Lost Lobster pot

[nugent]

Originally Posted by Tomas

Pardon my ignorance but what in blooming hell is a Conger? Might I assume that whatever it is, its a bit agressive? Just curious as I think I've either been chased or bitten by every other creature on the planet....

conger is the one withoutthe santa suit

[Bigmuz7]

Congers are nasty beggars to get out, and usually fill the pot dont put your fingers near it either, I kill mine in the pot, as my exit gates are a bit fidly.

[Tomas]

Well, they're big enough, that's for sure. They have a Mackrel or Wahoo shape (Wahoo is somewhere in the Mackrel family) and both have a very nice set of choppers.

The real question though, looking at their size, is ARE THEY GOOD TO EAT?

Biting something back that tries to bite you is generally the way to go..

[walruz]

Not those things.

They have teeth like a bulldog ie all face backwards and lock on and twist - probably a hospital job to get them off and certainly to treat the bite wounds.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Tomas

The real question though, looking at their size, is ARE THEY GOOD TO EAT?

Yes, think of Salmon steaks

Originally Posted by Tomas

Biting something back that tries to bite you is generally the way to go..

Agreed found they are normally shy of divers and bright torches in particular. However its always good for a giggle to pull there tails when you find them on a wreck, just to let them know who is boss

Pete

[LURCHER]

Not that good to eat either especially after you have wrestled with them to get them out of the pot .I open the gate and hope it slides out into the sea ,usually it flops into the boat and then you have the fun of all on board trying to balance on the pod seats as it races round the bottom !I hate them .

[LURCHER]

Pete you are truly a hard man !

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by LURCHER

Pete you are truly a hard man !

Nah, they hide in wrecks so have limited movement under the steel plates etc so you have chance to move quickly if you have to.

Next time you are out you might want to try your pots over by Princesses bank (sp) IOW there is a wreck 20 yards East of one cardinal mark and she has good lobsters and congers on her

There is also a wreck on the edge of the deep water channel south of hayling, think its called the cement wreck but can't be sure. Went down in 1967 and until recently had 4 cardinal marks protecting it as lives were lost when she sank, however it would be a good spot, certainly a good fishing mark that easily shows up on an echo sounder.

Pete

[LURCHER]

Where is the Princessess bank?

[blinddog]

I have found congers not to be aggressive unless you annoy them, but when they get wound up keep well away (prodding them with a long hook i found usually does it), when diving they just stare at you, they move very very quick.
If they bit fingers well its bye bye fingers.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by LURCHER

Where is the Princessess bank?

Its the West Princessa Cardinal Bouy at N50 40 050, W001 03 16. The wreck is the France Amiee to the East ofthe cardinal mark. Depth should be 12 - 15m and its a gavel bottom with the wreck sticking up 1m max. Has lobsters and big congers, (until I posted this)

The other wreck South of Hayling is N50 43 020, W000 59 050. Numbers came off the chart rather than GPS which is on the boat but they are close enough.

If your hauling up congers let us know we need something to go with the road kill at the next Solent Ribsters BBQ

Pete

[Bigmuz7]

Originally Posted by Pete7

If your hauling up congers let us know we need something to go with the road kill at the next Solent Ribsters BBQ

Pete

Wud ya like some dogfish , and large starfish along wid that sir ?!

[LURCHER]

Cheers Pete will report back in 2 weeks !

[LURCHER]

As promised report on lobster catching .
Well we never found the missing pot so that's a gonna. I will give coord to anyone who fancies trying to pick it up by diving .
We caught 3 lobsters ! Only trouble was it was the same little one each time so on the last haul I took him or her for a RIB ride about 200 yards and we did not see it again .
A few spider crabs but too small and loads of whelks which we ate some of and used as a very effective bait for smoothounds .Lots of fish around and mackerel shoaling all over Chichester harbour . We caught a load off the pontoon at Hayling Sailing club.

[Bigmuz7]

Originally Posted by LURCHER

As promised report on lobster catching .
Well we never found the missing pot so that's a gonna. I will give coord to anyone who fancies trying to pick it up by diving .
We caught 3 lobsters ! Only trouble was it was the same little one each time so on the last haul I took him or her for a RIB ride about 200 yards and we did not see it again .
A few spider crabs but too small and loads of whelks which we ate some of and used as a very effective bait for smoothounds .Lots of fish around and mackerel shoaling all over Chichester harbour . We caught a load off the pontoon at Hayling Sailing club.

Well he's only a little un for sure,... and no wonder without any claws. Very unusual for them to loose two fighting, I wonder what your local fishermen are like ? hmm.. luckily they can still feed ok using their forward pincers on the first set of legs, and even more amazingly, they can regrow their claws too but it takes years

[LURCHER]

Yes he had little jelly like claws growing