[miles]

Shore Diving propects:

With the increase in Great WHite shark activities, my shore-diving days have been seriously curtailed. The premier shore diving spot for yellowtail is UNDOUBTEDLY a place called ROOIKRANTZ in the CAPE POINT NATURE RESERVE. Here you park your car and climb down the mountain. Jumping in off the ledges, you have the option of either swimming towards Cape Point or drifting down to Buffelsbay towards the left. Here you simply drift by waiting for the schools of yellowtail to pass by. I shot my very first yellowtail here and also saw my first BIG 3m shark on the same day!! If you're 3-4 divers, take a flasher with, as they work quite well when attracting yellowtail.

The BIGGEST secret in spearing yellowtail is to FIND them!! Very few spearo's will tell you where the fish are, as they don't want their spot to be crowded!! Soooo, do what i did: the fisherman at Rooikranz are a select few who specialise in spinning for 'tail from the rocks. Befriend them. In season, take out a couple of crayfish for the guys. Shoot some galgoen for them. Dive out some spinners. You'll pretty soon become friends with them and you'll soon be getting phone-calls from your new friends when the fish are running!!

When-ever you dive there, always be very wary of where the fisherman fish. Don't spear right in front of the rocks. We have the whole sea to our disposal, so try not to interfere with their angling.

Rooikranz not only offers yellowtail, but also snoek, skipjack/bonitto's, small longfin/albacore tuna, as well as the occational yellowfin tuna!! I know of a 80kg YF tuna that was caught in Buffelsbay a short while ago!!

Buffelsbay is another good spot. Here you enter the water on the boat launching ramp and swim out behind the kelp beds, swimming to Rooikrantz on your right.

Slighly further up is BLACK ROCKS. Also INSIDE the CAPE POINT NATURE RESERVE. Also big rocks with deep water in front of you. Very easy access and easy exits. Once again, jump in and drift to the left, waiting for schools of yellowtail to pass.

On the OTHER side on the POINT, you can try and access SOUTH WEST REEFS. The sea is normally rough, so pick your days carefully. In betweem the kelp, you sometimes also find big class geelbek (a WSB type fish). Remember, you're only allowed 2 geelbek per person per day!!

There are some other spots in False Bay that do produce yellowtail from shore dives, but they're not as succesfull as the above places. Area's like just off the pool at Glencairn station, ROOI-ELS on the Gordons Bay side, specifically Blou-Steen and Koelbaai/Kogelbaai.