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.