When I saw that Trelawney had replied I was half expecting to see a good catch !!...., I have often thought that great conditions for diving do not suit the fish .... Scrumpy, why does the vis matter to you , you only dive in the dark !! lol ...
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South Devon 2016
- Thread starter Trelawney
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
, There was no answer in this thread for more than 90 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
I've seen more Bass this year than last. I'm not sure if that's down to improvements in breath hold, choice of location, better technique, or pure chance. Mullet on the other hand, have been few and far between.
I agree with you on the conditions though mirror. I feel I have much better chances of catching in 2-4m vis than clearer water. It is damned nice to be able to see through the water though!
If you like Mackerel, there were plenty down at Dawlish Warren this evening - I guess it was the same all down this stretch of coast.. The vis looks to have made a quick initial recovery, but not divable yet.
I agree with you on the conditions though mirror. I feel I have much better chances of catching in 2-4m vis than clearer water. It is damned nice to be able to see through the water though!
If you like Mackerel, there were plenty down at Dawlish Warren this evening - I guess it was the same all down this stretch of coast.. The vis looks to have made a quick initial recovery, but not divable yet.
Low tide dive with my buddy to a new gully patch. 8-10m viz, water dead flat.
First bass taken within 3min, I didn't even have chance to turn the camera on! The gullies lie in about 10m of water and are a Mecca for crabs and lobsters. I teased one lobbie out and found a big crab nearby. Crab was female so went back. Lost a big bug in the kelp as it escaped via the backdoor of his hole. Buddy had his bass on his stringer on the swim back in. Pleasant dive all round, and we cooked climbing back up the cliff.
First bass taken within 3min, I didn't even have chance to turn the camera on! The gullies lie in about 10m of water and are a Mecca for crabs and lobsters. I teased one lobbie out and found a big crab nearby. Crab was female so went back. Lost a big bug in the kelp as it escaped via the backdoor of his hole. Buddy had his bass on his stringer on the swim back in. Pleasant dive all round, and we cooked climbing back up the cliff.
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Good stuff Trelawney !! I am not getting much chance to get in at the moment as I only have time for local dives and Torbay is just dreadful at the moment ..I need a full day to bother to go to Sth Hams or further afield .. also a bit of info to those who it may concern ...... the BSA are having a comp at Meadfoot on August 6 th and Thurlestone on the 7th , so if you go on these dates you may find it a bit crowded ( with spearos ) and the days after it will be empty ( of fish ).... be interesting to see what they find at Meadfoot though as it would appear to be a good spot but I have never had a lot there ............
I went for my second dive of the year yesterday, so i treated myself to the now legdary vis of teinmouth/dawlish. It dident dissapoint 2-3M at best but fishable. Swam into sevetal shoals of bait fish, the stuff thats brought the mackeral back in. The only spearable fish seen were on the way back a small shoal of very skittish bass, but no chance of a shot. Good to get back in, going under the cover of darkness tonight so vis report will be welcome, cheers stan.
The fish are there though. We had a blank dive on Monday evening, but two days later and 500m or so away from the same spot, the bass were all over the place. I've noticed a lack of decent flatfish this year, I've not seen many good plaice or sole, but I'm sure some will turn up eventually.
Anybody have any dive reports down near salcombe? Had a good dive at soar mill the other day with a bass taken but all my other dives in the South Hams have been absolutely barren. Any advice on locations and tide times would be appreciated greatly.
Report from last night, vis was a steady 2-3 meters over reef and less over the sand. Mullet were about but spent the first hour not being able to get a decent shot off due to the angles they were coming from and were very skittish. Patience paid off and took a decent mullet. Light was fading so went to the edge of the reef where I've been seeing bass recently. Sure enough they were there first few dives down but vis was poor so couldn't confidently tell what size. On 3rd dive down a few seconds of being on the bottom something darted across in front of me, too quick to make out but suspected it was something worth seeing - then a nice big bass came straight up to me on my right hand side and checked me out, looking straight at me. Great moment. Knew that if I'd try and turn my gun it would be off but thought I'd try. Off it went. Turns out curiosity killed the cat, not this fish. Carried on for a little while longer and watched another group of mullet pass none of a size that tempted me then saw a bass amongst them at the back - 50cm bass in the catch bag. All dives in no more than 3 meters of water.
Picking up on the discussions above, I have to agree with Chris (Trelawney) in that the fish are about, more bass than I would usually see by now. Not seen mullet in the same numbers nor even the same size but are definitely around. This is based on a very few number of dives though and not a great variety of locations. My main frustration is not having been able to dive much over the last month or so due to lingering cold and time pressures. However, have turned a corner and see more opportunities over the next few months.
Vis was ok around Teignmouth today. 4m or so. Loads of bait fish about. I enjoyed watching the sand eels and small pollocks bounding in to catch them. One Bass seen, boarder line take-able. I spent so long trying to decide if it was big enough that it got bored and went off, never to be seen again. A few mullet were there. Most were too far away for a shot, but one golden grey came home for dinner, as did a dozen big cockles pulled out of the sand (no salt required.)
I'm having trouble uploading the catch photo. Will try again later.
I'm having trouble uploading the catch photo. Will try again later.
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Combined a couple of family beach & rockpooling trips with a quick dip on the weekend. Both times I got in at a spot I've dived in previous years which has usually been a bit of a barren wasteland. Nice to see the bay clear for a change and also plenty of fish this time round with lots of small bass and Pollack. I missed a decent bass from close range but managed to take a smaller one home the first day. Second day the water was a bit busy with kayak traffic etc but shot a decent mullet which was the only takeable fish I saw. As long as the wind stays SW and we don't get too much rain, hopefully the Bay will stay clear for a while. 
Attachments
For anyone that dives Dawlish: https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...scheme/dawlish-warren-beach-management-scheme
