The DeeperBlue.com Spearfishing Hall of Fame.

[shiny1]

Re: South devon Report 2009

Flounder (European) 3lb 0oz
Flounder (European) 2lb 11oz
Flounder (European) 2lb 9oz
Flounder (European) 2lb 9oz

Went back to the spot where i found the triggers today to look for flatties which i seen in big numbers while after the triggers.They were still there in big numbers.I took 4 of the biggest flounder.When i fired at the first fish about 6 darted off that was laying next to him.I had a John Dory aswell.Joe was with me and he bagged himself a nice 6lb2oz bass.Biggest flounder 3lbs next 2lb11oz and 2 of 2lb9oz.
Another great day under the water seeing lots of fish.

 

[tecdave]

Re: October Fish of the Month.

Pollack 11lb 4oz


Dived a few times last weekend. Got a few nice late season fish including triggers, 4lb Bass and a few mullet, also got some good pollack on Sunday. First off was a 5lb 8oz fish from 10m then at the end of the day I got this monster!! I was lying in the kelp at about 7m when after 40seconds this brute just rose out of the kelp and started to swim off. I sent the steel through him and he just rolled over without even a twitch!! I hit the surface and realised it was a good fish. Back at home it went 11lb 4oz and is a new pb beating my 10lb 15oz one of last year.
Made a great end to a really good season.

Dave

 

[shiny1]

Re: South devon Report 2009

Triggerfish 2lb 11oz


Dived Saturday in bad westerly winds,its was hard to find sheltered ground with good vis to dive.We had a few bass mullet and 2 triggers.I have had a bit of success with the triggers this last week so decided to have another look for them in the same area.The conditions were not that good making the diving hard work.The first trigger was a nice fish of 2lb11oz,he was sat next to a hole ready to dart away from any danger but the poor vis helped me get close enough to take him.The second was smaller,taking him from a hole.Two was enough with the conditions getting worse by the minute.We ended the day after that with a good mixed catch for the conditions that we dived.

 

[crazywind009]

Re: South devon Report 2009

Wrasse (Ballan) 7lb 9oz


Dived yesterday with all the usual suspect fishing was a bit slow and the tide a bit strong did manage few good fish 3 mullets 2 bass and my biggest wrass a whooping 3.450kg and yes i do eat wrass not a bad day after all no monster the biggest mullet was 4lb and the bass 3lb

 

[sunfish]

Re: ireland spearing 2009

Triggerfish 3lb 0oz


"Outwest" with the kayak again today, this time to our usual scalloping spot. I took the kayak to search out other places nearby to take pressure off the hotspot. I found a couple of fairly good areas but chose to take only six shells as thats all I need at the moment, my wife and family being away.
I had a look around with the gun and found a few triggers too. I took one by hand spearing to save wear on my spear (they were all hiding in rocks). The trigger was a bit bigger this time weighing 3 pounds exactly.

Vis was down to 2 or 3 metres, but still great for late season fishing.

 

[scottwilson]

Re: South devon Report 2009

Thornback Ray 14lb 9oz


Scraped the ice off the car this morning and took a drive down to a little beach in the hope of a flattie or two

By the time I had walked down to the beach I couldnt feel my toes from all the ice, geared up and jumped in the water to find zero viz just the way I like it

spent the first half hour swimming around finding little patches of viz scattered around the sand gullies but no fish. found the edge of the reef and slightly better viz so swam along the bottom searching for flatties when I came a cross a nice Thorny lying in the sand :friday which weighed in at 14lb 9oz my new PB so stoked

Didnt see anything else after that and as the tide dropped so did the viz so called it a day.


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/user/dsmbigscott#p/u/0/3hveTWZ7Nxo"][/ame]

 

[kkdavids]

Re: Dorset Spear Fishing 2010

Grouper 30lb


Ive been asked to supply a brief report and pics regarding my Avatar (dont worry not the film!)

Greece, April 09 - First diving trip to Greece with Mick and Dave (speardaver).. 3rd day into the 10 days training, i hadnt caught a single fish, and was swimming back towards the beach feeling sorry for myself! Then direct below me i saw the shape of a fish spook under a ledge in about 60ft of water. I dropped down looked under the ledge and saw a grouper looking back at me, so i pulled the trigger...to cut a long story short, 30 odd dives later (thanks to mick and dave), and a float attached to the reel to keep the pressure on, the fish finally came out of the ledge....The fish weighed approx 30lb and was my first and obviously biggest grouper to date! - note of warning, when fishing in the med at depths, dive in pairs as its very hard work when trying to get fish out of holes etc...No fish is worth a life (without mick and dave there, i probably wouldnt have landed the fish, and possibly i woudnt have made it either)....attached is a pic of the fish mentioned, and a slightly smaller one i had a couple of days later.....going out there again in April so hopefully more of the same!!

 

[Trelawney]

Re: South Devon Report 2010

Lobster 8lb 2oz


I had a nice shore dive near Plymouth this morning. After yesterdays night dive, we expected good viz and no swell. And we were right. 8m viz and an incoming tide. There were no fish except the big conger eel I found in a hole. We gave up on the fish and went looking for lobsters instead. Five minutes in and I found this beauty. Weighed in at 8lb 2oz.
We looked in lots more holes, and in the end came away with two crabs and four lobsters.

 

[scottwilson]

Re: South Devon Report 2010

Cuttlefish 2lb 4oz

I took a drive down to cornwall this morning on the look out for a bass. Viz was a good 5-6 meters and a barmey 9 degrees.

Gave up on the bass after 2 hours and looked for flatties instead. found a nice clear patch of sand in shallow water and found this beautie hiding on the edge :friday Happy Days :friday

Great day out but a bitch of a drive back, might have to the camping gear next time

 

[budleigh spearo]

Re: South Devon Report 2010

Squid 1lb 6oz


I went out with ollie today got in early to find the vis a bit worse than expected. I didnt see much then had a squid swim right pass me so thats the first thing I've shot this year and was the only dive I didn't put the go pro on record :head

It's a nice size I think but haven't ever seen one before so not sure. I thought it was a cuttle fish to start with aswell lol.

I stoped at some more spots but still very quiet around here. I searched a few sand beds but nothing doing. I managed to get my ears to go down to almost 14 meteres which they wouldnt allow a few weeks back so looking forward to finding some scallops next time I go out

thats all folks.....

 

[wdaf]

Re: Spearfishing in the Philippines

Spanish Mackerel 21Kg

I live since 4 years in the Philippines and love to do exploratory trips.
This time i went to the most southern part of the Philippines. It is the part where one gets travel advisory to stay out. It felt a bit strange to be in a 500.000 population town and seeing no foreigner at all for 3 days except in the resort where i stayed, but beside from that i was safe. At least i think so.
An American - ex peace corps - living there since 20 years was my contact person to some fisherman 100km outside of the bigger town.

It was a small town where everybody lives from the yellow fin tuna fishing.
My target for this first visit was a 5-10m deep shoal just some km off the mainland. About 500m by 150m wide.
We went there with one of the medium size 15m long outrigger boats they use for going months into the open pacific for tuna.
It is very simple boats with no navigation, no radio or other equipment used in modern boats.
I was spearing alone, but the boat crew even brought an additional small 2m long outrigger boat. So 1 guy was always watching and helping me.

It was a perfect site. many fish between 2 and 5 kg. I had a couple of dives where about 5 to 10 Dog tooth tunas of maybe 5 to 7 kg circled me in very close distance.
I was very selective an waited.
At the first day i started after lunch and spent only about 3 hours in the water.
Day 2 i started early and after about 5 hours i saw 2 big doggies cruising below me. I spotted them maybe 5 seconds too late, tried to chase after them, stopped and waited for them to turn - zero reaction.
Then after about 1 more hour i see a Spanish Mackerel cruising fast below me going from the reef straight into the blue. A beautiful silhouette from above - like the body of an air plane. Blue water here i come. I did about 5 to 7 dives in the blue, just a bit outside the bait barrier. And then he checked me out. Close, too close. So i shot from the hip, and i realised right away it was not a good shot. I had a breakaway setup with a small 8 liter buoy but no bungee, so i did not give the fish any pressure at all, but only 2 seconds later he ripped himself free. Dammit - 2 days of waiting for the right fish and then I loose him with a bad shot.

Upset i reload the gun and continue going back to the reef. After about 10 minutes i see something shiny in about 20m depth. i make a short duck dive and YES! there he is again. Floating and surrounded by jacks that want to eat him. So all i have to do is dive down, make the second shot into the barely moving fish and here we go. 21kg

On the way back my new mobile phone did a great job.
It got already dark so we started heading back to shore. All the captain had to do to bring us back was driving roughly north.
But doing this in darkness, with strong fog, nearly new moon and a brownout on the mainland was not so easy.
Every minute he used one of his safety matches to lighten the compass and correct the course.
Only in the Philippines.
So i was sitting then with the captain of the boat and we were watching the compass on my phone to get the right heading.
Came home safely and had a great fish dinner the next day with the crew and their families and some other people i don't have any clue why they were joining the dinner.

Next time i will try to go for some bigger doggies on the same reef or maybe even for one of the 60 to 80 kg yellow fin tunas the fisherman catch offshore.

 

[sunfish]

Re: Ireland spearing 2010

Grey Mullet (common thick lip) 6lb 4oz


It's almost a month later than last year but here's my first bass of the year:-

Two mullet too. The bass weighed 3.4lbs and the mullet were 6.3 and 4.5lbs.

I might try for a bigger bass this evening or maybe tomorrow evening as I'm a bit late for the tide.

 

[crazywind009]

Re: South Devon Report 2010

Conger Eel 22lb 14oz


I all went for a dive with north1 today did not see 1 mullet but lots of baby pollock around,viz was good 5 to 7 m did find this monster in the shallow 6+m clean shoot in the head a bit of a hand full ater i pull him out his hole did think he was going to bend my spear in art and craff metal bending style whent on to a reef knife in the head one 22lb14oz dead conger.
Conger sauce matelote yum yum:inlove:inlove

 

[dario_deli]

The Deeper Blue Spearfishing Hall of Fame.

White Sea Bass 55lb


The story starts a few months ago when I was told from my boss to go and present my work to a conference in San Francisco. It took me 2 seconds to connect San Francisco to California and California to spearfishing. After a little internet search and after bothering a few locals (Steve Veros, Metelin, and many others found on spearboard.com) I find out that April is a good month to hunt white seabass, a fish very similar to the corvina people fish in south of spain and marocco. A beautiful animal that quickly takes all my attention...I want one! I don't really know what to do when I get there and I barely know that they hunt this fish in giant thick kelp bed sneaking between the stalks trying to surprise these fish. I know there are sharks and I know the water can be dirty and this is it. I don't plan anything, I just book a car and buy a flight ticket which will take me to San Francisco and back to UK from San Diego. I only know that I'll drive down from San Francisco to San deigo, meet people and spear. What can I ask more?
I dream about these trip for months and pictured how it would be. If I have to be totally honest, before leaving UK I felt pretty confident of my skills and thought it wouldn't have been hard at all to catch these white seabass. Nothing could have been more wrong. I get to SF and start to get in contact with the locals living all over the state. I met Steve and he is an awesome dude and so all the rest of the california spearos. It's a beautiful country with beautiful people, I'd say as great as the Gibraltar crew!
So after finished my job in San Francisco I get a car and drove down to Monterey where my intention is to have my first dive for lingcod. The weather is miserable and the waves are big. It doesn't look right for a first dive after all the stories of sharks and being all on my own. So I leave Monterey and get to Santa Barbara where Iaon is waiting for me. 2 days in SB and again no fishing. It seems like I brought the storm from the UK and other big waves and brown water are in SB. I drive down and stop around Los Angeles, John is there showing me some spots. He cannot dive so I have to go and have my first dive myself. I'll do it. I get my gear and head to the beach. The waves look so much bigger when you stand in front and wait to get inside. There are surfers, they are pretty confident in that mess. I try a couple of times but the waves hit me on the rocks hard. I'm afraid I have to give up also this time. 4 days gone and no diving. I start to get depressed. All these months dreaming what?
5th day I meet Dave, great california diver, and finally I get wet. Oh man, that kelp bed is scary. It's a bloody jungle and you are like a wild native sneaking along those trees in the darkness. It takes me a while to relax and the bottom is at 30 mt and it's just all dark. After 4 hours no fish seen. Then suddenly a school of maybe 20 fish all around 15 kilos passes in front of me. I aim to the closer one with my stealth previously set with a slip-tip and boom. The reaction is violent. The fish takes a lot of line and start to entangle the shooting line and the reel line all around the kelp and disappear in the darkness. We gotta be quick as in the area lately 7 gills sharks tend to attack the fish while the spearos try to detangle the line and the fsih from the kelp. I call my buddies and they quickly arrive to help. The kelp is all around me and I can barely move, sure I cannot dive in this mess and I kind of panic. They arrive and we first make some space in the surface to allow us the dive and start diving to recover the fish. It's not easy as every time you dive your legs get all wrapped up by the kelp. After a few dives each none of us spot the fish. Down there is dark and the fish entangled deep. We start to cut the kelp and finally we bring to the surface a big ball of it. There is not fish and I cannot find the shaft. Finally and unfortunately I find it at the end but the slip tip is still attached to the shaft. What a bummer, the slip tip didn't deploy and despite a perfect shot the fish got free. To make it worse, the spear is totally bent and I'm depressed.
On the good side the wheather is nice and I can go fishing. For the next 6 days I barrow guns from local guys and I meet so many beautiful people (Joe, John, Damian, Ephraim, Tommy, Maurizio etc etc etc...the list is soooooo long). Joe is the best though, he put me in contact with many other spearos, all very experienced and he is just great. I get to use these monster guns with middle handle, 3-4 bands and 8-9mm shafts. 6 days in a row and no fish seen. I start to get headaches as in this kind of fishing you need to dive down to 5-7 mt and swim orizontally going from stalk to stalk and wait. In this way your neck is all the time in this awkward position and this meant for me continuous migraine. This white seabass hunting is hard as when you fish in these kelp bed you either catch a beautiful fish or nothing so you can spend so many days going out and just dive in the darkness and see and catch nothing. I'm determined, I want to catch one and I don't give up even though the days are running out.
6 days no sights but on the next day I'm in the water. This time I'm with Bill. For so many hours I fish with this 65 inches Daryl Wong and no fish, then I switch to my stealth although I only have a shaft with a single flopper as my slip-tip is gone on the fist fish and although the vis today is quite good. At one dive I'm down to probably 6 mt and swim to reach the next stalk. I look to my left towards the surface and at limit of the vis I see something. What's that? It's a weird thing. I turned and slowly swim towards it. The closer I get the more the figure seems like a big tail. It's a big tail and I see half body of a huge white seabass sleeping inside the kelp. I swim slowly and get in range to shoot. I know I have single flopper and I want to shoot the fish on a good spot so I don't risk to lose it. I slowly move to see the head and boom....I know you think this was a gun shot but unfortunately it was just the fish that took off and left me there as a miserable asshole. I knew my chance was gone and I kept fishing with no other luck.
The next night was terrible, I was tired of almost 10 days fishing everyday, with headache and regret. I was waking up every now and then seeing the big bloody tail sticking out from the kelp but nevertheless on the next morning I was ready to go.
I get in the water again with the daryl wong 64 inches and no fish seen for almost 5 hours. I'm close to call it a day but after an hour bouncing on the waves with Dave's little inflattable we arrive on the last spot. The water today is murky so I decide to go again with my stealth, moreover I seem to see fish only with this gun so I test if this is true. I'm kind of hopeless, I keep diving but I don't expect much. The water is green and I'm on my umpteenth dive of the day. I'm just under the shadow of a stalk, I just got there from the previous one and I'm waiting. I look up and down and right and...fuck! On my left there a massive dark figure. I can see its eyes and it is looking around, probably looking for me. It's finally a big white seabass and it's close. The insitict take the upper hand and boom. This time is my stealth. I get the fish right behind the gills. The shot is perfect but I don't want to lose this one or I'm gonna give it up. I hold the line tight as I want the fish to entangle shallow. I get to the surface and I call Dave. He already heard the shot and I scream to shoot the fish again as I don't trust the single flopper. The fish is still there and pull hard and so do I. Dave is quick and in a few seconds he is down, shoots the fish and comes back up saying "DArio, it's big!!!!!!". This Stealth has some special powers huh!?!?
This is the end of the story, The fish weighed 25 kilos more or less and made me a very happy italian. It was all worth it. The insomnia at night, the fish lost, the fish no shot, the days out with no sighting. It was all worth it.
It seems it all happened for a reason. Today a big storm probably mark the end of my wsb hunting even though I'll be here for a couple of days more. Last night I slept as a baby and I kept seeing the scene just before the shot. It was so cool! Today I took it easy, slept long, eat well and watch the plam trees under the heavy rain.
I think it's a beautiful story and really summarize what speafishing is. It's hard and you have to be determined to achieve what you want and never giving up.



The best side of the story is although the fact that all the spearos I met on my trip were really happy to take me out and put me on fish. They were all hoping for me getting this wsb and just after 15 min from my catch the news went all around and I started to received phone calls and text messages from all over california. My phone was litterally frying, I never never never received so many phone calls! Everybody was happy and was congratulating me for the catch. All california spearos were supporting me and spearfishing is a great activity.
Last picture is with Dave, the guy I caught the fish with. I was happy as a king and so tired I could barely lift the fish and he was so happy too!
Some people have a lot to learn from most of the guys I met in this trip.

 

[shiny1]

Re: South Devon Report 2010

Squid 1lb 10oz


Havent had the chance to get in lately but made up for it today with a shore dive at high tide. Seen my first bass of the season after about 30 mins into the dive,it was spot on 5lbs. I only seen one other bass of about 4lbs.
I went to a spot where i normaly see a lot of mullet but only caught a glimps of the odd one or two in the distance. I did find a nice lobster while looking for flatties and a single large scallop.
Viz was good and the sea was cold but things are looking up.
I did get in for the last 2 hours of light last night and had one mullet out of a large shoal and a big squid that came in to the mullet on my stringer while i was getting out in waist deepth water. The gun was unloaded with the float line wrapped on it for the walk back up the cliff so i had to stab it with the gun.

I dont normaly find scallops at the place i dived today. Lobsters are there but i dont look for them,i just happen to come across it while looking for flatties. I used to only dive the place on a low tide but found it fishes better on a high tide after going there thinking it was a low tide. Bit deeper diving but better results.

The squid was 1lb 10oz. Did see a big shoal or what ever you call a load of squid last night,it was just getting dark and i thought it was a big shoal of bass then realised it was squid. Great site to see. I look too long though and they soon vanished. Then just when i was getting out i had the single one after the mullet on my stringer.

 

[Davidocallaghan]

Re: South Devon Report 2010

Lobster 8lb 0oz


Hi all went out today to bag a few scollopsdid well got 2doz so all have a good feed at tea time . On the way back had a look in my lobster hole for the second time his year woooooooooooooo look what was in there 8lb on the nail

 

[gutshot]

Re: Cornwall 2010

Gilthead Bream 2lb 0oz


Took a gamble today and got in for a dive. Only 9c on the watch so still cold. The bloom was in full swing which made things interesting. Ended up with a mullet which was about 50-55 cm and my first ever bream which measures up at 42cm. Hiding behind some weed but unmistakable with the band across the head. Looking forward to eating him tomorrow.

 

[shiny1]

Re: South Devon Report 2010

Cuttlefish 4lb 1oz


Got the passports out this evening and crossed the border into Cornwall. Joe was with me for this Bear Grylls adventure. I was going to a favourite spot for diving but its got to be the worse place of all to get to. Joe had never been here before. I tried to explain what to expect when we get to the cliff edge and the view down,but until he seen it i dont think he realised what was to come for the journey back up the cliff. I told him not to shot any double figure fish because they are a pain to hike back up!!.
The viz from the cliff path looked amazing and we were not disapointed when we got in. The best viz i have seen so far this season.
Joe went left and i went right. It was looking fishy from the start,large shoals of 2lb size pollack in the shallows on the sandy patches. I have had big pollack here before so kept my eyes straining for that big boy lurking around at the end of my viz.
The first fish i seen worth taking was a nice big cuttlefish,it camouflaged its self on the sand but its size made it hard not to see it. He was a massive 4lbs 1oz.
I moved of out in the deeper water now where thers deep kelp gullies with sandy bottoms. Again lots of pollack but none worth the hike back up the cliff. Each gully was stalked with the hope of a big bass or pollack laying up in there. After trying several i was rewarded with a cracking pollack of 9lbs. The spear didnt look like it had gone all the way through,the pollack shot off into the kelp with me finning flat out to keep up,i didnt want him ripping off.In the end i had to let the gun go and follow until he tangled up in the kelp. A quick hand in the gills and rush for the surface. I had no float with me just a stringer on my belt,so on he went with the cuttle. I moved in a bit closer to the rocks now with the hope of a bass. Within moments of doing this i caught sight of my first bass of the day,he was down in the kelp moving away from me. I had to wait for a clear shot before the 3lb bass went on the stringer.
By now Joe had joined me,i left him to do the deeper water and moved off into the shallows with the hope of a flatty. No flatties found but i did miss a monster of a red mullet. My hands were cold and found it hard to pull the trigger,well that was my excuse for the miss. We both got back to the beach about the same time. Joe said he didnt shot any fish because he didnt fancy hiking them back up the cliff to the car. 3 rest stops later with lots of heavy breathing we made it to the car. A great dive but no hurry to do the hike up the cliff for a while,well at least a day.

 

[paulrossiter]

Re: South Devon Report 2010

Bass (European) 11lb 0oz


After having time to reflect from yesterdays dive to a new spot on the East Devon coast somewhere. I thought it only right to write an account of the days fishing after posting my contribution to the FOM competition for May.

You know after looking at gin clear water and seeing patches of reef from the car park on the beach front, you’re in for a good dive. Getting into the water didn't disappoint with 10+ metres of visibility, which I have not seen for a very long time. After a bit of a swim I found a patch of boulders in about 8m of water. Looking down I saw a large grey-blue tail slide in between the boulders. A quietly dived down and landed on a patch of sand about 4 metres from the boulder and manoeuvred myself side-on to a significant undercut on the boulder. Tucked up in the far corner a good sized bass was laid up, which I took with a clean shot through the gill plate. Leaving the gun I swam back up until things settled. Diving back down to pick up my bass I could see there were plenty of huge boulders with slits and under-cuts to explore. Gently pulling my bass out from under the boulder I could see it’s was a good 5 to 6 pound, a great start for my first bass of the year.

Giving myself time to recover and plan my next descent, with the top to bottom visibility was not difficult. I spotted two bass in front of me, no more than 20 metres from my first bass. Again, I dived away from the bass and then changed direction towards the fish once on the bottom. Moving very slowly towards a flat boulder with a massive undercut where the bass had been. Keeping my gun just above and alongside the undercut I peered in from the edge into the dark cavernous space. A large head, with a white lip looked back at me and was turning on itself to make its escape out of the other side. I brought my gun into line with the fish and got a great holding shot. I knew I had a good fish and gently pulled it out off the hole. Swimming to the surface took some effort; looking down at the bass I could see why, it was huge - could it be a double figure bass from a shore dive - surely not?!? The bass that I had seen from the surface was not the bass I had just caught!

After swimming around for another 30 minutes I had lost interested in diving as I was so happy with the 2 fantastic bass I had caught. I got back to the car, admired my catch got changed and waited for Dave to return. Weighing the bass, the big one was 11lb on the nose and the other a great 6lb.8oz. Dave also had a 7lb.8oz bass, which made for a really great afternoon out, especially considering the slow start to this year’s spearfishing in the South West.

After lots of photos of the fish, they have been filleted and will be marinated for a BBQ when the warm weather arrives next week.

Happy days!!

 

[portinfer]

Re: Guernsey 2010

Sea trout 4lb 0oz


Thanks - yes a lovely fish. Took a fillet off to eat with friends and it is simply delicious... Hugh F Whittingstall recommended cooking it simply so had it with new potatoes (mint & butter), and some fresh spinach/shallots/garlic/cream/whitewhite/capers/dill - as for the fish, just pan fried it in butter quickly. A really really good meal !

As for the catching, I was coming up from a shallow dive and saw something silver come past, didn't look like a bass but my mind was trying to pigeon hole it. I think I was flipping between 'weird-bass'/'weird-pollack' quite rapidly but then realised that whatever it was it was 'size' and went for the wild west approach... It went beserk to tell you the truth... amazingly strong for such a little fish. Only when I was wrestling with it in my hands did I realise what it was - absolutely astonished !

Out of the sea at the end of the dive it looked beautiful shimmering silver in quite a different way to a bass.

Don't read the press and I doubt a weight would be of much use as these lovelies seem few and far between... just nice to catch and eat.

I guess it'll be grayling next....

(See Mo I said you should have come )