27 August 2010

We are getting reasonable conditions far more frequently. Managed to get the afternoon off and looked for some dive buddies but everyone was working or retired injured. Decided to take a gentle jaunt off Look-at-me-now. Easy swim from the beach along the headland. Massive school of whiting in the shallows then bumped 1 which would easily have gone 1kg, could not believe how big it was. I was looking for snapper and continued out to sea along the edge of the reef. Lots of stingrays, all about the size of a side-plate, very cute. Also one large shovel-nose and a smaller one a little deeper. Started examining the rock gutters and since the swell was negligible, I was able to get up against the rocks and find all the holes. Perfect deep bowls with large stony bottoms and no jewfish anywhere. On the southern corner, found some good bream and followed them around for a short while before a 5kg snapper came along. I tried my best to keep my distance and remain disinterested but these fish are not stupid. It stayed in the area for over an hour but never came close enough to allow a shot. Was tempted to pick up some crays but with 3 at home already, would just have been greedy. Besides they stay freshest in the sea and they seem to always be available. There is a large amount of good jewfish country and I am looking forward to checking it out again. Maybe next time I will check at the Emerald Headland if I get these great conditions again.

25 August 2010

Winter has seen a dramatic improvement in conditions. Viz may be poor but there are some good fish about and then there are crays. We have been very fortunate to uncover some excellent cray ground but it just has not been productive until now. Slippers and painted crays have no size limits but greens do and where we normally struggle to find size crays, this year it is finding crayfish that are small enough to take. Not that we are having a hard time finding crays, recently we uncovered several nests and managed to get some legal crays but it did take some work to find the smaller ones.

Fish are a little more difficult. Winter is not a good time traditionally but jewfish are about in good numbers, kingfish are too. If the viz improved, the deeper pinnacles would produce some Samsonfish which are always welcome. One does bump into things along the way too. Some gold-spot wrasse, blue-bar parrots and more snapper than usual. Pearl perch are quite thick if you know where to go. This is often a question of current with certain areas producing in northerlies and others in southerlies. I am looking forward to a good Spring because there is a stack of bait all over the reefs. It is a good mix of bait too. The whales are in close and I think this does indicate a change in currents. The rough water probably washed away much of the silt that spilled down from the Clarence and accounted for the early crappy conditions.

25 July 2010

Headed out with Justin, Kurt and Aussie on 'Flying Fish' to look for tuna and marlin yesterday. Unfortunately, the conditions that had brought the striped marlin on during the previous week had changed a little and the warm EAC had moved further offshore. 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained.' We left Coffs Harbour before sun-up and headed out to the shelf on autopilot. At the shelf, new co-ordinates were set for fish traps at 'hole in the wall' and we put out our teaser spread to try for an elusive billfish. We had 4 hookless kona-heads chugging behind the boat from the 3rd wave back to the 5th. The ocean was a cool 22 degrees and we set about kitting up. Each diver would get a 1/2 hour on and during that time any fish raised would be his responsibility. Kurt took first watch, then it was my turn, Aussie next and finally Justin. It was on Justin's watch that he and Aussie spotted something behind the back teaser. They weren't too sure but their excitement was contagious. Kurt and I looked back to see the bill and dorsal fin of a smallish billfish behind the port teaser. I could see the fish's colours all lit up under the lure. Justin was about to go over when the fish just disappeared. What an anti-climax. Hindsight is perfect sight and some-one should have gone over at the point the fish was seen. Probably a good idea to have the skipper clued up too because you don't want a marlin boat running over you with its props turning either.

We found the traps and took to burleying which brought interest from some good dolphinfish. We gave them a while to settle around the boat and soon Aussie and Justin had fish on board. The school then seemed to become quite elusive. At the second fish trap, we did not wait for the burley to have any effect and the dolphinfish were wary from the start, not offering much of a chance at a shot at all. This was a great trip but long and probably not something I would engage in regularly unless the chance of success was greater.

17 July 2010

Michael, Justin and I went in search of crayfish and snapper. There was a stiff southerly creating an unpleasant swell with a significant chop. We headed north of North Rock and jumped in on the sheltered side. Current was flowing north. We looked around for crayfish as well as heading into the gutters in search of jewfish but we could find none. There are some really good gutters and caves in this area. In retrospect we were on the wrong side with the current coming from the south. We set about getting a good burley trail going but nothing came in on it. Better to have headed into the teeth of the wind and sounded around for bait and then got the trail going. I get approximately 3 pieces of burley from one pilchard and count to 10 before dropping a piece of burley. That way I get a steady burley going and 2 packets of pilchards gets about an hour of burley (120 pilchards).

Reports indicate a large number of striped marlin offshore attacking schools of pilchards in the warmer water. We are trying to put together an offshore trip this weekend to chase marlin and tuna. I sincerely hope we are able to get this sorted out.

12 July 2010

There has been little if any spearfishing to be had off Coffs Harbour recently. Die-hards are looking for jewfish(kob) against the headlands or chasing snapper on the shallow kelp covered bommies. The water is cold and uninviting. A more pressing problem is the Solitary Islands Marine Park review which needs your submission. Please go to www.savesol.com and complete the submission. This should not take longer than 10 minutes. The submission is detailed with the inclusion of maps and motivation. All you need to do is add 3 comments and send it.

19 May 2010

Recovered from a bout of flu and ready to dive again. The only thing that gets me down after recovering from a respiratory infection is how out of condition you get. Got news that there are some jewfish around the headlands and there is still a shot at some couta from the side. Kris contacted me and said mack tuna were thick off the North Wall. Grabbed gear and headed to harbour. there was a lot of activity and I kitted quickly and jumped in. Swam around a heap and found some good ground that should produce in the future. Potentially great area for jewfish just north of reef. Massive amount of whitebait being smashed by mack tuna and we picked up some for sushi. Apparently there have been some long tail tuna in the area too. Planning a great dive tomorrow.

Part of problem with getting these fast moving fish is being in the right place at the right time. We found that lying still and allowing the whitebait to collect around us allowed the tuna to come in. Feeding tuna move really quickly and it is near impossible to track them through the water. It is easier to line up when a school approaches and point the gun at where you expect the fish to be. Pull the trigger when a fish moves into position. Similar technique to aiming at a piece of burley when hunting yellowfin. There were some bonito and kingfish around too.

8 April 2010

I have been very busy helping to put together the Classic and take a trip up to far Northern Queensland to go spearfishing with my brother, who was visiting from South Africa. I have been putting in some time diving but with the Classic now over, I can settle down to just enjoying my spearfishing again. The trip to the Barrier Reef was described in an article I did for www://spearfishingsa.co.za/news/barrier-reef-by-mark-kallman.htm. I will be preparing stories on the Classic for Spearfishing Downunder Magazine and International Freediving and Spearfishing News.