The last few days have seen little diving on my part. I have been busy helping my family move into our new home and arrange everything to their liking. Always good to be accumulating brownie points for later use when the weather improves.
Wednesday was my day off and I went diving with John and Michael Featherstone and Kris Banks. There has not been a substantial S blow yet and we still have a thermocline at around 15m (cold, dirty and really spooky).
Started at the FAD. Water was quite clear and warm. Massive school of Yellowtail mixed with Rainbow Runners and small Dorado. There was no indication of any bigger fish. We even tried pinning one of the smaller Dorado to encourage bigger fish to come and have a look. No luck. We then moved to the reef N of the Big Island (Hitler's). This was comfortable diving all above the thermocline. There was very little current which allowed a thorough look at the area. I stuffed up on a big Green Jobfish. Instead of lying still and patiently waiting for it to come closer, I tried to chase it. Total waste of time, fish disappeared pretty smartly. Due reward was collected shortly afterwards. A school of small Yellowtail swam up to me, I tucked over to look behind me and saw a Spanish following the 'Tail. Turned and tracked it. The fish initially raced off then seemed to stop and glide to the left, right into my target area. That is my first Spanish this season, not big but my dance card has been opened.
We moved around to the S side of the Big Island. The viz opened up beautifully. Viz down to 20m+. Lots of bait around and several schools of small 'Tail and Amberjack. I was looking for Wahoo or Cobia. Found several massive Black Rays at around 20m and diligently looked under them for Cobia. Encountered an Eagle Ray with an Amberjack but the ray spooked and took the Amberjack with it. Shoaling Hammerheads came through in a school of about 30 sharks. True to form, they were very skittish. When I thought I was not going to see a Cobia, dropped down to check out a ray and found 2 Cobia. What a blast taking a Cobia in such a classic situation. By this stage we had rustled up 2 Spanish, a Blue-Bar Parrotfish and the small Dorado.
We did our best to find some Mangrove Jacks but the conditions were deteriorating. We elected to move to The Wash. Again the thermocline was found at about 15m. I could find no fish in the dirty cold water but around the pinnacles there were plenty. Took a reasonable Yellowtail and as I tried to put my hand into its gills it broke free. Then I found a school of large Big-Eye Trevally. The school seemed very flighty almost harassed. Every dive at them, had them scuttling off into the deep, only to return several minutes later. With their next pass I exhaled and slowly sank down to them. This gave me a closer look and I managed to pin one. It fought very strongly and scraped along the reef, dislodging the spear.
We decided to call it a day and head back to Arrawarra. The Cobia is in the fridge being prepared as Gravlax and the 'Couta in a brining solution for smoking today.
The weather this weekend does not look good for diving but a quick jaunt out to look for Dorado may be a good bet. If that fails, I will take my bow out and go looking for some deer on the surrounding hills. I am really in need of some good old fashioned BILTONG!
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
9 December 2008
Buoyweather has been a little on the conservative side recently. Indications have been of really poor weather but we have been enjoying some very settled, clear and warm sea. On Saturday, some dive mates convinced me to go out to the local wave-recording buoy. Apparently, news of some Dorado was doing the rounds. The sky looked pretty ominous and the swell was quite impressive but we made the most of it. I have found the wave-recorder to be quite mediocre to date. I drifted toward it in the strong current, fully expecting the usual Yellowtail creche to come out to great me. What a pleasant surprise to see a school of Dorado swim past. My shot was poor but Justin nabbed one, not big but a great start. A few more drifts saw Kurt and I heading toward the recorder. I saw the school and started to stalk them but Justin began shouting at me from the boat. I looked across to see Kurt into a nice bull. It fought like a demon. Fortunately, I was in time to make a securing shot. It weighed a convincing 13kg.
Kris took some friends to dive at Split Solitary on Monday. The conditions were great and I did not need much convincing to head out with him on Tuesday. The NE had churned the sea up a little. Viz was poor, around 8m, but the sea was quite warm. I made several dives on a school of small Yellowtail but nothing worthwhile was in the offing. I made a dive to the bottom to lie and wait for something to come knocking. Something did. On the edge of viz a large shape loomed, distinct white belly, dark back. The shark stayed on the periphery, in the gloom. I decided it was probably a Raggie but the consensus is that it may have been a little White. A short while later, a Raggie came up to have a good look at me in midwater. With the poor viz, the shark activity and the lack of suitable quarry, we decided to call it a day.
Big family excitement. We have been flitting from one holiday accommodation to another and finally we now could move into our new home. To celebrate, John Featherstone suggested we go diving.
Friday had us heading out to the Coffs FAD. I jumped in and surprised a Marlin. I don't know who was more startled. The Marlin obviously had chased any other quarry away from the FAD. We headed to Grouper but the water was mucky. The N-S current convinced us to head to the N end of Grouper. We took a few Yellowtail but then the Raggies showed up again. They were very feisty. Discretion being the better part of valour, we elected to try Black Rock. What an exciting place to dive. The rock sticks up out of 20m of water. We encountered lots of bait in the vicinity but the current pushed us off the hotspot very quickly. I did manage to shoot a large Yellowtail that took me way upcurrent. This made for a few anxious moments with 2 divers being separated by a few hundred metres.
We moved onto The Small Wash near Black Rock. This is another inspiring spot that just seems to scream fish. We were hoping for a large Amberjack or Samsonfish but were prepared to settle for a Cobia or Jew. Unfortunately, our quarry were not co-operating. We dived hard and at one point, I thought, as I finned along the surface, that I had just seen a Cobia. I quickly ducked down to be confronted by the largest Yellowtail I have seen up to now. I made a good holding shot. The shot was confirmed by Kris and John, both happy that the fish was secure. Moments later I was dragged down about 15m by the seemingly very alive fish. Then nothing..... gone! Perhaps the Raggies were enjoying what they perceived as their just desserts.
The weekend was spent unpacking and sorting through our boxes from South Africa. The club held a competition on Sunday which seems to have been very productive. Yellowtail Kings featured extensively but then there were Samsonfish and Cobia tossed into the mix. The luckier divers managed some Pearl Perch, Mangrove Jack and Red Bass (Bohar Snapper).
The weather is spectacular and I am keen to get out and try some new things I have read on www.saspearoranking.co.za. I am intending to restring my 1.4m gun with dyneema directly from the reel to the spear, leaving the clips and bungee off. The other piece of gear I intend acquiring is a belt-reel. This will allow an additional length of line available, to clip to the gun, if something big strips the line off the reel on the gun. These belt-reel are available from Rabitech.
Kris took some friends to dive at Split Solitary on Monday. The conditions were great and I did not need much convincing to head out with him on Tuesday. The NE had churned the sea up a little. Viz was poor, around 8m, but the sea was quite warm. I made several dives on a school of small Yellowtail but nothing worthwhile was in the offing. I made a dive to the bottom to lie and wait for something to come knocking. Something did. On the edge of viz a large shape loomed, distinct white belly, dark back. The shark stayed on the periphery, in the gloom. I decided it was probably a Raggie but the consensus is that it may have been a little White. A short while later, a Raggie came up to have a good look at me in midwater. With the poor viz, the shark activity and the lack of suitable quarry, we decided to call it a day.
Big family excitement. We have been flitting from one holiday accommodation to another and finally we now could move into our new home. To celebrate, John Featherstone suggested we go diving.
Friday had us heading out to the Coffs FAD. I jumped in and surprised a Marlin. I don't know who was more startled. The Marlin obviously had chased any other quarry away from the FAD. We headed to Grouper but the water was mucky. The N-S current convinced us to head to the N end of Grouper. We took a few Yellowtail but then the Raggies showed up again. They were very feisty. Discretion being the better part of valour, we elected to try Black Rock. What an exciting place to dive. The rock sticks up out of 20m of water. We encountered lots of bait in the vicinity but the current pushed us off the hotspot very quickly. I did manage to shoot a large Yellowtail that took me way upcurrent. This made for a few anxious moments with 2 divers being separated by a few hundred metres.
We moved onto The Small Wash near Black Rock. This is another inspiring spot that just seems to scream fish. We were hoping for a large Amberjack or Samsonfish but were prepared to settle for a Cobia or Jew. Unfortunately, our quarry were not co-operating. We dived hard and at one point, I thought, as I finned along the surface, that I had just seen a Cobia. I quickly ducked down to be confronted by the largest Yellowtail I have seen up to now. I made a good holding shot. The shot was confirmed by Kris and John, both happy that the fish was secure. Moments later I was dragged down about 15m by the seemingly very alive fish. Then nothing..... gone! Perhaps the Raggies were enjoying what they perceived as their just desserts.
The weekend was spent unpacking and sorting through our boxes from South Africa. The club held a competition on Sunday which seems to have been very productive. Yellowtail Kings featured extensively but then there were Samsonfish and Cobia tossed into the mix. The luckier divers managed some Pearl Perch, Mangrove Jack and Red Bass (Bohar Snapper).
The weather is spectacular and I am keen to get out and try some new things I have read on www.saspearoranking.co.za. I am intending to restring my 1.4m gun with dyneema directly from the reel to the spear, leaving the clips and bungee off. The other piece of gear I intend acquiring is a belt-reel. This will allow an additional length of line available, to clip to the gun, if something big strips the line off the reel on the gun. These belt-reel are available from Rabitech.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)