Spear fishing Cape Verde Islands, Sal

[pauldeclercq]

It Appears that the spear fishing holiday has moved from the canaries to the Cape Verde islands.
I will be going there at the end of June.
I would be great if anyone could give some tips or tell of any spear fishing experience around the islands.

 

[spaghetti]

I havent' been there personally but many friends of mine have been there spearing and/or angling, thanks to low cost flights from Italy (mostly on the island named Sal). All they say is: fantastic.
Wahoos, big cudas, giant AJ's, snappers of any sort: it's wonderland. Just take care to hire a local boatman to drive you on shoals and to watch you while at sea (it can be quite sharky, my friends witnessed).

 

[pauldeclercq]

Thanks, thats just what I wanted to hear.

 

[foxfish]

Sharks dude - never seen so many SHARKS!
Shore diving is not so good but offshore it is possible to spear big pelagics.
The sea is rough for most of the year lots of surfers & kite surfers & did I mention the "SHARKS"
I have posted some pics somewhere?

 

[pauldeclercq]

Sharks are fine, been diving in cape town most of my life.(I am gonna get bitten for saying that)
We wanna go for the pelagics, so it's sounds great.
Thanks.

 

[foxfish]

OK then you might have to ask permission from the local government? This was the case in 2002 when I was last there. The locale community where up in arms after spearos had upset the local fisherman.
Anyhow you might be able to arrange a trip or two with the local fishermen but they virtually all work for the hotels - IE - the boat belongs to the hotel & the fishermen work for the hotel.
When I was there in 2001 (i think) there were a group of SA spearos including the owner of Rabbtech, they had a load of guns to test & they could all dive 50mts! They had some very big sharks bugging them, manly bulls but tigers too. They saw no GWs but they are there!

 

[pauldeclercq]

Thanks for the info, one of our group speaks Portuguese, so that should sould help with the local government.
Those are some nice fish, hmm I can't wait to get there.
I can't dive 50m, but 20-30m is fine.
The sharks will be part of the fun. Perhaps it's time to invest in a shark shield!!

 

[foxfish]

Not much Portuguese spoken, the Islands have their own patois, there are quite a few of locals who speak Italian & some who speak English.
If you are lucky enough to meet one of the friendly locals who dive for a living (mainly crayfish & a local type of crustacean called a "cavoc") he will be your translator & guide for a small fee. There are quite a few "blue eyed black people you might meet too?
I have been told things have changed in the last few years with the islands becoming far more commercial. I loved my time spent in the Islands but would have to say Sal was my least favorite.
Good luck & enjoy the music

 

[cubanoperdido]

hey ya'll....i been fishin off Sao Vicente....about a mile offshore in front of the bay where all the sailboats are...right in front of Sao Antao, there's a rock out there in the ocean, its got stairs goin up to a little statue.... yeah, there's some good tuna out there....didnt see any sharks, thankfully, seen some sepias though, biggest ones i ever seen. hey, i'm in costa rica now an i'm new to this site, i wanna get in touch with other folks from central america....is there a spot on this site to find em??? i seen the miami boys chattin about the hog fish, i seen they all from miami....how i find the folks from central america?? thanks to all and if anyone can point me out i dig it... happy huntin...

 

[Old Man Dave]

Your south america rep is DeeperBlue.net Forums - View Profile: azapa

He's an honoury member of the Guernsey thread as there are not many spearo's from his part of the world. I'm sure he'll appreciate some company. Send hin a PM.

Dave

Sorry just realised my geography is a bit wonky. He's a bit south of you. However he might help out with a few names.

 

[cubanoperdido]

old man dave,

thanks, azapa is the name then....ok....how do i check him out?? yeah, i'm not so computer friendly either....well, computer friendly yeah but not website friendly i suppose....
thanks for the response....

 

[foxfish]

I have sent Azapa a message so I am sure you will hear from him very soon but if you cant Wait - go in to link Dave posted & send him a private message = PM.

 

[Old Man Dave]

Click on the link above and then click on "send a private message to Azapa". Deeperblue has a sort of private email service. You can send a private message (email) to any member and they can send one back. I'll send you one to show you how it works.

Dave

 

[greendiver]

Cape verde, sounds good!!

 

[azapa]

look what happens when a go to the beach and don't check internet for the weekend!

(nice ocean but didn't get in, too much DIY fixing the rotting house up, again, before the winter....)

Cubano perdido, responded to your PM.....

Cheers

 

[cubanoperdido]

thenks boys, i'm on it!! been runnin round the site too, startin to look more familiar... happy huntin...
z-ya

 

[Old Man Dave]

Welcome then and waiting to hear about your experience and catches. What's Cost Rica like for spearing or are you a world traveller (Cape Verde)?

Dave

 

[cubanoperdido]

ai-eee patrao,

dave, thanks for the info. yeah, i'm a nomad, bouncin round the planet for some ten years...been all over....when i was in cape green, i was on a sailboat that parted from canary islands, did cape green for a month or so, crossed the atlantic, hit all the islands till got to venezuela..margarita & los roques, got off the boat and headed to costa rica. i've been in guanacaste, north pacific of costa rica, good fishin....small schools of tuna, some jacks (my favorite....i eat em but its not my favorite dish, but yes my favorite catch), stingrays all over the place, which is real good eatin, tons of meat, and not so easy to land.. i keep away from reef fish, at least i try, unless i see a beast or i'm real hungry and havent eaten in days.. been to dominican republic, puerto rico, brazil, thailand....a few other places... what you got round your way??
z-ya

 

[pauldeclercq]

To Cubanoperdido,
Thanks for the useful info. I am really looking forward to diving in Cape Verde, I have read a lot about wrecks and have found maps with the reefs around and between the islands. I hop to get some good pics, although I usually to busy and always forget to take pics.

Cheers,
P

Next Trip ??? CUBA

 

[pauldeclercq]

Cape verde summary

Cape Verde.....

Before going to Cape Verde i did a little planning. I needed info, so I searched the net for someone who had been there.
finally I found Paul Maxwell on spearfishing.co.za and emailed him, he very kindly sent some mouth watering pics and told me to contact Armando, who lives in Portugal. Armando sent me some more fantastic pics and told me co get hold of Bafa when I get there.
So off to cape verde with a charter flight and 20kg's of spearing gear.
(Always stock up on some spare stuff for local spearo's. a 70 euro pair of fins can get you on a boat.)
I got to Ilha do Sal, and took a taxi to the hotel.
I went to get a local phone card and called Bafa, He lived next door top my hotel and after meeting him and his family, I was invited to a baptism of his nice the next day. Crazy party lasting 12 hours, i met every fisherman in Sta Maria. the next day was a write off.
After this I spent the next four days diving in the open blue water for 8 to 9 hours a day, Magic.
Bafa's father was the boat captain and we went out to the Bo-ras reef 45mins south east of Sta Maria, depth 40-50m.
Bafa has one occupation, he shoots Wahoo and any other fish that come to his flasher. I had before this only been blue water hunting twice north zanzibar and had never seen wahoo. Time to learn.
I spent the first day getting frustrated with my new multiband gun + drop head after loosing 5 big Wahoo. Too difficult to aim with precision and the drop head's cable sliced out of the soft wahoo each time the fish was on.
I soon realised my error, I had always used RA guns and had never considered that other guns are just far less accurate.
So the next day I left my teak gun in the boat and asked Befe for his spare RA 150, the same gun I had in SA.
From this moment on no fish escaped with exception to those that where further than I thought and out of range despite their apparent huge size.
We each dove about 100m apart with flashers and chum, with Bafa's Dad regularly picking us up and dropping us up current. He would also spend his day putting wahoo in the boat and catching flying to chum with.
I really wanted to dive down the reef below and did some dives down to 30m, but being alone I decided not too push it too far. diving down above the reef revealed large schools(100+) of jacks 4-5kg and some very nice looking big AJ with them, but these will be for a next time.
I did not take too many pics, putting the gun down was difficult.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nvzyMw9pvs]YouTube - wahoo, spearfishing cape verde[/ame]

enjoy.