Tides and Spearfishing

[Mr. X]

KMo, good call on listening to line fishermen - I can see that they may have a lot to contribute in concern to fishing knowledge, especially of the local areas they concentrate in.

I agree (& occasionally fish with a rod myself) but many sea fishermen have an intense dislike for spearfishing. I think they overlook the difficulties spearos deal with & the advantages offered, such as more precise targeting of fish by species & size (no bycatch) and simply see spearos as competition with an unfair advantage (being able to see in the water & not requiring fish to be feeding). I am not yet convinced that spearos have an overall advantage -- rod fishermen have few depth restrictions & do not have to worry much about visibility & surface conditions.

 

[deep thinker]

What is the definition of an angler? .... someone whos not alowed to drink at home .
At the end of the day were all in it for the catch right and sometimes when the weather isnt up for a dive you have to resort to rod and reel, otherwise I prefer the diving method. Its much more interesting and besides my best fish has been taken by spear, with the latter I mostly catch only a cold, with a few exceptions though.
Over here the anglers dont have much love for us spearos either especially on the open water they disregard diving flags completely and you actually have to go between them and your divers to stop them from going directly over them because they just dont look.

 

[Mr. X]

Thanks - great response. Your observation about the flat fish ties in well will Foxfish's comment above about fishing for flatties at low tide (presumably they stay put and so are more accessible in shallower water). Excellent thread.

Portinfer shared some further insights on flattie fishing at low tide on the Dorset 2006 thread recently: [ame="http://forums.deeperblue.net/showpost.php?p=588682&postcount=252"]DeeperBlue Forums - View Single Post - Dorset Spearfishing 2006[/ame]

Old Man Dave also had an anecdote about surprisingly good catches on unfavourable tides: [ame="http://forums.deeperblue.net/showpost.php?p=552029&postcount=57"]DeeperBlue Forums - View Single Post - Guernsey summer fishing[/ame]

 

[Mr. X]

Although this thread is ostensibly about tides, I get the impression that wind speed & direction are often bigger factors.

For spearing, clear & calm conditions are desirable. I haven't got this all figured out but it seems like lower wind speeds are usually associated with calmer conditions and winds from the shore are usually much better than winds from the sea (on the UK south coast, the less common & often cold N & NE bode well, rather than prevailing Sou'Westerlies).

Natural barriers (e.g. headlands, Chesil beach) and man-made barriers (like harbour walls) can provide shelter from some winds, providing calmer waters.

 

[dave]

For spearing, clear & calm conditions are desirable. .

Gotta disagree with you there , a lot of my best catches have been in really crappy conditions. A lot of spots fish much better with a bit of murk and plenty of water disturbance
cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk
www.eliossub.co.uk
www.c-ski.co.uk

 

[greendiver]

One other thing...you have to take care, fishing with currents!!
I go fishing in the straights of Gibraltar, famous for its currents, I always look, on the internet, for the coeficient of the tides.

A couple of weeks ago, with, according to an internet site, no big tides, I went fishing.
I told my french buddy to go back, cause I felt a current coming, he told me, "just a sec...
make a long story short...after 10 minutes, looking from the shore, I saw his buoy going in the wrong direction.:crutch
I decided to go and see if I could help him,..I have never seen so much bass..in that current, I stayed near to the rocks, suddenly I hear...Hey Dude...were are you going?..it was Shane (notorious Gibraltarian fisherman ;-))..sitting on a couple of rocks..he helped my french buddy..On the way back...it took at least 10 times the normal time, I saw bass like I´d never seen!
But happy to be back with my buddy...:friday

 

[Mr. X]

Gotta disagree with you there , a lot of my best catches have been in really crappy conditions. A lot of spots fish much better with a bit of murk and plenty of water disturbance
cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk
www.eliossub.co.uk
www.c-ski.co.uk

Had a feeling I might get pulled up making such rash generalizations. Just out of curiousity, what do you mean by a bit of murk ...< 2m viz?

I am quite happy to work with 2m viz (and often have too deal with less) but enjoy being in the water much more when the viz. is higher. Choppiness tends to distract me & bring on nausia too:yack So far I tend to stay near weed &/or rocks though -- so there is usually some cover about.

Sounds like water disturbance can be good from your post & various other posts on this thread & the SASpearo's techniques thread. Can make things trickier though.

BTW [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rip_current"]Wikipedia's Rip Current entry[/ame] mentions "Rip currents can be recognized by unusually calm waters" ...something to look out for. Although it seems like some spearos deliberately ride this out [will try to find a reference for this].

 

[Almostafish]

Yawn... :yack

Xcrete Xces Xasperate Xecrable Xhale :mute

Going for a fish around the Island this weekend, anybody who knows me is welcome. I dont give a stuff about the tides with regards to fish and the catching of fish cos I've caught on all. I think this point is much over rated by many.

Just fish.. its much better for the soul.

 

[foxfish]

Almostafish you are undoubtedly a successful & talented spearo but I must say your posts regularly confuse me What is the yawning about?

 

[Almostafish]

Hi Foxfish

I just have a problem with the endless drivel one of the forum members keeps coming out with and quoting from other forums/threads etc with litle real understanding of spearfishing or freediving other than what they have read. Its just not my style so thats probably why it gets my goat so much.

I am learning to let it all slide past but every now and then I bite. I am sorry to all other DB forum members if I sound like an arrogant t*t every now and then, I dont mean to but I do also have half a clue what I am on about. I drive Tug boats for a living and am a merchant sailor/officer, I teach AIDA freediving and spearfishing and I also ride fast bikes and get pissed on ale a lot. I think that I am very down to earth ( Other may well disagree! ) Its just this one member who rubs me the wrong way. I think it could just be a simple personality clash.

I personally dont need to be told to come in from the rain.

As speech is still free in this country thats my two peneth.

Hope this clarifies my posts for you a bit.

Bryn.

 

[Mr. X]

AlmostAFish, you don't have to read this stuff. If my posts rub you up the wrong way - why don't you just ignore them? The forum even has an "ignore member" feature to help you do this. Although you apparently don't enjoy some of my posts apparently others do, or have found them useful or interesting to discuss.

I understand that as somebody who teaches spearfishing, perhaps you might feel it is is not in your business/personal interests to pass on lots of information to non-students. Or for your students to do so? Surely you are confident that your knowledge is greater than could be written to a forum? Your own posts often seem evasive or intended to close discussion by others down. Perhaps you don't want others fishing "on your patch"? You seem disproportionately upset when other people offer advice or an an alternative point of view which differs from yours; yet you seem reluctant to discuss your perspective. The forum might provide an excellent opportunity to advertise but it would not exist without information & discussion - there would be no point in using it.

While living close to a sheltered harbour & a natural weather break no doubt provides unusually good protection from a variety of weather conditions, not everybody does. Nor would they necessarily want to.

I don't claim to know it all, or even that much. I am looking to learn from others, from forum members around the world -- what a fantastic resource. I am a beginner and have been quite open about it. I share my experiences as I learn (good & bad -- yes, I could play it cool & pretend I don't make mistakes or that conditions are always great --but we all make mistakes & often that is where useful lessons are learnt) & what I have gleaned in the hope that it will help others (as many forum members have generously helped me) -- perhaps save them a little time, just make them think about something or ask more questions, we've even had a few laughs. When people have given me information confidentially, I have respected than confidentiality. Yes, I include links to old threads -- because there are some good ones & often ideas have been discussed at length. Yes, I include links to other sites when information is available there (perhaps an alternative perspective - often questions have more than one valid answer) -- follow them if you are interested, ignore them if not; the forum is designed to offer such links.

I have made no comment about rain. I have dived most months of the year now, usually in viz less than 2m. Am I somehow a threat to you?

Perhaps you could pass this on to member Zygote too.

 

[deep thinker]

In afrikaans we'd say, " jy het nogal nie op jou bek geval nie ne."
I also feel that although I have speared for quite a while it was usually done with limited knowledge and consideration for other areas, other than my december hotspot that is. Since I joined these forums Ive been diving more regularly as the passion for the sport shown by others here in the forums tend to 'rub off' on you and I must say knowledge gained from some threads has increased success rate and enjoyment gained from every dive.

 

[Almostafish]

Hmm..

See this might be a lot of the problem, when I talked about coming in from the rain it was ment to show that some people have to be told everything by others. Helping new freediviers and spearos is what the forums do best and beyond my sardonic facade ( to you ) there is lots of background activity that you never see. I dont know it all by any means but what I do know and share is from hard won experence and from friends personal experiences. I thinks we are just very different in our out looks and methods. Practical v academic perhaps?

I would use the Ignore member bit but you have a habit of answering your own posts so all I end up with is an off topic comment every two or three paragraphs and it just makes it un readable ( for me ) and that ruins a nice little thread.

Apart from that i will say and post as i like to be honest, we have free speech in this country and we are both exercising it. I am nobody who are you?

Now enough of this I am off out to catch a Lobster for dinner.

B.

 

[spaghetti]

Almostafish has respectable experience and first class credentials, but for me he got a wrong idea of X's personality. Primarily, X has got the balls to dive regularily in winter, in the cold english waters, which means a great passion: my respects. Secondarily, he has the intellectual curiosity to learn more also from the net. Never read of him teaching lessons, but only asking advice or making suggestions. So what's wrong?
--misunderstandings like this wouldn't happen if we could just sit talking with a pint of beer. Peace in the world.
PS: Tide matters!

 

[deep thinker]

Ahh the age old soothing effects of alcohol. Never heard of a better way to resolve anything. Its just such a pity that the world is so big and all of us on different parts of it hey, wouldnt it be great to have a big ass party with all DB members in attendance. The world will never be the same

 

[Almostafish]

Yep your probably both right.. I will have a toast to Mr X tonight at my local real Ale festival.

I must go as the lobster did not happen but I have Scallop kebabs to cook! Congrats to UK spearo and his Dad for the 9lb and 10lb bass they pulled out today.

B.

 

[spaghetti]

Happy endings drive me emotional to tears (and scallop kebab sounds interesting...)
Still I apologize for putting my nose into your own private gentlemen's "discussion", but the fact is that I like Mr.X., and I wanted to share my good vibrations about him. Cheers
PS: Tide matters!

 

[flyflicker]

Beware if you see this object approaching Mr X and Spaghetti

It could "almost be a fish" on the look out for scallops and anything else that bites!!!!!!

 

[land shark]

Back on the subject. Im just a freshwater observer.(also a flyfisherman,ect ect ect). there are a few things I spotted though.

1-fish cruising the bottom looking for food? How do you know? did you ask them? one thing that confounds reserchers is the term luxury grazing. If a easy meal presents itself It's probably gonna get eaten its efficient.Over the years I have noticed that most apex pedators tend to digest quietly on the bottom and allow the nicely formed camo from the hunt conceal them. It is also a good time to move to a new a bushwack site for the next hunt.
Some of the research on Trout, for example show some of these guys know when a hatch that sustained them as youngsters is comming off and will travel to be there to greet it. I have also noticed that fish seek the depths to find respite. If they are bothered to much they will hide.

2- study the little varmints. It's a great big pecking order. I dont understand why fisherman dont seem to care about planckton and aquatic insects but can tell you the latin name of every darn minnow in the lake. Repeat blooms bring repeat performances. Also lets not forget the terrestrial critters. the fly fisherman can tell you about these. I saw a hatch of mayflys in Canada that totally shut down fishing for a week. Hey,how about crickets? Tasty forage to every darn fish out there. Remember everything runs down hill. I have fasinated for hours watching fish cruising the bottom eating bugs while the fisherman swear there isnt a damn fish left in the lake.

The tide carries these things and the fish come and some of these hatches are like clock work. Almost to the hour with some things. Also when things are missing or broken you can say to the biologists "I haven't seen a Hexagenia Limbata for two years now?" and they will have a clue as to where to look!
And that = stewardship of your enviornment.

 

[Almostafish]

Dum Dum DumDumDe Dum.... I now have a plan for dog fish..! Very drunk.. I have just got back from my second night at the George fest.. Mess. mee. B!
:friday