Underwater Council, it says,
"Spearfishing in Ireland.
There are no regulations in force governing spearfishing in the sea, apart from certain bays and estuaries where aquaculture is practised.Salmon in most estuaries may not be spearfished.Many rivers, lakes and some canals also have fishery restrictions, and if in doubt enquire locally.
The IUC/CFT has a "no spearfishing while using aqualung" rule, but again this is a voluntary restriction. Spearfishing competitions are no longer held in Ireland, again as a voluntary contribution to the environment."
In another paragraph on this page it mentions that while taking shellfish, lobsters, crawfish and crabs is illegal using scuba, no laws mention snorkelling.
This book is published by Comhairle Fo-Thuinn, Irish Underwater Council, 78a Patrick Street, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, Ireland. They have a website address, The Website or the Irish Underwa

 

[stone_shot]

That firearm definition was recently updated to say that only guns firing a projectile with a muzzle energy of over 1 joule need to be licensed - so pea shooters and some airsoft guns are not required to be licensed. Pneumatic guns would obviously have a much higher muzzle energy than 1 joule and would need a license.
I don't think anybody is 100% black-and-white clear on the subject of band guns - mechanically speaking they aren't much different from bows, which will fire a projectile with a muzzle energy of greater than 1 joule but which require no license.:head:head

It's a bit of a tricky spot though as it's basically open to the interpretation of whatever Gardai you're dealing with on a particular day and unfortunately if you get one on a bad day you could wind up having to surrender your gear until things can be cleared up (which would most likely take a looooonnnnnnng time!)

 

[fcallagy]

Was out today weather was lovely but the vis was crapola plenty of pollock but not too many big uns. Had the D4 in for the first time and am very happy with it.

 

[sunfish]

I paddled out to the last bit of Galley head today. I searched for crabs in the gullies and took two spiders. I found quite a few browns but all around 6 to 7 inches across the shell. I've said it before but I think there're too many pots. The size limit should be raised to 8 inches. After a year or two, people would catch just as many crabs but they'de be bigger.
On the way back I feathered a few mackeral.

While I was crabbing I swam into a cave at 30ft then turned round to find my face a metre from the face of a big bull seal. He barked straight in my face and I almost hit the roofroflroflrofl.