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Chronicles of a Blue Water Hunter
- Thread startermiles
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
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hey man i admire u going into those waters; but then again if you treat those big fellas right there will be no problems..
i have suddenly an itching feeling to go home... (to South Africa). All these shark stories, spearos... my dream is to see GW and not be in a cage.. (and live of course!)
Russell thanks for the link to your page.. enjoyed the articles a lot! wayne vos' story reminds me of a documentary i saw about whale sharks.. they were following them in a microlite...
a guy saw a juvenile whale shark so jumped in with his camera a few metres ahead to get a shot... (to be confronted with a large tiger shark... easy mistake to make!)
a guy saw a juvenile whale shark so jumped in with his camera a few metres ahead to get a shot... (to be confronted with a large tiger shark... easy mistake to make!)
The first picture was so tempting... It almost makes you feel safe enough to to jump on it and take a good ride. I don't get used to see sharks or anyother like that but there is something magical attractive behaviour in the first picture, am i only one who thinks crazy things???
Spearfish Cape Town, South Africa
Weekend again!!!! Decided to go to Dassen Island again. Had no weather reports as all they guys that went spearing on wednesday (public holiday), didn't do too well. 5:30 in the morning and the rain is pouring down!!!!! Ah well, not like we're afraid of getting wet
Got to my buddies house at about 6 and just as i stopped, the boats trailer wheel fell out..........bearing had colapsed........arghhhhhhhh..........i just replaced it a month ago. Bugger, out comes the tools and spare bearings. A hour later we're back on the road.
We get to the harbour and is greeted by a flat sea and clean water. The rain has stopped and the sun is beginning to shine. Looks like its going to be a good day. Launched and started to run to the island. 5mnutes later we're in dirty, muddy brown/red water...........arggggghhhhhhhh...........0m viz!!!!! Water temp 13.5degrees. Saw a small school of dolphins, but they were very skittish and didn't want to play Ran past the island looking for clean water. Came across hordes of birds and penguins working on baitfish. Got my GF to throw out a spinning rod whilst we kitted up. the spinner just hit the water when the yellowtail hit the lure!!!! Now that she had the fish hooked, all she does is hold the fish, which in turn holds the school there. With all the scrambling on board i simply jumped in, no weightbelt, no wetsuit top, no gloves..........only wetsuit bottom, socks fins and mask and snorkel. As i hit the water a 6kg fish appears out of the murk. Let my 115cm Rabitech do its job!!!!! Great start to the day. Got back in the boat and kitted properly up. Alas, that was the only yellowtail action we saw!!!! Schools were very skittish in the dirty water.
Ended up catching some snoek for the pan. These pelagic fish, which is family of the barracuda, is only found in SA, well Cape Town area. They average 2-7kg's. Very, very tasty. Nobody spears them, as they have a nasty habit of simply attacking you!! Considering that their teeth is coated with a anti-coagulant substance, if you do get bitten, you bleed profusely A tip here is to cut the eyeball of the fish open and apply the fluid the seeps from the eye to the wound. Lessens the bleeding fairly quickly. Some of the bigger fish had roe in them..........a great delicacy!!!! Caught about 20 fish on spinning rods and handline, then proceeded to shoot some "hottie" (type of bream that lives in the kelp) for the smoker. Shot a couple in the shallows where we found 2-3m viz. Best was a 1.8kg fish. Swam into a small cow shark in the dirty water and almost mistook it for a yellowtail. (harmless shark, with a impressive set on dentures though!!!)
All in all, a great day, with some lovely fresh barbequed fish and fried fish roe as well as smoked fish (well actually, last weeks smoked fish!!!) for supper
Can't wait for next week-end!!!!!
Regards
miles
Weekend again!!!! Decided to go to Dassen Island again. Had no weather reports as all they guys that went spearing on wednesday (public holiday), didn't do too well. 5:30 in the morning and the rain is pouring down!!!!! Ah well, not like we're afraid of getting wet
Got to my buddies house at about 6 and just as i stopped, the boats trailer wheel fell out..........bearing had colapsed........arghhhhhhhh..........i just replaced it a month ago. Bugger, out comes the tools and spare bearings. A hour later we're back on the road. We get to the harbour and is greeted by a flat sea and clean water. The rain has stopped and the sun is beginning to shine. Looks like its going to be a good day. Launched and started to run to the island. 5mnutes later we're in dirty, muddy brown/red water...........arggggghhhhhhhh...........0m viz!!!!! Water temp 13.5degrees. Saw a small school of dolphins, but they were very skittish and didn't want to play
Ran past the island looking for clean water. Came across hordes of birds and penguins working on baitfish. Got my GF to throw out a spinning rod whilst we kitted up. the spinner just hit the water when the yellowtail hit the lure!!!! Now that she had the fish hooked, all she does is hold the fish, which in turn holds the school there. With all the scrambling on board i simply jumped in, no weightbelt, no wetsuit top, no gloves..........only wetsuit bottom, socks fins and mask and snorkel. As i hit the water a 6kg fish appears out of the murk. Let my 115cm Rabitech do its job!!!!! Great start to the day. Got back in the boat and kitted properly up. Alas, that was the only yellowtail action we saw!!!! Schools were very skittish in the dirty water.Ended up catching some snoek for the pan. These pelagic fish, which is family of the barracuda, is only found in SA, well Cape Town area. They average 2-7kg's. Very, very tasty. Nobody spears them, as they have a nasty habit of simply attacking you!! Considering that their teeth is coated with a anti-coagulant substance, if you do get bitten, you bleed profusely
A tip here is to cut the eyeball of the fish open and apply the fluid the seeps from the eye to the wound. Lessens the bleeding fairly quickly. Some of the bigger fish had roe in them..........a great delicacy!!!! Caught about 20 fish on spinning rods and handline, then proceeded to shoot some "hottie" (type of bream that lives in the kelp) for the smoker. Shot a couple in the shallows where we found 2-3m viz. Best was a 1.8kg fish. Swam into a small cow shark in the dirty water and almost mistook it for a yellowtail. (harmless shark, with a impressive set on dentures though!!!)All in all, a great day, with some lovely fresh barbequed fish and fried fish roe as well as smoked fish (well actually, last weeks smoked fish!!!) for supper
Can't wait for next week-end!!!!!
Regards
miles
sies on you
i tell you who the sushi fundi is.. it's Pablo. he knows how to make it.. he gave me some really good culinary "tips"
i tell you who the sushi fundi is.. it's Pablo. he knows how to make it.. he gave me some really good culinary "tips"
Hey Miles
Your weekend stories and pics are great, becoming part of my sunday evening ritual..." I think I'll log onto DB and see how Miles's weekend was...!!!" :=)
Gotta join you sometime, this weekend coming am off to Knysna to hunt some Cracker/ Garrick/Steenbras. Hope water plays ball, but will post some pics even if not for DB regulars to see my favourite spot !
For my weekend, went to False bay yesterday, A-Frame, and was greeted by beautiful, flat, turquiose water, and not a single diver. :confused
I broke the cardinal rule and ended up jumping in alone on a shore entry, and had an hour's dive just off A-Frame in epic conditions. Saw a nice Galjoen, but never got within range, and he left the area not to be seen again, sadly. Lots of Hotties, Dassies, a few Wildeperd and tons of butterfish, so had lots of company, but nothing that was really big enough to warrant me shooting it. So just enjoyed the great Viz, colours and Apnea in general ! Must say, the corridor near A-Frame is the only place a friend has encountered a GW whilst on scuba, and my dive happened to be in that corridor. No reason that he is a regular, but it just pops up into my mind everytime I level out on the reef bottom and look into the 'blue'.
Your weekend stories and pics are great, becoming part of my sunday evening ritual..." I think I'll log onto DB and see how Miles's weekend was...!!!" :=)
Gotta join you sometime, this weekend coming am off to Knysna to hunt some Cracker/ Garrick/Steenbras. Hope water plays ball, but will post some pics even if not for DB regulars to see my favourite spot !
For my weekend, went to False bay yesterday, A-Frame, and was greeted by beautiful, flat, turquiose water, and not a single diver. :confused
I broke the cardinal rule and ended up jumping in alone on a shore entry, and had an hour's dive just off A-Frame in epic conditions. Saw a nice Galjoen, but never got within range, and he left the area not to be seen again, sadly. Lots of Hotties, Dassies, a few Wildeperd and tons of butterfish, so had lots of company, but nothing that was really big enough to warrant me shooting it. So just enjoyed the great Viz, colours and Apnea in general ! Must say, the corridor near A-Frame is the only place a friend has encountered a GW whilst on scuba, and my dive happened to be in that corridor. No reason that he is a regular, but it just pops up into my mind everytime I level out on the reef bottom and look into the 'blue'.
Hiya
Pablo!!!!!!!!! Where are you?? Your culinary skills are needed here!!!!
Spearoo, Ponzo Sauce.............now i'm even more confused!!!!
Bluecape, tuff luck on the galgoen!!!! I hate it when they are skittish and don't want to come into range. Heard that the guys got good 'tail at Bellows on Saturday. Ah well, you can't get it right every weekend!!! Should've known better though, with all that baitfish and warm water, it was just a matter of time until the 'tail came in.
Good luck with the 'cracker hunting. Some tips i picked up in my very limited cracker hunts..........use a reelgun, no floatline to give your position away and no hassles of getting your floatline entangled with the reefs/rocks. Overweight yourself (be VERY carefull here!!!), as most hunting is done in 1-3m water. Wedge yourself into cracks/crevices just outside the white water around pinnacles/reefs. If possible, try to find big cracks/crevices with shadows over them. I've had a 10kg cracker swim 30cm past my mask whilst hiding in such a crack. They just don't see you. (didn't get to shoot that fish though!!). Avoid using SS spears. The shine on the spears tend to frighten them(i always thought that it'd attract them). Also don't shoot any other fish when hunting cracker in the shallows, it scares them away. My buddy bangs two rocks together and it seems to work for him, i've tried but haven't had much sucess. Most importantly.............post some pictures of that 10kg+ cracker that you ARE going to shoot!!!
Next time you're up for a dive, just drop me a pm and join us!!!
Regards
miles
Pablo!!!!!!!!! Where are you?? Your culinary skills are needed here!!!!
Spearoo, Ponzo Sauce.............now i'm even more confused!!!!
Bluecape, tuff luck on the galgoen!!!! I hate it when they are skittish and don't want to come into range. Heard that the guys got good 'tail at Bellows on Saturday. Ah well, you can't get it right every weekend!!! Should've known better though, with all that baitfish and warm water, it was just a matter of time until the 'tail came in.
Good luck with the 'cracker hunting. Some tips i picked up in my very limited cracker hunts..........use a reelgun, no floatline to give your position away and no hassles of getting your floatline entangled with the reefs/rocks. Overweight yourself (be VERY carefull here!!!), as most hunting is done in 1-3m water. Wedge yourself into cracks/crevices just outside the white water around pinnacles/reefs. If possible, try to find big cracks/crevices with shadows over them. I've had a 10kg cracker swim 30cm past my mask whilst hiding in such a crack. They just don't see you. (didn't get to shoot that fish though!!). Avoid using SS spears. The shine on the spears tend to frighten them(i always thought that it'd attract them). Also don't shoot any other fish when hunting cracker in the shallows, it scares them away. My buddy bangs two rocks together and it seems to work for him, i've tried but haven't had much sucess. Most importantly.............post some pictures of that 10kg+ cracker that you ARE going to shoot!!!
Next time you're up for a dive, just drop me a pm and join us!!!
Regards
miles