South Devon Report 2012

[mattbarlow]

Well looks like I missed out meeting you boys, shame. I hope you got in ok. A bit windy.

Anyhow looks like my anual report sadly. Saturday was the window ofopportunity, excuse 2 get the dog swimming. Got down 2 whitsands out the wind vis was great just pottered in the shallows. I was hopful as a couple reported a spearo had a few bass earlier in the day. Headed on my route & after a few hundred metets found a mullet in a hole in my exitement rushed my shot & he escaped. Loads of eels wrasse, lone garfish a passing shoal of distant mullet. Vis dropped 2 a couple meters a good mullet came by but couldn't swing on him fast enough.
Found a nice gully with a great hole 4 me to hide in, the ambush was on. After a short wait a nice mullet came across & was on the spear. Then off the spear! Gutted, barb must have flapped open or didn't go through the fish far enough i guess. What an amature.. try I did but no more fish seen.
Great 2 get out but disappointed all the same.

Hope you are all well & filling your stringer



Cheers hsf

Nice report not sure if you missed anything as I didn't make a meet up - something came up as they say.. If nobody else managed to meet I am still up for it but it might have to be a farewell to the summer dive, things are pretty busy to me over the next couple of weeks but I'm free all October...

 

[shiny1]

No meet was missed. Same as you Matt busy today and not easy to say yes lets meet at such and such a time. I did get in though late afternoon early evening. My brother was going out in his boat fishing and offered to drop me off at a few spots while he fished the area. Good choice,i ended up with a few mullet and bass. The biggest Bass was 9lb 3oz. Vis was patchy in places but very fishy where ever i went.

 

[Massin]

Evening all,
Had a really enjoyable dive off babbacombe beach yesterday and was stoked to find it untouched by the winds!
Flat as a millpond and gin clear, the water was warm and the sun was shining for the most part.
Spend a while hunting around the rocks and shallower kelp beds greeted by the usual abundance of wrasse, also found a fair few crabs but they were all either under MLS or not edible as far as I know.
I moved out into some deeper water around 10 meters and had a nice dive down then waited on a rock looking though a huge shoal of baitfish shimmering in the hope id see something bigger on the hunt but alas! Nothing.
After a few more dives I looked back towards the shallower rocks to see my mates who were in the water as well, all shouting me over. I thought something bad had happened but came over to find a big friendly grey seal just chilling in the shallows with them!
It was a really amazing experience and so funny because I had only watched Padaxes video of him with a seal yesterday in envy hoping I would one day have such an encounter!
We were swimming around with him for the best part of an hour before we went our separate ways.
All in all it was a really memorable day even in spite of coming home without dinner for the fourth time since I've been out with my gun!
Ive only ever seen one shootable fish and it was a big wily bass that was gone before I could even start swing my aim over! In any case , I've grown in confidence with each dive and they've got steadily more enjoyable each time so I'm still happy, I just hope I get a fish before the seasons up

 

[scottwilson]

Got to love that seal. He sneaks up on you when you on the bottom. has scared the crap out of many a time. Im pretty sure he's the same one that hangs around Hopes nose.

I had a quiet day on the reef today, not much seen apart from mullet, the odd small bass which I left and one lone flounder which I took for lunch. Weighed in at 1.8 pound Had him filleted dipped in flour with seasoning on a bed of chilli cous cous Bloody lovely



[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwNYCdinjsE]Spearfishing flounder - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Camanche killer]

[/QUOTE]

Nice shot! Scott did mount go pro to your mask in the end? If so did you screw through glass or plastic?

Kev

 

[scottwilson]

cheers Kev. I drilled a hole in the plastic frame just in front of the silicone skirt so it doesn't affect the mask in anyway. just need to shorten that bolt and im happy

Sent from my GT-S5830 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Camanche killer]

Like it, will defo give that a try looks a lot safer than the head strap ;-)

 

[scottwilson]

Like it, will defo give that a try looks a lot safer than the head strap ;-)

For sure! much safer.


You can set the hero2 up so it starts recording straight away when you turn it on. You never have to take the mask off to check if its recording which is a bonus.

 

[shiny1]

I dived Tuesday evening from the boat. My brother drop me off at a few spots while he fished. I started seeing bass right away the moment i got in. The tide was running out pushing the stringweed down flat. I just went with it knowing further down tide there is a spot where 2 currents meet behind a big rock. In tight behing the big rock is a sheltered area where the stringweed dont move,it just stays upright in a tide less triangle. When i got near it bass came out of the upright stringweed to investigate me. I carried on pass the stringweed in the fast tide then turned and swim back so approaching it from behind in the hope the fish would be facing uptide(done this before). Right away i was surrounded by bass,no size but all big enough to take. I didnt want to fire and spooke any larger ones that may be laying up there resting. From the surface i see the first of the big ones,about 6lbs,vis in great but clear enough to pick him out. I line him up and miss,with that im again suronded by lots of bass,this time some big ones are amongst them. I quickly reloded dive to the bottom and wait. My 75 is resting in a avenue of stringweed,so i cant really move it. A big bass swims so close to me across the avenue im crossed eyed looking at it. I try to lift the gun for a shot from the hip without a proper aim but he just glides off into the stringweed. A little further on i take a bass of about 4lbs seeing many others bigger but all seeing me first or they are in a position that i cant swing the gun in the tight stringweed. I see a big mullet near the end of the sheltered stringweed and think i may aswell have him because im not going to see any more bass. He joins the bass on my belt stringer. Im back out in the tide again now,i drift with it about half way back down on the outside of what i just did then drop to the bottom for one last go before i move off to another spot. Im just on the edge of the sheltered stringweed now, flat on the bottom with my gun resting just above in front of me on a rock facing down a avenue of stringweed. I try a couple of croaks,then a couple more. I see to my left in front of me a big bass moving fast towards me. He had to cross the avenue and my gun was there waiting,by now i was almost out of air but seeing this big bass made me forget about breathing. A mid body shot at the fast moving bass almost tore the gun out of my hand,i couldnt pull him in so had to go with him until he tangled up in the stringweed. He was thrashing around it took what seemed like forever to get my fingers in his gills,even then i couldnt surface due to the amount of stringweed wrapped around the shooting line. I few hard pulls was enough and i gasped for air feeling light headed. It was only 3.5m deep but so nearly got myself in trouble trying to get that bass. He was a big old bass and came to the scales at 9lb 3oz A good evenings dive and a boatman to look after me for a change.

 

[Mattyb22]

Good to see your catching nice size bass shiney1 great read aswell do you dive from Plymouth?

 

[shiny1]

Yes Matt most of my diving is from Plymouth. We are lucky to have it all in the Plymoth area. Thanks

 

[Mattyb22]

Anywhere you would recommend for a few starter dives from te shore only bought all my stuff this year and really enjoying it just trying to find out what spots are good at what tides and what winds didn't no if you could give me any pointers or any spots which are half decent

Cheers Matt

 

[shiny1]

Matt Plymouth is one of the best dive spots in the UK. A very fishy place with a wide variety of fish speccies. All of it is fishy at a certain time or state of the tide. Part of the joy of spearfishing is diving these new spots and finding fish. I dont give out names of spots i dive. If i did then there would be a queue of spearos diving it day in and day out. Look back through the South Devon Thread and im sure you will find places mentioned in and around Plymouth. Good luck and we may meet up one day while diving some of the spots around Plymouth.

 

[Mattyb22]

Yeh I understand that mate I've dived a few different spot along the coast up and down some had really good potential with no fish and some I thought will be poor ended up being the best so I suppose it's just what it's like on the day! I'm hoping to get out on my old mans boat soon and give that a go which should be fun! Do the winds play a big part when it comes to the visability? Thanks for te advise Matt

 

[shiny1]

Yes winds do make a difference. Any of the north winds are good for us because its a off shore wind putting the swell down. River run off from the 4 main rivers that flow into Plymouth sound can make bad vis for a few days after a big down pour.

 

[Dai ASBO]

Great report shiny1, always a pleasure to read.
Just back from a Paignton dive after work, nice to see a good few large bass but unfortunately unable to swing gun round without spooking them. Back emptyhanded but good dive nonetheless.

Been exploring Plymouth too slowly but surely, lucky to have such an expanse of coast to explore. (I've mainly lived in fairly landlocked areas).

Cheers

 

[Mattyb22]

Thanks for the great advise mate can't wait to get back in and good luck with your next dive thanks again . matt

 

[scrumpy]

Nice reports Nick & Scott, Nick if lottery comes in for me your being booked for the summer mate. Scott great clip you’re a pro mate with that camera!!
Not much to report my end dived Woolacombe Saturday had a nice mullet & small bass. 2 dives Torquay mon strong SW made it almost impossible & today took 2 mullet both about 3lb. Sea was like a pond today but milky & not great viz. Haven't really had much time to go looking for any big bass, so gone to back up with the mullet.

 

[Spiderman]

Had a dive today in Torbay. Sea was flat and vis was OK with some quite good areas and some milky/bitty areas. No silver fish seen but I was more out for photos today so didn't look that hard and didn't mind either

There were a few just big enough crabs and I caught a lobster but it only had one claw and wasn't huge so I left them all to grow.

 

[aliwag]

hi i was out with dia asbo in torbay to vis was rubish except for the bottom, i saw no desent silverfish on wrassee dam big ones though. we had better luck of bovis sand got 5 good pollock, in still searching for my first bass.

i went out in a 3mm wetsuit it was cold need to get a proper suit rather than using surfing ones any one know a good starter suit.