South Devon Report 2006

[Spiderman]

The pictures are good - how's the vis doing at the mo?

 

[spearheads]

James T said he was on his kayak wednesday and said the viz looked ok theres been no eastly wind so it should be good. Have not been down my self all week as im in kent i wish i wasnt.

ps . Dont dive babbacombe lots of anti spearfisher scuba divers and the man in the cafe.

 

[Spiderman]

I noticed the anti spearo scoobie doos and the grumpy man in the Cafe when I went to Babbacombe in the summer. Interestingly though I was down there a few weeks ago and the Cafe man very happily accepted a nice mullet that was given to him by an angler. I wonder what his reaction would have been if I had offered him one? (theoretical question as I didn't have any to offer that day!) I have swum near the pier when there were no anglers around and there is no end of angler rubbish down there - I wonder if Cafe man thought about that as he enjoyed his mullet?

 

[spearheads]

I just try and avoid the cafe man and the suba guys when ever possible because most of them have nothing positive to say when they see me. But some are interested about spearfishing and freediving and i end up telling them what its like most of them say they have never seen a bass or mullet and they dont know why but its because they are so noisy.
All the anglers down there are very friendly and always come over to have a look at what i have caught. when ever i do get abuse from an angler i just say us spearos can make a bad shot at a fish but anglers can fowl hook a fish, leave hooks in fish ,line all sea bed, and birds get caught in line ect ect but spearfisher men do far less damage to the sea infact i clean the sea when diving any line a sea tangled up in kelp i cut and put in my flout and a also pick up cans and other rubbish.

 

[scottwilson]

It really annoys me the way people look at spearos as mass killers when fisherman dont always throw the small ones back but instead chop them up and use a slither as bait then throw the rest away , Oh well thats my winge done for the day , Dived Meadfoot and saw all the baby pollack are starting to grow now which is great news , a lot of mullet out there and they are looking big at least 4 pound i went just around the corner from the slip way where the fishermen battle to get to because of the rocks.

 

[Spiderman]

I've never dived Meadfoot although it looks quite interesting on a map with offshore rocks etc. It looks a bit exposed - how much wind can it take before the vis is messed up?

 

[spearheads]

Meadfoot is not good with a strong southerly or an eastly wind. If you have not dived here before i recommend starting at the left of the beach and work your way to the right you can find some monster pollock here as you can get some deep water 10 meteres and still have kelp not sand on the bottom. or Were i dive more often is towards hopes nose and stop at thatcher because the tide can be real fast. The last time i dived meadfoot i met some other spearos and one had a 10 pound bass in the same spot i had been. Also have seen 2 trigger fish at meadfoot this summer ,dont know if they are good eating or not

This is were i start in pic 1



This is were i finish at thatcher dont try dive the rock (it will kill you)

 

[spearheads]

I woke up today to go to school only to find out when i got there its a teacher training day so what you do on a day with flat calm sea and no school of course go spearfishing. I dived at oddicombe beach and have beaten my bass record again which was 8lbs. I was at my normal spot and my first dive a nice mullet 3lbs moved out to some deeper water and lied under some kelp and another shoal of mullet swam over shot the best looking one to find out it was a thin lip which is the first thin lip i have ever got. 2 hours past and saw many more mullet but did nt need any more. I moved over to the second reef by the red rock but gave up there after a few dives as i could just about see the end of the gun. As i started to swim back to the over side of the beach i saw the biggest bass ever i took a shot but did nt hit him so i dived down to find a massive rock it was the size of a bus there was a over hang on the rock so i lied under it only to see a conger next to me but it was to late to move as a shoal of bass swam past. The temptation to shot them was building but i waited as i was shore that big one was there and i was right it cruised past the end of my spear i hit him just a bit high but it still stoned him. Going to try and get a pic up but if i cant this is the length of the fish 31 inches from head to tail.

 

[Almostafish]

We need pictures..

 

[Jez]

I woke up today to go to school only to find out when i got there its a teacher training day so what you do on a day with flat calm sea and no school of course go spearfishing

..Lucky chap. Yes, pictures please. Have now hung up my gun for the year more or less. Too close to my ear op to risk diving now (14.11.06), don't want to get it infected or something dumb.

 

[spearheads]

The bass was a gram under 10 pounds:head i did nt have any accurate scales so i weighed it at the butcher . Oh well theres next summer.
I have the picture on the camera and i have ordered a new wire so i can put pictures on the computer. I will put the pic of the bass and conger when the wire gets to me. Also i met another spearo down there dont know if its any one on deeper blue.

 

[Spiderman]

The empty handed spearo was me!
I started at Babbacombe and saw nothing but lots of undersized pollack then decided to swim to Petit Tor Point. After the long swim I arrived to find zero visibility so decided to land on Oddicombe beach and walk back to the Babbacombe end where I met Spearheads struggling to carry his monster bass up the beach. Having heard about his new rock I spent a little while swimming around in the bay but just ended up diving through soup until I hit a sandy bottom. I then swam back to Babbacombe via a load more undersized pollack. I can't help feeling that Spearheads has the benefit of superior local knowledge or superior ability - probably both rofl

 

[spearheads]

I know oddicombe beach like the back of my hand spiderman. That rock that will remain a secret had some bass that looked double figure. The weather does not look good theres some eastly wind about to hit the bay.

 

[Spiderman]

I know oddicombe beach like the back of my hand spiderman. That rock that will remain a secret

With bass like that I can't say I blame you
With bass like that I guess some of us will spend some time looking

 

[spearheads]

The rock is out deep thats a clue

 

[Spiderman]

Hmmm, just looked at a chart and there is a suspicious looking spot depth in the middle of the bay. I wonder if it could be a rock the size of a bus?

 

[spearheads]

ok i will tell you were it is.

 

[scottwilson]

I can see half the spearo board down there on the next clear viz day Cheers mate

 

[scottie3030]

im already in my van rofl

 

[Spiderman]

You star!

Pity the vis is going to be so bad this week