Hiya guys,
Me and 4 other guys recently went on a spearing trip to Barra Mozambique with Hamerkop Spearfishing SA (John Little) http://spearfishingsa.co.za/hamerkop.htm it was a 13 day trip with 4 other guys. We all had a great time as for 4 of us this was our first spearing trip abroad, John was an outstanding host having brought himself, another guide with two boats, two professional chefs and a couple of local blokes to do the day to day chores. So in total there were 6 blokes to look after us 5 spearos! absolutely outstanding. No cleaning or cooking of any kind, all we had to do was jump on and off the boat walk 20 yards to the front door of our house and fall asleep in the hammock underneath a palm tree. (bloody hard work as you can imagine)
The water temp was a balmy 28C with the visibility being around 20/25 meters with most of our diving around the 20 meter mark. Unfortunately there had recently been a cyclone in the area which messed the fishing up a bit as the water temp and currents kept changing. But none the less we made the most of it shooting a few cuda, cokop (excuse spg) kingfish, sea pike, rock cod, coral trout, prodigal son and i managed to bag a 70+kg Black Marlin.
I managed to shoot the Marlin on our last day of diving fortunately. I was breathing up on the surface when i had a sudden urge to look to my left hand side, upon doing so i found i had a marlin looking straight at me. I gave a quick flick of my fins to get closer to the fish and then nailed it, i was using a Rob Allen 120 Carbon Caranx, Reel gun with a single 18mm rubber (hell of a setup, a perfect combination of maneuverability and power, it punched straight through the fish no probs). My dive buddies Peter Reid and Steven Batten promptly started screaming Marlin, whilst i was busy trying to put some pressure on my reel and hold on for dear life. After a few minutes of being towed around with the other 2 guys hanging off my weight belt and not being able to clip a float to the gun, (we were all using 120 reel guns) i find myself watching my reel empty and the end of my dyneema line disappear off into the distance!! I 'stupidly' took it for granted that the line would be tied onto the bloody reel. My thinking being that when you pay good money for a new gun you expect it to be ready for action straight away. So after a milli second of me feeling sorry for myself thinking i had lost the fish of a lifetime, i switched back on and swam like a mad man after the end of the line. Fortunately i had a pair of C4 40 rockets on and i managed to get a couple wraps of line round my hand before the Marlin Express started again. After a few more minutes of water skiing i was found by the guys who had the boat and float in tow, and 50 granny knots later Steve had tied the float line on. Although to be honest i didn't trust the knots one bit, so i kept my hand wrapped firmly round the dyneema line. I didnt fancy losing the fish a second time.
So after 20+ minutes of what can only be described as total chaos. I managed to land my first Black Marlin
Although Poseidon did get his revenge in his own small way, as i was climbing out of the water i managed to drag a jelly fish right across my face and spent the rest of the day thinking my teeth were falling out The fish tipped the scales at 70kg but unfortunately we weighed it 5hrs after it was shot and it had to be cut in half to be weighed. So personally i am telling the girlfriend it was more like 75kg haha
If any of you guys buy a Rob Allen Reel gun in the future i urge you to check the line is tied onto the reel. I know my mistake seems a school boy error not checking its tied on in the first place but its one easily made. Both of our guides were also amazed that the line wasn't tied on to the reel. I have emailed Rob and he informs me that they don't tie the line onto the reel as people would rather risk losing the fish, spear and line instead of the whole set up. Seems odd to me but who knows.
All in all though the trip was outstanding, a perfect combination of relaxation and diving. John was a great host with all his staff being top blokes and i managed to rustle up more jam than Hartley's, to land a Marlin with less than a years diving experience in my bag.
I can't sem to upload pictures on here, so if you want to have a look at pics of the fish and a few other holiday pics go to:
Ian Hannaford's Photos - Mozambique Spearfishing/ Freediving | Facebook
Ian Hannaford's Photos - Mozambique Spearfishing/ Freediving 2 | Facebook
Cheers Ian
Me and 4 other guys recently went on a spearing trip to Barra Mozambique with Hamerkop Spearfishing SA (John Little) http://spearfishingsa.co.za/hamerkop.htm it was a 13 day trip with 4 other guys. We all had a great time as for 4 of us this was our first spearing trip abroad, John was an outstanding host having brought himself, another guide with two boats, two professional chefs and a couple of local blokes to do the day to day chores. So in total there were 6 blokes to look after us 5 spearos! absolutely outstanding. No cleaning or cooking of any kind, all we had to do was jump on and off the boat walk 20 yards to the front door of our house and fall asleep in the hammock underneath a palm tree. (bloody hard work as you can imagine)
The water temp was a balmy 28C with the visibility being around 20/25 meters with most of our diving around the 20 meter mark. Unfortunately there had recently been a cyclone in the area which messed the fishing up a bit as the water temp and currents kept changing. But none the less we made the most of it shooting a few cuda, cokop (excuse spg) kingfish, sea pike, rock cod, coral trout, prodigal son and i managed to bag a 70+kg Black Marlin.
I managed to shoot the Marlin on our last day of diving fortunately. I was breathing up on the surface when i had a sudden urge to look to my left hand side, upon doing so i found i had a marlin looking straight at me. I gave a quick flick of my fins to get closer to the fish and then nailed it, i was using a Rob Allen 120 Carbon Caranx, Reel gun with a single 18mm rubber (hell of a setup, a perfect combination of maneuverability and power, it punched straight through the fish no probs). My dive buddies Peter Reid and Steven Batten promptly started screaming Marlin, whilst i was busy trying to put some pressure on my reel and hold on for dear life. After a few minutes of being towed around with the other 2 guys hanging off my weight belt and not being able to clip a float to the gun, (we were all using 120 reel guns) i find myself watching my reel empty and the end of my dyneema line disappear off into the distance!! I 'stupidly' took it for granted that the line would be tied onto the bloody reel. My thinking being that when you pay good money for a new gun you expect it to be ready for action straight away. So after a milli second of me feeling sorry for myself thinking i had lost the fish of a lifetime, i switched back on and swam like a mad man after the end of the line. Fortunately i had a pair of C4 40 rockets on and i managed to get a couple wraps of line round my hand before the Marlin Express started again. After a few more minutes of water skiing i was found by the guys who had the boat and float in tow, and 50 granny knots later Steve had tied the float line on. Although to be honest i didn't trust the knots one bit, so i kept my hand wrapped firmly round the dyneema line. I didnt fancy losing the fish a second time.
So after 20+ minutes of what can only be described as total chaos. I managed to land my first Black Marlin
Although Poseidon did get his revenge in his own small way, as i was climbing out of the water i managed to drag a jelly fish right across my face and spent the rest of the day thinking my teeth were falling out The fish tipped the scales at 70kg but unfortunately we weighed it 5hrs after it was shot and it had to be cut in half to be weighed. So personally i am telling the girlfriend it was more like 75kg haha If any of you guys buy a Rob Allen Reel gun in the future i urge you to check the line is tied onto the reel. I know my mistake seems a school boy error not checking its tied on in the first place but its one easily made. Both of our guides were also amazed that the line wasn't tied on to the reel. I have emailed Rob and he informs me that they don't tie the line onto the reel as people would rather risk losing the fish, spear and line instead of the whole set up. Seems odd to me but who knows.
All in all though the trip was outstanding, a perfect combination of relaxation and diving. John was a great host with all his staff being top blokes and i managed to rustle up more jam than Hartley's, to land a Marlin with less than a years diving experience in my bag.
I can't sem to upload pictures on here, so if you want to have a look at pics of the fish and a few other holiday pics go to:
Ian Hannaford's Photos - Mozambique Spearfishing/ Freediving | Facebook
Ian Hannaford's Photos - Mozambique Spearfishing/ Freediving 2 | Facebook
Cheers Ian
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