Species guide

The pollock is a more common member of the Cod family and is a beautiful fish, brownish copper above, with gold and silver sides. Easily recognized by their protruding lower jaw and moody appearance, pollock offer a strong fight and a definite challenge to spearfishermen when they reach larger sizes. Pollock can exceed 20lbs but … Read more

The Red Mullet is one of the less commonly caught fish. They tend to live near the seabed in small shoals and are easily disturbed. Hunting Red Mullet is a fairly opportunistic affair, there are only a few places where they can be routinely caught. Red Mullet are small fish, and do not grow to any great … Read more

I’ll make no apologies for what I am about to say. The British lobster is superior to its cousins abroad. We may not have Wahoo or Snappers but our local blue lobster hammers the Maine Lobster and the Cray into the scampi league. North Atlantic Lobsters living in the cold murky water around the UK … Read more

We have several species of flatfish in the UK and most behave in a similar way so we will deal with them in one section. The flatfish of interest to the UK spearfishermen are: Flounder Turbot Brill Plaice Sole Skates and Rays Flounder flatfish When to catch flounder: All year round. Where to catch flounder: … Read more

The conger is often seen as a bit of a bogeyman underwater, leaving divers fearful of holes under ledges or in wrecks where a conger may lurk. In reality, conger are not aggressive fish, so you have little to fear if you’re just searching for bass or lobsters in holes. They will back away from … Read more

The mullet is a great sporting fish and for most of us represents the first ‘silver’ fish we capture. Plentiful and predictable, mullet grow to a good size and offer a lot of fun spearfishing, being much more numerous (and somewhat less paranoid) than the more elusive bass. Grey mullet come in three main varieties. … Read more

The Gilthead. NOT guilthead! Named for the gold stripe on the forehead hence ‘gilt’. An infrequent visitor to our waters with an obsessive spearfishing following. Sometimes called the ‘Golden One’ this is perhaps out most prized target and many spearos strive to encounter one of these elusive fish. The current British Record for Gilthead is 3.34 … Read more

Cod are making a huge comeback. They are more and more common off Portland. Time was when one diver in the club would get one every few years. Nowadays we seem to end up with one on the boat on most trips. In 2011 a good number of double figure cod were landed and it … Read more

Although it does not grow to any great size, the black bream is generally regarded as a particularly tricky and prized fish to catch. The current British record is 2.24Kg. Black bream are not generally a concern to conservationists and they can be found in huge shoals throughout much of the year. They are vulnerable to … Read more

The Bass! Few fish attract such controversy or such an avid following amongst anglers and spearfishermen alike. Even the name provokes controversy with the term Seabass being used in culinary circles and the term European Sea Bass being used to differentiate the species from the various other types of bass (including freshwater bass) across the … Read more

Currently off the menu and a protected species.  The below was written a fair while back and still contains some useful information: Bluefin tuna have been infrequent visitors to our waters for many years in the same way as Gilthead Bream. Only one diver has managed to spear one but several have seen one. The current … Read more

The sailfish is amongst the fastest of all fish, possibly the fastest. Clocked at speeds of up to 70mph and inhabiting the deepest blue water, the sailfish poses a challenge for any diver. We must stress that the sailfish is dangerous to divers once speared and should not be hunted unless you are prepared for a potentially … Read more

The yellowfin tuna is one of the most formidable species to target. They are extremely fast, strong beyond belief, and wary of divers. A 60 pound yellowfin is easily capable of drowning a diver, should he or she become caught in the floatline. When to hunt for yellowfin tuna: All year round… somewhere! Where to … Read more

Definitely one of the top 5 big game, the wahoo is an inhabitant of warm, clear water. Crafty and intelligent gamefish with huge power and razor sharp teeth, wahoo are a challenging fish to catch. Wahoo grow to in excess of 120 pounds but most specimens are under 70. It is hard to think of a … Read more