Sea Angling for Spearos

[Old Man Dave]

Great catch Andy at a grim time of year (fish-wise). Still decorating and not getting the urge yet. About 3 or 4 meals of plaice and mackerel left in the freezer with a few more bass (not my favourite). Once they run out I'll have to venture out.

Well done again.

Dave.

 

[ADM]

Well I ate it for tea today as a fish curry. Very tasty it was too. Good firm flesh held together very well and still retained fishyness through the heat.

Such a difference with a slightly larger fish, the smaller RM's i've not been impressed with the texture at all. I'm not a fishy connoisseur like Mart obviously!! Plus I prefer bass and don't like mackerel, and hate ormer stew so it's all personal taste I guess.

 

[foxfish]

Well I ate it for tea today as a fish curry. Very tasty it Good firm flesh held together very well and still retained fishyness through the heat.
.

Exactly what I mean.. you put it in a curry (good move) & it still retained fishyness!!!

 

[ADM]

I was considering what had been said in doing that!! Nothing more disappointing to kill something and not like the taste!!

 

[agbiv]

Cooked up some spadie fillets I shot last summer in Fl-- simple pan saute. Turned out great. Made cold fish sandwiches for lunch aafter tilling up garden. Salude!

 

[agbiv]

BTW listinen' to some good Cheiftans for St. Pat's tomorrow & will fix for wifie obligatory corned beef, (and BTW who origionally corned the beef -- we call it stump broke) red potatoes, cabbage, carrot & quick Irish soda bread.

 

[Mr. X]

BTW listinen' to some good Cheiftans for St. Pat's tomorrow & will fix for wifie obligatory corned beef, (and BTW who origionally corned the beef -- we call it stump broke) red potatoes, cabbage, carrot & quick Irish soda bread.

I always thought corned beef was an American invention but perhaps that's just because a lot came over (as "Bully Beef" I think) during WWII. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that canning was invented in Napoleonic times & perhaps tinned beef? Didn't realise it was a traditional Irish/St. Patrick's Day dish.

Had to look up Soda Bread: Irish soda bread: Not actually Irish? - TODAY Food and wine- msnbc.com
Sounds a bit like a Ray Mear's dish that he calls Bannock or...Dapper in a recent episode shot in Australia.

Are there any traditional Irish seaweed dishes (like Welsh lava bread)? BBC TV's Countryfile last year had a great piece with a young-ish lady who still gathers all kinds of edible seaweeds near her home in Ireland. Apparently it used to be a way of life for whole communities. It's used for seaweed baths too! Probably quite cleansing with all that iodine. I think they said it was used for fertilizer too(?).

 

[SpanishSpear]

Hi guys,
This is really my first post in this board but I was browsing and stumbled upon this very interesting thread, so I figured I put my 2 cents on the subject.
I am as much of a saltwater angler as I am a Spearo, I might have a little of an advantage since I have the luxury to work for a Saltwater fishing magazine here in the East Coast of the USA ( CT to be exact)and that allows me to spend most of my life on/around water. So here is some things I have learned throughoutt the years, keep in mind that these are just general concepts and they will have to be adjusted according to geography but will work regardless. I grew up in Spain and had a fishing rod in my hand since I could walk, practically. The fishing in the Med is quiet different than here but many of the same concepts can be translated with minor modifications.
Here in the NorthEast of the US the most targeted species are Striped Bass, Blue Fish, Weak Fish, Black Fish, Sea Bass, flounder/fluke with a few others mixed in.
The most important thing, In my opinion, is to start slow and become very efficent at one particular thing, for example if you are gonna start learning how to use a spinning rod/rel set up, learn it well. Fish it in many different places in many different conditions, understand what you are fishing for, you do not need 30lb line if you are fishing for 5lb average fish.... learn how to work your reel well, take apart and learn how to clean it and put it back together, as one day you might have to in the middle of a fishing outing.... and the best advice anyone has ever givin me is: "Learn you water" take many trips to the same spot, different times of the year, of the day, different tide stage at that spot, observe the surface of the water for bait and wave action as this will determine and trigger fish movement, study charts on that spot and know what the structure looks like then translate it to what you know of the habits of the targeted specie you are fishing for.
This goes for shore or boat fishermen, same principles apply.
oh yeah, and then....... put tons of hours on the water, it is the only way to get better.
I have fished with almost any kind of tackle available in the global market and I could provide some feedback in my experience on any particular thing, if you guys have any questions that I might be able to answer.
Great threat guys!!!!!

 

[foxfish]

Hi Spanish Spear, you sound very experienced.
This thread can go up & down at certain times of the year depending on the seasons in different countries however it has been quiet for some time so why don't you liven it up with some of your past catches?
We do have other experienced & even professional anglers like Miles who post every now & then.

 

[SpanishSpear]

Hi Spanish Spear, you sound very experienced.
This thread can go up & down at certain times of the year depending on the seasons in different countries however it has been quiet for some time so why don't you liven it up with some of your past catches?
We do have other experienced & even professional anglers like Miles who post every now & then.

K here is a couple of pics I have handy

 

[foxfish]

Thanks, good to put a face to a name & those are nice fish too.

 

[ADM]

Some very nice fish there SpanishSpear!!

Some nice bass starting to show in Sunny (at the moment anyway) Guernsey. 2 bass over 11lb landed off the shore this week. One of 11-6 last night to our Monty. Maybe they have started to come inshore at last...??

Therefore, I need to go to the beach in my lunch hour and find bait to go looking for their granny who might still be there to catch!!

 

[Mr. X]

Awesome fish & pics SpanishSpear. re. 30lb line, I think the reasoning for that is that you can get 30lb braid which is thinner than 8/10lb mono these days (Berkley Whiplash for example). You don't need it for the fish so much as for increased abrasion resistance (17lb Whiplash is so fine it quickly wears through on rock which quickly reduces its strength -- I've have had it break ahead of 12lb rated mono trace) and then mainly for freeing plugs from weed (reckon that often needs 14lb+ rating - 12lb breaks before the weed gives). It's also what Dr. Mike Ladle uses & Henry Gilbey, possibly the two best known / most published bass pluggers in the UK.

 

[ADM]

I use 30lb braid when plugging and 30lb mainline when bass fishing with bait (with 25lb hooklength and 12lb weak link for the lead). Going fine for me so far...

Picked up 5 peelers and 4 soft crabs at lunch so that's bait sorted for later!!

 

[foxfish]

That is seriously heavy tackle Andy!! I am really surprised!!
I wouldn't use 30lb mono for wreck fishing let alone shore fishing for bass.

 

[Mr. X]

He said mainline not mono

Hi Ricardo, are those striped bass? Did you use live bait to catch them from a boat by any chance? If I could, I'd use live sandeel over here but it's not practical for me. As I don't live by the sea & usually aim to spear when I am at the coast, most of my angling is from shore with lures/plugs/spinner/rubber eels; do you have any advice/thoughts/theories on lures/plugging/spinners? The Veals.co.uk offer some very large Grauvell "Super poppers", which apparently are popular with (or came from) bass anglers on the Spanish Atlantic coast. [It looks a bit like a rather large popper OMD used one new year to catch a winter bass on Guernsey - or perhaps that was an Cotton Cordell?]

Grauvell Super Popper

Cotton Cordell

More on Super Poppers: [ame=http://www.worldseafishing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52928]Grauvell super popper. - World Sea Fishing Forums[/ame]

Do you have a link for your fishing magazine, The Fisherman, that you'd care to share?

 

[Old Man Dave]

The cotton cordell used to be THE surface plug in Guernsey and I have caught bass on them. However you are right that I caught them on the big Grauvell too. In the last 2 years bass lure fishing has bloomed over here and lots of bass are landed on all sorts of lures. Lots of rubber tail and combi type lure which used to be boat lures have been used to spin for bass off the shore with some success.

Wouldn't it be great if striped bass were to establish in the eastern atlantic. Conditions are similar to where they live off the east coast of the USA. I'd love to spear a big striper.

Dave.

PS two bass over 11 lb shore caught this week in Guernsey.

 

[SpanishSpear]

He said mainline not mono

Hi Ricardo, are those striped bass? Did you use live bait to catch them from a boat by any chance? If I could, I'd use live sandeel over here but it's not practical for me. As I don't live by the sea & usually aim to spear when I am at the coast, most of my angling is from shore with lures/plugs/spinner/rubber eels; do you have any advice/thoughts/theories on lures/plugging/spinners? The Veals.co.uk offer some very large Grauvell "Super poppers", which apparently are popular with (or came from) bass anglers on the Spanish Atlantic coast. [It looks a bit like a rather large popper OMD used one new year to catch a winter bass on Guernsey - or perhaps that was an Cotton Cordell?]

Grauvell Super Popper

Cotton Cordell

More on Super Poppers: Grauvell super popper. - World Sea Fishing Forums

Do you have a link for your fishing magazine, The Fisherman, that you'd care to share?

Mr X.,
yes those are Striped bass. in regards to the braid/line, I was just giving a simple example. most hardcore surfcasters here in the northeast use anything from 50lb to 100lb test braid. I use 80 on my big surf sticks, daiwa samurai, which I find to be the best for my taste along with 65lb flourocarbon learder, I hate wire. There are tons of bluefish here that get up to around 20lb range and will cut thru anything small test in terms of leaders.
Those big fish there are all caught all wooden plugs, we are very fortunate to have a lot of custom plug builders here in the NorthEast and I happen to work with one of them, the plug that is laying on top of those fish was made by him. All topwater that particular day and in very heavy cross current so you need some big tackle. you know what they say.... "don't bring a knife to a gun fight" that holds very true when targeting big fish in the conditions that we have in this area.
lots of guys use powerpro also for braid, I just happen to like the daiwa better, 11ft heavy surf stick and shimano 8000 reel.
our website is being redesigned and it is now down for a couple of weeks. I will post it once we are up and running shortly, there will be some pretty neat things on it.
BTW, we use live ells a lot here and they work incredibly well, for that you have to reduce your tackle a bit so have a lot more feel between you and the eel at the end of your line, It takes a while to get used to the bite of a fish on an eel but it one of the best producing methods of big fish around these parts

 

[ADM]

That is seriously heavy tackle Andy!! I am really surprised!!
I wouldn't use 30lb mono for wreck fishing let alone shore fishing for bass.

It is rather heavy but I have had trouble when fishing the really rough stuff that the line becomes frayed so quickly that it ends up snapping before the weak link. I used to use 25 and still do on occasion, depends what I find when I need to re-spool.

I have also lost a decent feeling fish over rough ground due to the mainline being frayed up on the reef and parting so I beefed up a bit.

 

[ADM]

He said mainline not mono

Hi Ricardo, are those striped bass? Did you use live bait to catch them from a boat by any chance? If I could, I'd use live sandeel over here but it's not practical for me. As I don't live by the sea & usually aim to spear when I am at the coast, most of my angling is from shore with lures/plugs/spinner/rubber eels; do you have any advice/thoughts/theories on lures/plugging/spinners? The Veals.co.uk offer some very large Grauvell "Super poppers", which apparently are popular with (or came from) bass anglers on the Spanish Atlantic coast. [It looks a bit like a rather large popper OMD used one new year to catch a winter bass on Guernsey - or perhaps that was an Cotton Cordell?]

Grauvell Super Popper

Cotton Cordell

More on Super Poppers: Grauvell super popper. - World Sea Fishing Forums

Do you have a link for your fishing magazine, The Fisherman, that you'd care to share?

Lost what would have been my biggest bass on a cotton cordel but he spooled me from 5 yards out when he hit and left me rather frustrated as he threw the hook at long range...