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THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING FOR YOUR PHOTOS &/OR WRITTEN CONTRIBUTION Sam Power, Graham Hope, Mazdak Radjainia, Rob King, Alan Drake, Andrew Mc Donald, Ben Quayle, Steve Sosich, Bruce Knight, Jordan Price, Vaughan Hill, John O’Malley, Graeme Leitch, Shaun Cawley, James Young, Ryan McLachlan, Shane O’Brien, Jackson Shields, Darren Shields
Cold winter’s day shore dive from Auckland North Shore’s Waiake beach in half a metre of vis!!! Anything is possible!
Winter weather has been very challenging for most spearos, I have managed a few very good dives with some good results. I find the feeling of being warm and cosy while out in the elements makes me feel alive, to land good fish is just a bonus. In the next few months temperatures will start to rise, with this sometimes comes the challenge of plankton blooms, let‘s hope this does not affect us too much in the coming spring. The magazine is going from strength to strength, to all the contributors again I thank you very much.
The emails we are receiving from our readers are very humbling. This year is an election year, a good time for us to get across what we all want from our fisheries minister. Everything I have read suggests he is very pro commercial fishing. I have read comments from him that suggest when we all get our act together he will consider what it is we want. For those that don‘t know, we are represented by an organization called New Zealand Underwater. In recent years it has gone through a fair bit of restructure and recently seems to have turned a corner. From there we are represented by a sub branch called Spearfishing NZ, they are apparently there to represent all spearos interests around NZ. If you have concerns about our future let them know.
Good day at the Barrier
General consensus from many is snapper numbers are up, what do you think? There is talk of commercial being able to take more snapper in certain areas, wouldn‘t this be sad. Don‘t forget coming up the first weekend in September is the Russell to Paihia relay swim race for divers, this is a great event, one I have attended for the last 20 odd years or more. It is great fun with a dive after, see further into the mag for details. I challenge all divers in NZ reading this to come along and join in the fun, I am sponsoring 6 Wettie wetsuits as spot prizes so anyone can win one. 2 other big events on the calendar this year is firstly Odex on the 8th and 9th of October in Brisbane, an event purely about Spearfishing and Free diving. I am going as a guest speaker and hopefully dive a few spots while I am there. The second event is Oceanz in Tauranga on the 12th and 13th of November, this is an event that has been resurrected from the past. I attended them way back in the 80s. They were loads of fun, I got to meet Jacque Cousteau‘s son and listen to the many other amazing speakers. On the gear side of things, I have had a great time sourcing new product with loads of new things set to hit the shelves in the next few months. Summer will be here before we know it, may pay to check your gear for maintenance now. One life, live it. Darren Shields
I left work early on Thursday hoping to beat both the traffic and the expected weather front predicted to hit the North Island on Saturday. The plan was to get in a quick dive to try and secure a feed of fish for family and friends who were arriving on mass over the Easter weekend. From reports Iâ€&#x;d heard the vis was looking good and there was a big tide forecast. Youâ€&#x;ve got to love it when a plan comes together! Having made good time I quickly unpacked the car, hitched up my beach trailer and launched my 10ft parkercraft at the Leigh ramp. The 5hp mercury fired into life and I was soon dropping the pick next to one of my favourite spearfishing haunts. It was calm and clear and the sun was still just showing above the coast. I love conditions like his because you can get in very close to the rocks without being pushed around by a big swell. I slipped into the water and loaded up my trusty old 120.
Over the years I had seen and speared good fish here and I was thinking of how one should snoop around and over every rock with the belief a 20lb snapper may be there. I started swimming towards the first set of rocks watching a few small reef fish darting around the sea floor only about 3m below me. I came around the corner with the gun out stretched and stealthily headed for my first underwater rock. I was preparing to descend when I saw a large snapper swimming almost directly towards me.
I have seen some big snapper in the past and depending on the situation they normally disappear at warp speed especially in the shallows and especially when they are spooked. I aimed for the head and fired. The shaft struck the fish and it took off so I let it run for a few seconds until it disappeared around the corner of a rock and all I could see was the shaft. This is one of my real pet hates when the spear goes loose and you are frantically swimming down the shooting line to see if your fish is still there. To my relief it was but to my horror I couldnâ€&#x;t see the flopper on the other side. The shaft had hit the fish through the guts and I was now frantically trying to remember all the advice Iâ€&#x;d received on landing big snapper in less than ideal circumstances. I started putting some more pressure on the line hoping it would hole up. To my relief it did exactly that and headed for a shallow overhang directly below me until only its massive tail was still protruding. I dived down and grabbed it and then worked both hands up round its head and placed it in a bear hug only to notice to my horror once again that the shaft had fallen out. At this stage I was rapidly overheating in my 5mm and frantic that it might give one last big kick. I worked both hands inside it gills and managed to hold its head clear of the water until it calmed enough for me to reach for my knife and finish it. It was only when I swan back to the boat and took a couple of goes to get it over the side that I thought this was a big fish that might even go over the 20lb mark.
I thought I‟d try and get it weighed on certified scales by the local fish and chip shop but disappointingly they didn‟t have scales big enough. I walked into the shop in my wetsuit and the conversation went something like this:Me “Hi guys, any chance of weighing a big snapper I‟ve just speared on certified scales?” Lady behind counter rather incredulously “You want to weigh a fish?”
Hired hand cooking fish in the background “What‟s in it for us?” At this stage I was really quite stuffed so in lieu of a clever answer I said “Nothing really” which I‟m now guessing was the wrong answer! At this stage the boss had come out to see what all the commotion was about and in front a few bemused looking customers explained the before mentioned state of their scales. This proved to be the only slight hitch in an otherwise thoroughly memorable day! A quick diversion to Leigh fisheries scored me enough salt ice to pack the snapper down over night in a large bucket. I managed to dig out an old set of scales at the batch and finally weighed it in at a little under 11kg or around 24lb.
The entire fish was processed and eaten in a number of different ways. Absolutely delicious!
Photos & Article by Graham Hope
To Mazdak Radjainia – An Auckland spearo who won a ‗fancy pants‘ camera on the NZ Herald website for this amazing shot in Fiordland
These photos were sent in by Rob King, an Aussie diver (Name of spearo pictured is unknown) ―Giant Trevally Shot Off Moreton last Dec 62.3Kgs 900g off the Aussie Record.…‖
Name: Trevally Scientific name: Pseudocaranx dentex Record: 9.3kg, L De Beer, 18/12/09, Omaha Minimum size: 25cm
In New Zealand we only get one main type of Trevally which grow over 9kg. Unfortunately we do not get Giant Trevally in New Zealand as they are more of a tropical reef species that grows over 60 kg and is a very hard fighting fish. Giant Trevally are inedible in many areas of the world due to having ciguatera, which is a bad toxin that can be deadly.
Habitat: Trevally are a wide roaming fish that can be found up in harbours and all the way out on offshore pinnacles. Behaviour: Trevally can be found both in schools and alone. Bigger Trevally tend to be solitary and found up in harbours, in deep caves and under hangs and in the shallows parked up. Schooling Trevally are normally smaller fish up to around 3kg. Schooling fish are a lot more curious and easy to approach. Big Trevally are normally quite wary and spook easy like snapper.
Searching harbours is a good way to encounter good Trevally as well as on pinnacles and weed edges. Keeping a slow relaxed approach towards Trevally will result in getting into a good position for a shot. Snooping under hangs and caves can result in finding Trevally and if not, Snapper.
Alan Drake – ‗‘Tipping the scales at just over 4kg. These blue cod were speared 12 metres deep while diving off Ross Newtons boat 'Paragon' in Preservation Inlet, Fiordland.‘‘
Currently, the NZ Open Spearo record is 3.89kg for Blue Cod – When we asked about the size of his compared to the record, here is his take on things……. I weighed them on the scales on the boat that are rather shitty analogue ones (not digital and certainly not ratified by weights and measures!!!) but I imagine pretty close by all accounts. I'm not, and have never been, interested in records so it's not something I would pursue. Interesting what you say about the record weight...I would hazard a guess and say that lots of fish of that size and indeed larger have been speared down South. I think a fellow spearo had got fish bigger than that and I also think another SI local said he got a couple of crackers…but so what. They tasted bloody good and that's what I'm interested in :-) To be fair, if I got say, a Yellow Fin of Ginormous proportions or a groper I'd be looking at claiming it. And I'm certainly not knocking anyone who does pursue this avenue...each to their own. I think Women should be more proactive than guys in claiming records etc as they are by far a minority in the sport and could do with the exposure/publicity to heighten awareness that "Girls can do it too!" But I'm not so keen on knocking stuff over for records sake, especially if it's not that great to eat. REMEMBER (and others will back me up on this) ALOT of criticism levelled at Spearos is about us being size specific. Killing the biggest fish in the school is actually not a good practice (but one we are all guilty of) as they are the strongest usually and the best breeders etc. Not what we ideally want to remove from the gene pool if we are to consider ourselves truly interested in sustainability of a species. As I mentioned prior, we are all guilty of this practice, and I'm no exception. But what I would like to say is that I now DO NOT shoot the biggest fish in the school and usually see bigger fish than those that I bring back to the boat. Given that spearfishing comps target the biggest on the whole (12kg limit) I'm not sure what the answer is. I mean the average catch per person per hour in a comp is pretty low, and I would almost suggest of not too much concern. But maybe there is room for improvement there too...Perhaps others have an opinion on this? Alan Drake - Paua Commercial Diver turned NZ Fisheries Officer – SI Spearfishing Champ – NZ Spearfishing Representative
Shoot a good sized fish and this it might just be a new New Zealand record? #1 Check out the record list to see whether it is eligable. There is a junior (under 18), woman’s or open record section. If you meet the criteria for more than one section, you can apply for more than one. For example if you are a 17 year old female, your fish can apply for the junior, woman & open record (if it is indeed bigger than the current record in any of those categories) #2 Make sure you meet the criteria to be able to register your fish. A few rules are: You must be freediving, you need a clear photo of the catch ideally next to something to show scale, must be weighed on certified scales (E.g at a gas station or fishing club) Check out the full list on the next page.
Jackson Shields with his junior record striped marlin
#3 Get an application form. There, you will need the following information: Your contact info, species, weight, certified scales location & details, weighmaster details & a witness. #4 Email your form & photo to: Pat Swanson patanddebs@xtra.co.nz
Rules for New Zealand Underwater Spearfishing Records 1.
Fish may only be speared while freediving. No artificial breathing apparatus is allowed
2.
Fish must be free-swimming, unrestrained by nets, traps, lines or other devices
3.
A speargun must be loaded by the diver‘s muscle power only. Powerheads are prohibited.
4.
Any fish speared must be fought and subdued by the diver, in the water and unassisted.
5.
Fish must be weighed on up to date certified scales. These can be found at game fishing clubs, butchers, greengrocers, dairys etc
6.
Weights must be recorded in grams to the nearest 10 grams.
7.
Each claim must be accompanied by one or more clear photos of the fish, preferably with something to show scale
8.
With species where a photo may not provide a definite ID, the fish must be kept frozen whole until ID can be made.
9.
Records must be claimed within 3 months of the date of capture.
10. Applicants must be members of NZU or an affiliated club
Juniors will be under 18 years of age. A junior record can also be claimed as an open record
Kaikoura spearfishing Having lived in Nelson for most my life I’d dived Kaikoura a few times. Since moving up to Auckland, and only having intermittent spearfishing trips to the South Island, it ended up that I hadn’t dived Kaikoura for about five years. One of the main places I wanted to dive in Kaikoura (and in New Zealand) was Bushett Shoals. Bushett Shoals are famed for its crayfish, hapuka and sometimes ripping currents. It’s located about an hour’s boat trip south of Kaikoura and consists of a few reefs that come up to 15 m off the surface. Due to the large kelp that forms a carpet on the surface, it’s easy to spot from a distance. Having come down for a business trip (conveniently with my spearfishing gear) my mate Mark knew I’d be super keen to head down to Kaikoura with the chance of diving Bushett Shoals. Spotting a gap in the weather and with a couple of hours’ notice, we managed to get a group together and make our way to Kaikoura. Arriving late in the afternoon, we quickly unpacked and Mark took us to his secret shore diving spot to grab a feed of paua and some juicy butterfish for dinner.
Getting up early, we loaded the boat with lightning speed and started the trip to Bushett Shoals. Being the only spearo on the boat (the rest we’re scuba divers) I was kitted up super quick and jumped in the water before anyone else had even got their suits on. It took me a few dives to get used to diving on the reef edge which started at 16 m and dropped to about 22 m on the outside. For those who haven’t dived in a kelp forest before it can be quite daunting as it gives the bottom an eerie gloom, and getting caught on the kelp becomes a regular occurrence. After spearing a nice blue moki and what would be a prize blue cod anywhere else, I started exploring the cracks around the bottom of the reef. I was almost overwhelmed by the massive amount of crayfish, so many that most of them weren’t in cracks and had to sit in the open or on any slight indentation, not only that - these crayfish were completely fearless! I ended up using my left hand to draw them out (by wiggling my fingers) and gently reaching around grabbing them by their tails. I got a couple of crays for dinner (and to show up the scuba guys) I headed off to explore the reef, no sooner had I made my way through the first big frond of kelp I was swarmed by what I thought was a large school of terakihi. Well that’s what I thought for a second, before reminding myself terakihi don’t swim on the surface – and terakihi look like terakihi, instinctively I aimed my gun at the closest warehou and fired; nailing it and its slightly larger friend behind as well. After subduing them both and getting covered in warehou slime, I threw them in the boat for the scuba guys to find when they got back from their dive
The next day’s weather was just as good as the day first, so it wasn’t hard to make the decision to head back down to Bushett Shoals. Again I jumped straight in (this time at a different reef) and found myself surrounded by a massive school of telescope fish every time I reached the bottom. I convinced myself someone somewhere (probably Gary Fisher) had to told me they were really good eating so I justified shooting a couple of the largest ones I could find (both came in less than 100 g off the NZ record). Not wanting to be out done by the scuba guys I set about grabbing a couple of large crays, often having to fight my way through dozens of smaller (but still legal) crays to get to the big ones. I also managed to spook a couple of lone warehou swimming in the kelp. On the way back we spotted a lone blue shark sunning itself on the surface – not one to miss a photo op I slid my camera into the water about 3 meters from the shark, only to have it turn and charge straight at my camera (and hands), I managed to pull the camera away in the nick of time. The next morning we woke to dark grey skies and howling wind – making it a lot easier to justify packing up and heading home after such an epic two days.
By Andy McDonald
911 Beach rd, Torbay, Auckland Ph 09 479 4232 Mob 02183918 Email darren@wettie.co.nz
Carbon Fins $598 Available in different blade stiffnesses: 20/25/30 (soft/medium/hard) Black or Camo
Plastic Fins From $225 •Black (medium) or Winter (softer) •Shorter blade (15cm shorter, black only) •Camo (medium)
Prices are for complete fins
www.wettie.co.nz
This year the Seaquel Mercury Bay open was held with the Wettie New Era running along side of it. The comp was set to happen over Queen‘s Birthday weekend but due to weather, was postponed to the next weekend which was the 6th June. Sadly, this meant a few divers couldn‘t make the comp but there was still a good turn out! The Seaquel Mercury Bay open had a junior and open section with the standard list of fish including Koheru x 2 , Kahawai x 2, Butterfish x 4, Blue Maomao x 2, Blue Moki x 2, Porae x 2, Trevally x 2, Snapper x 4, Kingfish x 2. With added species of Parore and Pig Fish for the juniors. The Wettie New Era comp had a photography, spearfishing and combined section. It was the compeditors choice whether they wanted to take photos, spear fish or do both. The idea of the Wettie New Era comp is to cut down the amount of fish being taken and only include species you would target on a normal days diving in spearo comps and give divers the choice to take photos as well. There was a huge list of photographable fish including sharks, crays, rays and most common fish. The spearing list was Boar fish x 1, John dory x 1, Red cray x 2, Snapper x 2, Tarakihi x 1. RESULTS: Mercury Bay Open 1St Todd Herbert & Richard Whales (Also won the junior‘s section) 2nd Julian Hansford & Herb 3rd Pat Swanson & Long John Wettie New Era 1st Darren & Gemma Shields (Most species shot, photographed & combined) 2 x Snapper shot & 19 species photographed 2nd Mazdak with 1 x cray caught, 14 species photographed, Winner of ‗Best Photo‘ 3rd Logan Gouws & Ali Alkhalifah with 9 species photographed
Thank you to the Wettie New Era sponsors – MOA Beer, Wetkiwi Tshirts & Macs Ocean (spear tagging)
Mazdak‘s photo – ‗Best Photo‘ winner
Stingray with marks from an octopus and the below an ‗albino‘ leather jacket
Paul Best, the safety boat driver for the comp
Todd & Richard‘s catch for the day & below with their trophies (junior & open winners)
I hadn't been out on the water for a couple of weeks and the freezer was empty so I was itching to get wet. I brought a mate Stuart ,who is just getting into spearfishing & wanted to come along and watch. Hopefully get a nice snapper on his first time out as well! Another great string of weather in the bay gave us variable wind and 15m viz off the beach. I wanted to give my secret spot X another go so we loaded up the truck and were away. It wasn't long before we were geared up and swimming out from the beach. The water was fantastic, clear and very fishy. I had borrowed a camera for the day so we got some great footage of rays, nests of crays and I wanted to get some gun cam footage. We hadn't been in the water 10mins, I was combing a reef in about 4m of water, showing Stu how to snoop for snapper. I was snooping over every rock, I looked over a reef into a gut and saw it! The biggest snapper I've seen in my life. I had the camera mounted on my gun but it had turned itself off, I had a choice, turn the camera on and start recording and risk being noticed and lose the fish, or shoot.
I chose to shoot straight away, I was in a great position the bright morning sun was directly behind me so he couldn't see what i was. I dived down, aimed and fired. The whole time thinking ‗surely he‘s going to see me and bolt‘, but he didn't. I got him through the brain, but even the nerves put up a good fight. I couldn't believe how heavy it was. I thought he was a solid 15 pounder maybe go 20lb if I‘m really lucky. I had him in a bear hug and a knife through the brain to be sure. Stu got some great footage and photos then it was straight out of the water and on the scales.. It weighed in at 25lb already gutted! We got back in, I wanted to get a fish for Stu. Qe didn't run into anything else but had a good morning in the water. I have had some comments from people saying that i shouldn't have shot the fish. The way I see it, every spearo should get the chance to have a trophy fish. I‘m most likely never going to shoot a snapper that big again in my life. I have worked hard on my technique and believe i deserved it. I never waste any fish i shoot. I gave half the fish to my mate who is staying at one of the hostels in Paihia and he told me it fed them all. The head was smoked and the other half is sitting in my fridge for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next week. All in all an awesome day out in the Bay of Islands!
Photos & Story by Ben Quayle
Winter shories in Auckland can be somewhat frustrating. Combine pooh viz with cold (sorry you southerners, coolish) water, usually crap weather and the keenness levels dwindle somewhat.However this particular Monday I didn't have work, just lots of jobs and chores.The weather was kind of OK, it wasn't too cold and the viz reports were not to shabby so yeah, what the hell, the jobs would have to wait until tomorrow. With only a few hours up my sleeve, the drive north was spent running through my mind all the factors that would decide which turnoff to take and lead me to my ultimate destination.
Not too far away, tide, wind and swell conditions, and off course somewhere not too crowded with other spearos. Being a Monday that shouldn't be a problem I thought. Well sure enough as I arrived at the carpark another spearo was gearing up. Damn, there goes that first Johnny and probably the next as well!! After a cursory greeting, it was established that I was going to have my spot to myself as he went the other direction. Yes!! good first score to me and I could taste the JD fillets already. Upon entering the water it looked like 5-6m viz so I was pretty happy so far. I covered the first usually unproductive 2 or 300 meters at a fairly rapid pace. Once in the zone I sank down to my Johnny spot expecting it to be teaming with fish only to find that it was dead. Hardly a bait fish to be seen and certainly no JDs.
After 20 minutes or so hunting around I moved further out to the next rock edge. I was schooled by heaps of jittery big kahawai on the way out and reluctantly held off shooting a few as they were not target species. Once again the JDs weren't around and the Kahawai had bailed. Just as I was thinking through my next plan I saw a flash of yellow at the edge of my viz. A group of 15 odd kingies came flying in at me, I quickly dropped down trying to line one up but couldn't quite get in range with my little Orca 100. If I was going to get one of these guys it would need to be a decent shot as they were all in the 15+ kg range. some well over 20 I'm picking. It wasn't to be and they soon moved on and all I was left with was a rapid pulse. Moving on to the next snoopable bit of rock I found the Kahawai again milling and racing around. Then appeared a big pink tail heading away from me. An awesome big snaps and I hadn't spooked him. I quietly retreated to the rocks and surveyed the cover I had available to me. I worked out an approach with the sun not directly behind me but good enough. I would have to drop into a hole about 5 m deep and then quietly climb out the other side to peer between 2 rocks. The rock face then dropped quite steeply down to the bottom some 7 or 8 m more below. On my first dive I positioned myself at the gap and looked down cautiously. To my utter disbelief I could see at least 6 or more mega reds at or near the bottom. There was no cover out there and just too many weary eyes making an approach near impossible. Just as I was about to retreat for a breath a nice 6 kg model swam from behind the rocks seemingly to check me out. He realized his mistake all too late and he turned to flee. I nailed him through the gill plates at nearly point blank range. He bolted, not for the bottom but up into the weed and I managed to manhandle him quickly away from the other big fish below.
After much hooting and a quick Iki to the brain he was on my float and I went back for another look down the slope. Yip they were all still there. I quickly moved away and shot some kahawai then burleyed them up over the edge. This helped to bring the fish in closer to me and I managed to snot a 6.5kg in much the same manner. By now the floatline was looking real good. More burley was the key so out I went for more kahawai
Only this time the kingies were back. I sank down and waited for the shot to appear and eventually it did with me nailing a 14kger. After a good tussle I had him on the float line also. I was stoked. I had time for one more quick look and decided to approach from a different angle. Sure enough a nice snapper offered a shot, albeit a long one, so I let rip. The big red roared off but I had misjudged the range of the little gun and the spear pulled. Bugger!! With my time up I had to start the long swim back dragging a very heavy floatline. After a quick change and a couple of photos I was back in the car and home in time to pick the kids up from school and get the washing in before it rained again! Gotta love those winter shories!! Photos & Article by Steve Sosich
Cramp when diving The best way to avoid this is by keeping hydrated. Drinks such as Powerade or Mizone will help with this. Stay away from energy drinks such as ‘V’, ‘Redbull’ & coffee when diving as this increases your heart rate therefore you are unable to relax and maximise your breath hold. If you are getting cramp in your feet or calves, it could also possibly be due to ill fitting fins. If the footpocket is too small is will squash your feet giving your pins & needles then cramp. If they are too big, you foot will move around too much and you won’t have full control over the fin. Footpockets should fit like a sneaker. Snug but comfortable. When trying them on in a shop, keep in mind your foot may swell slightly when you are in the water. Also think about the thickness of socks you will be wearing. The ideal fin has a blade stiffness to suit your build and athletic ability. For a smaller/newer diver go for a soft/medium blade. That will make it much easier on your legs & ankles and will be easier to power. If you are bigger/fitter, go for a stiffer blade. Because of your size/strength, you will have the muscle to power them and therefore have better results. It wouldn’t hurt to have a quick stretch before you jumped in to water as well.
I don‘t quite know what it is about Chop My brother and I, but every time we catchup another big mission is always on the cards, Big being an understatement with the last 2 times resulting in at least 9hrs of diving every day for 3 days up Coromandel, and driving up to Lottin twice for 2 dives in 1 weekend as Chop wanted a Kingi. Might I also add the first drive he forgot his fins…. With our most recent I find myself in Palmy mid-June 2011. Chop gives me the call to come to Palmy as the old lady would be down visiting. Being the perfect chance to catch up with the family and maybe squeeze a dive in I‘m super keen. With another phone call 2 days out Chop explains the swell is too big and rain is forecast over the weekend, odds for diving were average. I finished work Friday night and always optimistic I stuffed the car with my two boys, pillows, bags and my dive gear, we leave home giving my lovely wife Katie a kiss and hug before heading off. Our first stop is always McDonalds, 3hrs later we hit Hastings and I am now driving blindfolded asking for directions in Dannyvirke we arrive at our destination Ruahini St. Catching up with Mum, Chop and Shelly his wife and their 2 boys Xavier and Maddix on Saturday, good times had by all. It‘s mean to see the boys all playing together, with homemade sushi for dinner we check the swell-map with a glimpse of hope on Pencarrow head in a little bay back intoWellington harbour. We set our alarms and leave at 5ish. It‘s still dark when we arrive in welly‘s.
Weaving our way through the Hutt and Petone water front until the houses stop and we reach the bloody locked council gate. Ahead lies a muddy road out to the Pencarrow Head. We get out and check the situation, with 2m Vis and the wind blowing we jump back in the car gutted with conditions. We throw in a 10min snooze. Chop gets up. Looks like its game on. We gear up, squeeze through the gate and start the walking down the track in socks and jandals. Mussel and paua shells litter the track and beach the entire walk. 15mins later we hit the first headland with the next looking twice as good and more sheltered from the wind, on we trudge another 20mins go by with a couple of bikers going past with fishing rods in hand lifting our spirits of fish for dinner. Goats are scattered on the gorse covered hills. Finally reaching a nice little sheltered bay, we navigate our way through the gorse and get changed, with all clothes in the dry bag and tucked away under a bush out of sight. It‘s a welldeserved dive. We hit the water & it‘s bloody cold, the pebbly bottom tapering away out of vision. The first rock is one big mussel & we make our way out deeper. It seems mussels love this country and are littered on every rock. Finally stumbling across one undersized paua, At least there are Paua‘s here! I show Chop and we start hunting.
The weed-line is looking fishier, things are picking up. We head into the current where a rock is submerged & Chop goes right snooping for fish. I guess I‘ll go left. I drop down to 4m and slowly peer around the rock face. It‘s pretty baron down here then I look at the seabed. BOOM solid Paua are everywhere. I call out to Chop PAUA JACKPOT BRO! We limit out with all Paua‘s ranging between 150-160mm. I was fizzing as these were the biggest Paua I have ever seen. Our dive just got a whole lot better. We work our way around a big rock with the current really pushing and it‘s a struggle to stay on the spot. I peer over a weed-line to see 2 butters staring back at me. I lift back and let the current take me, I have another look but the butters have spooked. I move up to the next rock the weed is thick and looks promising I drop down and nestle in the weeds, off in the distance butters dance around and I start to smile. With gun out in front a big granddaddy butterfish comes up from behind me on my right and swims within 10cm of the end of my gun. KOOSH. Ikied and on my float-line, we decide we‘ve had enough. By now the winds blowing twice as hard and it‘s raining also. We sort out our gear, make the long slow walk back along the track with hoods pulled up over our mouths - ninja styles to evade the stinging rain. A solid hour walk we arrive at the car, fingers numb and bodies sore we navigate our way back home. Bruce & Michael Knight Chuddy & Chopper.
Well the story starts early Sunday morning, Bill and I finally get a chance to go out for a dive as it has been a couple of months since our last spearing mission. The weather forecast reported wasnâ€&#x;t looking very flash but we decide to have a go anyway. We were wanting some snapper for dinner so decide on one of our spots up north in the Cavalli Islands. We had planned for an early morning start but as I said before, we had not been diving for a while so we forgot a couple of things and had to make a trip back. We finally got our A into G and left Keri Keri at 10 o'clock up to Te Ngaere. We got our boat in the water and as we were heading out of the bay we noticed straight away how clean and calm the water was. We were expecting a dirty rough sea so this was great as this just further excited us like little kids in a toy shop. We got to our snapper spot so full of adventure, that it probably got to us a bit too much and we ended up scaring the snapper away rather then snooping them. So we hopped out of the water with numb feet and no luck and settled on giving the teapot a try.
Headed over there and the water wasn‟t looking as clean and blue as before and I was feeling cold, not really wanting to go on. But I jumped in any way and with no luck again, couldn‟t spot any snapper. As we were heading back to our snapper spot, we saw a work up of kahawai. Bill wasn‟t too keen on getting any kingfish, so I thought I might jump in and have a little look. What do I see? This fat kingy sitting amongst the kahawai just asking so be shot. So I lined it up and BAM paralysed it. First time I got a shot like that and wasn‟t too sure what to do. So as I was pulling him in I must of moved the spear out of place because he started to get some movement, dropped a gear and was heading off to the depths. I finally got him up to iki him and I was a bit over whelmed by the size of his head. I wasn‟t too sure where to iki him but as I was stabbing him my knife broke in half. Weighed him on the scales and ended up being 17kg. My best one yet. Bill wanted some snapper for dinner so we went back to our snapper spot and decided to do a proper job this time. We burlied up our salmon bait and did some ground baiting. Bill ended up slaying these two nice sized snapper and kahawai. Which just added to the awesome day we had. Jordan Price
September 6th 1996, Vaughan Hill 23 years old with dive mate Eddie Reriti are going hard to catch the last of their paua quota before the season ends on the 30th of the month. Boarding Eddies boat at Waitangi on the Chathams they steamed to Pitt Island in very average conditions. Vaughan was still buzzing from the birth of his son 3 months before; he could not wait to get back home after this trip to be with him. Little did he realise that was going to be a lot longer than what he could ever imagine. They anchored up for the night at Pitt. After an uneventful night they rose early, had a quick breakfast then on the water in their smaller dive boat at 7am. Conditions were not good at all, limiting spots that were diveable. The first spot they dived yielded only one kit of paua between them after a half an hour swim. This was no good. Back on the boat they headed further east to a prominent point jumping in right on a bed of around 800kgs of paua. This was what they were here for.
Both divers went to work, filling their kits fast. Vaughan swam out deeper away from the rocks. They had a new boat boy running the dive boat, this would help him get close to Vaughan for pick up without putting the boat in danger of hitting rocks. An experienced boat boy would have no problems and do it very fast, speed is of the essence in this game. Vaughan waited in 15 foot of water for the boat to get to him, the boat boy threw him an empty kit as he latched onto Vaughan‘s very full one. Vaughan looked down spotting a good patch of paua right under him. He breathed up and dived straight back into the task of hooking paua‘s into his kit. All of a sudden he felt a slap in his side like someone‘s hand. He spun around but there was nothing, not even any pesky blue cod or wrasse, which are a paua divers constant companion. Air was now needed. Vaughan looked for the surface and headed up. He circled slowly as he ascended glancing to his right. The horror of all horrors greeted him. He was in the jaws of a big great white. The big pointed snout, the evil black eyes, which were now covered for protection while in attack mode, were right there under his armpit. The white had come in from behind, the jaw circling from the base of his neck down his back around his side encompassing his arm and front. Time seemed to freeze. Vaughan looked to the surface for help; he was still metres below it & was confused. The water above him was a cloudy green, with blood, he blacked out. Seconds later he came around & he was back on the surface free of the jaws. He was conscious with blood all around him, fear now gripped him. Where was the shark? He screamed for the boat, put his head back under scanning for the shark, he could see nothing but blood. It completely clouded the water all around him. The feeling of not knowing where the shark was, was almost overwhelming, Vaughan had to keep his head straight. At this stage he had no idea he was so badly injured, survival was his only thought. Funny thing looking back now was he still had his paua kit and tool, the instinct, as a working diver to hold on to these was obviously strong.
He lifted his head & the boat boy was coming towards him slowly looking for hazards not realising with his limited experience the need to be on a diver immediately when requested. He yelled again which was a real effort. His voice had seemed to have drained with his blood. He had no strength left. As the boat got to him, he lunged at it but his wrists gave way, they were so damaged, his paua tool fell from his hand & his instinct made him dive to retrieve it. He surfaced & the boat boy grabbed him and tried to pull him aboard but he was too heavy. With what felt like his last breath he told the boat boy to release his belt and get rid of all the lead around his waist but he could still not drag him aboard. Vaughan was past trying, all he could do was try and stay conscious. His thoughts were also of the shark, would it attack him again? Blood was all around the boat. Before he knew what was happening the boat boy put a rope around his waist, jammed the boat in reverse dragging Vaughan over to where Eddie was diving to get his assistance. This created another hazard for Vaughan. He could not breathe and he was now a bleeding lure being towed mostly under water. He could not stop the boat boy, he just had to try and survive & get his lips above the surface to breathe. Eddie was 100 metres away, which it seemed like miles. He blacked out. Next thing he knew he was lying on the deck of the dive tender, Eddie was swearing, he blacked out again.
His next memory was coming alongside the big boat with the boys on the radio summoning help. He drifted into blackness coming around as he was lifted in a blue tarp onto the Merlin; a very fast alloy boat owned by Patch, Eddie‘s brother. From then on, Vaughan drifted from consciousness to darkness, one memory was the spray coming from Patches boat, massive waves of it firing into the air, Patch was pushing the boat to it‘s limits. The air around was foggy and drizzly, Eddie was beside Vaughan. In a lucid moment he summoned him to listen ―Tell my wife and boy I love them‖ Eddies response was ― Tell them yourself‖ Vaughan was having trouble breathing; his new suit had a velcro strap around his throat that needed undoing. He asked Eddie to sort it out. Instead of pealing it open he took out a large knife attacking the throat area with vigour. Vaughan was horrified, not only for his new suit but the fact he may now get his throat cut, it was all too much he went out again. When he came around next he was on the back of an old Toyota single cab ute with no exhaust going hell for leather over a road he knew was rutted out from the rain. He felt he could be launched into the air at any moment. It soon stopped for a gate; two guys were beside him, one jumped off to open it. As he went he was yelling,‖ he‘s fu;#ked, he‘s fu<^ked ― The other guy told him to stop saying that. Vaughan went out again, waking up 3 weeks later in Wellington hospital, his mates filled in the details of what happened from the gate. A small plane with a doctor flew to Pitt from the main island. Cloud was very low. After three attempts, a small window opened and they landed just by the skin of their teeth. The pilot had wanted to abort but Vaughan‘s life counted on him getting there. They flew him back to the main island. The guy who opened the door at that airport thought someone had slaughtered several sheep inside, blood was everywhere.
Shoulder/Neck
He was lifted into the terminal to be stabilised. As he was lifted, a guys hand disappeared into a wound on his back they did not realise he had. Apparently as more blood was feed into Vaughan, he would drift in and out of consciousness, he does not remember this.
Back
A call was made for a Medical Emergency flight from NZ but that would take a few hours, Vaughan did not have this luxury. There was a grounded Chatham Islands plane in the hanger that had some mechanical problems, the doctor commandeered this. There were 3 blood donors also to fly with him; they were all used twice on the flight. He was flown straight to Wellington airport, on both flights the doctor had to kick start Vaughan‘s heart, he was one sick diver. He went through 95 units of blood that first day & had a large tooth removed from his back. Over the course of his hospital stay everything that could fail in his body did. His weight dropped to 45kgs. He stayed in hospital for 4 months then became a day patient for 2 years. The guy that cleaned up the plane found a big tooth in the blood. His mates went out to the area he was attacked and caught 5 great whites; one had a couple of missing teeth. Vaughan is now back diving.
Arm Vaughan’s story as told to Darren Shields. Pictures from Vaughan Hill.
In the next issue we will tell you a bit about his recovery and getting back into the game again. This guy is one tough ‗Weka‘; don‘t miss the next chapter of Vaughan‘s amazing story.
Last issue we featured a quick story on a spearo that had a run in with a shark & speared it. We asked what you thought and were then overwhelmed with feedback. Out of all the emails we received, none were postive and many even unprintable. But here is some of your feedback.. “To the Editor I believe that there is no need to shoot a shark .In 30 years of spearfishing and having many shark encounters and some really hairy ones . If ever I felt that I was not safe, instead of shooting this animal GET OUT THE WATER”
“Cant say I agree with shooting the
shark no matter how aggressive it gets. Get out the water if you feel unsafe. Put it this way if you go play in someone's backyard and the owner bugs you are you going to shoot him or move on?”
“It's always hard to comment as you don't know what happened underwater unless you were there. Also some divers are more experienced with sharks than others. In Australia we seem to have a lot more sharks and thus divers get more shark handling experience. From what I see and read of NZ divers seem a lot more wary of bronzies and often let them take their catch. This makes the bronzies a lot braver than they should be. Most experienced Aussie divers will get stuck into any whalers they see and try and intimidate the shark rather than the other way around. This aggressive tactic by the spearo usually results in the sharks becoming wary or leaving altogether. I think the image does not help our sport and this would not go down well in Australia. NZ is lucky that it not run by politically correct greenies who can't stand to see anything killed!! I have never shot a shark and have had a lot of run ins with agro sharks, I reckon putting a shot into one is a very dangerous thing to do and a good hard poke as soon as you see a shark is the go (except bull sharks). Also as sharks this size are not good eating (mercury issues?) it's not good to target them. I wasn't there with this diver so i don't want to second guess him however i wouldn't be
“I am writing this after reading the article in June's issue, entitled 'Shark Business'.Where do I start? The fact that anyone in this day and age would intentionally kill a shark astounds me, and as a Paihia local I am frankly deeply angered that someone would take one of these creatures from the water. I dive almost every day in the Bay of Islands so know how absolutely rare it is to even get a glimpse of a shark. In addition to this, I was on the wharf when Derek landed his 'prize' and it seems his "vital shot" was followed by a second shot from his buddy AFTER the Shark had turned away. Was it essential to kill this shark? I think not. Was it a testosterone fuelled drive for a trophy fish? You be the judge. Dissappointed Diver” “Just submitting my comment and opinion on the hero who speared the bronzy . I am new to the sport and i have to say sharks come into my mind every time i am in the water . I like to think that the reason for this is that I know I am in their territory and not vice versa and have a high and healthy respect in that regards , hell it might even save my skin some day .I find the killing of this awesome creature senseless and i don't believe this guys efforts to cover it up as some sort of self defence hold any merit . In his own words he says it took 3 hours to bring it in . I doubt it was attacking him for 3 hours or there would have been a clear winner in this "epic struggle" between beast and man . i reckon he would have had plenty of opportunity to retreat from the water or see the shark away ,after all i doubt it would have stuck around for a scrap with a spear sticking out of it . in my opinion this was just a sad attempt of shallow guy to increase his ego ... His words at the end are classic "what are we going to do about these sharks are a real problem " says it all really” “Regarding the pic of the guy who speared the large bronze whaler shown in your latest e-mag what a dickhead! This email is going to sound cliché because the arguments against what he says are so obvious! Nothing more needs to be said other than to state the fact that sharks have obviously been around for a hell of a lot longer than he's been spearfishing. He was outside of his environment and is therefore the logical problem not the poor shark, who shouldn't need to be killed for following it's natural instincts in it's natural environment! Sharks are under enough pressure from finning, by-catch etc. and with spearfishing ever increasing in popularity we need to have good understanding of shark presence and behaviour before we get in the water. If spearing leads to sharks learning to following and possibly bullying divers because they associate them with an easy feed then I fully believe that sharks' existence takes precedence and that they ultimately be left alone. Without being a shark expert I can't make calls about whether shooting it was ultimately necessary but from my limited knowledge I'm pretty sure human sized prey is not on a bronze whaler's agenda. A big male specimen like that would naturally be pretty fearless and inquisitive so the guy would have been crapping himself, shooting in naive self defence. Assuming this was the situation he should have gone away and learned some more about sharks rather than sending in a boastful photo paired with an arrogant comment summarising the event. I don't reckon you should have published the photo - he'll get more recognition from this than the poor shark will. Hope he at some stage feels humbled by the experience and regrets having killed it.”
Send your spearfishing questions into the Kiwi Spearo mag & we will answer them in the next issue!
Email editor@spearo.co.nz
Here is one from someone getting more familiar with our coast!! Where do the fish go over winter. The pelagics follow the warmer water but what about the reef fish? What ones can be readily brought out for a feed with a good burley? Enquiring minds need to know. Thanks, Mark
Hi Mark am not sure anyone really knows the real answers to these questions. From my point of view I not sure the reef fish actually go anywhere they are just less active and maybe don't feed as much meaning we see them less. Kina is always a good start for burley and obviously the likes of snapper will come to it if done in the right spot. If the burley works well, other species will turn up like john Dory to catch any small fish around it. Kingfish are also attracted to any activity. Further south Blue cod love burleys and moki sometimes show up to see what all the commotion is about.The key thing is where you place a burley, I don't like enclosed bays, drop offs are okay but you need a ledge to put the burley on and let some trickle over the edge. The closer you can make a burley to deeper water and current without placing the burley deep, the better you are.
Hope this helps Darren Shields
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Here is a spearo adventure from last summer to brighten up your winter. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t worry though, summer temps are only a couple of months away!
The summer just gone provided some great trips away spearfishing with some good fish to be had. There were two trips in particular that I really enjoyed and proved to be quite successful. Once back from my new year‘s expedition I was privileged enough to get invited out on my mates, old man‘s beautiful launch for a trip to the barrier. I had been looking forward to this trip ever since last year as it is always a good trip out with the crew of the ‗Altair‘. The weather was great the whole duration of the trip that was spent along the inside of the barrier. One of the goals of the trip was to get Arran his first Boarfish. This was soon achieved when my mate Sam took Arran along a promising looking weed line near the broken islands where they stumbled across a small female Boarfish that Arran managed to spear. Also later in the trip Arran managed to spear a nice male Boarfish spooked by Sam as shown in the photos. A lot of the trip I spent trying to film some good snapper footage, which as per usual was rather difficult. Another goal of the trip was to get Sam‘s little brother Sean (who is becoming a good little diver) his first snapper. So I decided to take him for a swim and film him, just outside of Fitzroy harbour. We came across a nice tunnel that was full of baitfish, I even found some Blue Knife fish amongst the demoiselles. Me and Sean dove over the edge into the tunnel and there was a small mob of snapper sitting on the bottom, but they soon moved off. We carried on along the coast and I came across a deep gutter that had a nice mod of snapper sitting in it, so I glided down and filmed them and they slowly moved off. I swam with the sun back towards the shore slowly to allow Sean to catch up, and stumbled across a rock that had a big snapper sitting right next to it that would have been 8 to 9kg. The snapper could not see me and sat there oblivious to what was going on, I got Sean over and he made a dive on it in the excitement of it all I forgot to press record, the snapper started to get uncomfortable and began to move into the weed. We got right down to it and Sean took a shot and unfortunately missed, and I proceed to almost cry for the missed opportunity, it would have been a cracker of a first snapper for Sean. There was no way that me and Sean were going to give up (much to his dismay), So I took him for another snoop along some very promising looking coast armed with the camera ready to get him spearing a snapper on film. We had the sun behind us and it was getting late in the afternoon, perfect conditions for what we were trying to do.
Arron‘s Boarfish
Sean‘s first Snapper
We had been seeing a few pan sized snapper but they were not presenting a good shot. We were coming along a wall when I spotted a nice snapper of around 4 or 5kg facing away from us against the wall in the weed. As quietly as possible I alerted Sean of the snapper and he was quick to make a dive in pursuit, I quickly flicked record on the camera. Before he got close enough for a shot, the fish sensed our presence and took off. Although Sean didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t get the fish it was a good encounter. Only about 5 minutes after later I found a beautiful looking gutter, so I stopped and waited for a second and watched a nice snapper swim straight into it. We made the dive straight towards it with the camera rolling and noticed there were 3 other good snapper sitting in front of it, but we were already committed, the snapper did not seem that worried. I started having a nervous breakdown as Sean was not shooting the fish, but his gun was pointing straight at it, I later found out that he was trying to turn the safety off. Just as the fish was about to spook Sean pulled off a lethal blow and the snapper was subdued. I think Sean was rather stoked as he began yelling so loud that people on the boat could hear him and they were a good 500 metres away. We proceeded along the coast and there were a couple more missed opportunities that were easily forgotten as Seanâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s first snapper later weighed in at 5.5kg, which he celebrated by eating and sleeping the rest of the trip. While parked up just outside Fitzroy I thought I would retire the camera and got up in the morning and went for a swim along a short bit of coast, I came upon a good looking rock and proceeded over a ledge to find a good snapper milling around in a depression lit up by the sun, I managed to get a good kill shot off and It later weighed in at 7.5kg. It was such a nice morning that me and Arran deciding to keep going along the coast to see if Arran could get a good fish to. Unfortunately I always seemed to be at the right place at the right time seeing all the snapper and Arran kept missing out, that was until we got towards the end of our dive and Arran found a snapper swimming through a gut and shot it from above. It later weighed 5kg. My days soon became numbered and I had to leave on the ferry back to Auckland, but satisfied with a good week out on the water.
Sam‘s 33kg Kingi Sam‘s 2.3kg Golden Snapper
Arron & Jackson with their Snapper
Only a week prior to New years the weather came really good and my Granddad gave me the opportunity for me and a couple of mates to take his 5 metre Haines Hunter out to the Mokes, there was no chance I was going to pass this up. So I gave my mates long john and Sam a call and we were soon off, leaving from Omaha it should only take around an hour and twenty minutes. First stop was Long John‘s secret rock, I was first in and dove over the edge of the rock where all the Pink Mao Mao were sitting in search of a big Snapper. I was pleasantly surprised to see a big Golden Snapper sitting next to me on the ledge. Once back at the surface I gave Sam the call as he had never speared one before. He wasted no time in making a descent and glided down to the ledge, the Goldie came swimming straight past him and he took the shot making solid contact with this beast of a fish. It later weighed in at 2.3kg. We spent most of the day mucking around in the nice viz with a few nice snapper spotted, but none landed. Right at the end of the day we decided to check out a spot that normally has a few fish swimming on it. Me and Long John got caught up farting around with a poor sick bird that looked like it was covered in oil, and then we had issues with the engine. So we got stuck in the boat, mean time Sam decided to shoot a Kingi and was getting towed around in circles. We didn‘t think much of it, even when he yelled he had shot a big Kingi and needed another gun, I replied ‗you‘ll be right just swim it back to the boat‘. Eventually after about 5 minutes I thought I better get in the water and bring the poor bugger another gun. He managed to get a second shot into in and land it. It turned out to be not a bad fish at 33kg and he reckons there were bigger ones in the school. After having engine problems we decided it‘s best to head back as it‘s not a good idea being stuck out at the Mokes in a 5 metre boat that was made in the early 70‘s. On the way back we couldn‘t resist and dropped Sam on Cray pots out in the middle of nowhere that we thought may be marking a secret rock that had been lifted by tectonic activity. We were disappointed on every occasion. At the end of the day the tally of fish looked pretty good in Sam‘s perspective as he had got his first Golden Snapper that was not of small size, and his biggest Kingfish. Pictures by Sam Power, Story by Jackson Shields
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Mix together in a bowl with borrowed crimper and a huge smile.
Am very keen to take a solid king home for the family so off out the back into the shed for ideas, I asked my boy Taylor if he had any ideas on shiny things and a CD was his reply. I threw a handful of CDs cut in half and beads on a line with swivels and a squid covered sinker. Tried her up Lottin and she was a fizzer with the reflective material peeling off the CDs. Back to the drawing board with hinges replacing the CDs I have got a good feeling about this one, watch this space.
In training, they teach American Peace Corps Volunteers to assimilate with the community. That‘s why we get three months of intensive language and culture instruction before being assigned to different islands around Tonga— they assigned me to teach science in secondary school in the Ha‘apai Island Group. These are the least developed islands in a still-developing country where life is slow and quiet. The United States government gives me enough of a monthly allowance to cover basic needs and purchase imported goods from the Chinese stores. Most Tongan men in the villages and outer islands of Ha‘apai, however, don‘t have such a stable income. They need to catch fish, be it with a hook, net, or spear.
As a suburban boy from ocean-less Chicago, I knew nothing about fishing, by any means. But I wanted to become more Tongan, and that meant getting in the water. An older volunteer made me a Tongan-style spear gun out of a y-shaped stick, some rubber tire-strips, surgical tubing, and a sharpened piece of rebar. Although he had plenty of practice on the reefs with his own Tongan mentors and could reliably catch himself myriad surgeonfish and smattering of parrot fish and unicorn fish, I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t seem to hit anything edible. Those hand-fashioned spear guns have a steep learning curve. The Tongans are rather poto, or skilled, with such primitive fishing tools, but they stick to small fish very close to shore. Unlike us trepid Peace Corps Volunteers, they usually spear fish at night too. Although I admired their resourcefulness, I wanted to catch bigger things, and more easily. That meant getting a real gun.
After a short 1-week respite in Auckland during June 2010, I picked up a Rob Allen Scorpia 1100 from Trade Me and a few other supplies.
Back in Ha‘apai, I was so excited to use my new spear gun that I would sprint off for the reef between classes. Ha‘apai is so narrow that the beach is never more than a few minutes bike ride away, and quality reefs abound. Spear fishing is a convenient hobby to start in Ha‘apai. Fishing soon became more than just a hobby; It became my daily source of protein. I could live like Tongans and rely upon my own skills to feed myself – after only a few hours of fishing I can eat for a week. Like Tongans, I catch mostly parrot fish, snapper, unicorn fish, and grouper, but there are also occasional treats like Trevaly, and if you‘re very lucky, Tuna. Tuna abounds if you can get far enough from shore, but I don‘t have a boat. Instead, I set in from shore at a few favourite points around my island. This means I stay shallow (10-30 feet), and it means I don‘t see a lot of Tuna. When I do, it‘s always the fish that gets away. Last weekend, though, I had another chance at the prize. Mostly parrot fish. The "poisoned" pone are the dark brown ones on the bottom right
In only ten feet of water on a reef teeming with parrot fish, a Tuna meandered into view as I clipped my latest parrot fish onto my stringer. I hid behind a rock long enough for it to saunter within range. But in my excitement, I forgot what all spear fisherman tell me: shoot on an oblique angle through the bigger fish. Instead, I completely broadsided the 1-meter-long Tuna, so of course it bolted away. I was free shafting, so it took the shaft along with it. That was my only shaft. I‘m back to eating imported chicken until I can get re-supplied from New Zealand. Quickly responding to my emergency, Darren from Wettie Spearfishing is sending me some replacement shafts with a trio of Kiwi visitors next week . You‘d think that we‘d have a spearfishing shop here, and that Tongans would have plenty of spear guns. Whether guns are too expensive, or they like the stick-and-rubber method, or they just prefer Hawaiian slings, I can‘t say. But as a result of our simple fishing in Ha‘apai, the reefs are still beautiful and bountiful. There are only five months left before my service in Tonga is finished and I return to far-away Chicago. In the year since I purchased that Rob Allen Scorpia 1100, I‘ve learned so much. White-Tip reef sharks used to scare me out of the water, but now they seem afraid of me. I can dive deeper for longer than before, and my accuracy is gradually improving. I can actually now name many of the fish in the sea. Understand, that before I came to Tonga two years ago, I had never even seen the Pacific Ocean. I‘ll miss it deeply. Lucky you guys.
American Peace Corps Volunteer Ha‘apai, Tonga
Date Sunday 25th September 2011 till 2nd October 2011
Fly from Auckland - Port Villa Then Jump on our 34ft purpose built Blackwatch game boat. This trip will be Island hopping for 6 days up through the Vanuatu group. We will stay in bungalow type accommodation on one of the islands with the locals this is a 35 ha private island with 4 star well appointed rooms and restaurant that is all to ourselves for the stay. From here we have access to some amazing dive sites including FADS, sea mounts and drop offs. The 34ft Blackwatch game boat has a cursing speed of 25knts. This boat will head out to different reefs, drop offs, banks and bays for each days diving bringing us back to our rooms each night as we make our way around the islands. Your meals are taken care of each day both on and off the boat. 6 days diving 8hrs each day.
We have done these trips to Vanuatu for the last 8 years with some of the best results from any tropical trip that has been conducted from NZ, fish such as Yellow Fin up to 72 kg, Dogtooth tuna, Mahi Mahi, Wahoo, Giant Parrot fish and many other reef fishes have been landed. You are diving with guides that know the area and how to maximise your efforts so you will get maximum value for money. Total price package includes airfares - ex Auckland, accommodation, boat, spear guide, DVD of trip and meals = $4900 See video footage from previous trips on our "video page" or browse our photo gallery at www.extremefreedom.co.nz! For more info on this amazing spearfishing destination contact Kane Grundy now and book your spot to avoid disappointment on 0272432824!
“There is not too much I haven’t seen or experienced when it comes to spearfishing but I am still stunned by some of the stories I get told by others about the sport. These stories are too good not to be told. I will leave it up to you to decide whether they are fact or fiction. Our character to take you on some of these adventures will be called The Spear, here is the 3rd tale.’’ Darren Shields
As I have written about before The Spear does not fear anything in the ocean, big sharks are but a pest in his world. The Spear was one of the original spearo‘s to take some big fish from the Poor Knights when it was open to all forms of fishing. North Reef off the northern end was one of his favourite haunts, a deep pinnacle that comes within free divers range, at times it can be amazing. The Spear liked to work deep, the weed edge at 50 metres was his play ground, here he could find all sorts, there was not many species he had not encountered on this spot. The viz was stunning this particular day, a good 40 metres, school fish were everywhere, big yellowfin gliding through the bait, monster kingies beating up everything in sight, big bronzies gliding around the edges like giant bouncers waiting to deal to anything or anyone that steps out of line.
The Spear was in his element, this was his realm, he was here to spear big kings, the yellowfin could wait for another day. Breathing up on the surface The Spear could see a school of big kingies down around 30 metres, one last breath, he spat his snorkel, forced his upper body below the surface, waited for his fins to get below the surface before he started kicking, fining to 10 metres then letting his weights take his slender body into the depths, gliding into a vertical freefall.
The king fish were not worried about his approach, he was the master of stealth, within seconds he was within range of a 40 kg kingfish, this would do, he wanted something a lot bigger but a small one like this would be okay for the BBQ he was having for the local Chess Club he had just joined. He took aim with his old wooden 90 cm home made gun drilling the kingie in the guts, he loved a big fight so tended to shoot the fish in this area. With no floatline of reel he had a massive fight on his hands, now some 35 metres below the surface, it would be minutes before he could get air. The big fish took off, he dug in with his blue Otarie short rubber fins he had purchased from the local Super market. His extremely powerful legs made lite work of the battle dragging the fish from the depths to the surface. Five minutes after leaving the surface his head broke the surface, the fight all but gone out of the 40 kg kingie. He gulped precious air, put his snorkel back in place then dipped his face below the surface, the kingie circled slowly underneath him, he pulled it towards him wrapping his arms around its body, one arm around its head the other around its tail, the fish stopped fighting, The Spear was about to reach for his knife when all of a sudden a giant Mako grabbed the mid section of the kingfish, it‘s nose rubbing the lense of The Spear‘s mask, anger surged through his veins, how dare the shark think he could take The Spear‘s catch. The Spear had a massive wrestling match on his hands, the shark shook it‘s massive head trying to rip the fish free, The Spear hung on tight, the big Mako was shaking so hard The Spear was being lifted clear of the water creating a massive wave ,The Spear got even angrier , he wrenched the kingfish free of the Makos jaws leaving it with a massive chunk of flesh clamped in its mouth, The Spear grabbed his fish in the gills, it was now virtually dead. He drew his massive knife preparing to do battle, the Mako was having none of it, he knew when he was beaten, he glided off into the depths. The Spear laughed into his snorkel, ―yeah that‘s right chicken run‖
Need Caricatures, cartoons or Illustrations? Contact Graeme Leitch, leitch@vodafone.co.nz
Shane O’Brien’s Cray fish Taxidermy
Shane is an expert at cray mounting. It doesn‟t have to be a monster to get mounted. Shane will do any size. For further info on prices and availability, give Shane a call.
Contact: 027 271 5891 craymounts@vodafone.co.nz
This summer I have only just finished building my first kauri spear gun. It has taken me at least 3 months to fully plan, shape, oil and put it together. If you do decide to make a gun you will need a bit of time and patience, as if it is not planned out right it can get very annoying while making it. I am only 13 so I‘m not highly skilled in making spear guns but this is what I have done and I‘m sure there‘s something in here to help someone thinking of making a spear gun. Firstly I used a couple of different tools for this job that can be found at most good hardware stores.
File for shaping the body, handle and stock of the gun Jig saw Table saw Vice for holding wood Router for cutting out trigger mechanism hole and spear rail Drill and screws (must be stainless steel or will rust) Sanding paper for finishing gun and smoothing This is not a super high detailed plan of attack but it‘s enough to get a good idea of how it‘s done
I started off with a plain block of kauri and started shaping it in to kind of a v shape. I then cut a handle from a another piece. After smoothing down the edges, I put it in the vice and began making finger cuts for extra grip while in use. I then made a stock for the back of the gun. I drilled 2 holes and then screwed the stock on to the back of the gun. I then marked out where the trigger mechanism I bought from Wettie was going to go. I then marked were it was going to sit so I could put the handle on. The problem was that the trigger has to go so far back for the spear to come out, so I measured how far back the handle must be.
Once that was decided I screwed and glued the handle on. The next thing I wanted to do was drill the holes at the end for the rubbers to go in to. For the first hole I drilled it with a 15mm drill so that a 16mm rubber would fit nice and tight in the hole. For the second hole I used a 18mm drill for a 18mm rubber, as you can see in the picture thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s what it looks like. Remember when drilling your hole, be sure to use a drill that will not rip up the wood. As you can see in the picture, the wood was ripped up bad. I had to use super glue to repair it. It helps to drill a smaller hole first, and then use the full sized drill so you have a guided hole to drill. For your first hole you need to have a cut so you can slide the rubber through. I did this with a jig saw. Do not do this with the back hole or the front of your gun will be very weak. You need to have as much timber as possible as the power of the rubber coming back might just be enough to rip out the wood. While you are working at the front you should start thinking about the spear glide, but do not screw it on or you will not be able to route out the spear glide. Once I had cut the hole for the trigger mechanism and had it fitted in right, I then needed to drill the holes for the bolts to go in. Be sure to measure where the bolts must go or you may destroy the mechanism. You should mark out the holes, put the trigger mechanism in place, then using a very small drill bit drill right through. When you look through the hole you should be able to see how far you have missed it. Remember to hold your drill as square as you can or your holes will be on an angle. As long as the bolt you have can go through it will be fine. Once I had done all that I screwed and bolted the trigger mechanism down, I started thinking about the front guide. I picked out a little staple clip, drilled some holes for it to go in, and bent it so that it would fit on the gun
I then screwed it in with stainless steel screws. I also sunk the nut and head of the bolt in to the wood about 3cm so it doesn‘t stick out the side too much. After that I began making a trigger guard. I used one of my Dad‘s stainless steel rulers, as we don‘t have much metal lying around & bent it into the shape I wanted. Then I drilled holes at each end and screwed it on tight. The only thing that was left to do was oil the wood, so after a short conversation with Dad we picked out a water proof stain. I put 2 heavy coats on. It is recommended to use 3 but I did it so heavy all over the gun that I ran out. When doing this be sure to pour oil down any holes or cuts in the gun and leave no dry spots. After each coat leave it to dry for at last 2-3 hours so that the oil has a good chance of soaking in. Once fully dried it will be all ready to go. Finally my last message is that I started this project with little experience on how to make a spear gun from scratch and I‘m pretty happy with what I have made as I did most of the work and I hope this has been of some help to someone who wants to make one. Enjoy the water everyone, I‘ll see you out there
Shaun Cawley
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editor@spearo.co.nz Editor‟s note: The opinions voiced in the articles are not that of the Kiwi Spearo Magazine, but of each individual writing the story. We have spell checked all articles but in the spirit of keeping all stories that of the writers, the content has not been edited.
Last month we looked at the proper breathing for freediving, the benefits not only for our diving but also the physical and health benefits that it has in our day to day life. This month we will look at the breathing technique called â&#x20AC;&#x2022;Full Yogic breathingâ&#x20AC;&#x2013; or simply Yoga breathing. Firstly we must find a comfortable position to carry out the exercises. You can sit crossed legged or on your feet or lie down on your back. In the seated position hands should relaxed and placed gently in your lap or if lying down legs should be outstretched. Gently close your eyes and relax. The first exercise we will be doing is called abdominal breathing which also the first part to a full yogic breath. Breathe normally and you will notice that as you inhale the abdomen rises with inhalation and then falls with exhalation. Try and relax completely and concentrate on a slow inhale followed by an exhale of about double the length of the inhale. Now begin to deepen, lengthen and extend that movement. That is, while inhaling, let the abdomen rise to its limit and at exhalation let it fall completely. Keep the chest still during this entire process â&#x20AC;&#x201C; only move the abdomen. Continue this for 20 breaths and then rest. By placing one hand on the chest and the other on the stomach you can ensure that the chest is not being used during this breathing exercise.
The second part of the exercise we will be doing is called Thoracic or chest breathing. Breathe normally and you will notice that as you inhale the chest will rise slightly but will also widen and lift as the intercostals muscles pull the ribs wider apart. Now again, begin to deepen, lengthen and extend that movement. On the exhalation, let the lungs collapse fully, squeezing out as much of the air as possible, again by placing one hand on the chest and the other on the stomach you can ensure that the stomach in this exercise is not being used during breathing. Do this for 20 breath cycles and then again rest. The third part to the exercise combines the above 2 steps above into one smooth motion. A good mental picture of a perfect full yogic breath is like a wave. The breath wave must be able to freely move up and down between the abdominal and thoracic / chest. This is carried out in the following way: First inhale by filling the abdomen and then CONTINUE inhaling as you expand and fill the chest. Then exhale first from the chest as it empties and falls and then CONTINUE exhaling from the abdomen as it draws inwards completely. This is one round of the full yogic breath. Repeat this for 20 rounds. Again by keeping one hand on the stomach and chest we can make sure that we are performing the exercise correctly. Remember the patternâ&#x20AC;Ś Inhaling - abdomen then chest; Exhaling â&#x20AC;&#x201C; chest then abdomen.
Initially you will experience unevenness or bumps in this breathing process but try and relax and you will find that with a few weeks of practice, your breathing will change into a SMOOTH flowing pattern with MINIMUM effort and with MAXIMUM capacity. For those who have an iPod, pad or phone there is a great application that can be downloaded free called universal breathing Pranyama. Other ways to finding out more about breathing would be to attend a yoga class (Pranyama style is the best for freedivers ) or get one of the many books that have been written on this subject. Next month we will start to look at the separate parts of the dive itself starting with the Freefall. James Young
For more info & dates email James â&#x20AC;&#x201C; rutherford@vodafone.co.nz
NZ Agent www.wettie.co.nz
We know there are lots of you out there that are new to the sport and looking to meet other keen spearos in your area. Here is the place to find them!! Send the following info to editor@spearo.co.nz •Your name & mobile number •Your area. (City & suburb) •Do you have your own transportation and/or boat? •A bit about yourself. E.G New to spearfishing, looking to
meet up with other guys with similar experience. I have a boat so am able to take out 3 others. I live in Auckland so would be keen to travel over to Great Barrier for a day. If you don‟t want to list your details on here, email us and we can email you back any suitable details that we have.
Mr Moise (M for short) Butler 0211 429 053 Papamoa Beach, Bay of Plenty I have a boat & transport. A bit about myself, first year into the sport, decided right from the onset that safety was a priority have therefore completed a freediving course. Geared up for snooping, but looking for buddies for the more challenging weed line and pinnacle diving and in time to progress into blue water hunting as all my in laws are all mad game fishermen in French Polynesia, so will have access to does waters in good time. Due to a great work/life balance I’m available every four days.
Hi I’m Shaun Bayley, 0272305926 I’m in Hamilton and looking for dive buddies as I’m new to spearfishing and need to spend more time in the water, I have a good van to haul gear and people, have a warm wettie camo package and 120 gun so I’m geared up and keen as to shore dive around Coro, Auckland etc, finding spots and building my skills b4 heading to deeper water!
Paul Caiger 02102547411 Living in Leigh, North Auckland. Have transportation but no boat. I'm 27 years old. I moved up to Leigh last year from the North Shore, as I am doing postgraduate study in marine science at the Leigh Marine Lab. Originally a SCUBA diver (8 years+), I was introduced to spearfishing and freediving a year and a half ago, although I only bought a gun about 9 months ago; so still a rookie really (still waiting to land my first real decent snapper, which is no.1 on my priority list!). Always keen to go diving with fellow spearo's, picking up some good tips and advice etc., whilst getting out and landing some nice fish. Being a student, time frames are pretty flexible (incl weekdays), and always keen to tag on board a boat and get to some of those magical islands in the outer gulf.
Adam Pratt 0210519867 Palmerston North Own a car for transport. Keen to go for a dive down in wellington area or around castle point. Have been diving for around a year and half. Only got a full setup mid last year had plenty of use during summer.
Thomas Waugh 0212681473 Devonport, Auckland I have my own car I have dived for a while and am looking for divers with similar experience. always keen for a dive.
Sam Dodd 0211571947 Glenfield Auckland Have a car and 14ft sea nymph with 25hp Yamaha on it. Can get to the noises and tiri easily on it. Don't have a tow bar tho to tow it. Pretty new to spear fishing, can get down to 10m. have a small boat and can take two others, just need a tow car. Weekend dives preferably, would like to travel up north and coromandel etc to new spots and can tow boat to destination. Target any table fish at the moment but would like to get a king and snapper this year. regularly dive ti point. anyone want to spear and are reasonably new or even experienced willing to teach a few things i am very interested.
My name is Rob Dixon looking for a dive buddy looking for a mate to go spearing with, I have only been out 2 or three times with a spear gun ( haven't speared anything yet) but done plenty of diving , and did a breath holding course last year. I am 26 , I live in Auckland city , and own a station wagon , so i can get around or tow a boat if needed. 021 476 085
It would be great to be able to meet up with others spearos in my area! I am relatively new to spearfishing (started about 6 months ago) and I live in Auckland city. Peter Hume e: peter.d.hume@gmail.com mob: 021 222 3435
Introducing: Wettie is no longer JUST spearfishing gear……..
We have opened another store which is soley dedicated to alterations, repairs or custom made wetsuits
KIDS - ADULTS - MEN – WOMAN QUICK & AFFORDABLE SERVICE! Located at Unit D, 121 Rosedale Rd, Albany, Auckand
(note: Different address to Wettie
Spearfishing. Wettie Spearfishing is still at 911 Beach rd, Torbay, Auckland)
PH: 09) 948 4289
Wettie Wetsuits is now open for business in ALBANY Covering all water sports, Wettie Wetsuits can custom make any suit to fit your needs. They are also available to do any alterations. Drop by to give them your measurements or give them a call. They can discuss requirements over the phone and courier around the country & overseas. Wettie Wetsuits also have a huge variety of ready-made wetsuits & other snorkelling gear.
Knife pouch add-on $25
Scupper add-on $50
Elbow, Knee & bum Pads From $30
Wetsuit Alterations/Repairs All neoprene and zip add-on/alterations are available in a variety of colours Many other alterations available â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Call 09) 948 4289 for a quote
When grabbing crays and shooting fish around the rocks, some where along the line you are bound to do some damage to your wetsuit. Wetsuit glue is the easiest way to fix small holes, tears and rips. It may not look the neatest but it is the most cost effective DIY fix. Do not use glue that is not suitable for neoprene, you will need to buy proper neoprene glue such as OMER glue which is $15 for a big tube. To fix a hole apply 2 coats of glue to both the sides that need to be glued together, wait 10 20 minutes until the glue is tacky then finally bond the sides together firmly. If the job is too big to fix with a dab of glue, it isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t always necessary to get a new suit - Bring it into WETTIE WETSUITS & get them to have a look.
1a Cebel Place (off Bush Rd) Albany, Auckland Phone: (09) 415-2313 Email: brtyres@xtra.co.nz Bush Rd Tyres began operating 1st November 2010. The business is owned by myself (Jason Morley) and Ross Masters, long time veterans in the tyre industry and Albany area. The business is 100% kiwi owned and operated and we are an independent tyre stockist of all the leading brands. We believe in providing the best service and advice to all our customers. Our equipment is the best money can buy as we don‘t believe in taking shortcuts. Our workmanship is of the highest level and carried out with the utmost professionalism. Our services include: ·
New tyres (all brands, car, SUV & 4WD)
·
Wheel Alignments (Ross is the ‗guru‘ with 18 years experience) ·
Wheel Balancing
·
Puncture Repairs ·
·
Nitros Air-fills Batteries (car/4WD and Marine)
Being a boating enthusiast myself, I can offer the best advice on your boat trailer tyre requirements. There are a few tips I have learnt over the years regarding care for your trailer tyres as we all know they can be high maintenance .
We stock the best value for money trailer tyres on the North Shore so come and see us. We have a child friendly atmosphere and a relaxing customer waiting area where you can put your feet up, read a magazine, enjoy a free tea or coffee while we attend to your tyre needs.
If you are planning any winter maintenance on your trailer and you need tyres, call us for the best price and best advice.
Olivado Gourmet Foods Chef Of the Year 2002 The Backyard gourmet. Vol1 The BBQ Factory The Backyard Gourmet Vol2 smokin, Roastin and Flame Grillin
www.backyardgourmet.co.nz
Creole Style Crumbed Oysters Prep time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 2-3 minutes You will need 12 fresh rock oysters (fresh from Oceanz Seafood) 3 cups flour 2 eggs
1 cup milk 3 cups Panko (Japanese Bread crumbs) 1-2 tbsp Cajun or Creole seasoning Pinch freshly ground black pepper Oil for shallow frying. Combine the milk and eggs together in a bowl and set aside, then mix the ½ the spices into the panko crumbs, (these are available at your local supermarket.) toss to combine. Put the other half of the seasoning mix into the flour then dredge the oysters through.
112 Pacific Parade
Next place them into the egg mix then roll into the panko crumbs.
Army Bay
Place into the hot oil which should be around 180°c until they float to the top (if using a deep fryer ) or are golden brown then turn over and repeat. This should only be around 1 minute per side.
Whangaparaoa
Remove and drain on kitchen paper then serve with salad and citrus aioli, or spicy remoulade dressing along with lemon wedges to garnish.
Ph 09 424 0881 Mod 021 214 5169
derekthechef@clear.net.nz Chefs Tip: I use an imported Creole seasoning mix but any local brand of Creole or Cajun spice has the same effect. I also use my own brand BBQ oil (The Backyard gourmet by Derek the Chef available on line from my web site or here )then in a wok on the side burner.
Vaughan Reynolds “I was lucky enough to experience a ride with Vaughan in my filming days with Graeme Sinclair for Gone Fishin. It was the most amazing experience. Going across Lake Horoko, blasting down the Wairaurahiri river over a bar, along the coast, up lake Poteriteri, Trout fishing, hunting deer then back out to sea for a fish. We then went back up the river to Lake Horoko and back to our car. I would have to say it was one of the best adventures I had
with Gone Fishin as you get to experience a bit of everything. We caught some great sea fish including a good hapuku. I never had a chance to dive but the country looked amazing for crays, one thing Vaughan confirms.‟‟ -Darren Shields
EMR is a national programme of experiential learning about marine conservation. The programme is under the auspices of the Mounts to Sea Conservation Trust. EMR provides quality first-hand marine education experiences and initiatives to schools and comminities thoughtout New Zealand. The aim of the EMR programme is to raise awareness, understanding and involvment in marine conservation. Participants on our programme investigate their local marine environment, before a snorkel experience in a marine reserve, students are often inspired to lead action projects and become kaitiaki (guardians) of their local marine environment. EMR uses and is suppored by â&#x20AC;&#x17E;Wettieâ&#x20AC;&#x; quality snorkeling gear. More info: www.emr.org.nz - www.marinenz.org.nz
Wettie spearfishing proudly backs EMR and what they do. EMR give young people an opportunity to do something they may not normally get a chance to do and are getting the correct education right from the start. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ok to get a feed, but respect the sea and appriciate the fish life. Always leave some for tomorrow. Wettie are eager to support & sponsor fish photography event or any conservation of the fish life.
Saturday 3rd September. Briefing 8:30am
This September - Get your freediving mates, a girlfriend & a scuba diver together & head to the Russell to Paihia Swim race. This is a relay race from a boat. All of you must swim at least once & your team must be made up of freediving men & woman (at least one of each) & 1 scuba diver. You must tow a toy duck all the way to the finish line, skull an orange juice or beer & you are done. Straight after the swim, there is a BIG 3 spearo comp for those keen.
Wettie are putting up 6 Wettie Wetsuits for prizes. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lucky draw, so all those who compete have a chance to win. Contact Craig at Paihia Dive 021547778 or call Wettie 09 479 4232
Well we can‘t go snapper snooping in the sounds, not in the middle of winter anyway!! But we can go butter bashing !!And that‘s what i like doing most at the moment. I find blue moki too easy and the butters more of a challenge. I did spear one snapper this summer by burleying with pilchards and kina.
We got some settled weather in June so dad and i headed out for the weekend. My gun is a 1 meter Orca rail gun which is good for around weed and when the vis isn‘t great. It‘s also very accurate and goes where i point it, so if I miss I know it was me! Dad dropped me off in a nice little bay with a sandy bottom but with weed and boulders closer to some cliffs. He said to hunt the bay and then just keep swimming until he came to pick me up in an hour or two! He had the flue so couldn‘t dive and was going to go for a walk. In the bay I found some likely looking cray rocks and got one good one and missed another that got too far back in a hole. I‘ve got the kevlar cray gloves from wettie that are perfect for the job. Dad got them for himself but they fit me just right!! I got moki and a butter in the bay then started to quietly swim the edge around the point. I had the sun behind me which is good as it was still quite early in the day. The vis wasn‘t great but every now and then it cleared to about twenty feet so I would dive down to the weed line where there was quite often blue moki hanging around the boulders.
On one of these dives I spotted one that stood out from the others so I lay still on the bottom & waited for him to come into range. I took a shot but because he was so big he was still a bit far from my gun and the shaft hit him in the side of the head but didn‘t go right through. I thought it would pull out but luckily the fish was ikied and didn‘t fight so I just pulled him up slowly and put him on my float line. He later weighed 11lb. I kept swimming and bumping into butterfish for about the next hour They were all sizes but the biggest was 7lb and dad said it was the biggest he‘s ever seen! It was a bit tough to eat but when dad cooked it in a white sauce with parsley, onion, cheese, a little curry and put it on rice it was real good. With the sun behind me the butterfish seemed to just poke their heads out of the weed ahead of me to see what was coming!
Whack!! Too late! Ishot nearly all of them in the head and had nine by the time dad came to pick me up. He was pretty impressed with my catch and the big cray was a good bonus! So we wandered home feeling we had a good weekend and are lucky to live in the sounds .
Story & photos by Ryan McLachlan
For beginners to learn the ins and outs of spearfishing and the more experienced to pick up new techniques THE RESULTS A spearfishing course had been booked from the 24th July to the 28th with four punters. Consisting of Mark and Ruben who were coming up from Christchurch, Mal from central Otago and Jorn, a local from Whangaparoa. Possible locations were the far north, Great Barrier or the Coromandel. After careful consideration of the weather forecast the Barrier seemed the best option, so early Sunday morning we were up and off to Omaha collecting Jorn from Silverdale on the way. The trip out to the Barrier was good with light westerly winds; we were there in just over an hour. The target species for all the divers was snapper and most of them had few encounters with Snapper due to their origin. First up was False Head, we split up into two groups and ground baits were set in promising locations. Me, Mal and Mark were a team and soon had a game plan on how they were going to get a Snapper.
The first ground bait we had set was looking good as it had two nice snapper on it of around 2 to 3kg, but they proved difficult to approach due to the strong surge hitting the coast. The next ground bait was even better as Mark snuck over the edge he was greeted by a mob of snapper with the biggest being around 4kg. He slowly sank on it getting in range and firingâ&#x20AC;Ś unfortunately hitting it high, after a short struggle it tore off and was gone. Mark was a bit gutted but it was early in the trip and he had already shown he was naturally taking to shooting snapper. Mal and me went for a quick Butterfish hunt before heading back to the boat. The second day proved to be wild with 50-knot southwesterly winds, which werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t helping our cause. This shut off a lot of the inside of the Barrier. We still managed to find bits of shelter around Wellington head, where there were more Snapper encounters to be had. We finished up the day snooping back towards Fitzroy, where we managed a couple of small snapper from the weed and dad getting a 3kg snapper from a school under the mussel farms. We had a great feed that night of Snapper, Porae and Butterfish.
The third day was the breaking point as three out of the four divers got their first snapper, which they were absolutely stoked about. We dove from Catherine bay back towards Fitzroy. Ruben and I decided to snoop along the coast and were greeted by a lot of snapper as we had the sun at our back and they all seemed to be sitting in the kelp stalks. Every 10 or so metres there would be another snapper sitting in the weed. Ruben fired a few warning shots at the snapper, due to him using a gun he hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t used before. Progress was made though, as Ruben was starting to get his eye used to spotting snapper amongst weed and behind rocks. All the divers were very capable in the water, but were discovering that these snapper were no mugs and were a real challenge to pursue. The day was finished off on some nice looking coastline, where the boys were thrown in the deep end being sent off for a snoop by themselves. There was a stretch of coast that was free once the boys were in and I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t want to miss out. So dad dropped me in and I was off along the coast towards Fitzroy. It was nice and quiet under the water and it was late in the afternoon. Coming up to a nice ledge I ducked down and snuck over the edge to find two nice snapper chilling in the sun, I shot the biggest one, which were around 3 to 4kg. I was happy with that and proceeded on. I then spotted two snapper sitting under a ledge, but they obviously werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t interested in playing fair as they took off. Soon enough I came up to a nice weedy gutter that looked really good, but I no longer had the sun behind me. Rounding the corner into the gut, I was greeted by a big snapper slowly making his departure after spotting me. A little while later I hit plain looking ground with little fish life.
Gliding through the shallows, something caught my eye, it was the tip of a snapper tails moving through the weed I made a dive and lined up an opening in the weed where I hoped to intercept the snapper. Sure enough he popped out in front of my speargun and I pulled the trigger. It ended up being around 4 to 5kg. I was soon picked up and disappointed to hear the other boys had not had as much luck as me. The fourth day was a beauty, as the wind swung to Northwest and we headed south for some snooping. Ruben showed what he had learned by bagging his first nice snapper off a difficult spot. The boys were becoming very independent in hunting snapper and were starting to get more encounters. Ruben and I got on to a nice piece of coast that had a bit of a surge on it but was still doable. I came up to a nice shallow ledge that I snuck over and spotted a tail off to my left behind a bit of weed. I waited still and a nice snapper of around 6kg cruised along the base of the rock and I shot it just as it came under me. Soon enough Ruben was into the snapper nailing a nice pannie. Ruben ended up on top getting two snapper for the day. Before heading back to base we stopped off at a spot that dad had found some lawn mowers, wheel barrows, Cray pots and allsorts of strange things on the bottom. The boys were soon pretending to mow down snapper and kina with the lawn mowers, which ended up being some funny footage. The last day was destined for a short dive, as we needed to head home while the weather was good . This proved to be one of the better days for the boys on the snapper front as Mal managed to snoop a couple of good eating sized snapper and Jorn ground baited three snapper. It was a flat trip home, which was a relief after all the bad weather we had. The boys had really enjoyed the trip as they all managed snapper and we had wicked viz for the inside of the barrier, which made for enjoyable diving on all fronts. Jackson Shields.
Marcus, Rick & Shane on a 4 day trip to Whatuwhiwhi diving around Knuckle point & Cape Keri Keri. Good trip on the snapper - Up to 22lb
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