7 December 2009

I have struggled with my spearfishing this year purely as a result of the horrid conditions. However, there has been a sudden spark which has rekindled my enthusiasm. I have been on leave for a week, hoping to get some good water and do some diving. The conditions remained poor but a gap in the weather did shine through on the 3 December. Michael, Justin and I headed out to see if we could find anything. We launched at 17:45 considering NSW has daylight saving, that is an hour earlier than it looks and headed off to see what we could find. The sea was not as clean as it had appeared, it was also quite cold. There was a current coming from the NE. We travelled to several different spots looking for a sign of any fish activity. After dropping in on 3 different areas and not finding anything, we decided to head back.

Justin wanted a quick look in the cave at NW Island and I was not too excited. There seemed to be nothing going on. Michael and Justin quickly swam over to the cave and Michael showed Justin a couple of Jewfish lying in a gutter. Justin was looking elsewhere and the sound of his Riffe discharging alerted Michael to his attempt. He turned and saw a Samsonfish struggling on the spear. I arrived to see Justin subduing his Samson and heard Michael saying that he had seen Jew. I swam to the gutter leading into the cave and saw a massive amount of Bulls-eyes hanging inside of the gutter and obviously disturbed. 2 large jew then swam out of the gutter. Michael was saying there were more fish in the cave and I ducked into the gutter, swimming into the lower opening of the cave.

The opening from the gutter resembles a crack leading into the main structure then up towards some sand and a smaller opening. I lay inside the cave behind a fairly large rock and looked intently at the light on the other side. I saw the silhouette of the jew as it moved from the right to the left. It was obviously looking into the dark and was not aware of my presence. I lined up my speargun where I imagined the fish would appear. Its eye appeared and I fired instinctively. It rolled onto its side incapacitated.

The light on the other side beckoned and I swam out into the twilight of the early evening, stopping to pull the fish free. I knew it was big but the dark of the cave can be deceptive. Michael's eyes and excitement told me what I already expected. This was a big fish. Puffing and struggling to drag the fish to the boat then haul it aboard and pose for photos. I was bushed. Its tail stuck out of the esky. The relief of having been able to land it successfully was overwhelming. We weighed it at one of the club's scales and it weighed 31.7kg. Probably a new 'Best-of-the-Best' and a significant milestone in my diving, one that will forever remain in a memory.