South Devon 2013

[mattbarlow]

Had a night dive in the south hams last night. There was a little bloom so vis not great (2-3m) and the water still felt cold. Did see a few small bass and took the largest that was just about legal. Good to see some fish around, lots of phosphorescence which always makes things fun and bass for dinner tonight .

 

[mattbarlow]

Followed up with another dive today, The wind was really up and made it all a bit choppy. Only saw a couple of wrasse and lots of jellyfish. Plenty of small sand eels around, looks like night dives are the best bet at the moment.

 

[ThomasB]

Yea their totally harmless filter feeders, second biggest fish in the sea though so they are an impressive sight. One of the Cornish spearo's (Padaxes I think) posted a really cool video of himself swimming with one or two of them last year, and another swimming with a very friendly seal. Worth a look if you can find them

Thanks found it easily on youtube.

 

[tribs]

Hi All,
Jumped in @ Exmouth last night on high and.... The bloom was terrible!! 50cm -1m tops very poor. Saw 3 mullet that basically swam into me but screaming tide and all full of bloom and other crap. Not good.
Tribes

Frustrated

Out

Anyone going to the BbQ Sunday???

 

[AlB]

Good vis last night in the south hams ~ 4m

lots seen inlcuding this years first bass, although out of range and skittish.

Other highlights were several cuttlefish, loads of pollack, spider crabs and single flounder.

Only fish taken was the flounder.

Good to see the small fry and sandeels in large numbers, wont be long until the bass are on the hunt again!

Was that you i was chatting to on the slip way?

Viz was great last weekend - saw lots of tiny pollock, a huge cuttlefish but left him for another day as i wasn't sure how to prepare them! A few decent spiders, took 2 males for the pot but was mainly in to retrieve my lobster pot but some pikey has stolen it... it was a big blue barrel type with tyres round the base, and my phone number on the floats.

 

[AlB]

Yep I'm coming Sunday!!!

Oh can anyone confirm if wrasse (big ones) are good to eat? Seen loads but never taken unless for the lobster pot bait...!!!

 

[Spiderman]

In last night from 7.30-10.30 with Winky. Vis was in the 3-5m range. Looks like the bloom is building though. Lots of dogfish, some 30cm pollack, a few small spider crabs and a few small flatties around.
The only thing I brought home was a spare weight belt with just under 12kg of lead on it

 

[tribs]

Yep I'm coming Sunday!!!

Oh can anyone confirm if wrasse (big ones) are good to eat? Seen loads but never taken unless for the lobster pot bait...!!!

Hey Alastair,

Touchy point that mate; taking large wrasse for pot bait. Many on here are quite vocal on the point. I have run strings of pots over the years and find that if anything smaller wrasse tied in into separate corners was a better alternative in pots. I got much less damaged crabs, particularly larger spiders with multiple baits. I believe through less competition over one large central bait. Also this leaves more breeding wrasse to carry on.
This is not a lecture just my findings over many seasons.
Hopefully see you Sunday.
Chris

Tribes

Out

 

[AlB]

Hey Tribbs, not trying to wind any one up! I don't shoot the big wrasse for the pot as bait just seen a few and always left them as I only shoot what I want to eat, and wondered if they were any good for the BBQ. I've taken a couple of smaller ones as bait over the last season when I've had nothing else, I normally use old carcasses that I wrap in bags and freeze, I found frozen carcasses in 2 sides of the pot works well too and I use mesh bags to keep it in place.

Since my pot was nicked I'm now on the look out for another one if anyone knows of any?

Will try and get out this pm for the BBQ - would be nice to say hello to everyone.

In again yesterday there was lots of bloom and very few silver fish, loads and loads of bait fish around and a few spiders, think it would be better at high tide to get under the bloom... No fish taken just a decent male spider.

 

[foxfish]

There is a good way to BBQ wrasse that involves a house brick....you wrap a big, mature, old, beautiful, friendly wrasse in tin foil alongside the brick (a porous red brick is good)
Lay on the BBQ and cook for about one hour, open the foil (a clothes peg is handy at this stage) remove the once majestic fish & throw the whole thing in the bin - now eat the better tasting bit - the brick!!

 

[north1]

Now, now fox fish. I know a French man who swears by them in his soup de pouison. I have to say it is the best fish soup I have ever tasted.
I n all seriousness I don't get the problem with taking a wrasse for the pot. I don't see them as being at risk.
As for pot bait, I agree with Tribs. They do last very well in a pot. Perhaps better not to take a mature fish.

 

[scottwilson]

Ive heard they cracking smoked.

 

[AlB]

There is a good way to BBQ wrasse that involves a house brick....you wrap a big, mature, old, beautiful, friendly wrasse in tin foil alongside the brick (a porous red brick is good)
Lay on the BBQ and cook for about one hour, open the foil (a clothes peg is handy at this stage) remove the once majestic fish & throw the whole thing in the bin - now eat the better tasting bit - the brick!!

That bad then!

 

[foxfish]

Ive heard they cracking smoked.

Very true, smoking firms the flesh & changes the flavour so you end up with something that is nothing like fresh wrasse!

 

[foxfish]

That bad then!

Well I was making light of the subject, although wrasse have really tough skin they have mushy flesh that breaks up in the pan, it has a mild flavour and requires careful preparation & cooking.
That is why the poor fish is used in soups & fish cakes etc.
Wrasse are extremely slow growing & territorial, folk believe them to be a common fish but they are localised to the shallow reefs & not abundant as you may think. Fish like bass appear in all depths in all parts of our seas but large wrasse are easily fished out of localised areas!
They are edible & it is a personal decision if you want to kill a puppy dog or not!

 

[Spiderman]

Also worth bearing in mind that most of the negative view of spearfishing among scuba divers is related to the killing of wrasse (mainly in competitions a few decades ago that depleted populations considerably). I've found it very helpful to be able to assure divers at some of my sites that I'm not going to do any harm to the wrasse and that I'm only shooting the fish that they hardly ever see anyway.

 

[Panhandle]

Adding to the pretty awful when cooked comments, Wrasse seems to be very popular in sushi restaurants.

I took some salmon and wrasse sashimi in to work last year. Both went down really well, with some liking the fattier salmon and some the cleaner fresher tasting wrasse.

I have tried curing in a beetroot mix too BBC - Food - Recipes : Beetroot-cured salmon

The short muscle fibres make it look a bit strange and lumpy when cured but it holds the flavour well. I would stay away from the big ones too, I think they are more likely to have worms that live in the flesh when they are old.

 

[tribs]

Hi All,
Just a point to discuss. As I have always struggled to equalise I wondered what people thought about these tips from professional divers:
1) wearing two hoods to keep the sinus cavities warm and thus open for flow
2) cutting holes around the ears of the suit to avoid "suction" or air keeping water out of the ear.

Any opinions?

May give the two hoods a go in this cooler water tomorrow.

Tribs

Ever hopeful of a balmy summer

Out

 

[robsue20]

When I used to dive it was always common practice to make a hole in the hood where yer ears are to make equalizing easier. Dosent need to be a big hole, just a stab with a knife will do, put the hood on,mark with a marker pen, REMOVE! and make your hole.

 

[Nick Mc]

Hi All

I am heading down to Dartmouth this Friday for a long weekend. Any suggestions of good places to go spearing (I have an inflatable with me so can get along the coast a little)?
Cheers
Nick