• Welcome to the DeeperBlue.com Forums, the largest online community dedicated to Freediving, Scuba Diving and Spearfishing. To gain full access to the DeeperBlue.com Forums you must register for a free account. As a registered member you will be able to:

    • Join over 44,280+ fellow diving enthusiasts from around the world on this forum
    • Participate in and browse from over 516,210+ posts.
    • Communicate privately with other divers from around the world.
    • Post your own photos or view from 7,441+ user submitted images.
    • All this and much more...

    You can gain access to all this absolutely free when you register for an account, so sign up today!

South & West Wales

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
Nice! Yeah I'm going to head down there this year, any viz updates would be much appreciated!
 
Quick scout about the pembs coast this morning, waiting for the winds to ease off a bit. But vis is looking excellent. Havent been in yet but looking at 5-10M estimated from the coast path looking down. Cannot wait to get in.
 
Not yet. Perhaps still a bit too cold. Bass starting to be caught on rod & line now. Actually looking out window wind has eased off so i should have gone out this evening. Maybe tomorrow. Around st brides bay there were gin clear patches today. I usually find it harder to catch when its like that but love being out in it.
 
Had a dive in st brides bay this morning. Good vis, 4m ish. Better in patches and a bit worse about 3m+ down. Plenty of big wrasse seen, spider crab on the move. No bass or pollock seen. Was my first dive of the year so breath hold was poor, and technique lousy so may have scared anything off. Felt cold in 5mm. Stayed in for an hour or so.
 
Cracking dive this eve. Loads of life about. Took flounder and a big crab. gin clear vis in patches. No worse than 3-4m in the murkier parts. Beautiful dive. Would have stayed out longer but needed to get the crab back.
 

Attachments

  • 20150523_200553.jpg
    20150523_200553.jpg
    107.1 KB · Views: 264
  • Like
Reactions: ashbish
Cracking dive this eve. Loads of life about. Took flounder and a big crab. gin clear vis in patches. No worse than 3-4m in the murkier parts. Beautiful dive. Would have stayed out longer but needed to get the crab back.
 
Nice crab. Was this in St brides? Anyone know if the viz is any good in South or west pembs at the moment?
 
I was at tenby south beach earlier and it looked pretty good around there. I picked this crab up in st brides bay. I think its pretty good all around the coast just now. Big shoals of sand eels swimming about, crab on the move. Lots of pollock. Bass cant be far away.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mogsychief
Went in at West Angle this morning. Viz about 4mtrs - not bad for next to the estuary. Lots of wrasse. Some quite big. Nothing else. Went down south Pembs this afternoon. Viz looked great from the coastal path but when I got in it was dreadful. The viz was blown by significant algae bloom. Some big barrel jellyfish about.
 
Here's the two extremes of viz I got in Pembs yesterday
 

Attachments

  • vis angle.jpg
    vis angle.jpg
    44.1 KB · Views: 251
  • vis pembs south.jpg
    vis pembs south.jpg
    39.4 KB · Views: 259
  • Like
Reactions: ashbish
Cracking dive this eve. Loads of life about. Took flounder and a big crab. gin clear vis in patches. No worse than 3-4m in the murkier parts. Beautiful dive. Would have stayed out longer but needed to get the crab back.

How do you go about cooking the spider mate? I've heard there are certain parts that you shouldn't eat?
 
How do you go about cooking the spider mate? I've heard there are certain parts that you shouldn't eat?
personally i kill it by pushing a screwdriver through the flap underneath then immediately put him on a rolling boil. About 15 mins and he's done. The meat inside the shell is around the joints for his limbs. Often that will just pull out when you pull the limb out. Rest of meat is in the claws and legs. If you are not sure leave the stuff inside the shell as it can be pretty toxic. Tastes great. i think probably the nicest meat in the sea. But it is a bit of a work up getting at it. I recommend eating it outside as you have to smash the legs and claws open, and its quite messy.
 
yes i think so. Definitely nicer than brown crab. similar but noticeably sweeter, but just alot of work to get at. At least with lobster the tail meat is easy to get to. I like them all to be honest. I only take a spider if i see a big male, in good condition. Some of the older ones ive seen have been good size but with damage to claws, so meat probably passed its best.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mogsychief
May seem a silly question, how can you tell a male from a female? Something to do with that flap underneat?
 
May seem a silly question, how can you tell a male from a female? Something to do with that flap underneat?

the males are the ones with big claws. females only have small claws, so not really worth catching to eat.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ashbish
  • Like
Reactions: ashbish
DeeperBlue.com - The Worlds Largest Community Dedicated To Freediving, Scuba Diving and Spearfishing

ABOUT US

ISSN 1469-865X | Copyright © 1996 - 2024 deeperblue.net limited.

DeeperBlue.com is the World's Largest Community dedicated to Freediving, Scuba Diving, Ocean Advocacy and Diving Travel.

We've been dedicated to bringing you the freshest news, features and discussions from around the underwater world since 1996.

ADVERT