Spear Fishing

Jennii.

Hey Guys,
I was just wondering if anyone knows anything about spear fishing in Ireland? My fella wants to go with his brother for his birthday in Donegal and we're wondering where the best places would be?
Thaaaaanks.

jar18

tesco, letterkenny

laoch na mona

its not illegal as far as I know (neither is bow fishing) but I imagine it would be fairly difficult

Jennii.

jar18 wrote: »

tesco, letterkenny

Hilarious ha.

demanufactured

You'd probably be shot with a shotgun if you were seen spear fishing
It's not illegal as far as I know but locals probably wonth take kindly to it.

Bizzum

laoch na mona wrote: »

its not illegal as far as I know (neither is bow fishing) but I imagine it would be fairly difficult

The only legal method to catch freshwater fish is by rod and line. ( Control of fishing for coarse fish in fresh water bye law no. 595, 1977.)

demanufactured

Bizzum wrote: »

The only legal method to catch freshwater fish is by rod and line. ( Control of fishing for coarse fish in fresh water bye law no. 595, 1977.)

Yes those laws apply in freshwater ..not sure about saltwater

Bizzum

demanufactured wrote: »

Yes those laws apply in freshwater ..not sure about saltwater

It would be my understanding that in saltwater, some species are protected, eg. Salmon, Sea Trout, but other species are afforded less protection. Protection of Animal Act (1911), in my opinion, could be also come into play, in certain circumstances.

CJhaughey

Its fine as long as you don't spear Salmonids or Bass out of season.
Scuba or freediving it doesn't matter.

Silent Runner

I've yet to meet someone who goes spear fishing in Ireland, so I'll find this thread interesting.

I presume your thinking about snorkeling in marine waters? Donegals coast line is pretty exposed so your options might be limited with regards finding a safe site (though there's plenty of diving sites around). Another thing is that the only fish you'll see in reasonable numbers would be Wrasse and some Pollock, it's very unlikely you'll see anything else.

I've done a little scuba diving and snorkeling, but to be honest I've only seen very small fish and only wrasse and pollock about. I think your chances of coming across a shoal of mackerel or herring are pretty slim, so I'm not sure what the attraction would be in our waters

Auldloon

I used have a French mate who did it regularly off Clare. He got some awesome stuff especially crustacean's. He was very experienced though. Water clarity was the main issue you need calm seas otherwise you won't see much. Come to think of it I also know a lad who does it from a boat in Galway bay also very experienced so its done and its legal. That's about all I know though!

Bizzum

CJhaughey wrote: »

Its fine as long as you don't spear Salmonids or Bass out of season.
Scuba or freediving it doesn't matter.

Bass also have a bag limit (2) and a size limit (40cm) as well as a closed season of a month (15th may to 15th june)

CJhaughey

Silent Runner wrote: »

I've done a little scuba diving and snorkeling, but to be honest I've only seen very small fish and only wrasse and pollock about. I think your chances of coming across a shoal of mackerel or herring are pretty slim, so I'm not sure what the attraction would be in our waters

I have seen schools of Mackerel.
Also speared plenty of fish here, Almaco Jack probably the most unusual, but Bass, Cod, Pollack, Red Mullet, Grey Mullet, Triggerfish are all species that I have taken over the years.
You will see lots of fish freediving if you are stealthy.
Scuba rattles and bubbles scare fish so you don't see as much.

Ronnie Beck

CJhaughey wrote: »

I have seen schools of Mackerel.
Also speared plenty of fish here, Almaco Jack probably the most unusual, but Bass, Cod, Pollack, Red Mullet, Grey Mullet, Triggerfish are all species that I have taken over the years.
You will see lots of fish freediving if you are stealthy.
Scuba rattles and bubbles scare fish so you don't see as much.

It's illegal to spaerfish on scuba. You can on snorkel but all normal fishing regulations for season and bag limits apply.
Also.
No licence is required in order to spearfish
No licence is either required to own a spear gun provided it is a rubber banded one
Sea Bass: A minimum size of 40cm
It is illegal to spearfish sea trout or salmon
Scallops: Minimum Shell Size 11cm
Spider crab and Brown crab: minimum size for spider crab is 13cm
Minimum size for brown crab is 13cm
Lobster: minimum size is 87mm
V-notched females should not be taken as it is illegal.
It is illegal also to be spearfishing in freshwater(rivers, lakes)

Plenty of good spots in donegal.

Try here
http://spearfishing.ie/

croo

...plus there are plenty of videos on youtube try a search with spearfishing Ireland

I knew someone who did for years and he was always successful... well nearly always anyway!

As a kid I remember that Great Outdoors in Dublin sold spearguns but I was in there a a few years ago and they'd long stopped selling them I was told.

CJhaughey

Ronnie Beck wrote: »

It's illegal to spaerfish on scuba. You can on snorkel but all normal fishing regulations for season and bag limits apply.
Also.
No licence is required in order to spearfish
No licence is either required to own a spear gun provided it is a rubber banded one
Sea Bass: A minimum size of 40cm
It is illegal to spearfish sea trout or salmon
Scallops: Minimum Shell Size 11cm
Spider crab and Brown crab: minimum size for spider crab is 13cm
Minimum size for brown crab is 13cm
Lobster: minimum size is 87mm
V-notched females should not be taken as it is illegal.
It is illegal also to be spearfishing in freshwater(rivers, lakes)

Plenty of good spots in donegal.

Try here
http://spearfishing.ie/

No. it's not illegal to spear on scuba.

Jennii.

I've attracted a good bit of attention here hahaha. Thanks a million lads. Yous have answered a tonne of questions I never even thought to ask :O I was thinking Clare would be good, and I'm from Clare so that would be class, but he's from Donegal and his brother is coming from Australia to spend his birthday with him, so I think Care would be a travel they'd be unwilling to undertake. I was thinking Portnoo, they did mention the pier there? Or maybe Fintra? Nairn? I'm relatively new up here, so I wouldn't know anywhere. Somewhere rocky though? Portnoo springs to mind! ?

Ronnie Beck

CJhaughey wrote: »

No. it's not illegal to spear on scuba.

Sorry your right. It is illegal to take/shoot shellfish and lobster. I freedive for scallops and crabs a bit so got the scuba side of it mixed up with spearfishing.
Tried spearfishing once. Alot harder than it looks. I brushed of a few fins but never hit anything.

zarat80

Also Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/spearfishingireland

And Facebook group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/spearfishingireland/

YT:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY-THV0dIfg