26 November 2008

The cloudy rainy weather appears to have settled in for the time being but the EAC is sitting in very close on most days. In spite of the sea being a little rougher than normal, it has been clean and extremely diveable. The results are starting to speak for themselves.

On Sunday past, went out with Kris, to the E side of Split. Ocean was pretty rough and the W wind was causing the waves to break backwards! Behind Split we had some respite and I started burleying some pilchards. The viz was poor but the sea was a comfortable 22. I was quickly surrounded by a ball of interested fish. Started diving to the bottom about 19m and continued the burleying. Apart from the ravenous bait ball, there were very few additional enquiries. I was starting to feel like a much maligned, door-to-door salesman, when an Amberjack showed up amongst the bait. It was quickly dispatched. Some damage to one of the pontoons on the rubber-duck cut our diving short.

The sea was really settled on Monday and I decided to take a swim, after work, off Korora Beach. Bumped into 2 mates in the water on their way back. The comments had something to do with a crazy South African going out at this time of night. Although no fish were found, the viz and temperature are improving quite dramatically.

During consulting on Wednesday, phone rings, John Featherstone, what was I doing in the afternoon. I took a moment before saying: DIVING. Good call. The conditions were fantastic. Headed out to the Big Island (North Solitary). Current was running S-N (Uphill according to the locals). Checked out the pinnacles N of NW Rocks, then the gutters N of NW Rocks. All the time Angelo Spada's words were ringing in my ears: 'GO UPCURRENT'.

John suggested looking at the S end of the Big Island. Bait everywhere when I got in. Wishbone snapped. Second gun and a Spanish swims up. Very skittish and just out of range of the back-up gun. I dived and a big Yellowtail comes right up to me. BANG, into the boat. John has loaded a small Spanish. Head off to where the wash is creating a foamy area above a 20m drop. Bait and pelagics all over the place. Yellowtail, Amberjacks, Mack Tuna and Bronze Whalers. I dive again to find a nice sized Rainbow Runner. Follow it for a while as it turns left then right trying to figure out my intentions. Mistake. It ends up on my stringer. I was pulling a flasher at this time and everything seemed interested in it. Dived again, another big Yellowtail, great headshot. Stopped in its tracks, no fight at all. Swim the spoils back to the boat 200m away. Murray loading another Yellowtail. I bumped into a massive wall of good Big-Eye Trevally but they were way too clever to offer a shot. Turned and lined up on a massive Cobia. About to pull the trigger when it dawned on me I was about to plug a Whaler. Pop my head out and both John and Murray are already on the boat getting their gear stowed. Time to head back. Another Spanish comes in but stays just out of range of the gun I am carrying. I try all the tricks I know. Dive down, lie still, feign disinterest, fin toward an interception point, nothing works. The fish is not going to relent and give me a shot. Oh well, my primary gun will soon be sporting a new wishbone and those stand-offish Spanish will get the surprize of their lives at the increased range. John was very excited, he had seen a monster Amberjack, which had stayed out of range, but he had been surrounded by hundreds of Spanish Mackerel. He had noticed Snapper down deep but was afraid to start burleying with all the Whalers about. Murray was feeling a little worse-for-wear but he had lost a good Mackerel and a Blue-Bar Parrotfish. His ego had taken a pounding.

With so many good fish around, everything is on line for a bumper season.

20 November 2008

Just as I think I am getting to grips with understanding how the weather works, things change and more variables come into the picture. I watch Buoyweather religiously to look for potential breaks in the weather. However, the CSIRO also provide a map of the most recent current and surface sea temperatures. This is indicating a warm patch of water has moved in off Coffs and has been quite stable for the last week. My spearfishing mates have been getting Yellowtail with the odd Samsonfish thrown into the mix. There have been some Pearl Perch taken as well as a Venus Tuskfish which is a highly sought after species resembling a wrasse.

I have not been able to dive since the last swim in from the side, but yesterday we took a quick run out to Bullocky, a small patch of reef about 3km off Coffs Harbour. The current was ripping through and we did not have a suitable marker buoy (I am so looking forward to getting all my gear again). I managed one productive dive, jumping in on a huge school of bait. I noticed a Rainbow Runner and followed it to about 19m where it ended up with a spear through it and soon to be the main star of a Sushi dish.

South of Coffs about an hours drive is a headland called Southwest Rocks. A report came that some spearos got a small Spanish Mackerel there on the weekend which is good for us. That should mean the Spanish ought to be in our area within a week. Apparently a very early start to the season. Here's hoping it will not be a false start.

The Caterpillar Hot Current Gamefishing Tournament was held at Coffs over the previous weekend. The deepsea guys saw the start of the poor weather and some 220 fishers were limited to 1 day of fishing out of 4. 3 Blue Marlin were caught with one being a new NSW record fish, several Yellowfin Tuna and Dorado also made their way to the scales. The bad weather marking the start of the tournament has been with us for more than a week now. The result has been extensive flooding in Brisbane and Sydney. We have been spared the flooding but the continued rain has put a damper on things. I certainly hope the weekend competition will be granted some respite.

13 November 2008

I thought I was going to be on call this previous weekend and did not have much faith in getting into the Ocean. Saturday, Kris called and wondered if I would be interested in a quick swim off Sawtell, S of Coffs. Michael also informed me, he would be on call. We arrived at Sawtell Headland and did a rock-hop toward the S. The viz had looked good but was not particularly flash when I put my head underwater. We persevered and swam around the headland, toward the island on the N side. I found lots of good gutters, up against the steep sides, but no Jewfish. The wind came up and a strong rip was developing. We called it a day but not before Kris took a nice pan-sized Luderick. I bumped into schools of these fish but they were moving so quickly, I had little chance of taking one. On Tuesday I got a text message that the rock and surf guys, fishing where we jumped in, got into a school of big Snapper. A question of being in the right place at the right time.

Sunday was to be spent with my wife at the local food and wine festival. This was just behind Park Beach. The food was great (lots of local berries included in the desserts), followed by copious quantities of the local wine and beer. I took a quick look at Little Muttonbird Island off Park Beach and the viz was great. Called Kris and took a late afternoon swim. As the afternoon passed into early evening, so the place came alive. Kris is still building his confidence and spent most of the time near me. Just as he moved off to check out some likely reef, a huge Yellowtail came to investigate the Bream (very similar to a Stumpnose) hanging from my buoy. My gun was not loaded and I watched in disbelief as the fish circled me with complete disdain. It is great to see good fish like this off the shallow points. Apparently the population was decimated in previous years by indiscriminate trapping by commercials. Since the ban on trapping has been imposed, the Yellowtail Kings are on their way to recovery.

Reports from my spearing contacts show that the conditions are improving and more trips are coming to fruition. Early in the month, John and Michael got some Pearl Perch N of Arrawarra. These fish were hanging around massive bait shoals. The other interesting point was that several good Mangrove Jacks were also seen amongst the bait but proved to be flighty. John headed out to test the new motor on his 'Spearfishing DownUnder Magazine' boat. They stopped at Middle Ground and took some Samsonfish and Yellowtail. The conditions were pretty good according to the reports I got.

Every Friday the local newspaper publishes the results of the week's recreational fishing. Several Jewfish and Snapper are being landed from the beach. The deepsea guys are taking a fair number too but are also picking up Samsons, 'Tail and Pearlies. One of the premier deepsea fishing tournaments took place in Coffs this weekend and it will be interesting to see the results. As I write this, Kris, Michael and John are out on the Ocean hopefully getting some good spearing in. I will have to console myself in the meantime, with training in the local municipal pool and playing U/W hockey.