Weekend Wrap Up

Well its been a full weekend. Some spearfishing and surfing and generally some good conditions for this time of the year. On Saturday the snoek seemed to very thick along the north coast, the fishing ski guys reported large shoals along the Umhloti to Westbrook stretch, as well as Tiffs. The guys diving trials apparently landed up in the middle of these fish and made the most of the big lazey shoals.

But by the afternoon it had quietened down, well at least on the Salt Rock side. I went for a dive with my lighty Braiden, he managed to get a small snoek. I didnt see a thing!

Braiden Coates 2.8kg snoek

Other spearfishing news was that after a disapointing week of weather up in northern Kzn Vidal seemed to come right with Luke Garlick getting a good Couta of 22kg.

Luke Garlick 22kg Couta shot off Cape Vidal

Here is what Luke had to say:

I was up at Cape Vidal this weekend, and managed this 22kg cuda, first one of the

season! There were not many around, but oakes that got fish were proper ones, all deep on

the bottom. Leven was dead quiet, I got this fish deep off vidal point on my first down.

Water still surprisingly cold 19deg! Looks as though it may just be a good pre-run this

November.

On the Surfing front there were some fun  waves on Saturday. The wind did not quiet settle down on Sunday but there were waves enough for the guys to run the "Top 8" surfing comp at Surfers. Its a comp were 8 guys voted for by the locals get to compete for  a small pot of cash.

As usual Ryan Belfore took the honours getting a good barrle that sealed the deal for him.

Winner of the "Top 8" Ryan Belfore and contest organiser and sponsor Deon Knoetze from Zulchem

Here are the rest of the results:


Ryan 13.25
Sid 11.25
Allan 9.5
Scott 8.1
Manfred 7.9
Chris 7.35
Travis 6.75

Syd also took the prize for the best move, doubling up on the prizes.

Looking forward to this week it looks like Tuesday will have some waves but then the weather goes on its ear with wind and rain. This will be backed up by some easterlies through the weekend. So I guess that there is not too much to look forward to.

Cheers

Coatesman

Almost Summer

It is summer ..well almost!
Besides it getting a whole lot warmer, my lighty and I were on the beach this morning at 5am and it had been light from 4:30 when we woke up. The surf was small but cooking. The east had not picked up yet and there we some crackers coming through.
But when we got in the water, well .... its definitely not summer yet! The water was about 19deg at best, and my thermo top was flushing under every wave! Thank goodness the surf was good otherwise I would have gotten out.
The vis had seemed to improve a bit over nite but I was not running to get my dive gear after feeling the water.

The weekend looks promising for a dive, with some southerly winds predicted. At this stage it has been a dry spring and the rivers are not spewing mud into the sea so there is a good chance of clean water.

Coatesman

Sordwana Marlin and Sailfish

Danie 80+kg Black Marlin & Craig with a 30 + kg Sailfish Speared off the Canyon at Sordwana.

We all dream about diving a spot when its on. This past weekend was one of those for a small bunch of guys in the right place at the right time. Craig Harper was one of the guys on the trip who came right not once but twice. It has not been with out paying some dues tho, he is a committed sojourner and has loads of trips under his belt. He will be the first to tell you its not always on! Most times its a hit and miss affair.

On this trip Craig got 2 sailfish in consecutive days ..both well in the 30's. He saw a Marlin of over 200kg but could not get a very good shot so did not shoot. Danie landed a Marlin on a reel gun and Greg Audi alos using a reelgun landed a 20+ kg Couta in some very deep water. I am sure there were other fish but they did not get mentioned for obvious reasons.

I am now dreaming of it being on for me!

Coatesman

Spearfishing News

After a fairly uneventful October, November is starting off with a bang!

News is filtering through of some guys getting some amazing fish at Sordwana. They saw 2 Marline and managed to get one of them. Craig Harper shot 2 Sailfish over 2 days, both well in the 30's. Greg Audi got a bus cuta , apparently in very deep water on a reel gun ... that must have been interesting! Did I mention the Marlin was shot on a reel gun aswell!!
Well that's enough to get my gear packed!!

This past weekend at home the snoek came on between Westbrook and Umhloti and the few guys who were the scored big time! And Along the north coast the return Garrick are starting to come through and the guys who have braved the conditions have either seen or got fish.


On a different note Barret Harvey has finished his next in the African Spearfishing Diaries, and will be showing the DVD at the following venues:

• DUC - Thursday 5th November - 6:30pm
• Salt Rock Spearfishing Club - Friday 6th November - 6:30pm
• UKZN - Thursday 12th November - 6:30pm

 Barret Harvey's - African Spearfishing Diaries Vol2

I have seen the film and Barret has some footage that will make you tingle this is one you will have to get for the collection.

Today Ultimate Spearfishing Magazine also sent out their Monthly Spearfishing Newsletter. There is a comp running to promote the forum and you can win a new Rabitech Sealth Pro speargun, and the guys have hit the forum with force!! It has been good to see the how the guys get to it with a little bit of motivation. Check the Newsletter

Other than that ...see you at Salties Club Nite on friday

Cheers

Coatesman

Shark Attack on Mark Ragotzki

I received this feed back from Fernando fro Centurion Freedivers with regards to Mark Ragotzki's unfortunate shark attack. I also spoke to Jeremy Williams from the Dive Factory who spoke to Mark and Rob. He said that the Zambie came in at a rate of knots and chomped on Marks foot, and did not give Mark much time to respond. Not the kind of thing we like to hear or think about!

Glad to inform Mark is doing well and in hi spirit. Went to visit him last night at Sunninghill Netcare Hospital in Sandton, to convey everyone’s sentiments… he says “THANKS GUYS FOR EVERYTHING”. He told me the whole story which I’ll note down so everyone is up to speed as to what really happened.

Rob, Mark and the third gentleman’s name I can’t remember were aprox 2hrs out to sea looking for big game fish. They stumbled onto a reef in the middle of nowhere that rose from the ocean floor to aprox 15m below the surface. They decided this reef was worth taking a look so Da Boyz got into the water, Mark started his decent and identified the usual fish species that are commonly found where big game fish lurk, went through a school of baitfish and headed down to the reef below. He spotted a Zambi swimming around in a non threatening manner and made nothing of it … saw a Kakaap, shot it and began to surface. Once on top, he called the boat over to assist him with the fish. Rob steered the boat to the location and began to pull the fish in, still the Zambi wasn't interested. Mark told me the speared fish was about 15m away from them when he saw the Zambi charging him and heading straight for his legs. His immediate reaction was to pull his legs up and the shark whacked his left ankle, shook him around and left the scene.

Mark climbed immediately on board, bleeding from the ankle as Rob hauled in the Kakaap which remained untouched by the shark. Another two suspenseful hour boat trip back to land where DAN came to the rescue and airvaced him back to SA. Mark told me that if it wasn’t for DAN, things would have looked a lot worse.

Mark’s only conclusion for this attack is “territorial”, the shark was clearly not after the speared fish. I reckon those sharks in these remote areas have never seen a human, therefore the chance of these sharks coming to investigate are very good. The sharks around South Africa are use to human interaction and know we are not a threat to them and not on their menu, reason why we have become a little laxy around sharks???

The wound was very well wrapped so I couldn’t see the extent of  damage. The top of his left foot has no feeling but the soul of his foot has, which is a good sign. I also had a squizz at his toes and they have a normal healthy colour which means good blood circulation. Given the circumstances, Mark looks well and I’m sure he’ll be fully recovered in a very short while. The doctors are keeping him for observation to make sure no infection sets in … that’s the last thing you want at this stage of the game. He’ll be going for surgery on Friday to see how much dead flesh there is to be cut out and to verify how things are healing. This surgery will be the first of a few to come.

Hope I was “detailed” enough to get everyone up to speed, feel free to pass this piece of news onto everyone that may know Mark or has herd of the incident and are a little in the dark.

Cya later,

Fernando.

 It would be interesting to find out more about the DAN insurance that Mark had. They flew in a small jet with doctors on board to take Mark back to an SA hospital.

Coatesman