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.
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