Tag: underwater

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Flat and clean. Slab kob. Bear Report 06-08-2021

Anthony Dede with a slab Daga salmon 42kg shore dive North

Flat and clean. Slab kob.  Bear Report 06-08-2021

Hi peeps and welcome to the Bear’s weekend dive report brought to you by thesardine.co.za and masterwatermen.co.za.

Conditions changed a bit for the worse on the weekend but the last two days it’s been flat and clean on the South coast with some Snoek and Garrick around. North had some decent Snoek\Garrick action and there are some big Daga salmon around in the shallows. Good luck to the lads in the Border open competition tomorrow down in the Transkei at Hole in the Wall! Some guys got in on the great conditions down there at the moment and I have included some pictures.

In the fish pictures this week we have Anthony Dede with a slab Daga salmon 42kg shore dive North, Brett and Master Richardt Botes with Garrick shore dive North, Darryl Mc Cormack with a decent Garrick shore dive North, Diego Pizzimbone with pre Border Open Poensie and Yellowbelly boat dive Hole in the Wall, Francois with a Couta boat dive North , Master Carl Werner with a pre Border open Garrick 9.3kg Hole in the Wall, Master Louis Schorie with a Garrick shore dive Durban and Troy Ellof with a Daga salmon shore dive Durban.

Looks like we have good weather again this weekend! Saturday a light offshore wind blows early bells switching to a light SE wind around lunchtime. Swell starts chunky at 1.9m and drops off to 1.6m by the afternoon. Sunday a light NW offshore blows early bells and switches to a moderate NE after mid morning. Swell starts off negligible at 1.4m and picks up to 1.7m later in the day with the NE wind.

So Saturday the whole day is go day and Sunday the early bird gets the worm!

Online report available here… https://youtu.be/MOnccjONxw4

As always Dive Safe and Straight Spears from the Bear…

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Slab kob and other fish gallery…

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Bus Couta coldest week. Bear Report 23-07-2021

Bus Couta: Master Joe Mulder with a whopping 31.5kg Couta boat dive South

Well the week started out well with the sea settling and some slab Couta coming out with big shoals of Snoek and Garrick in the shallows. The winter fish are starting to move North up the coast in numbers and the Daga salmon, Geelbek and Cape tail are here in numbers. Unfortunately a serious winter cold front has pulled in and has frothed the sea properly with some fresh SW wind and large swell.

In the fish pic’s this week we have Andrew and Grant with Snoek shore dive North, Duan, Hennie and Rudi with Couta boatdive South, Ella and Max Bunge with Shad and a Tassel shore dive South, Master Carl Wernerm, Johan Boshoff and Master Joe Mulder with Couta boat dive South, Master Don Solomon with a Daga salmon boat dive South, Master Don Solomon with a lovely Cape yellowtail boat dive South, Master Joe Mulder with a whopping 31.5kg Couta boat dive South, Master Juggs Holzman with a 13.5kg Garrick shore dive Durban, Master Juggs Holzman with a decent Bek and Catface rockcod ski dive Durban, Matthew with Snoek and Garrick shore dive North, Ricky Nieuwenhuis PB 10.1kg Garrick shore dive Durban, Robin Seiler with a Daga salmon boat dive far North and Robin Seiler with a slab Eelskin rockod boat dive far North.

Saturday early bells a moderate WSW wind blows till midmorning swinging around to a light SE wind later in the afternoon with a 3.5m swell which drops off to 2.3m late in the day. Sunday morning a light NW offshore wind blows till midmorning switching around to a moderate NE wind in the afternoon with the swell running at 2.2m.

So it looks like Sunday morning is good for a dive “if” the swell prediction is correct. The online weather prediction sites have been a bit out on swell prediction the last two weeks!

Online report available here… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkEUwrQpGcM&ab_channel=MasterWatermen

As always Dive Safe and Straight Spears from the Bear…

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Hot spot Identification KZN South Africa

KZN South Africa is where these video titorials by Jason Heyne are being filmed and produced

Hot spot Identification KZN South Africa

“Righto, deep in KZN South Africa, Jason Heyne getting very technical in this bumper giveaway of hard-earned secrets. Lucky most won’t recognise all the different species that feature in this thesis. I certainly don’t!” – Xona


In this KZN spearfishing tutorial we look at how to ID a good mark (Hot Spot) and what to do to
get maximum size fish off the mark.

Why is it essential to hunt and look for Hot Spot marks whilst spearfishing? Why are game fish
and larger size demersal fish (bottom\reef fish)more prevalent around these Hot Spot marks?
It’s the old needle in a haystack idiom…there is an extremely large amount of Ocean to search to
find your trophy fish and Hot Spots act as magnets for the needle (trophy fish) because they
have holding fish loaded on them which in turn attracts game fish looking for food and larger
demersal’s looking for cover and company for early threat detection. No holding fish equals zero
or minimal chance of a game fish or trophy size demersal’s so please try to avoid shooting the
holding fish off of a Hot Spot mark as they are resident fish and normally breed and grow slowly!
The 5 holding fish to look for are:

  1. Old women angelfish (Pomacanthus rhomboids) Brown angelfish with a vertical bar
    towards the tail area, the juveniles have blue vertical bars which fade at maturity. These
    angelfish will hold tight to the mark in bad visibility and be more spread out around the
    mark in good visibility.
  2. Yellowfin surgeonfish (Acanthurus xanthopterus) Purple-grey in colour with a yellow
    patch behind the eye and yellow pectoral fins and feeds off waste and scraps from the
    other holding fish so they will be present if other holding fish are there in numbers.
  3. Cave bass (Dinoperca petersi) Blackish brown with white specs which fade as they get
    bigger and look similar to freshwater bass in shape. They are present almost always if
    there is a cave on the mark and 2kg plus Cave bass generally indicate a mark that does
    not get a lot of spearfishing pressure.
  4. Dusky rubberlips (Plectorhinchus chubbi) Oblong fish with pale brown-grey bodies
    which are darker on top and they have fat white lips hence the rubberlips in the name. If
    there is a big shoal of these fish in the 2kg plus range on the mark it is definitely a Hot
    Spot and receives minimal pressure from spearfishing.
  5. Natal fingerfin (Chirodactylus jessicalenorum) Oblong pink fish with fat lips and a
    forked tail. If there are a number of these fish around over 1.5kg it is a definite Hot Spot
    and has received minimal pressure from spearfishing.

If the above fish are present in numbers it is worth while working the mark for a number of downs
(dives to the bottom) to look for larger demersal fish and game fish before targeting any pan size
fish. Try lying still on different spots on the bottom around the mark and you will see larger fish
returning to the mark after your first down. Lie still for long enough and they will get curious and
swim in closer to you as they get used to your presence on the mark.

These are the fish you need to recognise…(one missing)

KZN South Africa is where these video titorials by Jason Heyne are being filmed and produced
KZN South Africa is where these video titorials by Jason Heyne are being filmed and produced
KZN South Africa is where these video titorials by Jason Heyne are being filmed and produced
KZN South Africa is where these video titorials by Jason Heyne are being filmed and produced

As always Dive Safe and Straight Spears from the Bear…

“Yowser Jason fantastic work”! – Xona

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Turtle vs Octopus

Turtle vs Octopus by the Master Watermen

Turtle vs Octopus

“Right, to kick off the blog section of the newly invented Master Watermen website, we have some literally unbelievable adventuring by Jason and Paul, way down deep. With a turtle and an octopus. Yes. It’s not even a joke. And there is video! Unfrigginbelievable I tell ya” – Xonalanga

Some people believe Spearfishing is just killing fish etc…but those of us at know that it is a way more than sustainable harvesting of the Ocean.

Master spearos (spearfisherpeople) are always good ambassadors and protectors of the Ocean and its creatures, we are the eyes under the surface and as such can see what condition or state the Ocean is in where we dive. I have seen how Marine animals can ask for help 1st hand whilst diving and 2nd hand via YouTube over the years and in this episode we get to see this phenomenon on a lovely dive I had with a Dive buddy (Paul) on the North Coast of KZN South Africa last year.

Loggerhead Turtle, Bottle-nose Dolphins and a Giant Manta ray all in one epic dive! The largest of all hard shelled turtles, Loggerheads are named for their massive heads and powerful jaws (leatherbacks are bigger but have soft shells). Their shell, is heart-shaped and normally a rusty brown colour. Their front flippers propel them through the water like wings, and their hind feet stabilize and steer them.

A female Loggerhead turtle always returns to the same beach she was born on after sometimes travelling thousands of km to return and lay her eggs and they nest on the beaches in Northern KZN South Africa and Mozambique at night here in the Indian Ocean and at one stage our local population was believed to be below 300 individuals. They have recovered quite well though and I see quite a few of them around on my dives here on the KZN coastline.

This male Loggerhead Turtle came to ask a favour at the end of the three and a half hour dive! He had taken a big Octopus for dinner and it became entangled around his neck! Watch as Paul and I see how we can help Mr Turtle get untangled from his dinner! TURTLE POWER! As always dive safe and straight spears from the Bear…

“Well if I can comment – YOWSER!!!

Man-oh-man Jason this is epic. And is that Paul Roxburgh in there with you?

But ok, a great attempt at convincing the public that spearos are not cold-blooded killers all the time. Only 99% of the time!

But after a chuckle, sure, agreed on every aspect, especially since the sheer amount of hours spent out there on a limb, adds up to a lot of kudos. Which means you can keep at it I suppose?

Well, between this story and Stompie, I am just pleasantly pondering at what might come next!?”

Xonalanga

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