South Wales 2013

[tecdave]

Viz is great at the mo, anyone been out? Had some good pollack last night, best went 11lb 1oz, another double and a 8.5lb. Bass about but all bellow 3lb so happy to go home with just the pollack.

 

[tecdave]

Pic of the 11lber!

 

[denian]

My god there monsters well done !They look as big as you !well nearly fab fish.Thats it now ive to get a bass over the weekend.!

 

[tecdave]

Cheers Denian, but was a bit of a portland pose!! Get in that water!! we havent had a settled spell like this for years!!

 

[winky]

Thats some good fishing there Dave...well done mate!

 

[Dai ASBO]

Very impressive, great fishing.

 

[manalive!]

Excellent work Dave.

 

[tecdave]

Cheers guys,

Was just good to see some quality fish again in good viz!! its been a while! Lots about, I always seem to do well for large inshore pollack around this time of year.

 

[foxfish]

Big fish Dave you are the man when it comes to Pollocks !

 

[tecdave]

Yep!! I love a big pollack...!!
Put the belly and 'wings' in the hot smoker after a brown sugar, sea salt and chilli flake marinade just like we used to do in NZ!! So much meat on them!!

 

[Dai ASBO]

Travelling over to Swansea tomorrow for a week, any heads up re vis would be appreciated? Family holiday but hoping I can get a dive or two in (if I can strap kit to the roof of the car!!)
Looking forward to being back in the place that was my happy home not too long ago.
Cheers.

 

[Dai ASBO]

Dive first thing this morning and came away with enough fish to sort us out for the rest of the week. These are a pb for me for mullet, all in 50 cm region, don't have scales so unsure of weight. Plenty more to be had but just took what we would use.
Learnt a bit more about tactics in a strong drift after missing some very frustrating opportunities so all in all a good dive. First location could barely see end of spear so moved around coast a little to find poor but enough vis.
Cheers

 

[Mr. X]

May be a stupid question, but seen as I've never done spearfishing before, I'm looking at different guns online. ...
looking at this at the moment.. OMER CAYMAN GI 100 SPEARGUN

any thoughts would be much appreciated!
Cheers Ash!

Re. whether spearguns come rigged/with rigging harware:
My Omer spearguns included spear, spear-line, crimps and braided cord but no muzzle bungee - your mileage may vary.
My Rob Allen railgun came completely rigged with beautifully crimped heavy duty line, fittings & big game bungee.
I expect some come without line, etc.
This site offers a nice little kit: http://www.picassouk.co.uk/product/gun-rigging-kit/

Ah right ok cheers james! What do you think about the length of the gun, most of the forums on here say about 65-90cm for our waters?

Yes 65-90cm is a good range of size for a general purpose UK speargun IMHO.

Depends on where on the visibility that you will most often encounter and that often depends on where you will dive. A 100cm Cayman would likely be a good speargun for areas that generally/often have good visibility (e.g. Pembroke, Cornwall, Channel Islands, Mediterranean) but a poor choice for areas that more often have poor visibility (Dorset, Hampshire, Kent, Sussex). I expect Gower would fall into the latter category - but perhaps when it clears it gets very clear(?); have been meaning to try dive there for sometime.

The Omer Cayman like a very good range of spearguns - and is available in various sizes, barrel types and colours. The constant tension trigger mech sounds clever. The price of the above looks good for a gun with a rail (compared to, say, a Rob Allen railgun, which would likely be "heavier duty") - watch out for shipping costs. Aluminium is a decent choice of material for speargun barrels IMHO.

My current thinking is that 75cm (band gun) is a great size for beginners for the conditions I have encountered in the UK (Dorset, Devon & Cornwall): easier to carry/transport & load, versatile, range not much less than a 90cm gun. I started with a (large) 90cm gun but now use a 75cm gun pretty much all the time. I have an unproven theory/hypothesis that a 90cm gun might be a bad choice for the UK, being too long for the poor vis. we often encounter and yet to too short for those fantastically clear days we occasionally encounter (when a 110/120 might be more appropriate). I now own a lighter-weight, slimmer 90cm speargun, the 90cm version of my 75cm gun in fact, but have only used it once - it's good but the 75cm is better for most conditions that I have encountered and I don't want to carry 2 spearguns into the water.

I think a couple of forum members have 80cm spearguns - splitting the difference between 75 & 90. I can definitely see the appeal. In practice there isn't much difference in range between the 3 of them but they do feel significantly different in the water - at least that's how it seems to me. While a longer barrel might help you point long distances more accurately & reach, say, an extra 60cm, you'll likely miss closer, fast moving fish quite often - that was what me made me move to a shorter gun, and it definitely made a difference. BTW Strong currents (which are fairly common) tend to really mess up the accuracy of longer shorts, regardless of speargun length.

 

[fieldy]

Morning Sperios

I am heading up to Tenby (Manorbier actually) on the 7th September for a week bringing my rig, is there any advice re currents, dive spots around that part of the coast. Are there any free divers in the area looking for a novice buddy for a few days?

Mark