Chronicles of a Blue Water Hunter

[Murat]

very nice indeed...

[Capespearo]

Great fish once again Miles.Soon you'll need to be going out just you and a dive buddy to make space for all the 100kg YF's !!

[rigdvr]

Daryl told him about the 10mm spear too The tuna accelerates so fgast that it will bend any spear before the slip tip has a chance to disengage. The only way to prevent it is to a)stone the fish or (b) shot the fish at an angle where hes swimming away

Nice fish again Miles!

[miles]

Hiya

I've FINALLY managed to get my camera fixed!!!

Lastest adventures!!
Friday, 4th Feb 2005, Dassen Island AGAIN!!! No diving kit, as i'm recovering from a slight flu and Tommy is recovering from an ear infection. So out comes the fishing tackle. At certain times of the year, Longfin Tuna (albacore) come very close to Dassen Island, and are quite easily caught. They're generally small class fish, ranging from 3-10kg's. We heard via the grape-vine that the fish were in the area, so off we went. We spent the morning catching 15 Longfin Tuna. Good fun, but no camera, so no evidence!!

On saturday, 5th Feb , the wife MADE me take her fishing. Once again, no diving kit. We faired very badly, managing only 2 smallish longfins. To save the day, we went to look for some yellowtail. Low and behold, the 'tail were swimming on the surface, smashing baitfish in 20m+VIZ. As usual, they weren't interested in fishing tackle, so we managed only 3. All through the 'tail performance, Tommy and myself were cussing at not bringing our spearguns!!! ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Oh well, you can't ALWAYS win!!

Monday, 7th Feb, back at Dassen. Fully kitted with 15 guns on board!!! RESULT: NO FISH!!!!!!!! Water was ice cold!!! And we took for-ever to navigate in the mist. (I really do need to get a plotter soon!!) Souveniers for the day is a spectacular photo of the lighthouse in the mist as well as the curious sunfish. Well, one of the MANY we saw!!!

Regards
miles

[miles]

Some pic's:

[Erik]

I just read "Encounters with sharks, dolphins..." by Len Johnson
Now I have a new holiday destination!
I am very envious of you SA spearos
Cheers,
Erik Y.

[Murat]

Very good shooting Miles, Did i said this before Mmmm..I am getting old

I also get wet saturday, but went safe shallow place coz of the absence of dive buddy and it was the first time to get in water for me after few month...Unfortunatelly couldn't killed anything to sedate my bloody fantasies But i killed many in dream a night before...

[Alison]

Originally Posted by miles

On saturday, 5th Feb , the wife MADE me take her fishing.
Regards
miles

Hoh! now thats a term of enderment asking for serious trouble
So finally I can give a public congratulation to you Best of luck the both of you

[Pablo]

I'm more than glad to join Alison on my congratulations... and not only for the fish! All my best for you two...

[island_sands]

Originally Posted by miles

Some pic's:

NICE mola mola Miles!!! wow!!!! just amazing!!!

Now we EXPECT you to show us all these goodies when we arrive!

What's the water temp right now?

[miles]

Hiya

Thanx everyone!!!

Sands, current water temp. is 13degrees celcuis!!! Hence the lack of fish!! Was 18 degrees on Friday and 17 degrees on Saturday. We did find 15 degrees water about 10nm from shore!!!

Anything over 15 degrees on the West Coast is great!!! Normlly 10-13 degrees. Good thing is that there's very little sharks.

Dassen Island is a loverly place to dive. Normally a couple of dolphins around (yip, in that cold water!!), a baby whale thats been resident for a good couple of months now as well as hordes of penguins and various sea bird. Throw in a couple of wrecks in the water as well as on the island and a light-house. Easy to see why its one of my FAVOURITE dive spots!! Not forgetting that its only 60km's from Cape Town.

Regards
miles

[Rolando]

Originally Posted by miles

Hiya

Good thing is that there's very little sharks.

That surely is always a "good" thing, particularly in your part of the world. Nice pics and dive safe.

[miles]

Hiya All

Things have been pretty quite around my neck of the woods. Diving wise, its been a FAMINE!!, due to the bad viz., strong winds, big seas (feel free to add the USUAL lame excuses we spearo's use!! ),etc. I've been line fishing for the past couple of weeks, so my diving skills have started becoming a wee bit rusty.

Tommy calls on Wednesday night. STRUISBAAI is the place. They had just taken some big Yellowtail Kingfish of up to 22Kg's. (That HUGE for South African standards!!). So 4:00am on Thursday sees up driving the 200 odd km's to Struisbaai. Water is clean, 10-20m viz, but lateral viz. is down to less than 10m due to particles suspended in the water.

First spot supplies the first fish of the day. A small 6kg Yellowtail Kingie. The place is alive with skipjack, but we're told in no uncertain terms, that they are NOT to be speared. Reason: they're a dinner-bell for GW sharks.

Half-way through the day, Ferdie comes up to me, just AFTER i lost a 10kg Yellowtail kingie, and warns me of a big Raggie (ragged tooth shark). Generally a fish stealer, so i'm not worried. Five minutes later, i dive down in about 10m of water, over a wreck. I see movement at the bottom and angle down to see what it is. Halfway down i realise its a 3m shark. Probably the Raggie i guess. I slowly angle away, keen to still have a proper look, when all of a sudden i see the white blotches extending from the stomach area. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

I slowly start ascending, keeping my gun between me and the GW. Fortunately he only gave me the once over, and continued to where Tommy and Ferdie were. I surface, shout for the boat, but by then Tommy and Ferdie has also seen the shark. Powerheads on!!!! The shark dis-appears, only to re-appear 2-3minutes later. Angle up directly to Ferdie. Tommy and Ferdie manage to fend off the shark and jump into the boat. DAMNNNN!!! My first white for this year, and just when i started seeing 20kg class Yellowtail!!!

Oh well, we give the spot an hour to cool down, diving in another area about 2km's away. Back to the wreck, no sight of the GW, but the dive is spoiled. Every drop, you spend so much time looking behind you that it becomes frustrating!!!

At the end of the day we had 25 yellowtail Kingfish, ranging from 8kg's through to 16kg's. As well as a couple of reef fish. The best part is that YOURS TRULY, only managed to land ONE fish for the day!!!! Oh well, i'll give 'em hell next time!!!

Just for the record, thats been 4 Great Whites seen by Tommy and crew, in 3 Dives, in two weeks!!!!!!!!! Struisbaai is really getting to be DANGEROUS!!! My dive-buddy, was diving with Tommy last week, and he also got "pushed" by a large GW. I'm starting to wonder just EXCATLY how endangered these GW realy are!!!! 4 sharks in 3 dives in a 40km raduis area, those odds don't sound too good!!!

Some pic's of the fish and the new gun tommy is building. Small mid-handled woodie with a 7mm spear and 2x16's plus reel. Works very well, as can be seen from the pictures!!

Great day in the water, none-the-less!!! Can't wait for the week-end!! Struisbaai, here we come!!!! (this spearo was never noted for his sanity!!)

Regards
miles

[miles]

last piccy!!

[Alison]

Pants! You dont half spin a yarn!!! I was really expecting bad news in the middle there! Phew Thank goodness your all OK.
So hows married life treating you?