Thanks Neal for highlighting the fact that yours was bigger than mine. At least u fired a blank too though........I'm not alone....
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Ireland Spearing, 2011
- Thread starter sunfish
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
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Ye still talking bout fishing?
There are medical advisors for that Baldy....
Anywhoo... Yes there were plenty of mullet...
Albeit in the shollows with the kiddies and old grannies paddling and snorkelling....
The real big fish were in the depths... right pedro
Right I'm off to pick up pedro and his mountain of gear dunno how i'm gonna fit it all in the car. Danas gimme a shout when you get down I p.m'd you my number . See ye all down there !!!
So glad I waited in anticipation for that. As a wise man once said: good things come to those who wait. Epic report. Well done
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So glad I waited in anticipation for that. As a wise man once said: good things come to those who wait. Epic report. Well done
Well, if ya wanted more you should have.....
Epic eh.... well I'll give it a lash! Grab your self a cuppa
On Friday night I got home (8.30pm) and packed the car with everything I thought I would need and the missus would need... Then I put the kayak on the roof. Got to sleep at about 12.30am and I was like a kid before Xmas...
Up then at 6.30am barely managed to squeeze the kids into the car then I was off for 8am from Cobh. (Had a spare seat an all Johnny )
The drive down was brill, the anticipation had been building steadily for a few weeks and it was near boiling point. I was taking my wife who would be freediving, snorkling and most importantly spotting... we were very excited at the prospect of warm water and the odd tropical fish we were hoping to be onsite at 11am for the first dive.
At 10.30 we got a call off Pedro and confirmed the dive site... despite the kayak on the roof and the narrow dodgy roads I took off like a mad thing doing a bit of rally driving and sending the Rav4 airborn only the once! I managed to get down to the site with the sight of Pedro naked and Neil suited up! He was as keen as I I went passed them and down the slip and parked about 5m from the shore...
The waters looked amazing and the two islands at distance gave the harbour a fair bit of shelter from the f3/4 NW winds.
We suited up as fast as possible. Myself and Clare made a decision to leave the kayak and both go in as we figured the wind may be too difficult for our plans. We watched Pedro and Neil hit the northside and figured we'd tackle the south side. This was to prove the best plan... the NW wind had pushed everything south... including the triggers
Clare stuck to the shoreline, a rocky outcrop with a depth of 2-4m and I was about 50m away in deeper water looking for anything. I spotted a nice pollock of about 4lbs after about 10mins and dove down to take the shot. I was about 30cm behind its head and pulled the trigger... click... the gun had jammed and the fish heard the trigger and scuppered.... I came up and started fiddling around with it but it would not budge.
Meanwhile Clare had appeared in a tizzy... "Ive seen one, its over there" she was saying! She had spotted a lone trigger next to a buoy, she was certain he would be spooked but he just looked at her funny as she raced back to get me. Between several curses I managed to order her back to the car for the spare gun... as she looked at me oddly I managed to free teh spear.
I shot over the 20m to the buoy as the trigger conveniently waited for my spear. He was about 3m down and I dove down to have look and get a good shot he didn't try to go and I took a nice clean shot. First trigger down... we were ecstatic! He made the pig grunting noise as we strung him up and made the dispatch.
So we split up again and went off our separate ways and again 15mins later Clare came over excited and said she spotted another 4. So I swam over and sure enough they were just pleasantly floating on the kelp. I dove down, picked out a biggie and took the shot. I had a 20m floatline for deeper water and it was a disaster taking him off the gun and onto the stinger on the float, eventually it was done and as I swam back I saw the other 3 triggers all watching from under a kelp...silly fish... but I left them be. I had lunch for myself and Clare and we decide to head out for the islands to see what else was out there.
I might add now that the NW winds had made this bay a lot colder than normal. Expected temp with a sw pushing the gulf stream up was 16-18. We were swimming in 13'c and I guess the triggers did not like it!....
On the way to the islands we came across several reefs that held some good size pollock in about 10m. As the viz was about 12-14m we could spot them from the top. I saw one fella about the 6-7lb mark and snuck down to him. I was waiting for the a clean headshot, maybe too long
, and finally he coped me and turned fast... as he turned I let off a crack shot and like I was watching in bullet time from the matrix, the pollock opened his mouth and my spear shot through.... UNREAL!! I took a little slice of his gums but he sped off... After that I decided karma was not with me for the pollock today...We had a nice few more dives, (but forgot the camera) Clare was getting cold, so she headed back and I followed about 30mins later. The long swim home warming us up.
When I got out I saw Danas and his friends said a quick hello and off they went. I was told that Derek had also turned up and was out hunting.
So the result was not too bad for the first dive!
Little guy was about 2lb and the biggie was about 3-4lbs.
When the lads came out Pedro had a few pollock and flounder and crab and Neil had some more pollock, mullet and flounder. Derek came out with a pollock also.
The main point is they all came out trigger-less rofl
I had to remind them that they can get pollock, mullet and flounder anywhere in Ireland, out here is for the rare species :naughty
Never the less we had a great BBQ shoreside... Myself and Clare hit the shops for some bread, butter, garlic, lemon, olive oil and salt and pepper... what more do you need we had trigger fish burgers and the world was ok again... what a fab fish! (The photo above shows where Pedro had started the filleting) We also BBQ'd a few lovely pollock and Neil did some superb flounder, cream and white wine in the pan on the gas stove.
As we finished we chatted a little then suited up again and hit the water as Danas and his friends began to emerge I saw one particularly sea sick fella that couldn't stand with a few wrasse, I dunno what the others got but I did hear they did not get any triggers.
So in we go, I had decided not to try for a pollock and instead went searching the sands. Clare continued to look along the coast and we stuck to the shore instead of going for the islands to follow our success with triggers. pedro was a little sea sick from Neil's driving so he stuck this dive out. Neil lapped up all the intel I had and went on a trigger quest...all activity was focused on the south.
I was already a little cold and knew this would be a short dive and after a while I saw I shape in the sand. I dove and stabbed and hoped (wishful thinking I thought).... and when the sand came alive and I realised I had stabbed my first Black sole I was elated.... what a great weekend.
I had a few more dives saw some more flounder, spooked a cuttle fish, saw some small gurnards and came in. Clare didn't spot any triggers, Neil took one trigger and spotted a bass and lost his snorkle mouthpiece???
We were all fully dressed and waiting for Derek and he was slowly returning... when he was 5m from the slip he paused, dived, then came up with a trigger on his gun.... "there is a shoal of 8, right here" he said.... I was temped to hop in then and there, but no sense got the better of me.he finally managed 2 triggers and we had to head off. It was 8pm, we were at the ocean all day and we needed a place to stay.
Just under the 1lb
We got a bed for the night, and headed for dinner at 9pm, we were wrecked, couldn't finish the food and collapsed at about 11.
Black sole seems a pricey fish
The following morning we were up at 8, breakfast at 8.30 and on the road to the site at 9. But no sign of the boys... they must have partied hard last night we figured :friday
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That gave us plenty of time to plan...
The wind had died off so we decided to go with the kayak. Viz was even better today! We unloaded from the car and set up by the water. It was Clare's first time on it with diving gear and fins so I set her up to potter around as I got myself kitted up. The lads turned up shortly after. Derek had gone home and Danas and crew never made it.
I set the kayak up with a 5m polyprop rope and small float at the end. We took it in turns kayaking over the terrain with the other hanging onto the float and gun. We cover much more ground this way. We decided to explore the north shore and the area was beautiful
This techniques was really good, I spotted a massive pollock... easily just short of my gun and I dove the 9m to get close for a good shot and he went into a gully and under a tiny piece of kelp and disappeared.... completely.... I was so baffled as I searched for him... but my search yielded a lovely spider crab so how bad
We moved along and I was soon over another nice pollock. as I followed him from the surface he became aware of me and led me on. He got quicker and quicker staying at the edge of viz and then disappeared... but as he disappeared a shoal of big fish appeared with him.... 4 or 5 large pollock... I dove down but the water was too open and i saw nothing. I was finning back to the kayak when I spotted a fairly big pollock swimming right underneath me so I dove down on his head, turned, let him swin away and nailed him through he skull, the only place I want to hit a pollock.
He dove for kelp and I gave him some line from the reel, and it took me 4 dives to pull him out. He was a fine size but not massive by far and he'll do us fine
We did some more exploring for lobsters, but found nothing. I must have gotten some stingers on my finger as I rubbed my glove to my lip and exploded in pain... I looked down and saw a small pink tentacle on my finger... nice...
If it wasnt for the bit of facial hair I would have been stung as bad as Neil
I found a lone scallop shell so we took a few dives for them and then gave up. I could see Neil had gotten out of his car so I paddled over to Pedro who was at the island. He had a nice few pollock and told me the triggers were actually still in the bay a few metres from the slip... That was all I needed, I sent the kayak into a 12knott drive and Clare was scooped up as she skii'd behind me.... Pedro had the same idea and was finning hard on his body board and matching my pace nicely, but half way there he tired a little and left off which gave me the edge needed. I stormed into the bay, ditched the anchor and was in the water in 15sec's Gun in hand I spotted a trigger hiding under a rock my first dive and he came out on the end of my spear after I stabbed him on my second. we looked around for a few more, but none were to be seen... damn NW'er...
Out we came and it was not bad at a trigger apiece. Pedro had a trigger, a nice few pollock, a lovely plaice and a flounder. Neil had a trigger and a pollock.
We tidied up, had a quick soup and cuppa, made some loose plans for another session soon, who knows where
After that it was the long drive home, quick tidy up of gear and sleep came effortlessly...
Fab weekend with great guys and an amazing ocean
The wind had died off so we decided to go with the kayak. Viz was even better today! We unloaded from the car and set up by the water. It was Clare's first time on it with diving gear and fins so I set her up to potter around as I got myself kitted up. The lads turned up shortly after. Derek had gone home and Danas and crew never made it.
I set the kayak up with a 5m polyprop rope and small float at the end. We took it in turns kayaking over the terrain with the other hanging onto the float and gun. We cover much more ground this way. We decided to explore the north shore and the area was beautiful
This techniques was really good, I spotted a massive pollock... easily just short of my gun and I dove the 9m to get close for a good shot and he went into a gully and under a tiny piece of kelp and disappeared.... completely.... I was so baffled as I searched for him... but my search yielded a lovely spider crab so how bad
We moved along and I was soon over another nice pollock. as I followed him from the surface he became aware of me and led me on. He got quicker and quicker staying at the edge of viz and then disappeared... but as he disappeared a shoal of big fish appeared with him.... 4 or 5 large pollock... I dove down but the water was too open and i saw nothing. I was finning back to the kayak when I spotted a fairly big pollock swimming right underneath me so I dove down on his head, turned, let him swin away and nailed him through he skull, the only place I want to hit a pollock.
He dove for kelp and I gave him some line from the reel, and it took me 4 dives to pull him out. He was a fine size but not massive by far and he'll do us fine
We did some more exploring for lobsters, but found nothing. I must have gotten some stingers on my finger as I rubbed my glove to my lip and exploded in pain... I looked down and saw a small pink tentacle on my finger... nice...
If it wasnt for the bit of facial hair I would have been stung as bad as Neil
I found a lone scallop shell so we took a few dives for them and then gave up. I could see Neil had gotten out of his car so I paddled over to Pedro who was at the island. He had a nice few pollock and told me the triggers were actually still in the bay a few metres from the slip... That was all I needed, I sent the kayak into a 12knott drive and Clare was scooped up as she skii'd behind me.... Pedro had the same idea and was finning hard on his body board and matching my pace nicely, but half way there he tired a little and left off which gave me the edge needed. I stormed into the bay, ditched the anchor and was in the water in 15sec's Gun in hand I spotted a trigger hiding under a rock my first dive and he came out on the end of my spear after I stabbed him on my second. we looked around for a few more, but none were to be seen... damn NW'er...
Out we came and it was not bad at a trigger apiece. Pedro had a trigger, a nice few pollock, a lovely plaice and a flounder. Neil had a trigger and a pollock.
We tidied up, had a quick soup and cuppa, made some loose plans for another session soon, who knows where
After that it was the long drive home, quick tidy up of gear and sleep came effortlessly...
Fab weekend with great guys and an amazing ocean
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Nah, give it to Pedro for allowing us to visit his 'back garden' and organising it. He got a nice (the best) pollock and lovely plaice to boot!
Damn phone, cant see the pics, cool story though. Sound like a great weekend was had by all. Well done, makes me want to move back to ireland
That gave us plenty of time to plan...
The wind had died off so we decided to go with the kayak. Viz was even better today! We unloaded from the car and set up by the water. It was Clare's first time on it with diving gear and fins so I set her up to potter around as I got myself kitted up. The lads turned up shortly after. Derek had gone home and Danas and crew never made it.
I set the kayak up with a 5m polyprop rope and small float at the end. We took it in turns kayaking over the terrain with the other hanging onto the float and gun. We cover much more ground this way. We decided to explore the north shore and the area was beautiful
This techniques was really good, I spotted a massive pollock... easily just short of my gun and I dove the 9m to get close for a good shot and he went into a gully and under a tiny piece of kelp and disappeared.... completely.... I was so baffled as I searched for him... but my search yielded a lovely spider crab so how bad
We moved along and I was soon over another nice pollock. as I followed him from the surface he became aware of me and led me on. He got quicker and quicker staying at the edge of viz and then disappeared... but as he disappeared a shoal of big fish appeared with him.... 4 or 5 large pollock... I dove down but the water was too open and i saw nothing. I was finning back to the kayak when I spotted a fairly big pollock swimming right underneath me so I dove down on his head, turned, let him swin away and nailed him through he skull, the only place I want to hit a pollock.
He dove for kelp and I gave him some line from the reel, and it took me 4 dives to pull him out. He was a fine size but not massive by far and he'll do us fine
We did some more exploring for lobsters, but found nothing. I must have gotten some stingers on my finger as I rubbed my glove to my lip and exploded in pain... I looked down and saw a small pink tentacle on my finger... nice...
If it wasnt for the bit of facial hair I would have been stung as bad as Neil
I found a lone scallop shell so we took a few dives for them and then gave up. I could see Neil had gotten out of his car so I paddled over to Pedro who was at the island. He had a nice few pollock and told me the triggers were actually still in the bay a few metres from the slip... That was all I needed, I sent the kayak into a 12knott drive and Clare was scooped up as she skii'd behind me.... Pedro had the same idea and was finning hard on his body board and matching my pace nicely, but half way there he tired a little and left off which gave me the edge needed. I stormed into the bay, ditched the anchor and was in the water in 15sec's Gun in hand I spotted a trigger hiding under a rock my first dive and he came out on the end of my spear after I stabbed him on my second. we looked around for a few more, but none were to be seen... damn NW'er...
Out we came and it was not bad at a trigger apiece. Pedro had a trigger, a nice few pollock, a lovely plaice and a flounder. Neil had a trigger and a pollock.
We tidied up, had a quick soup and cuppa, made some loose plans for another session soon, who knows where
After that it was the long drive home, quick tidy up of gear and sleep came effortlessly...
Fab weekend with great guys and an amazing ocean
Great report bobdony,nice to see another prowler on the site...well done!
My trip down down started on Friday evening, I left Wexford at 6pm towing a caravan to Tullow for the wife and kids so they could have their weekend away as well. I left Tullow at 8:15pm and motored down to Hungry Hill arriving there bang on midnight.
Pedro and Neil were in the bar and I joined them for a chat about all things spearfishing and about what kind of conditions the following morning would bring. We headed off to get some sleep at 2am and try as I might I could'nt get to sleep until near 4am. I got up at 9:30 and the lads had already left, I had a bit of brekkie and headed off to join them.
When I arrived at the site Pedro and Neil were out at the Islands, I could see Robs float close to the coast on the south west side so I headed out of the bay towards the Islands in search of the triggers. I could see lots of pollack and wrasse around the island but no triggerfish. I then headed towards the coastline on the north side, again there were plenty of large wrasse and some smaller pollack. The viz was really good and I could see bigger pollack down in the kelp, but I only had 4kg of weight on my belt and there was no getting down to the 8-10 metres I needed to go. I went after a bigger pollack while trying to swim down and force myself under but I missed him and speared a smaller one instead.
Back to the shore with my small pollack for lunch and the lads were there already cooking up their catch, I was just in time to taste Robs trigger fish and it was absolutely delicious. Neil was busy making his white wine and cream sauce to go with the flounder which was really superb as well. Pedro was offering up the remains to the sea gods and cooling down the rest of the catch and his brown crab. There was a nice bit of food, rest and chat before heading back out to try and see some of those elusive triggers. Romas had spotted some near the harbour on his way back in.
I went out planning to go for just one hour but after only taking a pollack and a mullet I was a bit disappointed that I hadn't even seen the triggers. When I met up with Neil he had just gotten his first trigger fish and had lost the mouthpiece from his snorkel. I returned slowly to the harbour enjoying the lovely topography and peace of the area, when I rounded the corner and started for the shore I could see the lads all ready to go and standing on the slip waiting for me, then just as I put my head back in the water I seen a shoal of trigger fish swim right by me. I shot the first one and headed the few metres back up on to the slip, a quick turn around and back in to go again. The shoal was still there, about 15 metres from the shore in about 2.5 metres of water, one of them swam away to the left and down as I approached and the rest took off a bit to the right. I dived down lined up and fired to get the second one on to my float, I had another quick look around for the rest of the shoal but they had all disappeared into cover by now.
When I got back to the hostel Daniel, Tim and Romas had cooked up a lovely feed, Pedro and Neil were cleaning their gear and putting their catch in the fridge while Rob and Clare had gone to find somewhere to stay. I had to collect the wife and kids the next morning and tow the caravan back to Wexford so I stayed until 12:30am and then drove the 4 hour journey back to Tullow.
It was a hectic weekend for me but I really enjoyed it. It was great to meet and share a lovely day with such a nice bunch of lads and ladies, it was a pity I had to go so early but I look forward to doing it again some time soon. Thanks Pedro for sharing your 'back garden' with us, its a beautiful spot and no wonder you love it so much. Looking forward to doing it again soon.
Pedro and Neil were in the bar and I joined them for a chat about all things spearfishing and about what kind of conditions the following morning would bring. We headed off to get some sleep at 2am and try as I might I could'nt get to sleep until near 4am. I got up at 9:30 and the lads had already left, I had a bit of brekkie and headed off to join them.
When I arrived at the site Pedro and Neil were out at the Islands, I could see Robs float close to the coast on the south west side so I headed out of the bay towards the Islands in search of the triggers. I could see lots of pollack and wrasse around the island but no triggerfish. I then headed towards the coastline on the north side, again there were plenty of large wrasse and some smaller pollack. The viz was really good and I could see bigger pollack down in the kelp, but I only had 4kg of weight on my belt and there was no getting down to the 8-10 metres I needed to go. I went after a bigger pollack while trying to swim down and force myself under but I missed him and speared a smaller one instead.
Back to the shore with my small pollack for lunch and the lads were there already cooking up their catch, I was just in time to taste Robs trigger fish and it was absolutely delicious. Neil was busy making his white wine and cream sauce to go with the flounder which was really superb as well. Pedro was offering up the remains to the sea gods and cooling down the rest of the catch and his brown crab. There was a nice bit of food, rest and chat before heading back out to try and see some of those elusive triggers. Romas had spotted some near the harbour on his way back in.
I went out planning to go for just one hour but after only taking a pollack and a mullet I was a bit disappointed that I hadn't even seen the triggers. When I met up with Neil he had just gotten his first trigger fish and had lost the mouthpiece from his snorkel. I returned slowly to the harbour enjoying the lovely topography and peace of the area, when I rounded the corner and started for the shore I could see the lads all ready to go and standing on the slip waiting for me, then just as I put my head back in the water I seen a shoal of trigger fish swim right by me. I shot the first one and headed the few metres back up on to the slip, a quick turn around and back in to go again. The shoal was still there, about 15 metres from the shore in about 2.5 metres of water, one of them swam away to the left and down as I approached and the rest took off a bit to the right. I dived down lined up and fired to get the second one on to my float, I had another quick look around for the rest of the shoal but they had all disappeared into cover by now.
When I got back to the hostel Daniel, Tim and Romas had cooked up a lovely feed, Pedro and Neil were cleaning their gear and putting their catch in the fridge while Rob and Clare had gone to find somewhere to stay. I had to collect the wife and kids the next morning and tow the caravan back to Wexford so I stayed until 12:30am and then drove the 4 hour journey back to Tullow.
It was a hectic weekend for me but I really enjoyed it. It was great to meet and share a lovely day with such a nice bunch of lads and ladies, it was a pity I had to go so early but I look forward to doing it again some time soon. Thanks Pedro for sharing your 'back garden' with us, its a beautiful spot and no wonder you love it so much. Looking forward to doing it again soon.
Attachments
Great post, didn't know you stayed fri or went home sat!! Hardcore!!
Anyway, you know I don't like to gloat... but... we just had a rather nice lunch
Trigger fish - marinated in olive oil and garlic...griddled...
Black sole - panfried with a butter, mint and parsley sauce
Spider fish crab cakes with our own potatoes, corriander, spring onion, chili and eggs
And a fresh green salad from my garden with warm chorizo sprinkled over
Just the basics like
Anyway, you know I don't like to gloat... but... we just had a rather nice lunch
Trigger fish - marinated in olive oil and garlic...griddled...
Black sole - panfried with a butter, mint and parsley sauce
Spider fish crab cakes with our own potatoes, corriander, spring onion, chili and eggs
And a fresh green salad from my garden with warm chorizo sprinkled over
Just the basics like