30 September 2008

Started last week watching a patch of good weather, predicted approx 3 days ahead, on Buoyweather. Each day the good weather seemed to move ahead another day. NE blowing and mucking up the sea but by Friday the reasonable weather seemed to be stable. Saturday 27 September seemed to be a good day. Then on Friday the NE slacked off with a light S following and the ocean settled down nicely. We decided to head out early on Saturday before the morning consulting.

One of the problems with leaving early in the morning is that you don't see what is going on with the sea. You tend to work on what you saw yesterday and what the grapevine is broadcasting. On Friday the scuba guys had 20+ viz around the lighthouse at South Solitary. Our expectations were high because of the reports of Dorado at the wave buoy outside the harbour.

First stop saw us at the wave recording buoy. Kris elected to be the boat bitch because he overslept! I slipped over the side after seeing schools of small fish under the boat. The viz was not great, 8m at best. Depth under the buoy was in the vicinity of 60m. I drifted toward the buoy and dived. In a short space of time I noticed a large school of small fish heading my way. Initially thought they were Rainbow Runners but it turned out to be a Yellowtail Creche. Hundreds of these baby Kingfish milled around me. Minimum size is 65cm, so I just hung in the water hoping that I would see a reasonable one to grace the sushi menu for Saturday evening. Nothing. The water was really cold and the decision was made to move to the FAD.

For the Spearos in SA, the law in Australia is that your fishing permit money can only be used to benefit recreational fishers. So funds are provided for the placement of legal FADs for the use of recreational fishers only. Amazing what you can do when you don't have corrupt officials pilfering the funds.

Got to the area where the buoy is normally placed and it has not been returned since it was removed for maintenance! The water had that ugly black appearance too. Saw a commercial in the vicinity servicing his fish traps. These traps are set for extended periods of time and are marked with large surface buoys. Good spot for attracting open ocean pelagics. On inspection, we found that the traps had been freshly set, too soon to have pulled any fish.

By this time it was getting late and by that I mean normal people were waking up. We turned to port and opened the throttle. Within 3/4 of an hour the boat was pulled from the water and I was heading home for a quick shower before starting work. Another opportunity gone awry.

Sunday I was still smarting from Saturday's disappointment and elected to give the spearing a miss. This week I am watching proceedings for Wednesday and the weekend closely with the hope of getting into more settled conditions. In the meantime, still training 3x/week in the pool for U/W hockey. I firmly believe that by the time we get the really good conditions that I have seen here previously I will be super trained for the diving. I have heard that daylight saving is starting early this year. I think that after the first weekend in October our clocks are set forward by an hour. That means when I get back from work in the evening, there will still be enough light to go for a dive. How cool is that.

22 September 2008

For those who do not have any idea of where Coffs Harbour is, it is approx 30 S on the E coast of Australia. For the guys in Natal that is approx the same line of latitude as Aliwal Shoal. Current off the coast is usually in a N-S direction (East Australia Current). I am still learning the effect of the various winds but at this stage a NE is bad news.

Saturday saw a relatively strong NE with white-horses and the sea was churned up terribly. Wind dropped off by the evening and I even managed to catch a Whiting off the beach on plastic. Fish was released because I already had some fresh salmon for sushi.

Woke late on Sunday and after a walk on the beach decided to go for a swim. The competition was called off and boats stayed at home. What a pity. The sea was flat and while the viz was poor close in, it looked better out deep. I heard of one boat finding Dorado and Kingfish off the wave bouy E of Coffs Harbour. My swim produced nothing. Saw several large fish which all turned out to be Blue Groper, a protected species. I am seriously considering acquiring a surf-ski to extend my range from the beach, which might give me sufficient range to get into the really clean water.

Drove from Korora to Woolgoolga and the Ocean looked superb this morning. Absolutely flat with a clear cloudless sky. Plan of action should be to get going early morning and try to get some fish off the wave bouy before work. Will see if that pans out.

19 September 2008: Friday

Managed to get out on Wednesday. Long swim looking for clean water. Water looked clear from the headland at Korora and was very definitely clean much further out, but inshore it was milky. Swam approx 3km and although the viz was 2m at best, found lots of interesting reef. Water temp cold, approx 17C. Saw a few fish but they tended to be very skittish but when you are out hunting you learn quickly. Found several nice deep gutters and lay dead still in the bottom of one. I fired immediately I could make out the shape of the fish. A reasonable Bluebar Parrotfish for the supper table. I spent some time looking for crays and abalone but my spot had the worst viz possible, could not see beyond my elbow. Kept wondering when the lead actor in 'Jaws' was going to show up.

The light E wind is shifting from N to S and back again but the sea continues to look cleaner. Could see reef patches every time I drove from Coffs to Korora. Fortunately not on-call this weekend. I am really grateful because of the level of tick paralysis cases I am seeing at present. Going to be a busy day for the local vets.

Joined the local spearfishing club: Coffs Harbour Bluewater Freedivers. They are almost a bunch of renegades. I say this tongue-in-cheek because they are extremely environmentally aware. The Club only keeps records of good eating fish and no records of fish that are shot, just because they happen to be there, are kept. Sunday is the Club competition day and if the weather holds the guys should get some Yellowtail Kingfish. I certainly have designs on getting out. A little bird whispered that there might be Yellowfin Tuna and Striped Marlin about and I am very keen to get out and see. Also out deep I will be able to practice some 30+m dives to keep the system fresh & trained. Playing u/w hockey once a week and training in the pool 3x/week. I was fascinated to feel how much my hockey had improved. My training companion was a demon at the hockey on Wednesday evening after just a few days of training. Hope to be hot to trot by the time the really good spearfishing conditions arrive.

17 September

Yesterday looked good, sea was really clear. Took a walk on the beach and the reefs and rocks were clearly visible. Workload quite significant with tick paralysis cases and surgery, so no chance for a mid-afternoon dip. Today is a different story though. I have the afternoon off so a dive is definitely on the cards. Was up on the headland south of Korora this morning, bright and early for a walk, and the sea looks spectacular.

I am trying to remember the tips I had on my website for improving my spearfishing. I hope to eventually get them all out of the sticky mess I like to call my mind.

1. Use a reelgun.
2. Learn to use marker buoys.
3. Practice shooting accurately.
4. Get a GPS unit and practice with it.
5. Become proficient in the use of Sonar.
6. Keep notes.
7. Be quiet and unobstrusive when diving.
8. Watch your body language.
9. Learn the importance of gliding.
10. Keep streamlined to be more efficient.
11. Learn to be interested in the bottom and don't concentrate on your breath-hold.
12. Dive straight down, avoid angles.
13. Don't crane your head up, keep your chin down and comfortable.
14. Arrange the fit and position of your gear for optimum efficiency.
15. Look for bait and fish schools.

15 September 2008

Agreed to go and train at the local public pool this am. The sea looked great as I came over from Korora to Coffs on the Pacific Hghwy. Flat and little wind. In retrospect might have been a better idea to head out for a shore-dive instead of training in the pool. Spent some time finning lengths with various breath-hold routines as well as doing negative statics at the bottom of the pool. Sea still looked great on the way back and I felt positive about getting in at lunch time.

The sting in the tail was that the recent rainy weather followed by the fantastic sunny clear days brought out every tick in the area. I was quite literally in my wetsuit ready to hit the water when the phone rang and I had to head out to an emergency: tick paralysis case. Bummer! I am wondering if I am ever going to get in for a dive.

Conditions seem very iffy for the next few days. Will have to wait and see what happens.

14 September 2008

I just cannot believe it. The sea looked fantastic on my way to work yesterday but by the time I headed down to the beach it was crap. Unfortunately the conditions do not look good for the next couple of days. Guess I am just going to have to be patient and tough it out. Perhaps go and train at the pool.

5 basic things to look at now that I am down here:

1. Check my gear thoroughly.
2. Take it for a test swim and make sure everything is comfortable.
3. Keep up with the training. Now I am at sea-level, I don't have the benefit afforded by having lived at altitude.
4. Work on establishing my spearfishing network DownUnder.
5. Learn the new fish species.

13 September 2008

Did not get out to walk on the beach this morning but got a good look at the ocean on my way to work. The beginning of the week was shoddy with a S blowing and churning up the sea. Over the past 2 days there has been a light NE and conditions seem to have really improved. Unfortunately all my contacts seem to be out at sea and I can't say I blame them because today looks to be a great day to get wet.

Sea is flat, viz looks good, clear hot sunny day, things look ideal. I am certainly going to give it a whirl this afternoon now that I have all my normal spearo gear from South Africa. Kris just got onto me to tell me conditions are crap. NE blowing, white-caps, viz poor, that out of Coffs Harbour.

Making a New Start

My family and I flew out of South Africa on 11 Aug 2008 to make a fresh start in Australia. It was definitely not an easy decision to make. Having said that, I have left Johannesburg and now live in a small coastal town called Coffs Harbour in New South Wales only 200m from the Ocean. What an opportunity.

For anyone who was following my posts on www.squidoo.com/Underwater_Hunting, a glitch resulted in the site being erased. I am working on putting it all back together but including some new information.

My first boat dive was really poor. I did not even see any fish worth shooting at. The two guys diving with me did get some crays and perlemoen(abalone). In this neck of the woods perlemoen may still be taken. Remember when we could take perlemoen in good old South Africa?

The second boat dive was a little better. Still functioning like a South African diver i.e. shoot first ask questions later, I shot a good Silver Drummer, looks something like a Chub. The fish would have easily been a max weigher but around here the guys are spoiled for choice so only the choicest fish are targeted. The guys had a good laugh at my inexperience but the learning has started.

Since I am a very short distance from the beach, I take a walk every morning to check out the conditions. As soon as the sea cleared I did a quick swim to look for crays and was rewarded with a cray and a perlie. Not bad. Bag limit here is very meagre. Only allowed to take 2 crays and 2 perlies.