Ireland Spearing 2012

[chealy]

Weather i looking very settled for the next few days, no swell and only moderate easterly NE wind, should be good by the weekend.

Going to bike the knockmealdowns one day over the weekend but will head out one day as well if anyone is up for it.

Jonny: do you head out far on the boat or just more inaccessable spots

 

[johnnybuoy]

You took them all derekn!!
Chealy I usually only go half mile off on a few reefs but today I'm trying a new mark about 1.5 miles off land. Should be around 12-16M hopefully. I'd rather not dive deeper than that today as I will be alone in the water.

 

[Derekn]

You took them all derekn!!
Chealy I usually only go half mile off on a few reefs but today I'm trying a new mark about 1.5 miles off land. Should be around 12-16M hopefully. I'd rather not dive deeper than that today as I will be alone in the water.

no such luck this year.... only two bass and 3 flounder. Maybe change that over the weekend if this weather stays good. Good luck to pedro and company over the weekend as well

 

[chealy]

That would be deeper than I dive normally but if your heading out some other time drop me a bell, never really dived offshore in open water.

Did you ever dive the wreck out by Garretstown? remember seeing it stuck out of the water on a really low tide, though it was a whale or something at first.

 

[arrowloopboy]

Great vis on the top of the tide this morning in Sunny Wexford,would guess 15 yards,spent 2 hrs in the water shot a decent Mullet (5lbs) and saw 1 Bass,and that was it,sevear lack of fish down this way?

 

[johnnybuoy]

Was fishing today with the hope of getting wet on the way home. Fishing was great and my dive was about 1hr. Saw loads of good pollock but had caught plenty so took nothing.
A very strange thing happened and I'm so sick that I didn't take a photo. A turtle swam past the boat. Pretty sure it was a leatherback. First I thought, basking shark, then sunfish but as it got closer I saw it breathing and the unmistakable head of a turtle. I took out my phone to take a photo and as I turned the boat he dived. So gutted!!! Very little sightings of leatherbacks off cork(mostly in nets and washed up).
I must find out where to report it.
Me and my brother are still in shock and still trying to think what else it could have been because it sounds so nuts!!

 

[foxfish]

We get the odd turtle around our way but I have never seen one myself, that must of been some sight!! = Lucky you..

 

[johnnybuoy]

I have heard of sightings before but never thought I'd see one. Although I do fish a lot out there. When I got home I googled it and apparently there spotted every year off cork! So now I know im not going mad!

 

[bobdonny]

Like I said I wonder what came up the currents with him

How was the viz offshore? Did you spear anything?

Turtle would win FOM for sure! Maybe even FOY and I hear turtle soup is very nice

 

[johnnybuoy]

ya id imagine there would be more came with him. viz was 7/8m offshore and 2-3 onshore. speared nothing as we had plenty of fish on the boat but its a cracking spot. max depth was 15.3M and min was 9.1M but plenty of nice pollack around. saw 2 bass inshore but didnt get a shot off. only spent 40 mins in the water in total. caught a nice 7lb ling tho!

 

[sunfish]

Enjoy the ling Johnny, I would!mmmm.
A friend of mine was netting salmon at sea years back and they netted a huge turtle. He said it made a strange sound while they were releasing it.
Changing the subject, I was in for an hour this afternoon and there wasn't half some plankton in places. I was after bass but there weren't any to be seen except for schoolies so I took a couple around the three pound mark.

 

[fcallagy]

Savage stuff Johnny some of the fishing boats landed their first shark of the season and returned it and also spotted a Mola Mola or Dave as I think ye call him in Cork.
Radio documentary on freediving is online here now and you can listen to the podcast or tune in to Radio one tomorrow at 2pm also please rate the doc 5 stars if ye enjoy it on the top right of the screen. Cheers
RT.ie Radio 1: Documentary on One - Fire and Water

 

[Derekn]

Well the viz is definitely clearing up...best I've seen it so far this year. Seen some really big bass today, they must have been in double figures but very spooky and kept their distance so I didn't even get a shot in at them.

I had given up and was on my way back in when I came across a smaller bass at a little over 3.5lb which gave me renewed heart to look for another but after an hour of searching I didn't see any more and it was at the bottom of the tide.

I decided to try another low water spot on my way home and I found lots of bass, quite a few were smaller schoolies but I took this 5lb'er after an hour of searching. All in all it was a fantastic day, cracking vis, 17c water temp and lots of sea life.

 

[bobdonny]

Well done Derek... great to see pics of bass again

Myself and the missus listened to your podcast last night Feargus.

I have to say that it was really well made and Pol created a great story with really good drama!

Despite that, it is one of the best radio doc's I've possibly ever heard. Maybe I'm biased, but the sounds of the ocean and breathing up were really amazing and the whole thing had a nice calm... top notch

 

[climbingperch]

Well done Derek can't give you any rep need to spread it around apparently. Nice one on the turtle Johnny I seen one in Mozambique while out fishing just came up for air didnt manage to get a photo still bugs me. I had an encounter with an air breathing sea creature myself on Thursday. A Bloody Huge Persistent Seal out in Howth he just would not feck off vis was a milky 3-4m and every time I got to the bottom he would coming swimmimg towards me at speed and just turn at the last moment and circle me. No amount of underwater "shouting" or gesticulating with the gun would deter him. I'm just glad I didnt have any fish on my belt stringer.
Needless to say it put me off and I returned to the shallows while looking over my shoulder constantly. Now I know people will say they are harmless but these seals associate people with food. I was talking to a guy in a kayak who had a few pollack and he said the seal tried to climb up on his boat to steal them !!!!!!!!
Anyone got any ideas to make him go away ??
Water temp ranged from 14.5 to a whooping 16 c and it was a beautiful day but I got no fish in the shallows

 

[dirkjan]

Now I know people will say they are harmless but these seals associate people with food. I was talking to a guy in a kayak who had a few pollack and he said the seal tried to climb up on his boat to steal them !!!!!!!!
Anyone got any ideas to make him go away ??

Your in "his house" brother......
If your not happy, you'll have to find another maybe less convenient, but seal free mark :waterwork

 

[johnnybuoy]

Great podcast Feargus. Makes me want to sell all my dive gear and fly to sharm!!
Nothing u can do bout that seal neal. Dirk is right. Your in his house taking beers from his fridge. I'd be running for u too if u stole my beers.
Nice bass Derek!!

 

[climbingperch]

I fully accept I'm in his house "stealing his beers", convenient its not I'm not talking Howth harbour here, its a good 25min trek then a climb down the cliffs. I have encountered seals in many places and they always keep their distance but this guy is habitualised just don't fancy getting a bite off him. The fish shops in Howth actually sold Mackrel and herring to punters to feed the seals for years until the Harbourmaster began enforcing the law.

 

[bobdonny]

He's just look for a ride Neal... I'd be careful lying on the ocean floor on your belly if you catch my drift

Seriously though, apparantly they go for swimmers your way during mating season

But ya, best to move on.

 

[Derekn]

I was carrying a net bag with four flounder in it and out of nowhere a seal rushed by me and almost flipped me over on to my back. When I surfaced i seen this great big seals head just staring at me from around 5 feet away...it scared the living daylights out of me. I know exactly what you mean Neal when you say you can't relax enough to carry on spearing, I think when it gets to that you're better off just leaving the area. I know they're great to see and play with when you're not spearing but when you're senses are heightened while hunting they must be able to pick up on that.

Feargus, I thoroughly enjoyed the podcast...you've a great positive attitude which really came over. Looking forward to seeing the TV documentary