South Devon 2015

[scrumpy]

Sounds like my nokia from the ark needs replacing!!

 

[shiny1]

Mine is a Nokia but got a good camera on it, 41 mega pixel camera. Ask Noah for a better phone Lee

 

[scrumpy]

Noah, better known as my daughter informs me, I'm getting an LG when she gets an i phone!!!.

 

[Ryan gotch]

Anyone know of any viz south hams way?

 

[thepheasant]

Any viz reports South Devon last 2 days? Cheers,

 

[halfandy]

Dawlish Warren on Sunday was light brown close to shore, milky turquoise colour 50+ meters out. There may be vis somewhere west facing?

 

[scrumpy]

I've seen nothing local, west side of South hams should hold viz. hope cove web cam looked ok but experienced spearo checked 4-5 spots without success at weekend. NE should give some calm conditions hopefully west side

 

[Dai ASBO]

Took the afternoon off work to take a dive in South Hams spot. Got in pretty much bang on low tide. First impression of getting in was not good - close to shore there was loads of seaweed fragments churned up and a murky colour meaning couldn't see much beyond the end of the gun. Swam further out and luckily found some vis which was pretty consistently around 4 meters at least. Nothing about so went further out where depth dropped to 8-10 meters but vis dropped too. Starting to feel the cold I decided to head back closer to the shore and a shoal of pollock came out - first signs of life on any scale. Stayed around to see if anything else showed up which it didn't so continued back to shore. Kelp bed came into view in about 3 meters of water as did some schoolie bass and a couple of mullet seen from surface. Dived down and within a few seconds torpedo mullet ahead and took a nice large 5lb. A few more dives and more mullet appeared regularly but no real takers and breath hold times were getting pathetic with shivering setting in. I get the impression that I found the fishy spot at the wrong time of the dive as pretty sure some larger bass seen in the distance from the more obvious mullet. Still, happy to come away with a decent size fish which has already been devoured by hungry kids.

 

[scrumpy]

Good report mate

 

[thepheasant]

Thanks for the viz reports halfandy and scrumpy, always appreciated. I got in for a night dive last night east of exe. The viz was pretty good, up to around 4m in places and although the air was cold the water was lovely and warm. A bit of swell about but not too much. A lot of life around including some small flatties, edible crabs and bucket loads of monster mullet. I didn't see any bass until half way round the dive when I had decided to turn around. I went in close to the cliffs to see if there was anything lurking around the drift line and found a nice fish tucked up in a hole which would have been dry land at low tide. I swam over a second slightly larger bass on the way back in and followed it around for a while. It got a reprieve due to my lines being in a tangle after taking the first fish and I had already decided not to bother sorting it out. Does anyone else use a stringer on their weight belt? First time using one for me and spent the return journey being stabbed by dorsal spines. Will be reverting to my float set up...
Happy fishing one and all, looks like the northerlies are going to be around for a while. Squawk squawk.

 

[Cabesa]

Hello everyone, I am new in this forum. I moved to exeter a month ago and since then I have been looking forward to get in the water. I was thinking of going somewhere this weekend and checking google maps I found the start point lighthouse in south hams and it looks like the kind of remote place that I like to dive in.
Has anyone been there before? Is is safe? Is there anyway to climb down those gnarly clifts? Will visibility be good in the west facing part?
Sorry for all the questions and thanks in advance!

 

[mirror]

Start point has VERY strong currents and not just at the point , ( in fact I do not know anywhere stronger locally ) and slack water does not last long ... try on a neap tide first .. or go by boat / kayak ... carefully ! I find it a beautiful , dramatic place and like most places the fishing is variable , but quite good for shellfish . ps slack is about 2hrs after high and low

 

[Cabesa]

Thank for replying. I will go somewhere else then, cos i don't have a boat, either a kayak. Any suggestions where viz could be good tomorrow?

 

[AlB]

West of start point should have 3-4m

 

[halfandy]

I tried a new spot in S.Hams yesterday. I was running a bit late so didn't manage to get in until dusk. Vis was 4-5m. I didn't venture too far - I'm not up to exploring a new spot in the dark. I had a look around the edges for bass and mullet but found nothing. On the sand there were flatfish everywhere. Most were pretty small, but I managed to find a few tidy flounder, two plaice and a red mullet. Happy days! Hopefuly I'll get some time on Monday to explore the same spot in the daylight.

pheasant - I've used a belt stringer from the start and I can't say I've been stabbed once. Maybe a longer length of string?

 

[scrumpy]

Dived last Wednesday around Bigbury. Took 2 bass early on, couple of decent mullet and flat fish seen but left alone. Viz wasn’t great around 3m but was murky in places. Tide was now on the turn and made conditions quite tricky, caught in the rip so had to go with it. Ended up towards Thurlestone headland, deciding I needed the tide to ease so worked the gullies and took this nice 7lber. Viz dropped right off. Headed back towards the beach and followed a thornback for a good few minutes, decided early on not to take it as I had one previously, the only thing playing on my mind was the size of it, at a guess 15lb made the bigger bass look like a sandeel!
As I crossed the bay I could see torches up on the headland and closer to shore was an emergency vehicle, thinking it was police carried on towards shore. Walking out of the surf met by local coastguard amid reports of someone / craft struggling out in the bay!
After a short chat about my catch, we got back to why they had been called out, 5 lights seen close to rocks so thinking this wasn’t me, said my goodbyes and returned to the car. Whilst changing, the coastguard passed and informed me that now thought it was a small fishing boat possibly with nets out. Firstly I hadn’t seen one and would you be netting at that time close to reefs? Illegal netters? Been seen there many times before.
The Inshore lifeboat had been launched from Hope Cove and soon appeared in the bay. Headed off thinking ‘who could possibly think night dives are boring’ also thought when diving remote spots I may look into logging my dives with the coastguard. The thought of such resources being called out on a false alarm, is something I do not want on my conscience Even if the caller was genuinely concerned.
Checking Hope Cove lifeboat page, update states fishing vessel spotted close to rocks around far side of Burgh Island, possibly hiding?
lifeboat stood down, Guess they’d done all necessary checks. I will phone to follow up.

 

[Dai ASBO]

Good report Lee and nice fish!

Had a dive this afternoon but nothing other than a couple of small bass seen - was expecting more from this spot but apart form tonnes of monster wrasse it was pretty lifeless. My dives have all been cut shorter than I'd like for the most part of this year through feeling the cold quicker than ever. Having lost some weight since buying my wetsuit it is not a good fit anymore so need a new one. No doubt this is the reason why cold sets in quicker than previously. Am drawn to a custom polosub suit so will wait for a reply from Mr Deli for some advice and take it from there.......

 

[scrumpy]

cheers mate, had hoped viz might have been slightly better. Next time might approach from Thurlestone end.

 

[halfandy]

Nice report Lee, nice fish too! And some balls! I'm not sure I'd be able to let the current take me at night!
Vis was 3-4m today. Didn't see much worth taking. 'Highlight' of the dive was startling a 3ft (ish) fish, diving right on top of it and watching it swim away. I'm gonna try and keep my gun tucked under my body from now on. I normally dive with it stretched in front of me so I can see something in the gloom.

Dai - I got a Polosub earlier this year. Nice suits, very supple neoprene, and they smell gorgeous! The smell is a little overpowering to start but after a dive or two... mmmm. I only wish I'd gone slightly tighter on the measurements as after a few months use it seems to have stretched a little.

 

[scrumpy]

I didn't have much choice matey