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Well even after Emma had had a fiddle and tweak of Mr Hugh's freediving we were not going to have too much time to forage around so... Yep Podge and i " Seeded " a nice area and we all had a good day.. The days filming turned into a 1min section but its was all good fun and River Cottage hq is a very beautiful place.
Hey Bryn pic as promised.. weighed in at 2.2lb when i got home (abut 4
hours later!) Stupidly I gutted and scaled it on the boat otherwise i'd
of been giving the record some serious hassle!
Code of Conduct
Consider the safety of
yourself and other people at all times.
Know and at all times
practice this Code of Conduct and Safety Rules.
Respect the marine life by
never tacking more game than for your immediate personal needs.
Know and all times obey
boating regulations, including:
carrying required safety
equipment
navigating safely all times
Know and all times obey
Fisheries regulations including:
size limits for certain
species
bag limits for certain
species
bans on the taking of
protected species
ban on the sale of fish by
amateur fishermen
closure of certain areas to
spearfishing
Guard the sea from
law-breakers by reporting suspicious or ilegal activity to the proper
authorities.
Always co-operate with
regulatory authority officers performing their duty.
Show consideration towards
other water users pursuing their own recreation.
Clean your catch at a
designated cleaning area or away from the general public.
Whenever you go diving,
never leave your rubbish behind.
Never act in a way which
results in public disfavour towards our sport.
Safety Rules
Tow a safety coloured float
(yellow, orange or red) with an international Code A flag
(signifying diver below) displayed in a vertical position above the
float.
Attach game to the towed
float so that the game is carried away from your body.
Carry a knife that is
attached to your body and which is readily accessible.
Carry a plastic safety
whistle and a reflective signal mirror.
Wear a weight belt fitted
with a single hand operated, quick release buckle.
Never load or carry a
loaded speargun out of the water.
Ensure that speartips are
suitably sheathed wile not in use.
Ensure that you are not
under the influence of any drugs or medication that may impair
your senses, judgement or physical ability.
Cease diving if for any
reason you are not feeling well.
Take liquids to ensure that
you do not suffer the effects of dehydration.
Avoid hyperventilating by
taking no more than 2 or 3 deep breaths before holding your breath.
Always dive with a friend
or tell someone where you will be diving and your estimated time of
return.
Obtain a current weather
report for the time that you will be diving.
Be on the alert for boat
traffic and ensure that you are visible to passing vessels.
So, the pairs comp went well, I dived with Kevin Daly and we dived
several spots round the island. The best viz was to be found at Bill
point and was about 45ft, brilliant. There were some fantastic Cod
caught by Colin and Gary, 10, up to 12lbs! Some nice Bass came out up
to 8lb (Lee Deighton). Mr Porbeagle came and said hello to Lee, who
persuaded it to stay away .
Some nice Bream (black and gilt head) again from Lee and his brother
Shaun. The over all winners were Lee and Shaun with Colin and Gary
giving them a close run second. I did manage the biggest crustacean of
the day with a PB 8lb Lobster that I found in a hole at 21mtrs, that's
a long way back up with a heavey thing like that I can tell you!
Thanks to Tina at SeaHorse (Portland Oceaneering) for all her help on
the day, and to all those that helped organise the event (Paolo and
Kevin), and to Paul Maxwell for yet another superb barrbie!
So, finally took my first decent bass of the season on Saturday.
Got in for a mammoth swim in the harbour with Alex aka 1 Shot, 1 Kill.
Bumped into Bryn who had just got out and he told me viz was OK. After
the first few minutes of diving I thought he must have been taking the
p*ss, as it was awful! The tide was really low, but as we got further
out things improved. We swam out well past the anchorages, and were
almost bang in the middle of Portland Harbour, but we were still only
finding 6m depth and not a fish in sight. Scoured the sand for flatties
for a couple of hours, and just had a few shells between us. Alex lost
his stuff bag as we moved inshore as well, so he lost those shells
anyway - gutted! We were drifting with the tide down towards the
breakwater, and I had resigned myself to coming home fishless. I
decided to practice my breathold and drop down to the bottom at
itervals of 1 minute no mattter what. About 100 from the breakwater in
about 4/5 meters of water I dropped into some eel grass to find this
beautiful greay torpedo resting on the bottom in the grass. I seem to
have sorted the accuracy problems on the gun with the new spear because
I nailed it right behind the head! About the same time, Alex dropped
onto another fish of smiliar size, again in the eel grass, but
unfortunately it spooked before he could get a shot off.
I saw a couple of other bass coming back in, but they were both spooked
and fled rapidly. I wasn't too upset though, with this beauty on my
float...felt like my luck had finally come good, after some horrific
misses early in the season.
Met rascolor (Adam) as we came in, which was nice too. All round great
dive, with good company. The fish weighed in at 5lbs 12 oz and fed 5!
I'm still in a good mood, even though it's Sunday night and I have work
tomorrow!
Thanks for all the support guys, many of you know this has been a four
year epic for me when I first set out for the South Atlantic with Colin in 2006 full
of determination to get a marlin, and loaded with a gun so large I
could hardly carry it let alone hit anything ;-)
2006 passed with many amazing catches but no marlin, and 2007 was the
same. By the end of 2007 I realised that as someone who has a limited
amount of bluewater time because of living in the UK I would need to do
something different if I really wanted the marlin.
By then I had become friends with a charter crew on the South Atlantic and we hooked
up a plan. We would tow teasers/flashers over the deep ocean off South Atlantic without hooks, and as soon as a marlin surfaced I would jump in.
2008 was amazing and frustrating, as what ultimately let me down was my
slip tip, plus there were a few
small issues with reducing the shock in the rig that needed to be
made. Anyway, I encountered marlin and wanted to get one more than
ever.
In 2009 I returned for a few more goes. Both the crew and I now had
this whole thing down to a fine art, and I turned down a few 'dodgy'
shots on marlin. All in all, in 8 non-consecutive days of
marlin hunting I got 8 marlin contacts and a few sails. I 'danced'
with the marlin several times but there was always something preventing
a decisive shot. These are wary fish and when encountered in this way
they are moving at attack speed rather than cruising so very difficult
to hit.
Anyway, I will tell you the story of Friday 6th March.
At about 0915 we steamed out from town. The teasers were set and
having loaded my gun, fitted my mask and fins, and put a hat on to
protect the exposed parts of my face against sunburn, I settled into
the familiar rhythm of waiting. i was on the port after quarter as
usual, the massive loaded bluewater gun within easy reach. Olaf handed
me an ice cold drink. the sun sparkled on the surface and the volcanic
mountains of South Atlantic faded into the distance. the water was impossibly
blue... the heat, the drone of the engines and the monotony have a
strong soporific effect that is very like being in a university
lecture- you feel your head constantly bobbing as you fight the urge to
go to sleep.
All of this was shattered at 10.50 With a cry of alarm from Olaf on
the starboard teaser and a rapid exchange in German. This was my cue- i
flung my hat to the deck as carefully swung my legs over the transom to
avoid the carefully coiled float lines and floats. Waiting for the
instruction from Mathias in the tower to 'go' is vital as a propeller
accident would be all to easy. A marlin had smashed the starboard
teaser with its bill. I entered the water, blinded by the wake, and
moved to where I thought it would be. the beast had already dismissed
the teaser and was now moving slowly away from the boat. I saw the
great eye swivel and he saw me- and it was utterly unimpressed. no
course change, he just swam very slowly onwards. slowly is relative! I
was going flat out and the distance was growing. I tried a few tricks
that could have turned a wahoo back to check me out but this beast was
not interested and i got back on the boat via the tuna door.
However I was on full alert now. I have learned that where there is
one billfish you are very likely going to get a second contact. at
11.20 again the crew burst into activity and i dived again. this time
i dived under the wake and as i did so the marlin came under me. no
time to think. i fired the heavy gun straight down, registering a good
it on the top of the body just to the right of centre. the shot exited
low down on the other side.
The fish was gone- Mathias saw it burst through the surface and crash
about before going up to full speed. for my part i could see nothing
except the bungee flashing through my fingers.
The fish was badly injured by the shot, which had damaged the spine 3/4
of the way down the body... despite this it kept the 1st float down for
45 minutes! Eventually i started to make headway and the fish slowly
and gently came up. i could see it was hardly moving now, exhausted by
an hour of battle. Olaf handed me my second gun, a very accurate RA 140
with 2x 16mm rubbers. I reached the cable leader of the Riffe spear
and could see that the fish had bent that massive spear like a paper-clip! The Kitto bluefin sliptip was holding true, and no
tearing. Very slowly I worked the fish up towards me and once in range
fired the RA to hit him in the head.
The battle was over. We pulled the fish through the tuna door and it
was a very surreal experience. Mathias took me back to town to
get my wife Lucy, son Riffe, and Col, Dirk and Piet. It was great to
share the moment with friends and family. We took lots of meat and
shared it out, and I also kept the bill and tail- my Marlin hunting
days are finally over. It was wonderful to catch one, but exhausting
in every sense, including financially! I'm happy to go into the
minutiae of the gear if anyone is interested but otherwise I wont bore
you ;-)
This has been the greatest spearfishing experience of my life, hope you like the pics...
Titus
Here you go chaps, todays offering - Spring is here.... :o)
5lb 8oz and 6lb 2oz.....
Clive.
Back to the real world with the fish us mortals catch! March Bass.
I receive a call from Ben "do you know it's the 18th March on Wednesday
the anniversary of my first bass last year" I replied "What time are
you picking me up then"!!
I monitored the wind all day and it was an easterly - tits When we got
down to the normal spot to be greeted by a nasty chop and the vis
didn't impress us. No worries we headed to another likely spot which
seemed to be OK.
As we headed off out through the murk (vis was pretty bad) I
immediately saw signs of live - a prawn, a pipe fish and what the hell
was that bolting off? 10 yards further out I spotted my first bass of
the year - it was only about 16" but a bass - I whooped with joy and
left it to grow a few more pounds
Out we headed to a reef that we know, out through the smelt hanging in
the darkness and the pout sniffing around the rocks. Spring is here..
After spotting another small bass I spotted a wall of silver just on
the edge on the vis - crikey mosses that's a better fish - aimed and
fired - I could see that the spear was only just in him, so I dropped
the gun and swam over and grabbed him - as I broke surface I gave a
loud "YES"!!
Ben came over and after a few whoops I lent him my torch so he had a
better chance of getting one.. I swam off to try a little deeper with
Ben's two candles in a jam jar!!!
After another 30mins the cold started to bite so time to get out, Ben
followed and his huge grin gave away that he had a nice 3lb 10oz bass
on his stringer
We celebrated by phoning Will who is stuck in Derby and two Magna ice-creams The season has started
PS> mine was a fat 5lb 10oz
Gary, Williem and myself along with Paul, David and Andrew did a
spot of diving this weekend...yes Janette said it would be fine to take
a sat off. Thanks Babe. We got to
Christchurch ledge and started our first drift...the tide was just
starting to go again and with such a mild current it was easy to look
in the holes that you don't normally have a chance to look in when its
running hard. Saw one good fish in one hole
but did not get a shot...The next hole was empty but the third was
not!! As i approached the small overhang i saw a tail flap through the
kelp at the entrance to the cave....heart started pumping faster as i
could see from its silver colour it wasn't a wrasse. Looked
inside and saw what i thought was a huge Mullet, it turned and came
towards me...now I'm thinking...Mullet...should i shoot it?...The
answer was swift in coming. Shot
it and pulled it out the hole... Not a Mullet, looked big! Turned out to be a 15lb Bass and a new best for me... Willem also managed a lovely 8lb + fish out of another hole before the tide really started running again. We then went to the IOW...looked at the spot...no fish at all...saw 2 mullet and that was after searching in every hole. Gary
found fish eventually taking the first one straight away then giving me
a go...we alternated like this for the rest of the dive until we had
enough for a few diners...it was good teamwork taking it in turns
shooting a fish and then letting the other diver take the next turn
while you retired behind the rocked to land your bass. Just an observation... I
have had bass in shoals many times in the past and have found that if
you keep calm and take your time shooting from the surface you will
keep them there for a lot longer than if you dive down in the usual
manner..lie on the bottom an shoot. Try
it next time...you might miss a few until you get used to it as you
will need to compensate slightly but it worth it for a few more good
fish. Saw Paul and crew when we got back they had found a few new hot spots...Paul said he would give us the marks!! How
about a dive report boet!.... and yes..... I did take the wrong road
yesterday on the way back to London...i was not planning a secret
trip to Southampton !!!! what a dick am I...Had to come all the way
back to the M3....
Chow Colin
Hi Guys
A great dive on friday. headed out on a
dedicated salmon mousse hunt, but as usual when specifically searched for,
could not find one! usually they show up in the fridge when it is the last thing you
expect to see!
anyway we were diving a reef off Chesil. the
cover here is very heavy, so heavy that you can often approach within a
few feet of a fish before they see you- and you see them. for this
kind of very stealthy close contact diving, i find even a 75 too long,
and even in the crystal clear vis we had there i was using a 50cm
pneumatic. for anybody new to pneumatics i would point out their
drawbacks of loud noisy shooting, comparatively poor accuracy and
mechanical breakdown not easily fixed. the act of forcing the spear
into the gun to load it inevitably puts little bends in the shaft over
time and you have to keep an eye on that or you will miss. personally i
always aim low with a pneumatic, with good results.
however, in
conditions which are very confined, and you are literally sneaking
about a couple of feet from a possible big fish, the pneumatic is short
and powerful, ideal for short range shooting. it also has a very quick
reload and very good fish holding power with the double barb tips.
quietness is absolutely vital with this sort of diving, make a sound here and you can often hear unseen booms as fish spook.
so
joe and i were diving in heavy cover. every dogfish or pollack i saw i
thought 'SALMON MOUSSE!' until disappointingly identifying it. I am still taking the pills.. The tide was
rising and soon i got a nice red mullet my first of the year, between
some rocks on a sand patch. i was sneaking along the edge of the reef
where the shale and sand meets the kelp forest, well down in cover when
i spotted a nice 7pound bass. stoned that one and added it to the
string. fish were few and far between and we moved the boat many times
trying to find a hotspot.
i set off to a place we call mullet
cave to get one for the smoker. on the way is good ground, i use cover
at the edge of the reef and keep silent so the bass often do not
realise you are there. this time i suddenly saw a very deep bodied
bass heading into the cover of the reef. he totally missed seeing me,
hidden by cover, and swam past where i was lying silently. i knew-
once chance only, as soon as this fish detects me, he's gone. i let
him come past and took the shot. the fish was about 6 feet away and
the 50 hit it in the shoulder, exiting under the gill case on the other
side. the spear must have clipped the spine as the big fish just sank
down stone dead.
which is just as well as the tip had not come
fully through him and the barbs had not toggled! pulling him home i
knew he was big as he kept hitting my ankle with his tail despite
having his head near my belt on the stringer. i was really surprised
when we weighed him and he came in at 12.5 pounds, my best bass to date.
i've cut it up into steaks and it will do a good few dinners! good hunting! Titus
Well done Flyflicker! A nice little 8lb Bass a stones throw from the shore.. Around the Isle of Portland. Sorry Podge your mullet just cant stand up to this fish but Happy birthday anyway!
Looks like a lean Basking shark!
I think the quote of 1 pic says a thousand words is very true. Not much info on this catch of Ben's but what a good looking clean fish and at this time of year. We ready for tuna around Portland this year??
First Plaice is always good!
After a 20m swim in freezing waters, braving death by yacht, gill nets and the fashion police, we finally have a flatfish of note! After the third or forth second on the bottom and seeing nothing I decided to move along a chain and after about 50-60cm I was nearing the end of my breath holding limits... Just as I was about to assend I see this little beauty half in the sand. One nice clean shot pining its head to the sand and there you have it.
What part of this report is bollox then..? Just the words..
Turbot or not to Turbot!
Hey guys, long story short......
Dived Abbostbury.... 20ft fiz..... 11degs (brrrr) hundreds of dogfish! diving to 13mtrs
...... 1 x 7lb Turbot!!!!!!!! My first one ever! it was completley buried I nealry didn;t see it, in fact at first I thought I was looking at an inprint of where a fish used to be..... just as well I swam right over it. Shot it and shoved the spear though it making sure I had the fish well on the spear. Didn't realise how big it was till it came out of the sand. Long swim back up 13mtrs as I'd been down a while and the fish caused a lot of drag on the way up, but it was a great fish. We had it for dinner.... uuuummmmmm!!!
Laters Clive
I know I keep saying it but “thanks again” for the great experience of spearfishing.I knew I would enjoy it, which is why I bought all the kit before we met up,this enabled you to teach me the correct way to use the gear that I will now be using for the foreseeable future. As you can see from the pictures and the £10 note for scale, we ended up with some better than could be expected results including, Pollock (on the 1st ever time I fired my spear), Flounder, Scallops Place and of course the Bass. Dan’s (4th time ever spear fishing) Bass = 2.52lb and 7.86lb, Bryn’s Bass =3.55lb and 9.50lb. We look forward to visiting the south cost again and meeting up for somemore spear fishing. Dan Starbuck
An early Plaice. Ever so slightly spent but still just a tad over 4lb.
Same good Bass. Can you tell where it is yet Sports?? Ha bet you cant..
A tenner for some scale.
Was Nick collecting seeds and berrys? Naaa She was to busy cleaning the nice carpet after somebody barfed all over it at 0200 after lots of bbq'd fish and mixed booze... Cheers all round guys. B.
This is what Portland look like from a Sea king. As you can see the island is and ideal place to spearfish as you can always find shelter from the conditions.. Well nearly always! Click on the image to get the BBC weather report for Portland.
Viking Provider
My home for 6months a year!
We provide offshore medical/logistical support for 5 platforms, lots of work but she has a good crew and we mostly get on well.
More Plaice than you can shake a spear at. 61cm long 32 cm wide and 6lb and 81/4oz.. Oh yes! The 4 1/2lb bass is kind of dwarfed! I jumped in the water on the off chance that there might be something out around the (x), lots of WAFI's around ( Wind assisted Fu*king idiots ) so we were sticking close into the boats. Just behind this big old bit of anchor chain was this fruity little number..
Its short of the UK record but will feed me for 5 days!
What a Brill dive.. Get it? The story is short and simple, we all meets up around 1600 for a nice little dive to keep the kit wet, we swims out into 1.5m viz, my famous " It will be much better when we swim out a bit " did not come to fruition! So there we all are swimming along in very murky waters, dusk closing in, bout 500m off shore with thoughts of Makos and with me wondering how im going to get me, my catch and all my kit back to shore with only one leg.. Clive swims over something funny on a broken patch of shells and mud and in his words " That looks like a fish...Wack "
For a few moments he thought he had the British record for Top knot and was very happy to say the least! Then good sense prevailed and after working out its habitat and getting the fish ID booklet out it turned into a Brill! Still a nice fish.
As for this talk of scallops in Dorset I have to say its absolute arse, there are no scallops, absolutely not, never have been, they would be far to deep for mere mortals, they would be poisonous if they were there and they make your bits grow smaller and turn you blind... Look into the picture, not around the picture, into the picture... Say after me " There are no Scallops around Portland "
Guest picture from Podge ( Deeper blue )
Thought you might like this one its not in the water but it's close, 9foot long and 265lb of Bronze Whaler very much alive. All the sharks we caught went back alive to look for spearos to take revenge on..
Winter is Flatfish time! Waterproof seat cover are a must so you can drive to a hot shower to get changed.
After dumping her girly 50 she grabs my 75 ( With comp rubbers ) and proceeds to lay waste the the pollock. Also caught was the first big spider crab of this season. It was about 4lb and tasted great..
My good wife has now become bored of Lobster but scallop kebabs are still a firm fave..
This one is not from UK however! One of the best fish pics I have seen for a while.
Spearfishing and Freediving courses, help with kit and information is only an email away. Have a look around the site and feel free to contact us for any information regarding spearfishing or freediving. We can also help with setting up a freedive club or just pointing you towards fellow freedivers and spearos in your area.
Look what we encountered off Portland Bill yesterday!!! Is it the crystal clear water or the ocean blue that gives it away as a lie? Nice one Fuzz, he's the guy on the other end of the gun. Summer is here every body so get geared up and get your lardy arse's of the sofa and in to the water..
For thousands of years people have been harvesting the seas by hand, ancient tiles in Greece show men with handfuls of fish and octopus, caveman sites in Africa have large numbers of shells and fish bones, the generations of pearl divers...and now you have the chance to experience a timeless activity too. Apnea..you can't beat it. The art of relaxation on a single breath.
The most ecologically sound way to feed yourself and a few friends... Spearfishing!
Another cold but productive day in the Portland waters
A happy flyflicker I think! Nice one John. I will never get to 15m.... Well he did and made it look nice and easy.
Its starting to look like a rogues gallery! nice fish Glenn. It does look surprised..
NEVER DIVE ALONE NEVER DIVE ALONE NEVER DIVE ALONE NEVER DIVE ALONE ...
All freediving courses at the PSA are taught by an AIDA Certified instructor .
Our speciality is in the area of Apnea. . Our business is located in Portland Dorset.
Spearfishing and freediving are potentially dangerous and should never be practised alone or by people with no training. There is a lot more to it than just holding your breath. NEVER DIVE ALONE.
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