Spearo Braai

Hi All

We are having a bring and braai, 

When  : 7th July (Wednesday) 5:00pm onwards

Where : ZUC/Kayak Club

Please let all other spearos (or people interested in spearfishing) know about this.

See you there

Warren

ZUC - Club

Hi All, I had a meeting with Reg Scully at the ZUC (Zululand undersea \ Kayak club) on Friday afternoon. It was a most enlightening discussion and without going into too much detail, Spearfishing in Zululand has a rich history! The origins of the club date back to 1960 but earlier details are a little sketchy. In 1975 the club had a chairman by the name of Christiaan Eckhoff and was exclusively a Spearfishing club. This continued with various other members and chair-people until in 1982 when the mondi clinic agreed to house the club in an unused building (the present site). Reg Scully joined the club in 1985\6 and incorporated the scuba section. In 1994 the Kayak enthusiasts, looking for a club venue, approached the committee and today they dominate the membership. It seems as if the spearing section lost impetus around that time as the SAUU passed a motion to allow individuals to join without club affiliation. That said, the constitution \ registration of the club is still officially ZUC! Reg commented that the club would be delighted to welcome a Spearfishing section and a representative on the committee. As explained by Warren Smart before, there is real value in getting a club going as in recent years there is very little “new blood” being generated and limited forums for youngsters to become involved in the sport. It will also be a great social opportunity and maybe we can even arrange some compos, workshops and the like? Membership fees are R385.00 \ year. I guess the next step would be for us to arrange a meeting (again the ZUG have offered the venue for this) to gauge the interest and map the way forward. Perhaps a mid week bring and braai??? Also, I will be writing an article for the ZO on Zululand Spearfishing so It would be great for an information gathering section Will advise date and time soon (can I get some input here over when it will suit most?). Kind regards Cliff Eva

Fish Report

I was at the ski-boat club yesterday, I saw 2 big couta come out. One of 24kg and another of 21kg. There was also a few yellowfin tuna that came out.

A friend of mine is out at Groenkop as I write this, he said the Vis is better than on Sunday, "its more turquoise than green". He did however say its very windy and choppy. He also hasn't got any fish yet.

I will be going down the S.Coast this weekend, for the HUC Game-Fish Comp. We will probably be diving Aliwaol Shoal. Weather looks like its gonna play its part as-well. Should be good fun.

Cheers
Warren

Groenkop

Well its no secret that the snoek are around. So we left Richards Bay Harbour early on Sunday morning, hoping to get some.

The Visibility was not on our side unfortunately. It was dirty everywhere, even out deep which was going to be our plan B.
I did manage to shoot a few bottoms, but any chance of game-fish in such vis was going to be very tough. Colin shot one snoek, it came off though.
There were bait balls everywhere, and sprats were abundant. If the water cleans up, it will make for good diving.

A friend of mine (Ray) came with on a jet-ski, he managed to steal 3 snoek on line, right under our noses in a very short time. So the rods came out, Colin also got a decent size snoek. After a bit of a mad rush, it quietened down and went dead. So we went to a very secret spot, I cannot mention, otherwise I'll walk the plank.
Colin caught 4 really nice Geelbek, and Derek Anderson got one as well.

We had a beautiful day out on the sea, looks like its gonna be even better the whole week!

Cheers
Warren

SAUFF AGM

SAUFF (South African Underwater Fishing Federation) will be having their Annual General Meeting at 12:00 on Sunday 04 July 2010 at the University of KZN Underwater Club.

SAUFF AGM  -  Link for AGM notice.

I will be attending.

I also encourage all spear-fisherman to join SAUFF. Have a look at this link http://www.sauff.co.za/.

The home page discusses what SAUFF does for spearfishing.

They have fought many lawsuits that not many people know about, to protect our sport.

It costs R100 annually. This money is only used to protect our sport. i.e it is not used for sending guys over-seas for nationals etc.

see below...taken from the SAUFF website.

Why should I become a member of SAUFF?

All underwater fishers, as well as clubs who have underwater fishing facets should be members of SAUFF. Those who already belong to a club will not benefit directly if they have not joined SAUFF in their personal capacity.

Benefits of being a member include but are not limited to:

• Your annual contribution helps SAUFF attend to matters regarding restrictive legislation.
• Your annual contribution goes towards furthering the opportunities of underwater fishing especially at entry level.
• Receiving a monthly news letter keeping you informed of the latest developments pertaining to underwater fishing.
• Being an active part of the underwater fishing community in South Africa.
• Being eligible to dive competitively for your province or country.
• Being eligible to claim a South African spearfishing record.

Lighthouse

Colin Gray, Dylan Banwell and myself went out to Lighthouse Yesterday. It was windy in the morning, and Colin mentioned, "this is saily weather". We got to Lighthouse did a couple of drifts, the current was screaming(N => S). The water was clean in most areas, close in-shore however it was dirty.
There was loads of baitfish activity. We didn't come across any couta or snoek unfortunately.

Later in the morning Colin came across a a nice sailfish, which he got a perfect kill shot. Colin managed to get it all on film with his underwater camera. So Ill be sure to get that footage to you, as soon as I get it.
We weighed it at 32kg.
Really a spectacular fish, So well-done to Colin!

Here are a few pics.

Other than the sailfish we all shot a few fish, so it was a good day all-round. I did however shoot a rock-cod of which species im not sure it was. Check the pic, if you know what rock-cod it is please let me know.



We lost a marker buoy out there, so if anyone finds a marker buoy, please return it to Colin.

Fins For Sale

Colin Gray bought a new pair of fins, Cressi-Sub Gara Professional. Unfortunately they are too small for him. So he is selling them. For a reduced price of R1500. He has only used them once. They are R1850 new.
Size 9-10
Contact Colin @ 082 440  8681 if you are interested.


See the link of a description on these fins.
http://www.cressi.com/2009/SchedeVedi.asp?ProdottiID=435

Thanks

HI Warren and all, I just wanted to post a thanks to Warren for all the good work he is doing in getting a Zululand club going! Also, I will be putting up some posts of my own soon and look forward to hearing from the rest of you - what youve beeen shooting and where youve been diving!! Happy hunting dudes!!

HUGE couta!

Check these Couta, Koos Jordaan and crew got.
Those must be 30kg plus!! Well-done guys!

Princes Grant

Not exactly Zululand, but Colin Gray & myself went for an afternoon shore-dive to Princes Grant. Freddie & Blondie joined us for the ride.

The Idea was to get a few bugs and hopefully run into shoals of Garrick and snoek. There was a lot of plankton in the water and a few birds.

We swam out about a kilometer, to find ourselves in about 17m of water. The reef is surprisingly large.

Unfortunately we didn't run into shoals of Garrick and snoek. I did notice the water was a lot cooler than normal, so it wont be long before we see some Garrick. 

We did however get some supper, and Colin got a few nice bugs.

Not exactly a huge day out out, but fun never the less.

Here are a few pics of the fish we got. Cape Knife-jaw, Natal Finger-Fin, Cat-face Rockcod and crayfish.

Club Logo and HUC Comp

Check out the logo I organised. A big thank you to Gareth from FreeStyle Imaging for creating this for me.
Please let me know, what you guys think.

Other than that, check below for a link on the Hibiscus Underwater Club Competition.








Hibiscus Underwater Club Competition

Patingo

I went for a sundowner/easy troll yesterday afternoon with a friend on his Jetski, when I saw a red boat (Cat) with divers on, that came in from the South. I am sure they went to Patingo. The water was also cleaner than usual in the Bay.

When I got back to the ski-boat club, one of the fisherman that came in just after us, had a big Greater Barracuda, which had been given to them, by the spear-fisherman(on the red-boat) for helping them find a Gun, which they had lost earlier.

A bit later, another boat came in, they caught two 20+ kg couta, at Patingo.

So the fish are there.

Anyone going to Patingo....that needs crew?

It should stay clean with this SW that is blowing.

Cheers
Warren


EDIT : I should have some footage of Patingo up on the forum soon....thanks to Johan Jacobs.

Winter Wahoo Comp 2010

This was my 3rd Winter Wahoo Comp and as always its a blast. Its one of those easy competitions, as food is provided, so all you do is grab some clothes and your gear and drive up to Vidal. Its also very social as everyone sits together and eats and drinks. Thanks for Cliff and Shane for providing some good music around the bonfire.

Unfortunately the weather didn't exactly play its part, there was a strong SW blowing. Which made the sea a little unpleasant, so we decided to go south.

The weather didn't put anyone off, as all boats launched except one or two with a babalass. 

Many decent fish came out, I'm proud to say mostly from the Zululand Guys!

There was 32 fish in total from 80 divers

Terry Dean won the comp with a 37.8kg Sailfish. This is the second time he has won the comp, last time was 2007. Terry won a Pinnacle fishing ski worth R7000.

Billy Macarthy also got a saily in the 30 odd kg region.

2 other sailies came out.

Koos Jordaan and Johan Holtshausen cleaned up, and shot many nice queenfish, kingfish and couta. 

Someone even joked "leave some prizes for the Durban boys"....I think it was Billy.

I saw quite a few snoek on the colourline, all in shore-divable places. I only managed to get one, while Neil Myburg shot 3 snoek.

All in all, a great weekend. With everyone who shot a fish getting a prize.

Some pics of the fish that were shot.