Sea Angling for Spearos

[olsaltydog]

Wow, 76 pages dedicated to fishing rod and reel. I am a fisherman in NC trying to get into spearing. I read the first page and will read more as i just joined today. But if any questions you guys might have i will be more than willing to help out. Lingo may need translation on some things but i have fished for 15 years rod and reel. Always willing to share my knowledge and advice on something i am familiar with as im here to learn from you guys what i dont know yet about freediving/ spearfishing.

 

[agbiv]

Just came back from the Texas Gulf coast for teh weekend. Went out into the bay and channels. Brought home two keeper speckled trout and a small flounder. Sent back l;ots of undersized fish. All caught on live shrimp. Had a blast. Went sailing just barely into the Gulf and bays in Nema with Sheri and Maggie (wifie & eldest daughter). Went out of harbor under power but sailed the rest and came in under sail and did K-A$$ job of a landing. :martial You know all the locals are watching.

 

[Mr. X]

I met a guy that went out boat fishing off the Devon coast and the skipper got them to bait up with prawn - not a bait I would normally use - but apparently just the thing to catch plaice at this particular location. I did wonder if the small brown-green rockpool shrimp would be a good bait -- it's a natural food source around the shore-line?

Was strangely surprised when the guy at a local freshwater store said he sold earth worms and that they are a good bait for all kind of things. My brother used to freshwater fish with worm (just like in the movies!) and never caught anything until he switched to maggot - so we always fished with maggot. Earth worms would have been free and easy to get from the garden - we just figured they were no good*. I wondered if estuary fish (e.g. like the flatties of Poole Harbour) might take them? In Dr. Mike Ladles Mullet Fishing DVD he successfully used worm-baited spinners in Christchurch Harbour for mullet.

Welcome OlSaltyDog, we lost our salty old dog - Old Man Dave RIP - last year, and we sure miss him. If you have the patience to tolerate our enthusiastic ignorance and never ending questions, you will be most welcome here .

*When I made up some "killer rigs" with rubber eels and gel worms a few years ago, I noticed blackbirds from the garden starting to home-in on them . Packed them up as I didn't fancy unhooking birds (the seagull v. ChugBug lure incident a few years back was more than enough surgery for me).

 

[olsaltydog]

No worries always glad to share what i know about fishing. Shrimp you cannot go wrong with it. Its the bottom of the food chain. One of the most sustaining sources of food for 75% salwater species. Even just locally i can use it to catch Spotted Sea Trout, Red Drum 5+ lbs, flounder (or halibut), Spanish Mackeral, Sheepshead, and i can list alot more.

 

[foxfish]

We don't often catch blonde ray when drift fishing but....

 

[agbiv]

Nice catch. Get an eye patch and you'd be right scary. :blackeye

 

[Mr. X]

I was thinking rock star - but add gold hoops & could go either way
Nice fish - did you eat it or return it?

 

[foxfish]

Yeah sorry about the bad hair day!
I released the fish because I cant be dealing with all that slime, although they are very good eating.

 

[bobdonny]

Yeah sorry about the bad hair day!
I released the fish because I cant be dealing with all that slime, although they are very good eating.

Ha, I was targeting them with the boat yesterday...no sign...I had to settle with 4 big cod, 2 decent whiting (for inshore fishing anyway) and 20 mackeral... my 8year old daughter is getting braver each day and abandoned her hand line and caught half the above on a boat rod

 

[foxfish]

Bob, would it be blone ray or thornback you are most likely to catch around your way?

 

[bobdonny]

Bob, would it be blone ray or thornback you are most likely to catch around your way?

Thornbacks would be the more likely over all of cork harbour.... but this section is known for the much rarer blonde's.

have a look here, Cork Harbour Angling Hub: Deora De - Specimen Blonde Ray

 

[Fro-in-shorts]

Discovered free lining this week, so simple and very effective. I was spinning over very shallow rough ground for over 2 hours and I had nothing. As the wind was offshore I thought I would try free lining a bit of crab. Within 10 minutes I'd missed a couple of bites and landed a 2lb bass, very happy with the results. A very simple and very fun way of fishing.

 

[Mr. X]

Interesting insight. Were you using soft-shell crab?

 

[ADM]

I love the natural presentation of freelining, I do it more with lures than bait TBH but I am very much one to play au naturel when fishing. Works very well, be at one with your bait and feel it all.

Good fishing! Not seen a shiney for a while, plenty rockies and a giant goby on the lures today.

 

[Fro-in-shorts]

A giant goby? nice one. If i'm spinning around low tide I'm now in the habit of picking up a few peeler crab before I start, easy to find and a great bait. If its rough or I need to cast more than ten yards a bit of bait elastic helps.

 

[ADM]

Here you go

Taken on a power isome worm and 0.6g Shirasu jig head. Very nice ragworm imitation. Strawberry favour by the smell of it? Odd but works.

 

[Fro-in-shorts]

I suspect ADM that you may have ventured further down the plastics trail than anyone i've ever met, a long way further. great pics

 

[Mr. X]

...you may have ventured further down the plastics trail than anyone i've ever met, a long way further. great pics

ditto.

Re. fish going for strawberry flavour - Maybe the fish got a taste of holiday-makers' icecream or perhaps it just got into the spirit of Wimbledon.

 

[ADM]

Just got a new colour idea in my head for something baitfish like in the home designed softies but not sure that it is quite right.

I think I am headed in the right direction with some sort of pearl on the bottom and clearer top but maybe more translucent bottom and a darker top with some blue glitter and more black maybe?

I'm still working on colour patterns as I am trying to make things more natural, it's the way I fish, natural presentation that is, what would a baitfish look like underwater as seen by a bass? Pure pearl works well in the dark but in the day i'm not so sure.

 

[Mr. X]

Yes that looks quite bait-fish - as you say maybe silver/grey/black up top? Although I guess one of the problem in making lures mimic real fish, is that real fish have often evolved to be camouflage, to make it hard for predators to see them -- e.g. silver/white/pale blue-gey underneath for camouflage against the sky when looking up and dark-grey/green/brown/black on top for camouflage against the seabed, and maybe silver on the sides to reflect the ambient colours.

I've had more luck with lures and spinners that have interesting movement & vibration. Can't think of any example of colour making a significant difference for me yet (but then I don't catch a lot of fish with a rod ). I've always avoided those dull browny, brassy coloured plugs, going more for blue/silver, green/silver or black/silver, only to read last year that those are the "hot ticket item" for Channel Island bass fishermen (with plenty of pictures of specimens caught to prove it) .