South Devon 2017

[Sunflowerbadger]

I'm going to look this evening.

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[Sunflowerbadger]

Any 'vis'

I've just been for a dive at Babbacombe. Viz was about 3m with no improvement near the bottom. Saw a tiny pollack and a sad looking crab in a pot.

I missed the two seals that were in the area. Only saw them once I had gotten out.

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[Adz7770]

Cheers, I'll take my kit and keep my fingers crossed

 

[Duncestan]

New here, but I've been lurking for a while, so please don't bite!

Spent an hour in the water Saturday and yesterday, and 2 difference points; one just west of Dartmouth, and one just to the east. Saturday saw a distant dogfish and that was it. Sunday was much better with good viz (4-5m?), and lots of wrasse out and about. Saw a brown crab, spider crab, and agitated dogfish all inside one crab pot. A few small jellyfish on Sunday.

Saw no silver fish on either day. Are they around yet?

 

[Sunflowerbadger]

New here, but I've been lurking for a while, so please don't bite!

Spent an hour in the water Saturday and yesterday, and 2 difference points; one just west of Dartmouth, and one just to the east. Saturday saw a distant dogfish and that was it. Sunday was much better with good viz (4-5m?), and lots of wrasse out and about. Saw a brown crab, spider crab, and agitated dogfish all inside one crab pot. A few small jellyfish on Sunday.

Saw no silver fish on either day. Are they around yet?

I saw a little silver fish at Looe on Saturday.

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[Amateur Spearo]

Not posted for a while as trips have been few and far between. Had a quick dip in the Bay first thing on Sunday morning. The vis was as good as I've ever seen it in places and there were silvers everywhere. All the bass were small but I was circled by a shoal in the shallows of 100 plus which was good to see. Hopefully their parents will arrive for the start of July. Anyway, as is usually the case time was limited but I crept around in the thick weed and had a couple of mullet. No monsters (it is a big knife!) but good to see so many fish around. Weirdly I'd been in the same spot two days earlier and saw zero mullet. Definitely getting back in the water again tonight - hopefully the light easterly will have made no difference to the vis. Also, nowt to do with spear fishing but had a couple of good fish (fishing) out on the wrecks last week (constipated expression is my face saying hurry the f**k up and take the photo!)

 

[Trelawney]

This morning was too good a day not to go for a dive. Hit the reef at 0800 to find a glsssy sea and 7-8m viz. It really was like an aquarium. This was a pure bug hunt, and there were a few good ones about. The first one was in a deep horseshoe shaped hole and was a right git to tickle out. I pretty much had to climb inside to grab him. The second was in a hole with two exits, so I just pushed him up towards the other hole and out he popped! Got out at 1000 and had to climb back up the cliff in 30 degree sunshine.

 

[Selenium]

That's a lovely bag I had a little dip yesterday on the south coast but due to commitments I got on water after 12 and had to climb a monster of a hill in the 4pm heat. . Felt like a baby with buckling knees ... luckily I had watwr aaved for tjat hahaha
I only had 5 spiders to show..

 

[halfandy]

Well... Hello DeeperBlue.

I've been a bit slack on posting so far this year. I've not had many chances for diving, with little to report when I did. I'm hoping that'll change now summer is here...

I got in between Dawlish and Teignmouth on Monday evening. It's not the best spot for vis, but there was ~3m. Good enough for a big spider crab and a flounder. I scared a big mullet whilst looking in the shallow water but didn't get a chance to take a shot. It's damn warm in the shallows at the moment. There were a few bass about, mostly babies but there were a couple of tidy enough size.

On another note, I went for a swim at Dawlish Warren after work yesterday. The water was pretty damn green. I'm not sure if it's something to do with the dredging / beach works going on, or if it's an algae bloom after all of the sunshine and settled weather?

I'm gonna take the dinghy out from Teignmouth this Friday.

 

[Duncestan]

How deep do you find lobsters like that? This is my first season and I'm still figuring it all out. This forum has been so helpful

 

[Trelawney]

Those came out of a reef in about 8ft of water on a low tide.

 

[halfandy]

Vis was ok out from Teignmouth on Friday. 3-4 hazy meters, which was better than I expected given the tides. I got in just before low and spent a bit of time trying to remember where the shellfish beds were - which bit of sand was it again?? I found them eventually and brought up a few spiny cockles and a lone scallop. I did try getting some razors out - I could pull them out pretty well last year - but only managed one out of about a dozen! I'll take salt next time.
When I got in closer to the reef a school of bass came to greet me, all of them young, and none of them seen again. I came across a school of small red mullet (or was it a herd?) I'd never seen them by day, and they didn't seem to bothered by me. I tried the shallow water for some mullet, and was not disappointed. Five or six of them crept up behind me scaring the crap out of me as they appeared from over my shoulder. No chance for a shot as we were all too scared. I swam off and came back in large circle and hid behind a rock waiting. It didn't take long until the mullet were back and one was coming home for dinner. I got lucky with a shot from the front as they were charging towards me.
Can't wait for the next trip out...

 

[Sunflowerbadger]

Vis was ok out from Teignmouth on Friday. 3-4 hazy meters, which was better than I expected given the tides. I got in just before low and spent a bit of time trying to remember where the shellfish beds were - which bit of sand was it again?? I found them eventually and brought up a few spiny cockles and a lone scallop. I did try getting some razors out - I could pull them out pretty well last year - but only managed one out of about a dozen! I'll take salt next time.
When I got in closer to the reef a school of bass came to greet me, all of them young, and none of them seen again. I came across a school of small red mullet (or was it a herd?) I'd never seen them by day, and they didn't seem to bothered by me. I tried the shallow water for some mullet, and was not disappointed. Five or six of them crept up behind me scaring the crap out of me as they appeared from over my shoulder. No chance for a shot as we were all too scared. I swam off and came back in large circle and hid behind a rock waiting. It didn't take long until the mullet were back and one was coming home for dinner. I got lucky with a shot from the front as they were charging towards me.
Can't wait for the next trip out...

Hi Halfandy,

Where's the reef at Teignmouth? Is it the one at the foot of the Ness or somwhere near the pier?

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[Amateur Spearo]

In in the Bay yesterday and the vis was pretty good for a spring flood tide. Went stalking mullet in the shallows again but this time all I saw were small schooly mullet and some good bass which bodes well for next week. One thing that was a big distraction and had me taking evasive action were the number of jellyfish in the water - I've never seen so many and a fair few of them didn't look all that recognisable from previous trips so made me wary. Even some of the smaller ones had tentacles stretching a good few meters. I got stung on the face a few years ago which burnt pretty badly and left me with a red mark for a couple of months. Anyone have any similar experiences or know which ones to be wary of?

 

[halfandy]

Hi Halfandy,

Where's the reef at Teignmouth? Is it the one at the foot of the Ness or somwhere near the pier?

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I usually go to a spot in between Teignmouth and Maidencombe. I've never tried the bit at the end of Ness cove but I should imagine it'd be similar... Bing Maps has aerial pictures of the area in good vis. All the reefy bits show up really well. https://www.bing.com/maps/ I've never tried the pier, but it is on the to do list. It might be alright for a night dive...

With regards to the jelly fish, there were a few of the small ones with long tentacles about but I don't know if their stingy or not. I've never been stung by a jellyfish in this country (one of the very few benefits of having to wear a wetsuit.) I like watching the jellyfish, they always seem so directionless, helpless and hopeless. Beautiful too though. Like lots of sea life, they look so alien.

 

[Sunflowerbadger]

I nearly cried trying to get any sense out of bing maps on my phone. How the f*** does it work. I keep getting sent to the same generic search page again and again. Do you have a screen shot?

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[halfandy]

I nearly cried trying to get any sense out of bing maps on my phone. How the f*** does it work. I keep getting sent to the same generic search page again and again. Do you have a screen shot?

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It works pretty well on a computer...

 

[Amateur Spearo]

Another trip in the Bay yesterday evening. The vis had dropped off a fair bit to around 2M or so, not sure if this was due to the rain muddying the water or the slight chop in the water. Anyway, there seemed to be fewer fish around or at least we didn't see many. Saw a handful of postage stamp bass, one decent bass and a few mullet. Found this one hiding in the weed facing away from me and I must have been no more than a foot away when I pulled the trigger. Not a monster but a good 4 pound plus I'd guess. Anyone know if the water is clearing up South Hams way?

 

[Gavin flay]

Hi guys il be of to Devon this weekend just wondering were the best place would be to go around Devon? I'm new to spearfishing only been a handful of times so after a nice spot for a beginner thanks

 

[Trelawney]

Hi Gavin.
Devon is a fairly big county. What town are you heading to or will you be near?