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Ireland Spearing 2012
- Thread starter sunfish
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
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just heard the doc on the radio 1 Fergus, it was very interesting and well made............its working on raising the profile of the sport here id say, i went into flagship scuda yesterday to have a look at the freediving fins and he was sold out already! dont know how many pairs he had but they are all gone. There must plenty of interest!
Switched on radio 1 today and this was just starting Feargus,great documentary,and made my 1hrs drive seem like 5 mins.
Been spearfishing a good many years but could do with some advice from an expert free diver,might have to venture West for one of your courses,hope theres a discount for DeeperBlue members
. Congratulations and good luck with your venture,
Andy.
Hello,
My name is Bittor and I am from the Basque Country. I will be in Cork from the 5th to the 8th of August. If some one could recommend somewhere to go fishing near the Cork area I would be grateful. I have 25 years of experience and have fished all over the world. If someone is available and interested in going fishing during these days, that would be great. thanks in advance,
regards, Bittor
My name is Bittor and I am from the Basque Country. I will be in Cork from the 5th to the 8th of August. If some one could recommend somewhere to go fishing near the Cork area I would be grateful. I have 25 years of experience and have fished all over the world. If someone is available and interested in going fishing during these days, that would be great. thanks in advance,
regards, Bittor
Weather has been so crap lately, I've been looking for any window at all to get out.
Conditions looked great on Sunday so I chanced it. Got to my spot and it was a dead calm. When I got in the water it started well with vis from 6-8m but as I went deeper I went into a massive plankton bloom..
I saw 4 mullet within the first 5 mins. and about 20 overall they were fearless and very curious.
I headed accross to another part of the bay where the viz normally improves but conditions actually got worse the closer I got to the shore. I gave up my search for bass at that stage.
I came accross dozens of spider crabs but they were all paired up doing the dirty deed so I let them be I decided to head in for shore when I came across a tight mono line in the water. I followed it for about 20m and then found a 6oz grip led and 5lb huss on the hooks (pennel rig). I tried to free him but in the end just cut him free, the hooks will rust fully in a few days, they looked about a week old.
I headed home empty handed.
In this location with this viz I would have expected to see about 20-30 bass Local angling sites are riffe with speculation as to why the bass seem to have disappeared from Cork to Wexford...
I had all but given up hope of a swim before the weather changed today when I get an impulse to head out yesterday, but one thing led to another and I ended up going on a night dive to hit the low water. Johnnhy said I should go with a buddy as its safer so I took my 9yr old on her first snorkel in irish water, and her first spearing trip and her first night dive... but she was up for it and had a great time... albeit the seaweed scared the crap outta her... she mostly stayed on top of my float for the trip
We got in a good half hour before dark and got out about a half hour after dark, she was cold in her 3mm suit (but had a 5.5mm hat, 3mm socks, 3mm boots and 5mm gloves). I did some bassing first and saw one, a small 3lb'er and then started looking for flats and got a beaut of a over 2.5lb flounder. I shot another smaller one (he was covered in sand and looked bigger) and left about 6 more go. I saw plenty of postage stamp sized turbot so I looked a little harder but by then the tide had turned and the viz was dropping fast and the swell picking up.
In the end Ciara got cold and I got out before I had a chance to look for any lobbies or crab, but it was a great session
Conditions looked great on Sunday so I chanced it. Got to my spot and it was a dead calm. When I got in the water it started well with vis from 6-8m but as I went deeper I went into a massive plankton bloom..
I saw 4 mullet within the first 5 mins. and about 20 overall they were fearless and very curious.
I headed accross to another part of the bay where the viz normally improves but conditions actually got worse the closer I got to the shore. I gave up my search for bass at that stage.
I came accross dozens of spider crabs but they were all paired up doing the dirty deed so I let them be
I decided to head in for shore when I came across a tight mono line in the water. I followed it for about 20m and then found a 6oz grip led and 5lb huss on the hooks (pennel rig). I tried to free him but in the end just cut him free, the hooks will rust fully in a few days, they looked about a week old.I headed home empty handed.
In this location with this viz I would have expected to see about 20-30 bass
Local angling sites are riffe with speculation as to why the bass seem to have disappeared from Cork to Wexford...I had all but given up hope of a swim before the weather changed today when I get an impulse to head out yesterday, but one thing led to another and I ended up going on a night dive to hit the low water. Johnnhy said I should go with a buddy as its safer so I took my 9yr old on her first snorkel in irish water, and her first spearing trip and her first night dive... but she was up for it and had a great time... albeit the seaweed scared the crap outta her... she mostly stayed on top of my float for the trip
We got in a good half hour before dark and got out about a half hour after dark, she was cold in her 3mm suit (but had a 5.5mm hat, 3mm socks, 3mm boots and 5mm gloves). I did some bassing first and saw one, a small 3lb'er and then started looking for flats and got a beaut of a over 2.5lb flounder. I shot another smaller one (he was covered in sand and looked bigger) and left about 6 more go. I saw plenty of postage stamp sized turbot so I looked a little harder but by then the tide had turned and the viz was dropping fast and the swell picking up.
In the end Ciara got cold and I got out before I had a chance to look for any lobbies or crab, but it was a great session
Rob definitly smaller.
Johnny for portroe dates are as follows stage weekend 24 and 25th August anfd then depth training 8th and possibly 9th Sept.
The catch n cook and Freedive Centre open day weekedn day is gathering pace but so far we have the "comp" how to fillet a fish with Phillipe, movie ( thinking Ocean Men as its only an hour long), freediver swop n sale so anything thing your not using older gear there should hopefully be people looking to get in to the sport that might be looking for 2nd hand gear to buy. Then a few beers sat night along with the bbq any other ideas and whos in?
Johnny for portroe dates are as follows stage weekend 24 and 25th August anfd then depth training 8th and possibly 9th Sept.
The catch n cook and Freedive Centre open day weekedn day is gathering pace but so far we have the "comp" how to fillet a fish with Phillipe, movie ( thinking Ocean Men as its only an hour long), freediver swop n sale so anything thing your not using older gear there should hopefully be people looking to get in to the sport that might be looking for 2nd hand gear to buy. Then a few beers sat night along with the bbq any other ideas and whos in?
We're tough round this way
And it was more of an evening dive as you can see from the pic
Feargus, I'm still hopeful for the 18th but its looking doubtful
I'll let you know if things change and I can confirm.
Was hoping to take Dave up this year for a romantic weekend away........but 24th is my B-day and my father is over from Spain. Early Sept I'm sailing from Kinsale to La Gomera in the Canary's (forecast permitting) Would have loved to be there this year but alas. Just saw you flying your flag on telly....well done!
Rob,.......I know.
First of all great doc Feargus really enjoyed listening to it and I've passed it on to a few others who have been expressing an interest in the sport to me. "Bottle of warm water" eh ..
I'll definitely be there for the 18th wouldn't misss it. " How to fillet fish with Phillipe " and eat it too roflroflrofl. The only idea I've come up with is maybe a prize for a good flattie not something we have found there before ?????
Heard a rumor of a John Dory in Beara at the wknd but I think it was a wind up..... Pedro ??
I'll definitely be there for the 18th wouldn't misss it. " How to fillet fish with Phillipe " and eat it too roflroflrofl. The only idea I've come up with is maybe a prize for a good flattie not something we have found there before ?????
Heard a rumor of a John Dory in Beara at the wknd but I think it was a wind up..... Pedro ??
Dublin does Beara; again.
Three marathon days of driving by Pedro "Portugese Man of Underwater Warfare" Benza; Beara Peninsula's premiere tour-guide-cum-spearfishing-charter operator!
Premier jour:
Pedro picks me up around 11am. To say we took the scenic route to get to Beara would be an understatement. Even more understated than I am - and that's going some. Drove down the N11 to Gorey, and proceeded to follow the coastline all the way to Cork. If we saw a Motorway; we shunned it. If we inadventently stumbled onto a National road, we'd veer off it immediately and beeline towards the nearest Regional road, or preferably, a road with plenty of grass in the middle. Hire cars; nothing handles like a hire car, eh?
After getting a late lunch in Dungarvin, we were on to hitting Cork hotspots like Midleton and Cobh. From there, the rural driving got even more fierce - Kinsale, Old Head, Courtmacsherry, Clonakilty, Dundeady, Skibereen and Baltimore - stopping at each spot to speculate as to the number of scallops each bay was currently holding.
Once in Baltimore, we had decided it was enough of the Mr Nice Spearo routine, and it was time to get some Baltimore scallops. Um. Yeah. It was about 8pm when we got in the water, so, yes, a dive was long overdue. The hour was late, but the vis was good and the ocean very still. And the scallops; man, they were exactly nowhere to be found. I was in first (aside: obviously; I'm diving with Pedro - he takes half of his worldly possessions on every dive and it takes him about 30 minutes longer than everyone else to get in) and found a lone scallop about 50mm in width. And that was it. This was not the West Cork I'd been looking for. Pedro noted that watching me swim in a grid and not actually dive for the first hour and a half before he got in (jokes; it was only about 15 minutes - he didn't need his flutterboard for scallop diving) that there probably weren't any scallops in the area. Hoof prints in the sand where scallops had been; yes. Scallops; no.
There was, however, a preponderance of large Velvet crab which was nice to see. I got out after an hour of fruitless searching with nothing to show for it. Pedro, being Pedro, stayed in, disappeared around a corner and out of eyeshot and all was silent. About half an hour later, he was back and moving awkwardly through the water for someone of Pedro's diving pedigree. As he got closer it became obvious that he was cuddling a large pile of Spider crabs to his chest. Pedro emerges with six large Spider crabs - one very large male there, too. Hurrah. So all is not lost - if life gives you lemons, Pedro takes the lemons and turns them into half a dozen Spider crabs. Had I been as entrepreneurial as Pedro, I would have spent an hour collecting Velvet crab. Curses. Anyway, we get changed and race back into Baltimore township, with the good fortune to find a restaurant still serving food at 10pm! That was lucky. We back-track to our B&B in Skibereen and collapse into bed around midnight :blackeye
Deux jours:
Fuelled with a breakfast of various parts of a pig's anatomy, we hit the road at about 10am, passing through Bantry and Glengarriff, after which we were safe - there was no chance we'd hit a National road now for at least a couple of days! Soon we stumbled upon the Hungry Hill Lodge. Alas, they were full up, so we couldn't stay there, but, it must be said - they have the Best Beer Garden in the World (voiced a-la Jeremy Clarkson). It was still only the morning, but it made me want to light up one of the fire pits and grab a pint. I assume Neal made a fire there?
From there it was on to Castletownbere, where much speculation as to the distribution and location of these elusive West Cork scallops was undertaken. Bere Island looks good; right? I digress. We dribbled on around the coastline and made our way down to Dursey Island (plenty of algal bloom in the water there) and made our way up to Allihies; our dive site for the day. Again, we were just able to tuck-in out of the NW wind, get changed and hit the water. I was pretty excited - this is the noteworthy site from whence half the Irish DB forum have liberated large Triggerfish - I really wanted to get a Triggerfish, as I've not got one before.
I've been in for about 3 minutes, and I'm in about 3m of water, and dive down to lie on the sand, and what do I see staring at me but a small John Dory; "You stupid fish," I think to myself, back off slightly and skewer him. Like, proper skewer. I've never seen a Dory in Irish waters before; I was beginning to think it was a myth. The thought had flicked through my head to wait for Pedro to come over and see the Johnnie, as they are notoriously hard to spot, and luckily, even more notoriously hard to scare - they might speed away if confronted, but it'll only be for 10 feet or so; you'll get 'em in the end - but it's Pedro, right; he was going to take at least another 45 minutes getting his gear on and making his way into the water - even I don't think I could have resisted the temptation to shot a Johnnie, even though Pedro hadn't seen one underwater before or heard their death rattle (to let the cat out of the bag, they make boar-like sound until you knife them - ). It's not a Triggerfish, but it is another great species - my favourite eating fish in the world.
So Pedro is in the water and we head off to some rocks, but about an hour into my dive I'm getting pretty cold and decide to turn back. Proper cold. Damn unsuitable choice of suit. I had my chances on the way back in with some large Pollack and some nice-looking mullet, but I was cold and no longer making a predator, so I won't say the area wasn't fishy - it did have large Wrasse, but it was pretty lite on sea life given it is the middle of summer. Obviously, Pedro comes back in about an hour later and his flutterboard is being weighed down by two Pollack and a Wrasse; one of the Pollack was bloody massive, alas I don't have a photo of it. Biggest I've seen. We were both a little disappointed with the dive - the scenery is fanastic for freediving, but the fish were not playing the game. West Cork scenic trip = A+; West Cork spearfishing = C+, bare pass; we must try harder.
We back track from Allihies to Castletownbere and find a B&B, grab a shower, head out of dinner at the right-sociable hour of 9pm. Phew. All the sightseeing is knackering me.
De trois jours:
Fuelled again with another breakfast of various parts of a pig's anatomy and starting from Castletownbere, we drive to a spot that I'd identified might be good for scallops from the previous day. Pedro was sceptical as to the worthiness of the dive site, as he's been there before and it never crossed his mind to dive there, but I convince him it's worth a gamble.
We suit up; I wear as much neoprene as I can muster so I don't get cold and make my way into the water (obviously before Pedro). Once I'm in about 3m of water and again for only about 3 minutes, I've already spotted a scallop, and I hold it up for Pedro to see that we've hit finally West Cork Gold! Hurrah. Pedro has never seen a scallop underwater before and is not really sure what he's looking for, so I push my gun into the sand and tell him to make his way over. When he gets there, I say to him "I've dropped my gun next to two scallops; can you go pick them up for me?". Pedro spies my gun, dives down and picks up the two scallops which are visible from the surface, and then another one which I hadn't spotted. Dammit! Typical bloody Pedro. Shows me up his first dive, and has the good grace not to rub it in! :blackeye "Well, I'm not going to give him anymore tips from an old pro," I say to myself and swim off. For the good it does. Within 30 minutes, we've both collected a couple dozen scallops each and Pedro's flutterboard is fair groaning with the weight. Pedro didn't need any help - honestly, he was like a bloodhound let off a leash.
We transformed back into sightseeing mode, and drove back round to Allihies and onto Eyeries, and Lough Lauragh where we made a nice little BBQ and cooked a half dozen scallops in their shells. Very tasty. Alas, time was against us, and we had to make our way back to the Pale. We went over the spectacular Healy's Pass to get back Rebel-side, then sped back along the N25 and N11 back to Dublin, arriving sometime after 11pm.
Great trip. Fantastic scenery. Quality spearfishing. A massive thanks to Pedro for organising a fantastic trip to Beara Peninsula! :blackeye
Three marathon days of driving by Pedro "Portugese Man of Underwater Warfare" Benza; Beara Peninsula's premiere tour-guide-cum-spearfishing-charter operator!
Premier jour:
Pedro picks me up around 11am. To say we took the scenic route to get to Beara would be an understatement. Even more understated than I am - and that's going some. Drove down the N11 to Gorey, and proceeded to follow the coastline all the way to Cork. If we saw a Motorway; we shunned it. If we inadventently stumbled onto a National road, we'd veer off it immediately and beeline towards the nearest Regional road, or preferably, a road with plenty of grass in the middle. Hire cars; nothing handles like a hire car, eh?
After getting a late lunch in Dungarvin, we were on to hitting Cork hotspots like Midleton and Cobh. From there, the rural driving got even more fierce - Kinsale, Old Head, Courtmacsherry, Clonakilty, Dundeady, Skibereen and Baltimore - stopping at each spot to speculate as to the number of scallops each bay was currently holding.
Once in Baltimore, we had decided it was enough of the Mr Nice Spearo routine, and it was time to get some Baltimore scallops. Um. Yeah. It was about 8pm when we got in the water, so, yes, a dive was long overdue. The hour was late, but the vis was good and the ocean very still. And the scallops; man, they were exactly nowhere to be found. I was in first (aside: obviously; I'm diving with Pedro - he takes half of his worldly possessions on every dive and it takes him about 30 minutes longer than everyone else to get in) and found a lone scallop about 50mm in width. And that was it. This was not the West Cork I'd been looking for. Pedro noted that watching me swim in a grid and not actually dive for the first hour and a half before he got in (jokes; it was only about 15 minutes - he didn't need his flutterboard for scallop diving) that there probably weren't any scallops in the area. Hoof prints in the sand where scallops had been; yes. Scallops; no.
There was, however, a preponderance of large Velvet crab which was nice to see. I got out after an hour of fruitless searching with nothing to show for it. Pedro, being Pedro, stayed in, disappeared around a corner and out of eyeshot and all was silent. About half an hour later, he was back and moving awkwardly through the water for someone of Pedro's diving pedigree. As he got closer it became obvious that he was cuddling a large pile of Spider crabs to his chest. Pedro emerges with six large Spider crabs - one very large male there, too. Hurrah. So all is not lost - if life gives you lemons, Pedro takes the lemons and turns them into half a dozen Spider crabs. Had I been as entrepreneurial as Pedro, I would have spent an hour collecting Velvet crab. Curses. Anyway, we get changed and race back into Baltimore township, with the good fortune to find a restaurant still serving food at 10pm! That was lucky. We back-track to our B&B in Skibereen and collapse into bed around midnight :blackeye
Deux jours:
Fuelled with a breakfast of various parts of a pig's anatomy, we hit the road at about 10am, passing through Bantry and Glengarriff, after which we were safe - there was no chance we'd hit a National road now for at least a couple of days! Soon we stumbled upon the Hungry Hill Lodge. Alas, they were full up, so we couldn't stay there, but, it must be said - they have the Best Beer Garden in the World (voiced a-la Jeremy Clarkson). It was still only the morning, but it made me want to light up one of the fire pits and grab a pint. I assume Neal made a fire there?
From there it was on to Castletownbere, where much speculation as to the distribution and location of these elusive West Cork scallops was undertaken. Bere Island looks good; right? I digress. We dribbled on around the coastline and made our way down to Dursey Island (plenty of algal bloom in the water there) and made our way up to Allihies; our dive site for the day. Again, we were just able to tuck-in out of the NW wind, get changed and hit the water. I was pretty excited - this is the noteworthy site from whence half the Irish DB forum have liberated large Triggerfish - I really wanted to get a Triggerfish, as I've not got one before.
I've been in for about 3 minutes, and I'm in about 3m of water, and dive down to lie on the sand, and what do I see staring at me but a small John Dory; "You stupid fish," I think to myself, back off slightly and skewer him. Like, proper skewer. I've never seen a Dory in Irish waters before; I was beginning to think it was a myth. The thought had flicked through my head to wait for Pedro to come over and see the Johnnie, as they are notoriously hard to spot, and luckily, even more notoriously hard to scare - they might speed away if confronted, but it'll only be for 10 feet or so; you'll get 'em in the end - but it's Pedro, right; he was going to take at least another 45 minutes getting his gear on and making his way into the water - even I don't think I could have resisted the temptation to shot a Johnnie, even though Pedro hadn't seen one underwater before or heard their death rattle (to let the cat out of the bag, they make boar-like sound until you knife them - ). It's not a Triggerfish, but it is another great species - my favourite eating fish in the world.
So Pedro is in the water and we head off to some rocks, but about an hour into my dive I'm getting pretty cold and decide to turn back. Proper cold. Damn unsuitable choice of suit. I had my chances on the way back in with some large Pollack and some nice-looking mullet, but I was cold and no longer making a predator, so I won't say the area wasn't fishy - it did have large Wrasse, but it was pretty lite on sea life given it is the middle of summer. Obviously, Pedro comes back in about an hour later and his flutterboard is being weighed down by two Pollack and a Wrasse; one of the Pollack was bloody massive, alas I don't have a photo of it. Biggest I've seen. We were both a little disappointed with the dive - the scenery is fanastic for freediving, but the fish were not playing the game. West Cork scenic trip = A+; West Cork spearfishing = C+, bare pass; we must try harder.
We back track from Allihies to Castletownbere and find a B&B, grab a shower, head out of dinner at the right-sociable hour of 9pm. Phew. All the sightseeing is knackering me.
De trois jours:
Fuelled again with another breakfast of various parts of a pig's anatomy and starting from Castletownbere, we drive to a spot that I'd identified might be good for scallops from the previous day. Pedro was sceptical as to the worthiness of the dive site, as he's been there before and it never crossed his mind to dive there, but I convince him it's worth a gamble.
We suit up; I wear as much neoprene as I can muster so I don't get cold and make my way into the water (obviously before Pedro). Once I'm in about 3m of water and again for only about 3 minutes, I've already spotted a scallop, and I hold it up for Pedro to see that we've hit finally West Cork Gold!
Hurrah. Pedro has never seen a scallop underwater before and is not really sure what he's looking for, so I push my gun into the sand and tell him to make his way over. When he gets there, I say to him "I've dropped my gun next to two scallops; can you go pick them up for me?". Pedro spies my gun, dives down and picks up the two scallops which are visible from the surface, and then another one which I hadn't spotted. Dammit! Typical bloody Pedro. Shows me up his first dive, and has the good grace not to rub it in! :blackeye "Well, I'm not going to give him anymore tips from an old pro," I say to myself and swim off. For the good it does. Within 30 minutes, we've both collected a couple dozen scallops each and Pedro's flutterboard is fair groaning with the weight. Pedro didn't need any help - honestly, he was like a bloodhound let off a leash. We transformed back into sightseeing mode, and drove back round to Allihies and onto Eyeries, and Lough Lauragh where we made a nice little BBQ and cooked a half dozen scallops in their shells. Very tasty. Alas, time was against us, and we had to make our way back to the Pale. We went over the spectacular Healy's Pass to get back Rebel-side, then sped back along the N25 and N11 back to Dublin, arriving sometime after 11pm.
Great trip. Fantastic scenery. Quality spearfishing. A massive thanks to Pedro for organising a fantastic trip to Beara Peninsula! :blackeye
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Great report and well done on the dory! Well overdue on the forum! Glad ye got scallops eventually!
