South Devon Report 2006

[scottwilson]

dived babbecombe on Saterday morning , just the other side of the breakwater, Nothing, dead , I have never seen it so dead this whole summer and Ive been there a few times now, Even the wrasse seem to be gone , The weather was pretty bad and the viz was no more than about 2 meters so mabe I just missed them , I did find one mullet which a chased about for a few minutes.

Ive kitted my kayak out and hoping to give shag rock a go over the weekend , Will take the camera as the weather man has promised good weather so might have some good pics to post.


Spearheads sorry to hear you back at school on Wednesday, theres no worst feeling then knowing your time is almost up , My other half is a teacher and went back today , Im so happy.rofl

 

[spearheads]

rofl Dived odicombe today and the viz was crap 2/3 meteres.On my first dived i spooked a super big bass:head so i was pretty angry :vangry abought that. Few dives later a shoul of small bass passed but they were to small to shoot so left them to grow . Also saw a conger under a rock but did nt want to risk getting my spear lost or bent so left him alone also saw some mullet but also left them alone. Well not a veary good last dive before im back to school:head . Jez at the weekend i might try swimming to hopes nose from ansteys but i will have to bring a picnic in my flout because i will get hungry swimming for that long .

 

[spearheads]

dived oddicombe beach after schol today and total catch 2 bas one lobster .When i got of the cliff railway and saw the sea a was a bit worried as it loked like a pot noodle weed on the surface and grey water. I decided to still go in a it was not bad 3 meteres but 5 when i swam to the deeper water. The two bass were at my normal spot wich were both 6 lbs wich mad veary happy. Saw some mullet but let them go also saw some small bass wich i alos let go. I did nt feel veary energetic :crutch so i did nt swim to the other reef so i started to look for some congers as i looked under a ledge i found a big lobster he was facing the other way so i taped his head with the spear and he shot backwards straight into my hands . I did nt have a net to put him in so swam back to shore and packed up and made it just on time to get the last cliff rail way back up the hill of heard attack. The lobster was veary big i normal only see small ones but this one was big. A rubbish day of school:head but a great afternoon spearing

 

[foxfish]

Hi spearheads, you are doing very well this year, well done. Do I remember you said something about getting a camera?

 

[Jez]

Hey Spearheads, do you go on the Cliff Railway in your dive kit or change on the beach (or walk from Babbacombe car park)?

 

[spearheads]

I carry my fins and wear the bottom of my elios suit under my clothes and put the rest on when i get there jez. its only a pound to use the rail way so it saves carrying a weight belt and 20 lbs of fish up a long steep hill.

(fox fish) getting a camera in a few weeks when i have got anoth money i have got £ 150 at the moment.

 

[killien]

Hi there,
Anymore interested in going diving budleigh this weekend? There is a big tide and want to go diving to get over the stress of first week back at school...;-)
mail me at kbreizh2002@yahoo.fr if you want to get in touch
Cheers

 

[spearheads]

Hi there,
Anymore interested in going diving budleigh this weekend? There is a big tide and want to go diving to get over the stress of first week back at school...;-)
mail me at kbreizh2002@yahoo.fr if you want to get in touch
Cheers

im also looking forward to the big tide may get some big fish out of it. Thats if there is any beach left to get ready on. Yesterday was a big tide and when i swam back to shore my stuff was right on the edge of the water abought to be washed away.

 

[Jez]

Hi chaps. Gosh, its gonna be a biggy. Forecast if for onshore winds from the east, which is against the incoming tide too, gonna be bumpy I reckon.

Fortunately I'm staying in Newton Abbot over the weekend so I think I'll chicken out and go over to Thurlstone. Either gonna get feet wet by 7am or maybe tea time (high tides), depending on how lazy I'm feeling. If you change your minds I'd be happy to see you there (good luck if you don't)

Killien, bonjour, ca va? I'm moving to Exeter at the end of the month so should be able to co-ordinate some dives bit better. A bientot:t

 

[spearheads]

http://www.underwaterpics.co.uk/UWP2/staticpages/index.php?page=04_west_shagscottwilsion if you are going shag wrock than this may help its a good site for many dives in the south west ands got some nice freediving clips and spearfishing clips.

 

[Doc]

Hi all
Took my 10 year old out at bovisand ledges tues night, he really loved it till he got cold in his surfing suit but we did bag a bass and a couple of mullett for him to show off to the two lads with brand new guns . seems the word is spreading.
I also went to rame head on my boat to give it a clean and have a quickie look. 2 big schools of bass 4-6lb size buzzed me then got wary after I shot one each time. stayed out of range after that. There is a track leading up from the rocks so there is a way down presumably from the coastguard car park.

 

[Jez]

Got up at 5am to go to Thurlstone. Got there for 6 with the moon shining over the sea (should have brought my torch for an hour of 'night fishing' just for experience but I got to eat my pain au chocolat instead:t )

Got in at sunrise, a very high tide, offshore wind and viz was a bit grainy but up to 5-6m in places. It was a bit frustrating as I couldn't locate my usual patch of stringweed that's quite reliable for bass. I couldn't use my usual marker points as they were underwater and a methodic grid search of the area didn't help. Maybe it all got ripped up in a swell or something??

Skirted around the cliffs towards Hope Cove to the south and found several pollack. I eventually gave into tempation and nailed one of just over a pound (for the cat's dinner). Saw two bass, one maybe that would have been over the minimum size but I'm wary these days of being too hasty with the first fish seen and so ignored it. The other was a schoolie on its own.

Not much else seen apart from a lot of sandeels. I did watch the pollack snacking on them, they hang just below them, their olive colourings making them invisible against the kelp below, and then turn upwards and flick their tails, mouths open. Chomp!

Had real trouble acheiving a decent bottom time today, I just couldn't get the air in me for some reason and had to ventilate quite hard to have even a half decent dive time. Packed it in early as it wasn't my day really.

 

[spearheads]

I was a bit disappointed today as fridays east wind churned the water up big time so i did nt get wet:head . Im hoping that the water clears up by wednesday.

 

[Spiderman]

Anybody know of anywhere in Devon that might have any vis tomorrow (Monday)?
I've been working too hard for the last month and am desperate to get wet again

 

[spearheads]

Ansteys cove is shelted from storms so it might be ok. The viz may be pushing 2 meteres or more, i may try ansteys tommorrow.

 

[Jez]

Spiderman, try anywhere on the east side of Plymouth Sound, Wembury or Bovisand perhaps. Or the east coast of the South Hams, Thurlstone, Hope etc. Good luck

 

[Spiderman]

Thanks for the ideas chaps

I went to Thurlestone in the end (long drive, but sounded more promising)

I arrived about 2 hours after high tide and there was a bit of swell coming in. I started at the Southern end near the Louis Shied wreck but the vis was barely 2m most of the time. This combined with the swell made me feel quite sick after a while. I was also getting cold as I am back in my old surf suit as I wait for a new beaver tail fastener for my proper suit so I gave up after less than an hour having seen nothing more than a 3inch wrasse.

I then walked back up the beach and had another go in the middle near Thurlestone Rock. Vis was much better here, variable but up to 5m in places. There were quite a few huge wrasse, lots of sandeels and some small pollack. Absolutely no sign of bass at all. Just as hypothermia was really biting I saw a slightly larger pollack and having not eaten fish for a while I decided that he was coming home with me - and he did (1.5 lb). Not a great day but it was great to be in the water again and pollack are a good starting point for some good recipes.

 

[spearheads]

Dived babbacombe beach this afternoon but i did nt take my gun as i was thought the water was going to be bad as fridays eastly wind churned it up. But i was so wrong the viz ws 6 meteres so i felt a bit silly abought leaving the gun at home:head , i did think abought running back up the hill as i live 2 mins from the beach but i did nt as i could nt be bothered to. So as i did nt have my gun i starting looking for lobsters and crabs, i was diving in 5 meteres of water and looked under some rocks and saw 2 crabs tried first for the bigger one but it moved to far back into its hole and could nt reach it with my knife so qickly snatched the other one. Took the crab back to the pier and saw my good friend chief ( he is like the pier local and thats his nick name ) We did a swap 4 mackeral for a crab. It sounds like a bad deal but i like mackeral more than crab. Jumped back into the water and started loking under the ledges of the pier saw a lobster, i tried to tap behind him but he moved right back under the pier and was out of sight. Also saw a conger so tommorrow he is mine ma ha ha ha. This was the first time i have dived babbacombe since the shark swam past me i just could nt stop thinking abought him when in the water.

 

[Jez]

Here's Saturday's Pollack. A nice orange one. The cat went mad for it.

More importanly its almost a great shot of my home made dive rig. An old cheapo body board (brought all the way from New Zealand 12 years ago) with the fins turned up on the deck facing out. 20m of B&Qs hollow poly piping wrapped around, just pay out the length you need for your spot, no tangles. The webbing was ripped of the back of an old Deuter bike backpak. Everything is sewn down with 30lb shock leader (free with fishing mag). Took 3 nights of sewing and some raw fingers. A lenth of elastic rigging from a chandlers stretched between two bolts, with an improvised 'hook' midway to trap the gun under the elastic. The stringer goes through the old fin holes, as does the 'A' flag, rigged with an old wire coat hanger (to prevent floppiness during slack winds - no slouching on my deck!) poked through a hollow piece of plastic pipe. Flag is shown in the stowed 'walking to beach' position. Some of you may rememeber its illegal entry into 2005s spearo comp at Meadfoot, Torquayrofl

 

[spearheads]

Some of you may rememeber its illegal entry into 2005s spearo comp at Meadfoot, Torquayrofl[/QUOTE]

i did nt know they do a comp at meadfoot was there one this year also my flag is red and white is that the wrong type.