fish hunt.........

crackcrack30

Anyone ever tried (snorkle) spear fishing in Ireland? ............................ was on the beach yesterday with the family and my mind wandered back to a great week in lanzo 2004 when a local teenager made it look easy.

Tackleberrywho

crackcrack30 wrote: »

Anyone ever tried (snorkle) spear fishing in Ireland? ............................ was on the beach yesterday with the family and my mind wandered back to a great week in lanzo 2004 when a local teenager made it look easy.

Is it Legal here?
Not saying it's not, I just have something at the back of my mind nagging me about spear or 4 Grain fork wishing for Salmon at night

I'd imagine it would be very difficult

FOXHUNTER1

A few of us used to do it years ago in carne for flatfish just off the beach.
We had spear guns at the time that some lads had brought back from holidays in spain.
It was handy enough fishing to be honest as the flounders just sat on the bottom as you swam over.
Some lads also went out further near the saltees in boats and fished around the rocks for eels.
Good crack though.

tfox

As far as I know its only illegal inland, seawater is ok.

I stuck some trigger fish last summer on Bere Island off west Cork. The cousin had made a spear out of a stick and some nails, Bear Grylls eat ue heart out

Absolutely delicious fish, local fisherman said they are a delicacy

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/841/s1050834.jpg/

arrowloopboy

Not sure if its legal here,never checked,so i know a guy:D,that spear fishes every summer,even bought a custom suite from Italy in under water camo,very sexy.
Its another very exciting mothod of hunting and is by far best practiced in the dark .
If your after a decent gun,beuchat of france make top drawer guns.
Its tricky enough here because decent visability is neccessary,especially on the east,south/east coast because of the mainly sandy bottom.
Flounder would be the main target species with occasional mullet and coalies.

Regards.....

bazza888

this is just a guess but considering they were saying that a can of mace is considered a firearm in the dail afew weeks ago,would the spear gun not need to be licenced?

crackcrack30

Found a bit on the scuba forum (2007), correct -stay away from fresh water, 2 bag limit, salomon & trout offlimits , 60euro gets a semi decent (band) spear in most scuba shops. going to bring snorkle and flippers next time to see whats down there...........cant wait

ring 20

can you imagine the look on the bailifs face to see you wandering up from a lake in wet suit flippers snorkle and a ten pound salmon with a spear thru it:eek::eek::eek:

Tawny Owl

You are not allowed spear fish in Ireland I am a diver and leave it at that your last post just swim no spear fishing.

ring 20

now your told crackcrack30! must admit id say it would be great craic

crackcrack30

Tawny Owl wrote: »

You are not allowed spear fish in Ireland I am a diver and leave it at that your last post just swim no spear fishing.

ya u can't spear when u'r diving so don't you even think about it, but I can when i'm snorkeling , let that be the end of it your last post now thank you. ...cc30

aidanf

Tawny Owl wrote: »

You are not allowed spear fish in Ireland I am a diver and leave it at that your last post just swim no spear fishing.

This is not true (I'm a diver too). Spear fishing with snorkel gear in saltwater is not illegal in Ireland.

Regarding spearguns, a pneumatic speargun is classed as a firearm (so would need to be licenced), a band powered gun is not.

damagegt

I used to do this a fair bit.As said about you cant spear fish when diving but you can when your snorkeling.Its great fun and youll get all the inshore species pollock/bass.make sure to select the right gun or youll be blasting your fish to bits.Ull need a med sized gun with a single or double rubber depending on there gauge.Any thing bigger will be no good as most of your fishing with be in tight rocky spots.Its not often if ever ull get an open water shot

crackcrack30

tanx for info...........when u say guage what do u mean?(distance?) is there a budget make or model u would recommend? and finally what size and specicies of eatable fish are readily available? did u fish everywhere or just quite harbours and inlets? Im not a big fish eater but i would aim to eat what i catch...........tanx again

yank_in_eire

Jaysis would you all get your heads out of your arses!!

Spearfishing in saltwater (no spearing is allowed in freshwater) is perfectly legal as long as you follow a few simple rules:

Take no more than 2 bass per day and make damn sure each is at least 40cm.
Never spear salmon or sea trout (that is illegal).
Use a band-powered gun (unless you happen to have a Firearms certificate for your pneumatic).

Your main targets will be bass, pollock, mullet and flatties - plus whatever crabs, lobsters or scallops you can grab.

Those of us that do spearfish around Ireland also police our own ranks to make sure that we only take what we can eat in a meal or 2.

Spearing on scuba is a bit of a no-no. Not sure if it's illegal but it's not at all challenging so nobody does it. You definitely cannot collect shellfish while on scuba but can catch whatever you want while freediving.

And spearfishing at night is definitely less productive than daytime - unless you are after red mullet.

I know all this because I researched it before I brought my gear over from the States. Plus I had it confirmed straight from the Gardai when they were called when I was spearing Killiney beach - we all left happy. Me with permission to spearfish and them with a few fish for tea.:D

If you want to have a go with somebody who knows what they are doing pm me.

stevecrow74

yank_in_eire has it right... its not illegal, however you can only use band guns,
pneumatic and another sort of spear gun is classed as a firearm and i don't think the gardai give out license for those spearguns..
it is also illegal to speargun while scuba diving, only snorkel/mask and flippers can be used as an aid.

did a bit of looking into this a few years back when i saw someone leave the sea with a bass (of size) which had been speared!
would love to do it myself sometime!..

yank_in_eire

stevecrow74 wrote: »

yank_in_eire has it right... its not illegal, however you can only use band guns,
pneumatic and another sort of spear gun is classed as a firearm and i don't think the gardai give out license for those spearguns..
it is also illegal to speargun while scuba diving, only snorkel/mask and flippers can be used as an aid.

did a bit of looking into this a few years back when i saw someone leave the sea with a bass (of size) which had been speared!
would love to do it myself sometime!..

You're in prime country for it! Check out deeperblue.com -there is a section on there for Irish spearfishing and you might be able to hook up with some other Galway lads so they can show you the ropes.
The only recommendation I would make as far as gear buying goes - get long fins - it makes it much easier than using scuba fins. You can always share a gun back and forth but it's tough to swap fins in the water:p

ring 20

definately going to give this a go, cant catch a mullet to save my life might have a better chance with a spear!

crackcrack30

Do ya fish all year? will a <100 euro gun be enough for shore/kale fishing? do ya use a reel? and finally what is the usual feild of view distance wise in irish waters? will prob do a bit of snorkeling first on the west coast to see what opertunities arise down there.............tanx for tip on fins

yank_in_eire

Depends on where you're fishing. I use a 75 all the time and that is fine for the usually ****e visibility on the east coast here - but there have been days in Wexford and over the west that I could have used a longer gun. You don't need a reel -2 gun length wraps of mono should do it.
I don't fish in the depths of winter because most of the fish I'm after have moved out to deeper water -plus it's too damn cold!!:D
The vis varies - was out today and could see maybe 2 ft at the surface and only 4-5 feet on the bottom but have been out in Sligo and had 3-4m vis. It pays to keep an eye of the swell charts and watch the weather. You'll eventually build up a knowledge of what spots will work for particular conditions.
Good luck!

Marshallman

Hi, how are you doing.? My name is Allen and from south Africa. Looking to get back in spearfishing. Did it for all my life back in S.A. so looking to hook up with somebody that knows areas in Ireland. are you still active with it? I have all my gear. Just need to take the cob webs of them. My heart is broke just looking at them.