So we have had the usual spring weather this week with a bit of swell coming through although not un swimable for the brave!
Definitely some decent colour to the water down south ATM but the high pressure system off our coast today generated some nasty low frequency surf up and down the coast with it being larger the further you travel up north.
Some warmer water has swung into the Durban basin area with some viz overnight so I would recommend some night fishing from Luggs to South pier tonight! Aslo a late Arvo dive around the PWC area by North pier and Vetches reef.
Copper Steenbras are still around today (well done Garreth and crew!) and Shad should be around in the foamy midbreak but bear in mind that there was a strong sidewash to the North this morning.
Well done Rudie on a decent Garrick and Natal snoek shot yesterday down south when the swell dropped a bit yesterday! Aweh.
We have a sneaky SW wind coming through this evening after the SE wind that’s blowing this arvo. The SW wind drops off tomorrow morning after it swings the swell around to 1.7m from the South at 9 seconds. Swell drops off during the day making the arvo better than the morning on Saturday.
Sunday is a pearler day with light variable wind all day and 1.4m swell at 10 second’s from the south! We have low tide after 7 in the morning and high tide after 1pm so diving the pushing tide should do the trick!
As Always Dive Safe and Straight Spears from the Bear.
Well yes Natal champs was held this last weekend Saturday and Master John Girzda placed 1st (4th time on the trophy) followed in 2nd place by Noah Whittle and Master Sean Burns in 3rd place! Well done lads Aweh!
Conditions were flat but cold with some current and lower in the viz range which makes shoredive challenging to say the least! But us KZN divers are fit and fish were weighed in. There were awesome prizes from Rob Allen, Freedivers, Spearmaster and Blackfin floats by Warren Blackmore!
Well done Master Alistair Jones on getting the compo done and dusted. Aweh from the Bear!
Fish wise Brusher, Copper Steenbras and Daga salmon with Geelbek are around. Shad are moving up North to spawn off Zululand and the Garrick are following along.
Well done Connie on a bus Brusher in the Transkei, Rudie on a Decent Brusher south coast and Dieter fishing out deeper with a slab Copper Steenbras!
Weather for tomorrow (Wednesday )looks great with minimal swell and a light NE wind in the afternoon . Sea temps still down around 19C and current moderate to strong NS.
Neaps are on Thursday so not much tidal difference ATM and we have a high tide at 07h30 and a low tide at 13h30 tomorrow.
As Always Dive Safe and Straight Spears from the Bear.
Yay it’s Friday and the weekend looks divable! Had the good doctor SW blowing perfectly today and yesterday and there is viz both north and south coast albeit the water being on the colder side at 19.5 C.
Saturday we have minimal swell at 1.6m 12 seconds from the south and a light to moderate NE wind from 9 thirty AM with high tide at 5 thirty AM! Game on for Natal champs tomorrow! Good luck lads may the best diver come out on top!
Sunday even less swell at 1.4m 10 second’s from the SE but will build towards the afternoon with the moderate to fresh SW wind that comes through after midmorning! So early bird get’s the Brusher on Sunday!
Speaking of Brusher, Connie Hallowell has managed two Brusher this week with yesterday’s fish a real bus for KZN waters…Aweh Connie!
Well done Ryan and mate’s on some awesome Copper Steenbras yesterday off Rocky bay fishing out in the deep. Aweh!
So there’s some quality fish around peeps! Go get your game on this weekend and get some!
As Always Dive Safe and Straight Spears from the Bear.
So unbelievably the sea did come right albeit only for a couple of days and Umhlanga Spearfishing Club managed to get their cray compo on the go on Saturday last week.
Well done lads and lady! Richardt Botes Biggest bag, Louis Schourie 2nd biggest bag, Ashley Paul and 2nd biggest bug Phillip Dreyer. Biggest bag ladies Chrystal Botes.
So yeah some fish have been coming out well done Noah on the snoeks today in bad viz! Well Troy on a lekker Yellow belly Rockcod! And an Aweh Master Louis on a lovely brace of Brusher!
Other fish around are Queen fish, Seapike,Cape Yellowtail, Garrick and Daga salmon and Geelbek out in the deep.
Beast East today but a SW wind comes through tonight around 10pm and drops off tomorrow arvo with another SW on Friday setting things up nicely for Natal champs on Saturday! Yes the compo is on entry still allowed till Thursday night!
Swell is minimal ATM and sea temps down to 19 C at most spots with a NS current onnit.
Please remember that Sean at Umzimkulu Adrenaline Charters has spots open last two weeks of September. With the oxeye tarpon around this should be on any light tackle enthusiast’s bucket list!
Aslo Duarte from fish Bazaruto.com has Marlin fishing spots available November this year and it’s looking like it’s gonna be a cracker season!
As Always Dive Safe and Straight Spears from the Bear.
So it’s been a pretty tough week after all that Beast East but the Swell has dropped and two day’s of SW wind has cleared up the lower south coast from Hibberdene down to Port Edward!
Swell is down to 1.5m from the south and will remain that way till the NE tomorrow (Saturday) pick’s it up again.
We have a low tide at 08h42 and a high at 14h52 with spring tides next week Wednesday.
The NE blows through the night and into most of Sunday so Saturday morning early bells is the best bet for some fish this weekend!
Daga salmon, Snoek, Garrick, Cape Yellowtail, Geelbek, Stumpnose and Brusher are around at the moment so plan ahead for these species on your outing.
As Always Dive Safe and Straight Spears from the Bear
So as predicted the NE blew and is blowing some more with jacked swell up and down the coast the inshore is not a pretty sight!
Sea temps down to 19/20 deg C with NS current onnit in most spots. Forecast for Saturday is totally Meh! Banging NE wind all day with large and in charge swell at 3m 10 seconds from the SE.
Sunday early bells a moderate to fresh SW wind comes through and actually calms the ocean a bit by late afternoon.
And as usual Monday and Sunday look ballistic… meh go figure hey!
Fish wise there’s the odd Garrick, Shad and Brusher coming out but that’s about it!
As Always Dive Safe and Straight Spears from the Bear.
Well I have some good news and bad news. The good news is the swell finally dropped today and the sea has calmed.
The bad news is we are in for a proper cold front tonight bringing with it moderate to fresh SW and 4. Swell!
Aslo inshore is poked for diving today but looks good for Daga salmon fishing tonight before the SW pulls through.
Fish wise there are catches here and there but nothing significant to report besides Heath Houston with two decent Spotted Grunter yesterday in the Durban area. Aweh Heath!
August brings in the changes from winter to spring so we almost always have windy conditions with swell as the high and low pressure systems cycle through.
The swell continues through to the end of the weekend with NE winds dominating Friday through to Sunday evening.
MEH!
As Always Dive Safe and Straight Spears from the Bear.
So the swell came and dominated the inshore on Saturday. Some epic rights at 14 second’s for all the surfers out there!
Today (Sunday) the swell did drop a bit but was looking knarly on the low this morning with a strong side wash heading north.
Water is super green and churned inshore which is ideal for Daga salmon and with full moon tomorrow night there might be some good catches over the next few evenings.
Diving wise…meh! Not great peeps.
Spring tide is Wednesday next week so maybe conditions improve before then.
As Always Dive Safe and Straight Spears from the Bear.
Oh boy did the swell come through yesterday.
The SAPPI bouy off Umkomaas yesterday recorded swell upto 10m! Loads of groundswell around and unfortunately it’s mucked up the inshore in most spots…meh!
Tomorrow morning (Saturday) the swell isn’t too bad but it’s low at twenty past eight in the morning and swell period is still over 10 seconds from the south at 2.2m. A moderate NE wind pick’s up later in the day mucking it up into the evening and it picks the swell upto 3m .
Sunday starts off with a moderate SW wind which calms towards the afternoon with 2,8m swell early bells dropping off into the afternoon.
Master Alistair Jones and the lads made the call and postponed the Natal champs for safety reasons which is a good call ! All it takes is a couple of big set’s to get you in trouble when swimming though the surf!
As to what’s coming out it seems like the bite has slowed down a bit with the Daga salmon and Geelbek off Durban but with the air pressure on the rise again today that could change tonight. Those big blue shad should be around as they start moving up the coast to breed off Zululand in September and October.
As Always Dive Safe and Straight Spears from the Bear.
Oh boy but there has been some ground swell…large swell…and very little divable water around since last week. Some guys did get in and there are Geelbek, Daga salmon, Snoek and Garrick around.
Forcast for the next two days is banging swell from the south at 15 second’s. So go wax those stix and do some trix. Surfing will be on tomorrow morning (Thursday).
We have Natal champs on Saturday 17th and the last day to enter is tomorrow. Master Alistair Jones say’s they will make a call conditions wise tomorrow evening if it’s a go or to be postponed.
Sad news is that a Dead Humpback whale has washed up on Peace Cottage beach on the North Coast today. From the looks of things maybe natural cause of death. Sharksboard has banned bathing at Umhlanga and Umdloti because whale carcasses bring loads of hungry sharks!
Well done Noah and Heath and two class Daga salmon shot of Durban recently. Aweh Aweh Aweh! 39.8kg and 45kg respectively. Busses!
Noah also managed to bag a PB Spotted Grunter same day at 6.9kg. JP and Jerone hit a boat dive off Durban weekend and managed a Snoek and a Geelbek. Aweh!
Next divable looking day is most likely Sunday on the weekend but let’s see if this swell comes as big as predicted.
As Always Dive Safe and Straight Spears from the Bear.
With the KZN 2024 sardine run in full swing in June this year’s July Spearo Snoek and Garrick competition was set to be a cracker event.
1st of July was a Monday and half the competitors pulled a sickie to get in on the action on day one with absolutely pearler conditions on the KZN coastline!
Clean warm water combined with a glassed off flat as a pancake (2ft swell) sea greeted me when I pulled in at Pennington for a dive with my buddy Domz.
The action started off slow for me with 3 snoek of average size giving me the slip as I got out past the backline surf. Domz managed to bag one snoek on the swim upto Umdoni point and I had nothing to show.
As I got around the point heading South a single Garrick swam upto me on the sand and commited suicide! One fish on the stringer now I had to find the snoek. After chatting with Domz quick and finding out he had seen snoek several times I decided to swim south towards Sezela and hunted slightly deeper off the backline.
I still had no joy over the sand when I spotted two flat slabs of reef sitting a little further out than the line I was hunting so decided to swim over to check. Snoek love these flat slabs of reef because they often hold sprats or other small fish.
As I got to the 1st slab a bomber snoek came in from my right and two smaller ones from my left, duck dived and swam after the bomber, got him in range for my 80cm roller took the shot and missed! Over it’s back…some swearing involved hahaha.
After that I managed to get two rat snoek and after stringing the second one had a shoal of decent bomber snoek pull in on my left. Duck dived and gave chase full speed and nailed the closest one at end of range.
The snoek went ballistic on the surface and came off! More swearing and vowing to myself to get closer next time! Had more shoals come past but flying and no shot.
Sulking a little bit (read lots!) I decided to start heading back to my exit point back around the point to the north swimming a slightly deeper line in 6m. This was a great decision because low and behold after about 50m of swimming there I spied something silver lying on the sandy bottom.
Trues Bob there was my bomber snoek I’d lost earlier just lying there dead! A quick duck dive and I grabbed it off the bottom and as I swam to the surface a Hammer head shark came sniffing around right where the Snoek had been lying!
On closer inspection I saw that I had spined the Snoek hence the spear not going all the way through. What a luck!
Just after a large shoal of bomber snoek came through and I doubled up with both guns but lost the one and landed the other.
Mission accomplished I caught some crayfish and swam back to the exit where Domz was waiting on the beach. I quickly asked if he’d lost a bomber snoek and he said no! So deffos my fish! Couple of pic’s on the beach and then we carried the load back to the vehicle.
When I measured the Snoek at the car I knew it was gonna be hard to beat at 105cm and I was correct! 1st place for Snoek was mine!
We had some epic conditions for the 1st week and a half of the compo then it was hard to get a good dive in with swell and wind plaguing the sea…meh!
2nd place Snoek went to Jerone Govender with a 97cm fish. Well done Jerone!
3rd place Snoek went to Master Sean Burns with a 95cm fish. Well done Burnsie!
1st place Garrick went to Leon Grobler also shot on the 1st of July at 106cm. Leon did three dives that day and only saw the one Garrick! Well done ballie Leon!
2nd place Garrick went to tall man Rudie DuToit at 106cm shot In the Transkei. Yes it’s same length as Leon’s fish but 1st weighed in was his fish. Well done Rudie!
3rd place Garrick went to Kevin Beneker with a 103cm Garrick. Well done Kev!
So all in all it was a great compo with some very lakkas gees (comradery/spirit) and guy’s even gave viz reports etc on the compo group!
Some entrant’s can’t even remember when they dived so hard and long ! Hey Connie and JP…. hahahaha.
A big thanks to Christo Muller for taking the time and effort to put this together for us spearos! Aweh!
And three cheers to the sponsors without out whom there would be no prizes…
Rob Allen and Jeremy from Dive Factory
Oom piet from Bilene Mozambique
Highlanders lodge
Rob from Forest view lodge Umtunzini
Joop from Transkei Sharks point cabins
Craig Sutton from Wakene Beach Estate
Daryn from Slice Pizzeria
Johan from Space Cowboy
So see you all next year July for another great compo!
As Always Dive Safe and Straight Spears from the Bear.
The weekend was not as good as looked online in the predictions but divable and fishable water was around with Wahoo, Snoek (Durban) , Garrick, Geelbek, Daga salmon and big Natal Stumpnose coming out.
Garrick on the north and Wahoo off Umkomaas area. Geelbek and Daga salmon are heavy on the bite at night on all the usual marks offshore.
Weather for the week doesn’t look too bad just some swell tomorrow with a moderate NE wind in the afternoon. Swell is 2m from the south at 14seconds.
If you are into surfing there’s epic rights today on all the open coast spots and tomorrow should be ditto on that in the morning.
Current in the main is NS and sea temp is around 22 degC.
Inshore reefs are fullup with Bronze bream in really large shoals with Rock salmon, Rockcod and Lemon fish in abundance.
Time to get the gear ready for weekend Saturday looking really good!
As Always Dive Safe and Straight Spears from the Bear.
Rumours around about very good fish shot yesterday (Saturday) pics will follow next week.
Back to today and just a warning guy’s got blown off the water Up at Hazelmere dam at 8am so those hot gusting off shore winds are as predicted today. There’s a high probability for run away fires!
Already hot berg wind in Durban now with air temperature up to 24deg C now at 9am. Wind will blow hard far offshore so beware peeps on boats. SW predicted later than expected around 4to5 PM this afternoon.
Gamesfish should be on the bite today before the low comes sweeping through.
There’s viz lower north coast out deep just a bit messy from the east inshore. South has viz too so get in before the West!
As Always Dive Safe and Straight Spears from the Bear.
Since Tuesday this week we have been plagued by big wimter swell but the good news is it’s dropping off and hopefully will be okay by tomorrow morning (Saturday).
Fish are coming out local though Stumpies, Grunter, Garrick and Geelbek. Aslo reports of decent size Snoek further up North Coast. A whopper Croc Couta of 38.5kg was caught up at St Lucia. Wow what a beast!
Prognosis for the weekend is not half bad with NW wind early bells both days. Saturday Arvo NE wind and Sunday Arvo Moderate to fresh SW wind. Swell around 2m dropping to 1.6m Sunday morning. Swell period around 14 to 15 second’s from the south.
North has greened up but south has viz with warmer water around 22 degC. So head south early bells Saturday and Sunday for some action!
As Always Dive Safe and Straight Spears from the Bear.
Hi peeps yes it’s that time of the year again when the best of the best take to the sea again for a shore entry species comp to decide who’s who in KZN Spearfishing.
Welcome to the Natal Shore Diving Spearfishing Championships, the oldest and one of the most prestigious events in South African spearfishing history. Since its inception, this competition has been a cornerstone of our local sport, bringing together the best spearfisherman in KZN to test their skills and endurance along the beautiful and challenging Natal coast. Dive into the rich legacy of spearfishing excellence as we celebrate tradition, camaraderie, and the pursuit of the ultimate catch. The names on this trophy are legendary.
Date: Saturday, 17 August 2024 (18 August is back up day if required)
Host Venue: DUC
Weigh-in Time: Between 14:30 and 15:00 (must be in line by 15:00 sharp)
Entry Fee: R300 (includes Beer & Burger at prize-giving, t-shirt to be collected later at Rob Allen) R200 if you do not want a T-Shirt.
Entries Close: Thursday, 15 August 2024 at 18:00
Host Master Alistair Jones. His contact details are on the attached PDF entry form.
So come one and all and let’s make this year’s event kickass peeps. Diving has been excellent ATM and sea has been ballistic…so no excuses plus prizes will be boss…I promise!
As always Dive Safe and Straight Spears from the Bear.
Complicated Couda for Louis: the sardines brought the fish right in close recently and some epic shore dives were had.
Not the least of which is this nail-biting fish as described below by Louison the south coast…
“Three fish came in behind me at 12m as I was lining up on a bream, I turned around and the bigger one immediately left. Of the remaining 2 only the smaller one turned broadside, but a long shot. I hit the mark with the 900 RA Timberline roller but the spear didn’t go all the way through, and then to add excitement the belt reel jammed, took me about 15-20 seconds to correct it. Screamed for a second shot but my buddy was far from me as I chased after the fish in the opposite direction, eventually the fish turned and he intercepted the couda. When he dived down to shoot we could see the barb sticking out on the same place the spear went in, thankfully his shot went through the head and switched it off after about 15min of adrenaline pumping heart racing action.
There was sardines in the area but nothing close by, only swam with a good size pocket on the way back to the beach. Hit the sand after the sun was down and the hills were bright orange, my legs immediately turned jelly and I died 3 times carrying my full catch back to the car up the high sand bank.
All in all I’m very grateful to God for the opportunity and blessings He generously gave me.”
Yowser Louis just reading that report was hardcore enough! Fantastic fish and thank you for taking the time to write it all down. So we can publish it here in our online library of spearfishing news and achievements. Right on The Master Watermen website.
AM Dive and Sardine Report 27 June 2024 : well The Bear ate something bad last night and as a direct result, we get this! An actual report! From The Bluff, Cave, where the water is warm and blue.
Over to The Bear on location…
The Bear checks in from Cave Rock this morning the 27 June 2024
Sardines
There are sardines everywhere today. From Port Edward to Ballito and beyond?! Never even knew they went that far north, but we’ll take it. The sardines are not voluntarily swimming up the beach like they do sometimes. They are swimming a few hundred metres to a few kilometres out.
Ballito 27 June 2024 Sardine Report by The Bear
There are also reportedly even more baitfish, most likely sardines, down deep where we can’t see them. But fish finders can. These deeper pockets of baitfish could also be mackerel and red-eyes. Either way, the ocean is very alive at the moment.
Diving
This is the time of year to be a spearo. The fish get full and lazy. Everyone getting their faro share. And more. The DAFF contingent are around but they can never keep up tp the sheer hoards of shad fishermen on every beach. Making a huge mess.
Early Sardine Report 19 June 2024: we are having a phenomenal early sardine run this year. So much so that The Sardine News website broke! So we will share the posts between the many websites we run, in the future. Especially here at The Master Watermen.
I just got some inside information from netters who were successful yesterday late afternoon with a net real close to Hibberdene. Just a bit north.
Enjoy the video…
Spearfishing
This a great time to be a spearfisherman. Clean water. Gamefish. Sardines. It’s like a magical imaginary wonder world down there. Check out this recent gallery of catches.
Louis showing us how it’s done with this lekker brace of kob tooLouis again nice SnoekSardine Run 2024 Garrick
Fishing
During the sardine run, fish are much easier to shoot than to catch. Which is why we all went underwater in the first place. But some anglers are getting lucky and garrick are being hooked all up and down the KZN coastline. Aswell as those lekka big old kob. The 20kg models that sit right in the shore break to ambush shad and sardines as they swim by.
You have to be completely ‘doff’ not to be catching your daily quota of shad. Which is FOUR I might remind y’all!
Deep Sea
It’s a tough time being a ski-boater this time of the year. The fish are everywhere. Every beach. Every reef. Fish have migrated to here from all over the show. To get their share of the spoils. But they ain’t biting! They are after the fresh power-packed bite-sized sardines. That are freely available everywhere right now.
Today 19 June 2024
Those outsized shoals sighted yesterday on the lower south coast have got everyone on edge. Up early. Drinking coffee and waiting on The Sardine Report.
These big shoals could surprise us all and disappear completely again. The water in Durban is 22 degrees and that is way too warm.
Yesterday Kevin in Qora was reporting his water right down to 16 degrees. And that water is not the result of any incessant easts. None have been blowing hard enough to chill the water that much. So Kevin deduces that his cold patch down there in the deep Transkei, is yet another cut off section of cold being sandwiched against the shore line and being driven north by pressure.
Kevin’s understanding of the sardines and the ocean is unparalleled. And he has a grandstand seat. His verandah! Kevin runs Wild Coast Cottages. You can get ahold of him via The Sardine News website. Which is kinda broken at the moment but it is still serving the news luckily.
The Admiral and the Shark at Leven Point: I met three crazies on this early 90’s trip to Vidal. Diving mate Rick (also crazy) and I had headed north to dive the fish blue waters of the Natal North Coast.
Cape Vidal
We were allowed to camp. We were allowed to drive along the pristine beach highway to Leven Point (turtles and all). But. We were not allowed to catch crayfish. Or shoot any reefies. Trade-off accepted. But it was tough with all those tempting rock salmon swimming around and all over the place!
It’s far to Leven Point. It’s a lot more than eleven kilometres. Which is how everyone pronounced the place back then. Eleven Point hahaha. So about halfway back after an early dive, coming out of the sun, unbelieving, I see some dude swimming in through the waves. So I put my indicators on and found a parking quick.
Pete Kennedy and Tony Tomkinson
This is how I met Pete Kennedy. A formidable diver and character. He was out the back on his girlfriend’s Dad’s boat in about 45m. Fishing for sailfish. The Dad was Tony Tomkinson – the legendary professional hunter. Well, they couldn’t agree on something. Pete can be disagreeable. So could Tony as I found out with time. Two extraordinarily headstrong characters. Pete just said cheers to Tony. Jumped off the boat and into the azure. And swam the 5 kilometres back to the beach. Where he coincidentally met up with us. He was gonna have to walk the 10kms or so further, in his wetsuit, to get back to camp and his girlfriend! After quick introductions…Pete jumped in the back and through the sunroof, he explained how he got there. We chatted furiously after that. I became great friends with both of these guys after this weekend.
Then, a dude in a new red Toyota Venture rocked into camp later that day. He was also shooting fish. He was on his pat malone. Very cool, calm and collected. From Cape Town. And he comfortably joined our fire. He set up camp next to us. We chatted up storms of mosquitoes. These were different times. It was really hard to find someone to dive with back then. When we did meet up, it was always gonna be in a campsite like Cape Vidal.
Under the stars and around the fire we drank beer and rum. We ate steak from the Cape. Woody, our new friend had brought chunks of fillet with him all the way. They had to be eaten since there was no power here. He asked if we could dive together the next day. He confided in me that he had not yet encountered a shark underwater, yet. But that he really wanted to. I laughed to him that we would definitely be diving with sharks in the morning.
Admiral Woody Woodburne
Eventually we spoke work. I was running The Sardine News as an A3 tabloid. And selling Mydos for Brian Davey. I am still running The Sardine News. And selling Mydos. Over thirty years later. I had told him my story. Rick explained his planned protest and trajectory away from South Africa to the UK. And so we asked Woody for his story. Says he works for the SA Navy. Drives a submarine. Let me introduce to you, Vice Admiral Lambert Jackson ‘Woody’ Woodburne. The chief of the navy at that very moment. But sans uniform. Medals for leadership and initiative in combat and all. Wetsuit instead!
Early the next typically glorious morning, this unlikely four-ball loaded their gear up into the back of my old Hilux. We hit the beach in the crisp early offshore of the north coast. It is breathtakingly beautiful. Blue being the colour of everything to us stoked spearos. So clean! We don’t talk much on the way there. Nerves. Leven is hardly a point. But it has two lines of reef. One shallow. One deep. We arrived to nobody but the sun and the terns. After a quick but compulsory visit back over the dune to the bush, we calmed our nerves by chatting as we geared up. The usual briefing about the sharks for Woody. “It’s zambies that we are worried about”. I never believed in whites at this point in my life. It was just easier like that. “There are plenty raggies and blacktips. But they are only gonna bite your fish. That stupid zambie will take you out if you are not looking. Eyes peeled and look around you every few seconds.”
It’s the most rewarding baptism ever entering Mother Ocean up here at Leven Point – swimming out through the brilliant white foaming surf and into the vaste expanse of indigo blue. Never-ending intrigue, wonder – and no end to the challenges coming up. Adrenalin firing, we got to the first ledge. Pete was gone immediately. This is how he dives. On his own, but close enough to listen for shouting. Rick balanced off to one side. And the Admiral and I took a course heading up the middle of the reef, into the current, heading north to where the reserve starts. Not allowed in there. And yes, back then, the green bakkies of the Natal Parks Board, held up the law. We all had licenses.
Shark
The first fish was a Natal Snoek aka Queen Mackerel. It came past us at high speed. Instinct told me to turn around and see what was chasing it. Bang! Here is the first damn zambie of the dive. It hasn’t been a minute. And yes, he was focused on that snoek. But when he found us, he immediately started his BS. He swaggered round and round us. Pectorals down. In vague figures of eight. He was in front of us one second, disappeared, and in another second he was behind us.
I did not want Admiral Woody Woodburne to see me blow a sharks head right off with my .38 Special powerhead. Tucked in my wetsuit sleeve. I had two of them. I loaded one onto one of my guns. The weirdest thing happens when you put a powerhead on. Your demeanour changes. Now you need to set up a decent shot. The shark senses this change. And invariably leaves town. This one did just that.
After an hour, we still hadn’t shot a fish. It’s better at Leven to shoot carefully or the sharks will get your fish. Plus its like an aquarium down there. So much to see and do. A huge mamma raggie swam up the reef. 4 Metres plus and round as a wine barrel. Coasting at less than one kilometre an hour. Totally docile. Up here in the warm, they rarely harass anyone. Down south in the cold of the Kei, they can be as cunning as a Zambezi. And so the Admiral and I swam down together. It’s shallow here, like 14m. I had two huge guns trained on the shark just in case. But the Admiral was able to achieve a life-long dream and swim peacefully with a shark. Right alongside the massive beautiful animal. Very small eye btw.
And so we shot some fish and headed home. The next few days were a repeat of that morning and day. With a dive at Cape Vidal over lunch. And back to Leven Point, or Oscar’s along the way. Although none of our party really even knew where Oscar’s was. I could only find it at low tide!
The following fish were all recently shot at Cape Vidal…
Robert Morland and mates Couta and Garrick boat dive Cape Vidal
Epilogue
Admiral Woody Woodburne, the submarine pilot, passed away in 2013. I shall never forget the dives and times we had that week. Tony is late too. Died exactly where he wanted to – on a hunting trip. Pete is settled and working in Durban. Rick is still travelling. And I am still right here slamming at the keyboard in Port Shepstone. 30-something years later!
Hi peeps yes it’s that time of the year again when we see who is the best of the best at KZN shore dive spearfishing ! Dates have been set for this weekend 1st and 2nd of July 2023 weigh in at PWSC boat wash bay by DUC. R300 entry fee gets you in with an awesome tshirt, boerie roll and a beer! Not to mention some awesome prizes from the guys at Rob Allen spearfishing! This compop has been held since 1955 and trust me it’s a great honour to have your name on the trophy.
Natal champs is shore entry only with only one fish per species allowed to be weighed in with a maximum of 10 fish per stringer (South Africa regulations allow for 10 fish per diver per day). Minimum weight 1kg and a ceiling of 4kg (can shoot over this weight but the extra Kg’s don’t count over the 4kg hence the saying Maxi weigher). You get one point per species and one point per kg. So 50 points would be the perfect stringer on the day. Master Angelo Spada holds the record weigh in at Champs with a stringer of fish around the 40kg mark! Normally the Champs should be a two day event to avoid the luck factor and show who is boss but time constraints will limit it to a one day event. Points from Champs count towards Nationals selection and Natal spearing colours (tie blazer etc). No cartilaginous fish, sea barbell, Angel fish and Surgeon fish allowed!
This week we had some serious rain from Port Edward all the way up past Umhlangha and serious swell as well. The sea has calmed down a bit today and weather is looking good for the weekend but sadly it’s brown town up and down the coast ATM, I spoke with compo organiser Cpt Chris West yesterday and he said he would make a call tomorrow (Friday the 30th June) if it is a go weekend or not for the Champs.
Entries are still open and yes there are still tshirts available! Come on let’s get it on peeps whether it be this weekend or a following weekend it will happen sooner rather than later! I have attached the entry form along with some pics from previous KZN champs compos. Let the best diver win!
As always Dive Safe and Straight spears from the Bear…
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Jason Heyne and Sean Lange have teamed up to bring you the Master Watermen Collection. Of stories, galleries, video, information, conditions, how-to, and a shop full of products and services. And all other things underwater.
