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DB spearo 'world series'
- Thread starterbluecape
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
, There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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I have had Zero luck the past few weekends, so this weekend I'm going to try my luck up the West Coast, at Cape Columbine.
2m swell predicted, and VERY cold temps, so not holding my breath...( Excuse the pun.. WWWWWWAAAAAAAAA....OK OK shit joke..) but will try to get at least something out so we can get a pic or 2 for january.
Happy hunting all,
Jeff
2m swell predicted, and VERY cold temps, so not holding my breath...( Excuse the pun.. WWWWWWAAAAAAAAA....OK OK shit joke..) but will try to get at least something out so we can get a pic or 2 for january.
Happy hunting all,
Jeff
spearo contest
I'm with Fuzz on judging the contest. The most points for the biggest fish isn't usually the best management practice. Perhaps the contest sponser would like to commit to subjective standards for this contest, standards that change without notice and are based on FUN! For my part, I'm in. I commit to spearing one week end a month and photographing the result. The difficulty will be finding viz that exceeds the range of my polespear. I didn't even see a fish on my January trip, just too murky.
For contests of a different sort, Attend our 19th annual Oyster Party on Valentines Day at our place on Galveston Island. We will have Speed Shucking, Volume Shucking, and Precision Shucking contests, all subjectively judged, prize is all the oysters you can eat. Starts at 1 pm. RSVP by e-mail. Stalking oysters doesn't normally require a camo wetsuit, but it helps. Krewe of Mullet Parade at 5 pm.
I'm with Fuzz on judging the contest. The most points for the biggest fish isn't usually the best management practice. Perhaps the contest sponser would like to commit to subjective standards for this contest, standards that change without notice and are based on FUN! For my part, I'm in. I commit to spearing one week end a month and photographing the result. The difficulty will be finding viz that exceeds the range of my polespear. I didn't even see a fish on my January trip, just too murky.
For contests of a different sort, Attend our 19th annual Oyster Party on Valentines Day at our place on Galveston Island. We will have Speed Shucking, Volume Shucking, and Precision Shucking contests, all subjectively judged, prize is all the oysters you can eat. Starts at 1 pm. RSVP by e-mail. Stalking oysters doesn't normally require a camo wetsuit, but it helps. Krewe of Mullet Parade at 5 pm.
Whale of a Tale
Okay gang it has been a while since I have been in the water and this Sunday was definetely a relief. My Church decided to go camping at one of the beach parks on the coast and as things would go, the water was pretty flat. I invited my old room mate and faithful dive partner Josh to come down and meet us for a dive Sunday after service. Well all was going great. Both of us were gimps, Josh strained his back at work and I turned my knee at practice. No matter, the ocean and all of her beauty would be all the therapy we would need. Two other divers in the group wanted to try out the blue water so they went out in the Zodiac while Josh and I opted to swim out. The water was hazy with vis anywhere from 40 to 80 feet, good enough for two depth deprived divers. After about 20 minutes swim, we start seeing quality fish. Josh spots a Mu (big eye emperor) and dives. I see it head for the deep and does not return. I start my breathe up and as soon as Josh surfaces, down I go. I hit the bottom at around 50 feet and start throwning sand. Looking out into the gloom, I see a small school of good sized Mu starting to come in. Checking myself, I decide to head up, breathe up, and try another dive. Looking up, I see Josh above me so I signal for him to come down. I surface and he dives. The huge boulder is a perfect hiding place and I see Josh starting to play peek a boo with some unknown prey. It was picture perfect stuff, Josh looking out then slinking back behind the boulder. Soon I see him extending his Rob Allen and start lurching forward. A shot goes off and then a flash of silver. Not the round silver that I would expect of a Mu but a long silver flash. Uku (green jobfish)! Josh starts sprinting for the surface as line peels out of his reel. I quickly diconnect my floatline from my gun and clip it on to Josh's just as his reel is spooled. Josh tells me its big and that I should shoot it if I can. After a short chase I am headed down to put another steel shank into the Uku. Remember Brad, aim a couple of inches behind the eye, right about there and hey wait a minute, my shaft flew clean over the fished head
! Guess the rust was showing. I sheepishly return to the surface apologizing but no matter, the first shot was good and this guy was not going anywhere. On the stringer and the dive continues. Now I am on a mission, gotta redeem myself ya know. We keep diving and nothing much is happening so let the burley begin.
First fish cut up produces nothing so we start working our way back in. I start cutting up the next fish for burley when it happens. I hear a scream unlike that I have ever heard from Josh. We have been on some adventures, circled by Galapagos sharks with an attitude, drift dive 2 miles of coast only to find that the current is too strong to fight, hence a 2 mile hike across a lava field, but this one takes the cake. The scream is of utter terror. Instinctively, I grab my gun which is clipped to my belt and simultaneously look out into the gloom. All I can see is black, and some white outline. Holy sh*t! what the hell is that!? It must be at least 30 feet long and swimming with a dolfin kick! Wait a minute, it's a whale! Winter is the time of year when the Humpbacks arrive and right now, they are in full swing. I wish I could say I was a tough guy and totally undetered by the unexpected guest but my hands were shaking. I threw what was left of the burley and started back peddling for the reef. Looking out here they come again. Two of them! Huge animals, the biggest I have ever been next to. Awesome! They were not more than 30 feet from us. We make it back to shore shaken but totally stoked. We were in 50 feet of water with the 70 foot ledge right outside of us. Josh was scanning the whole time and didn't even see them approaching. No singing or anything from the whales they just appeared. After we reach shore Josh tells me the first thing that went through his mind was "My gun is too small for this" then "wait a minute, that thing could eat me!" What can I say, they guy is still an animal. Turns out he saw 4 whales, one calf, one sub adult and two adults. I saw the first one then the calf and adult that came in later.
Sorry we couldn't get any pictures but I will always have those images burned into my memory. Oh yeah, I shot one goatfish that someone else took home. C'mon gang, bring on the stories!
Brad
Okay gang it has been a while since I have been in the water and this Sunday was definetely a relief. My Church decided to go camping at one of the beach parks on the coast and as things would go, the water was pretty flat. I invited my old room mate and faithful dive partner Josh to come down and meet us for a dive Sunday after service. Well all was going great. Both of us were gimps, Josh strained his back at work and I turned my knee at practice. No matter, the ocean and all of her beauty would be all the therapy we would need. Two other divers in the group wanted to try out the blue water so they went out in the Zodiac while Josh and I opted to swim out. The water was hazy with vis anywhere from 40 to 80 feet, good enough for two depth deprived divers. After about 20 minutes swim, we start seeing quality fish. Josh spots a Mu (big eye emperor) and dives. I see it head for the deep and does not return. I start my breathe up and as soon as Josh surfaces, down I go. I hit the bottom at around 50 feet and start throwning sand. Looking out into the gloom, I see a small school of good sized Mu starting to come in. Checking myself, I decide to head up, breathe up, and try another dive. Looking up, I see Josh above me so I signal for him to come down. I surface and he dives. The huge boulder is a perfect hiding place and I see Josh starting to play peek a boo with some unknown prey. It was picture perfect stuff, Josh looking out then slinking back behind the boulder. Soon I see him extending his Rob Allen and start lurching forward. A shot goes off and then a flash of silver. Not the round silver that I would expect of a Mu but a long silver flash. Uku (green jobfish)! Josh starts sprinting for the surface as line peels out of his reel. I quickly diconnect my floatline from my gun and clip it on to Josh's just as his reel is spooled. Josh tells me its big and that I should shoot it if I can. After a short chase I am headed down to put another steel shank into the Uku. Remember Brad, aim a couple of inches behind the eye, right about there and hey wait a minute, my shaft flew clean over the fished head
! Guess the rust was showing. I sheepishly return to the surface apologizing but no matter, the first shot was good and this guy was not going anywhere. On the stringer and the dive continues. Now I am on a mission, gotta redeem myself ya know. We keep diving and nothing much is happening so let the burley begin.First fish cut up produces nothing so we start working our way back in. I start cutting up the next fish for burley when it happens. I hear a scream unlike that I have ever heard from Josh. We have been on some adventures, circled by Galapagos sharks with an attitude, drift dive 2 miles of coast only to find that the current is too strong to fight, hence a 2 mile hike across a lava field, but this one takes the cake. The scream is of utter terror. Instinctively, I grab my gun which is clipped to my belt and simultaneously look out into the gloom. All I can see is black, and some white outline. Holy sh*t! what the hell is that!? It must be at least 30 feet long and swimming with a dolfin kick! Wait a minute, it's a whale! Winter is the time of year when the Humpbacks arrive and right now, they are in full swing. I wish I could say I was a tough guy and totally undetered by the unexpected guest but my hands were shaking. I threw what was left of the burley and started back peddling for the reef. Looking out here they come again. Two of them! Huge animals, the biggest I have ever been next to. Awesome! They were not more than 30 feet from us. We make it back to shore shaken but totally stoked. We were in 50 feet of water with the 70 foot ledge right outside of us. Josh was scanning the whole time and didn't even see them approaching. No singing or anything from the whales they just appeared. After we reach shore Josh tells me the first thing that went through his mind was "My gun is too small for this" then "wait a minute, that thing could eat me!" What can I say, they guy is still an animal. Turns out he saw 4 whales, one calf, one sub adult and two adults. I saw the first one then the calf and adult that came in later.
Sorry we couldn't get any pictures but I will always have those images burned into my memory. Oh yeah, I shot one goatfish that someone else took home. C'mon gang, bring on the stories!
Brad
don't feel bad i bet if i saw something like that here in florida id crap my suit :yack and cry for my mommy:waterwork
then id realize it was just a whale:duh rofl
then id realize it was just a whale:duh
rofl
Hiya
I thought that i might as well make a start. We went spearing on saturday at Struisbaai. This is the southern most tip of Africa, supposedly where the two oceans, indian and atlantic, meet. (Not Cape Point in Cape Town as most people are led to believe!!!). Struisbaai is about 2hrs drive from Cape Town and is the home of Yellowtail (seriola llalandi, i think).
We launched at Struisbaai harbour at about 7:00 the morning and ran out to the wreck of the Oriental Pioneer which is situated about 3km outside the harbour in about 13m water. There was a strong current ripping and the water was 21degrees with a thermocline at about 7m. Viz was really bad 4-5m so after two dives we left. Next stop the wreck of the Wafra which is 4km away from the Pioneer. This whole area is very productive and you tend to look for the pinnacles and then drop a marker bouy onto the pinnacles. The boat then drops you up current and depending on how strong the current is you drift 1-2km's before the boat picks you up again. We arrived at the Wafra only to find about 40 boats fishing there, so we simply watched them and had breakfast in the meantime. At about 10:00 the boats generally head home and you have the reefs all to yourselves. Whilst waiting, we met up with some other spearo's who were on their way home. Their catch, 2 Yellowtail (known locally as 'tail) and a Great White. They were buzzed by a white of about 4m and the shark stayed with them for a while. They then decided to call it quits. Fortunately this was about 5km further to sea and we were a bit worried, but when we did get in it was much better. 15m viz in places, water depth ranging from 13-27m. We all had shark shields on as well as powerheads and made sure the boat stayed close by at all times. Let the spearing begin!!!
Loads of small baitfish and reef fish but very little 'tail. I did see a school on the bottom at 18m but they refused to come closer in. Also saw 2 fish in the 15-20kg class, at the bottom in 27m water. I was at 22m (as per my D3), and those fish were just too deep for me!!!(need to practice ) Did shoot some smaller pelagics. Fish called sangoras, which looks like a small trevally, they weigh 2-4kg's. Really tasty, but very stupid fish. They would swim up to you on the surface and when they're directly below you they turn on their side so they can see you better!!! Easy shooting, like i said . I only shot 1 for the pan. Saw two schools of 'tail right at the bottom but they refused to come closer. was looking to be one of those days..........
Viz started deteriorating to about 7-8m, current started ripping, and the 2m swell with a fresh wind started making being on sea unpleasant. We decided on one last drift. On my first drop to the bottom, in 18m water, a school of 'tail come in, and i manage to stone a 11kg 'tail. i then slowly swm back up to the surface pulling the fish and the rest of the school with me. At the surface i screamed 'tail, and my buddies both dived down and managed also to get one each from the school. Now things started to get interesting. With all this commotion, the school was at the surface now, and i see a couple of 15kg's+ bruisers swimming around. I was right next to the boat and asked the buggy boy for my reel gun (well more like shouted for it!!!). My second gun is a 115cm Rabitech Carbon apex with rabitech reel. Well, the buggy boy hands me my buddies gun, a 1.1m Picasso with reel. I load anyways and get a good shot into a 15kg+ fish. He drags me around a bit, and then the unthinkable happens, the reel jams.....arrgggghhhhhhhh.......fish eventually pulled out:waterwork . Irony of it all is that the picasso reel gun was my gun which i sold to my buddy because the reel also jammed on a 10kg 'tail last year:waterwork .
Anyways, by now my one buddy has his fish in the boat and the second is struggling to get his fish under control. (was his first 'tail) I swam over to my float and pulled up my now dead fish. Grabbed the fish by the gills and went to assist my buddy. He got his fish under control and got into the boat. But by now i had drifted about 10m away from the boat and realised that my fish was pumping out blood from its gills. So there i was in a cloud of blood in GW territory down current from the boat. The 2minutes it took the boat to get to me felt like an eternity!!!
After all the action we decided to make another drift. Big mistake. We were hardly in the water when a 4m GW came to say hello. Powerheads on, and screaming for the boat.........not fun:naughty
Mental note: don't ever get into the boat with-out switching your sharkshield off. Gives you a good couple of shocks
End of dive. Ended up with a 11kg , 8kg and 6kg 'tail, some smaller bank fish and some sangoras. All in all the day turned out ok. Weather looks good for this weekend. Can't wait to get back there. There's a 20kg 'tail with my name on it..........
Will post the pic's as soon as its developed.
miles
I thought that i might as well make a start. We went spearing on saturday at Struisbaai. This is the southern most tip of Africa, supposedly where the two oceans, indian and atlantic, meet. (Not Cape Point in Cape Town as most people are led to believe!!!). Struisbaai is about 2hrs drive from Cape Town and is the home of Yellowtail (seriola llalandi, i think).
We launched at Struisbaai harbour at about 7:00 the morning and ran out to the wreck of the Oriental Pioneer which is situated about 3km outside the harbour in about 13m water. There was a strong current ripping and the water was 21degrees with a thermocline at about 7m. Viz was really bad 4-5m so after two dives we left. Next stop the wreck of the Wafra which is 4km away from the Pioneer. This whole area is very productive and you tend to look for the pinnacles and then drop a marker bouy onto the pinnacles. The boat then drops you up current and depending on how strong the current is you drift 1-2km's before the boat picks you up again. We arrived at the Wafra only to find about 40 boats fishing there, so we simply watched them and had breakfast in the meantime. At about 10:00 the boats generally head home and you have the reefs all to yourselves. Whilst waiting, we met up with some other spearo's who were on their way home. Their catch, 2 Yellowtail (known locally as 'tail) and a Great White. They were buzzed by a white of about 4m and the shark stayed with them for a while. They then decided to call it quits. Fortunately this was about 5km further to sea and we were a bit worried, but when we did get in it was much better. 15m viz in places, water depth ranging from 13-27m. We all had shark shields on as well as powerheads and made sure the boat stayed close by at all times. Let the spearing begin!!!
Loads of small baitfish and reef fish but very little 'tail. I did see a school on the bottom at 18m but they refused to come closer in. Also saw 2 fish in the 15-20kg class, at the bottom in 27m water. I was at 22m (as per my D3), and those fish were just too deep for me!!!(need to practice
) Did shoot some smaller pelagics. Fish called sangoras, which looks like a small trevally, they weigh 2-4kg's. Really tasty, but very stupid fish. They would swim up to you on the surface and when they're directly below you they turn on their side so they can see you better!!! Easy shooting, like i said . I only shot 1 for the pan. Saw two schools of 'tail right at the bottom but they refused to come closer. was looking to be one of those days..........Viz started deteriorating to about 7-8m, current started ripping, and the 2m swell with a fresh wind started making being on sea unpleasant. We decided on one last drift. On my first drop to the bottom, in 18m water, a school of 'tail come in, and i manage to stone a 11kg 'tail. i then slowly swm back up to the surface pulling the fish and the rest of the school with me. At the surface i screamed 'tail, and my buddies both dived down and managed also to get one each from the school. Now things started to get interesting. With all this commotion, the school was at the surface now, and i see a couple of 15kg's+ bruisers swimming around. I was right next to the boat and asked the buggy boy for my reel gun (well more like shouted for it!!!). My second gun is a 115cm Rabitech Carbon apex with rabitech reel. Well, the buggy boy hands me my buddies gun, a 1.1m Picasso with reel. I load anyways and get a good shot into a 15kg+ fish. He drags me around a bit, and then the unthinkable happens, the reel jams.....arrgggghhhhhhhh.......fish eventually pulled out:waterwork . Irony of it all is that the picasso reel gun was my gun which i sold to my buddy because the reel also jammed on a 10kg 'tail last year:waterwork .
Anyways, by now my one buddy has his fish in the boat and the second is struggling to get his fish under control. (was his first 'tail) I swam over to my float and pulled up my now dead fish. Grabbed the fish by the gills and went to assist my buddy. He got his fish under control and got into the boat. But by now i had drifted about 10m away from the boat and realised that my fish was pumping out blood from its gills. So there i was in a cloud of blood in GW territory down current from the boat. The 2minutes it took the boat to get to me felt like an eternity!!!
After all the action we decided to make another drift. Big mistake. We were hardly in the water when a 4m GW came to say hello. Powerheads on, and screaming for the boat.........not fun:naughty
Mental note: don't ever get into the boat with-out switching your sharkshield off. Gives you a good couple of shocks
End of dive. Ended up with a 11kg , 8kg and 6kg 'tail, some smaller bank fish and some sangoras. All in all the day turned out ok. Weather looks good for this weekend. Can't wait to get back there. There's a 20kg 'tail with my name on it..........
Will post the pic's as soon as its developed.
miles