Summer Spearfishing Cape Vidal

Hein du Plessis good Spanish Mack off Leven Point - Cape Vidal

With all the rain on the KZN coast about the only place to go spearfishing at the moment is Cape Vidal.  Desperate to get our gills wet, we headed up the coast on Wednesday for a quick day trip to see if we could get some diving in.
Cape Vidal in December can be frustrating as it can be extremely quiet, the early spring shoals of 'return' Couta (these are Spanish Mackerel big and fat from feeding on the shoals of sardines down south during winter that go back to Mozambique during the summer)  and the Wahoo run have come and gone.
That is not so say you wont find the odd straggler or early shoal Couta , but generally the action only starts in mid January.

Never the less with no other diving going on we headed up and we were blessed with some nice clean water. As was expected the fish were quiet and we only managed to get one small Couta. Some other friends of mine also went up, but they stayed the night at Vidal and got on the sea early and Hein managed to get good Couta early on in the morning.
Apparently there were a few fish around early, which is typical of Leven Point. These early fish usually disappear once the sun is up and more boats arrive.

Tiger Shark off Deep Oscar at Cape Vidal

After a few hours of fishless drifts we headed out to the dep pinnacles at Deep Oscar. On my first drift even though the current was screaming I landed right above the bump. As I dived I saw a couta deep below me and swam down to intercept the fish. But when I levelled out at about 28m with the fish, I was joined by 3 Tiger Sharks, a Zambezi and a Grey Shark. If that was not enough there were a couple Potato Bass circling below just off the reef. It was like they were all going, "come on we dare you to shoot!"
For once I heeded my better judgment and did not take the shot, but situation I found my self in was absolutely awe inspiring. Sharks and other predators all congregating, almost like animals at a watering hole in a drought. So when I hit the surface the speargun was quickly swapped for a DSLR camera.

JP with a small Tiger Shark at Deep Oscar

We battled to get on the exact spot again, also diving with a large camera housing that resembles a potjie pot did not make it any easier. never the less we had some Tigers come up and follow us around for a while. One of the sharks was extremely large and fat, possibly one of the biggest Tigers I have ever seen. This big shark as obviously been around the block a few times and was a bit camera shy and was not keen to get too close.

Although we did not get many fish, it was a great day out and diving with all the sharks was rather cool. The water here at home is still brown and the rivers are still pumping so there is a good chance we will head back to Cape Vidal this next week again. Hopefully we can get lucky this time with some better fish.

Coatesman

Rain Rain Go Away! Please ....

Tongaat River pumping mud.

This weekend was the first time in a while that the water actually started to look good. Most guys got in somewhere along the North Coast, and although the fish where generally quiet some got a few Snoek in the shallows.

I managed to get in yesterday and got my first Couta of the season. Guy Leme and myself had been diving all morning and it was hard going. The current was screaming and making it hard  stay close to the boat, let alone to stay on the spot.

I was actually ready to hit the beach and Guy wanted to have a last look at one of the deep spots that come up to 28m off the Umvolti mouth. His first dive produced a Couta and in no time we were anchored and looking for fish.

After a while and nothing coming onto the flasher I started to look on the bottom for reef species  Only to have a shoal of Couta swim over me. I managed to get a nice fish of 13kg and then another smaller one. It seemed every time I got to the bottom something swam in, but chasing Couta at 28m after a long day is not ideal and I fluffed a shot on a Snoek and dropped a Couta with a bad gut shot.

Things were looking good and it is good to see the Couta making an appearance. All this is actually of no good tho considering the amount of rain we had last night and how the rivers are all pumping mud into the ocean. On my way into Durban this morning I snapped a pic of the Tongaat river vomiting mud ..... its damn depressing  Especially considering that we have not had a lot of diving and now it will be a good week before it comes right again. Well that is if we dont have any more rain.

 So forgive if I am not praying for rain!

Coatesman

Bonani Cele's First Fish

Bonani Cele with his first fish.

If you go into the back of the Rob Allen Dive Factory you will find a friendly face, the factory manager Bonani Cele. There is an interesting story behind this man. After years at the Dive Factory he became a little more than curious about spearfishing. This lead to him taking part in the PDI course with SAUFF a short while ago, where he was introduced to spearfish and water for the first time.

This weekend he joined Dane from the Dive Facs retail store for a dive off the piers in Durban. After a while and not seeing any fish Bonani ventured off over the sand and landed up in a shoal of Gunter. Congrats to Bonani, not too many guys can claim to have a class fish like this as their first fish.

Coatesman

1 Million Spearfishing Views

Onefish Going East over 1 million Youtube views

Going East has fast become one of the Top Spearfishing Video's on Youtube and has rack up the highest sales to date on Spearodvd.com a site that exclusively sells spearfishing dvd videos.

The video trailers funky slowmo sections, vibey music and awesome kill shots has been the recipe that has made it a firm favourite online. There are some other spearfishing video's with high views, but they have been there for years. Going East has achieved this in only 9 months, which is good for a spearfishing video on Youtube.

Any way just stoked to have been involved with this project :-)

Coatesman

Madagascar Spearfishing Expedition

Massive Madagascan Spanish Mackerel - Mohammed Al Kuwari

I recently got back from an epic exploration spearfishing trip to the Barren Islands off the west coast of Madagascar. We spent a week exploring 200km of an uncharted reef system looking for giant Dog Tooth Tuna and Black Marlin.

We didn't really have any joy with the Doggies, although we did see a couple of very very big fish. On the Marlin side we did see a couple and got close to getting a spear into a really big one.

We covered a massive amount of area and shot a loads of good fish from giant Spanish mackerel and some GT's. The full report back on this amazing trip will be published in Vol 12 of the Ultimate Spearfishing Magazine

Coatesman

Join me on a spearfishing adventure of a lifetime to Madagascar & the famous Castor Banks - FIND OUT MORE HERE
SPEARFISHING MADAGASCAR | Spearfishing Dogtooth Tuna

New Spearfishing DVD - Fish to the Bone

I have been away for the last week and I have gotten back into the office to find Brod Whitticker's new dvd trailer up and flying. before I left I saw an almost finished version of the film which was super cool. Brod is the only guy who can get the angles he does ..... really makes you feel like you are in the water with him.

I am off to Mozambique tomorrow and cant wait to get my hands on the final copy when I get back. If you like serious spearfishing action and have enjoyed Brods films why not support him and get yourself a copy? I know I am going to ....
(I think he is running a special on the Youtube site at the moment... the like he has is http://tinyurl.com/dxs9yhh for about $24!)


Coatesman

Extreme Blue Water Spearfishing

If you cant see the video Watch it Here

My good mate Barret Harvey has just finished editing down an epic promo video for Eric Allard at Extreme Blue Water Spearfishing in Tanzania. The footage in this promo vid came from a trip some Durban guys did last year and they got some great fish. What is impressive is that most of these fish were shot in well over 30m. Flip and how are those Doggies?

For more on the trip check out Spearfishing Tanzania 

Coatesman

Spearfishing Is Cool

If you cant see the Vid Go Here

Here is something to make you smile. At least some people think spearfishing is cool.

Have a great weekend

Coatesman

Spearfishing is Over - Spring Has Sprung a Leak

Andy Henwood - All 'cracked up' on Deep Scotties.

 If you did not get in the sea last week best you dust off the running shoes. It is going to be while before the sea come right again, and with even more rain forecast the long term prognosis looks bleak & brown.

Andy Henwood took a chance at the end of last week and got out on the Shoal. The reports had been bad with cold green water, but his shoulder operation coming up this week he decided to take his chances as this will be his last dive for the next few months.

It looks like he made good on the day and while most of us were waiting for 'better days' he got busy. He said the vis was not good at all and it was very cold.

Andy with double luck! 

Green and cold! Well a nice Cracker and a Sailfish later he was smiling all the way home. I guess congrats go to him for getting out there when there was a gap. As for us plebs we sit still waiting ... for 'Better Days'

Moral of the story, drop everything and take the gaps!

Coatesman

34th Wahoo Winter Gamefish Spearfishing Competition at Cape Vidal

This past weekend was the 34th Wahoo Winter Gamefish Spearfishing Competition at Cape Vidal. Here is an account of the weekend by Chris West:

"Greetings to those who made it there and to those that did not...I have been going to Cape Vidal Wahoo Comps since 1983 and know the history. All I can say is that it was a very smoothly run affair under Andy Norton and companies guidance. We battled for the date and basically almost became a summer competition when the weather could have ended us up in a drinking competition (we did that too)....Of course the idea of the Wahoo comp was to bring everybody down to earth and allow the hotties to mix with the gremmies.

the challenge from Wahoo to the Zululand guys was who could drink the night before and still shoot fish the next day.....sounds silly but that was the original plan.

Triple Dave, Roelof and Rob Allen digging away at the steep ramp.

The other problem was the launch had been washed away by the sea and you can check the photos I will add to this and maybe other mails . Rob Allen attacked the bank with his Colt and conquered it with the first attempt (with the boat attached) he also then made a homemade plough and moved the sand so that others could get up and down. Andy helped compact it with his cruiser.I supervised from the bank taking photos. In my wisdom I fell off a roof 5 weeks ago and am still recovering (that's my excuse)

We launched on the Thursday with Andy and XXXDave joining Rob,Roeloff,Andrew and self on Robs Boat. Everybody got fish (except me and XXX)  Traditionally we dined at Andys Chalet and ate Sashimi from Couta and Snoek followed by Beer battered Couta was awesome. Roeloff du Plooy shot a Blue Kingfish which turned out to be a new SA Record and we certified its weight on our Wahoo Scale that has just been officially certified thanks to Terry Deane. Congrats to Roeloff who also shot 3 snoek in the comp and 2 on the
Thursday.

We rested on Friday and prepared for everybody to arrive with DUC Chef Franklin and Mike with one other chap from DUC. We had a braai and finalised the entries to 38 competitors. Not a lot but enough make it happen. Weigh in was down at the launch entrance and some awesome fish were weighed in...

Overall Winner JP Jordaan

Top diver was JP Jordaan with a magnificent Couta 0f 29.9Kg in beautiful condition. Bill McCarthy with a Saily  there was also a Wahoo but only 7,5Kg with milk still pouring out its mouth and the rest was made up of Snoek and Couta my snoek which made me 5th placed was 8.7Kg the biggest I have ever shot and the biggest snoek of the comp.

JP Jordaan 29.9kg Couta 

Old time Zululander Billy showing the guys who's boss!

There were awesome prizes donated by the local dive shops and their suppliers. Rob Allen certainly did his thing here and it was great to see Freedivers also putting in some prizes here again. We were visited by Chantal Dixon who is the Curator for Sea Fisheries there and she joined us for our lamb on the spit with all the goodies that go with.

Plans have already been put in place for next year and our competition will reach its 35th year of existence. Thanks you to all of you who did their bit there especially to Andy,XXXDave,Ryan Berry ,Rob and Andrew and to all the sponsors.....forgot to mention that the Zululanders kicked Wahoos butts and they also won the Team Prize.

Apologies in advance if I forgot to mention something I should of.....

Chris West"

Zululand Spearfishing Turns On

25kg Zululand Wahoo 

Wohoo! Stands for Wahoo ....
Late winter is a good time for spearfishing on the Zululand coast, the return couta are usually the target species, but the later it gets the better it gets for Wahoo. Yesterday we headed up that way looking for Couta and found some Wahoo instead .... and nobody was complaining.

The guys up at Cape Vidal also got a couple nice big Wahoo yesterday and this is great news with the annual Wahoo Winter Gamefish spearfishing Competition taking place there on Saturday. I am sure with the news that the Wahoo are there its going to be an absolute cracker of a comp.

Who knows maybe this is going to be the late winter we have all been waiting for.

Coatesman

Spearfishing by Brod Whittaker vol 11

If you cant see the Video CLICK HERE

Just when we needed a fix .. Brod has another great spearfishing clip! Thsi time he has some nifty tech with him, a super cool Aqua Quad! Damn it just makes me a little bit jealous, I think I need one of those :-)

Enjoy 

Coatesman

Winter Couta Spearfishing Surprise.

Good haul for a shore dive

Lately the spearfishing on the north Coast has been typical of winter. Big swell most of the time with clean water, and baron reefs. It is generally a frustrating time of the year, you can dive 3 or 4 times and hit absolute blanks, with out even a hint of a decent fish.

So you can imagine that expectations at this time of year are generally pretty low when it comes to getting quality fish. Normally it is September before any action starts, and for the most part the big Couta returning from Sardine shoals down south miss us. I think they go out to sea, and only come back in up in Zululand.

This weekend things turned on its head a bit when  I was surprised with 3 Couta and a Wahoo on a local shore dive. Maybe its the no show by the Sardines that have the Couta returning early and coming in shallow to feed due to the fact that they did not find any Sardines to feed on.

The conditions were perfect and I knew the water was clean, fortunately I took my 1.3 speargun other wise I would have been in the bush. I walked a couple kilometres down the beach to a secluded reef I hoped to find some fish. (The reef is marked by a lone tree on the hill, those who know the area will know the place)
The reef was very quiet, as it has been for a few weeks and I started to look along the 14m line for some Crays when a lone single Couta swam past.

The fish striped my reel and half emptied my belt reel before slowing down. This means a whole lot of winding up afterwards but with a good fish on the end I was not complaining. I landed the big fish with out a hitch, sorted my line out and carried on scouting around for any other reef fish and crayfish. I seriously just though that was a luck fish and did not expect to see another one.

Next this a Wahoo swims in on the flasher, damn this fish must have been lost! I tentatively dropped down in-line with the fish. I am notoriously bad at shooting these fish. As was expected the fish turned up for the surface and away from me. I made a hard right turn away from the fish and swan a few more meters down, out the corner of my eye I see the fish stop and do a half turn back towards me. I pause to see if it was going to turn more but it turned away ...... damn I am blowing it!!! In a last ditch effort I haul ass up towards the fish and close the gap just close enough for my 1.3 with 2x 14mm rubbers to deliver a spear smack between the anal and dorsal fins. Once again both reels were stripped and again I was not complaining once the fish was safe on my float.

Now with 2 fish that looked between 15 and 20kg I knew that caring them the couple kilometres on the beach was not going to be fun. That and the fact that the current had turned pushing me even further away from where I had parked. I figured that a slow swim back would be easier and I might pick up a little something extra on the way.

An hour later I was still swimming and only half way home, I had reached the last piece of reef before a good 1.5km of open sand back the the beach by the car. I reefed up to take a break from the current, and while I was resting holding onto my float a Couta comes cruzing in. I leave the float and drop down next to the fish and it does the text book turn to look at me and catches my spear mid body. That's another fish on my float. not as big as the others, but wow another Couta ... This is getting better than a summer dive!

I decide to do a couple dives who knows maybe there are more, and on the second dive while on the bottom a fat Couta swims right over the top of me and once again all my line disapeared on my gun reel and my belt reel was empting fast. After a short tussle the fish about the same size as the first Couta was on the stringer and I was winding in the line. This time around my arm was starting to cramp and I had to take a few breaks in between resting holding onto the float.

By now the east had picked up and the current was getting stronger. If I was going to make make it home any time soon I was going to have to leave .... even if there where more fish around. Now the fish were a serious drag and the only way I could get ahead was to have the stringer over my shoulder and the fish on my back and in my wake as I swam. I tried the inshore but with the large swell I was not going any were fast. Walking was not an option with the 50-60kgs of fish.

The swim took almost 2 hours with only the stoke of an amazing catch fuelling my legs. That and possibly the fact that I had no other options. I eventually washed up the beach and was greeted by a black fisherman who helped me get the fish out the shore break. Had he not been there I don't think I would have managed.

Tiered, broken and smiling this was a day I wont forget in a long time.

Coatesman

Spearfishing the Mentawai Islands Indonesia

Jamie O'Brien surfing and spearfishing in the Mentawai Islands in Indonesia 

Over the last few weeks there has not been too much going on at home, The swell has been up more than the vis has been clean, and even when we have gotten in to spearfish there have not been to many fish around. So for the most part it has been a bit of surfing and waiting for the sea to calm down enough to get a dive in.

But talking about surfing and spearfishing check out the video clip of Jamie O Brian spearfishing the Mentawai Islands in Indonesia. (if the video is not displayed above WATCH HERE)
Indonesia and more specifically the Mentawai islands is probably ultimate place to go on a surf trip, there are generally always waves. But these guys got some flat days and landed up doing some spearfishing.

I think that's my dream trip spearfishing and surfing in an epic location like the Mentawais.

Coatesman

Report on the banning of SAUFF from World Spearfishing Champs 2012

Unbeknownst to any of the SAUFF committee member, there was a change to the registration process for competing in world events sanctioned by CMAS, from a paper submission to a web based submission.

If any “unpaid” licences for competing in previous world events where outstanding then the web based registration process could not be completed. Despite the full payment of over €4500 to the organisers, we were never informed that we have not complied fully with the CMAS process. In fact there was no communication from CMAS with regards to the payment of the outstanding licence fees. In the past there has been no problem in sorting these payments out and South African competitors have competed in zones and world events with these outstanding fees not causing issues. A number of these fees date back 4 years.

The organisers, FEGAS, and CMAS were very aware that the South African competitors where in Spain as they competed in a friendly competition weeks before the start of the event and had valid licences for diving in Spain. It is surprising that other Federations knew about this problem before any of the South African team or committee members, weeks before the start of the event. The South African side was deliberately kept in the dark and at no time did CMAS make an effort to discuss this issue with us.

Three days before the event I went to the organisers and spoke to them about the registration and I was assured that everything was in order.

That evening, Jaco Blignaut and I went to drop off the flag and we were told that there was an “issue”, the same afternoon that we had received an email from FEGAS, not CMAS, informing us there was a technical issue that needed to be sorted out.

I spoke with the CMAS disciplinary official who informed me that there was an outstanding internet submission that was required. The next morning as soon as possible I paid the outstanding amount of €485 personally and forwarded proof of payment to CMAS who confirmed the payment. With the help of SAUSF we completed the outstanding forms and submitted them.

Despite full payment they flatly refused to discuss the matter as they said there was a disclosure on the web site that these fees had to be paid 30 days before the competition. Again there was no information about this given to us, nor any communication from CMAS about this prior to the boys landing in Spain, or at any time before the registration with the Spanish Federation. One would have thought that there would have been some effort to communicate the fact that there where outstanding “issues” before the massive effort of the South African competitors.

For three days I fought to get the boys permission to be able to compete. We had complied with all the outstanding requirements as soon as we knew about them. This was the first time these requirements were implemented.

CMAS could have allowed us to compete, but decided against it due to a technicality.

I cannot explain how gutted and disappointed I was with the treatment of an issue that could easily have been resolved. The South African competitors have sacrificed more than most as we are self-funded and all full time employees. This means not only having to pay in full for the trip themselves but also having to take up unpaid leave in some instances or forgo job opportunities.

SA spearfishing was made a political example of on purpose as we are a tiny federation with little recourse and we were used as a pawn to “make a point”, but were a significant threat in terms of competing for the top spots.

Making a point of disallowing us to participate goes against the very nature of what sport is about. Putting politics before fair competition highlights how CMAS, in my opinion, has lost sight of what they are there for.

There could have been many other ways of resolving this issue positively and in the best interests of competitive sport. We are desperately unhappy with the attitude of the regulating authorities and cannot understand why this prevailing attitude should be allowed to continue. It is surely not in the best interests of building this sport for the future.

I have organised a meeting with the South African authorities on Monday the 16^th July to discuss a way forward and will keep all those involved informed on any progress.

Yours Sincerely,

________________

Iain Ewing

Chairman

SA get Barred from World Spearfishing Champs

As the CMAS World Spearfishing gets under way the South African Spearfishing team is having to sit out. The SA team was barred due to some unpaid subs from last year.... funny they let the team go all the way to Spain to give them the middle finger!

This is the message from Iain Ewing from SAUFF who is over there with the boys and tried to sort the issue out.

Hi all.
We are out of the compo. No diving for the SA boys at all.
Despite all the issues of subs and payments being sorted out the decision was taken by CMAS not to allow us to dive. it's been a hectic few days trying to resolve what we thought was a fairly simple issue. We are very disappointed! Both with regards to not being allowed to compete and the way we have been treated. We have always understood that regulating authorities are there to help with the development and facilitation of sport not the dictation and preclusion of small federations.

This is truly a very sad day for the SA side who had giving up work and huge amounts of their own cash to be there. I know Jaco was in fine form and was hungry to show the world what he could do. Maybe the Europeans are just scared??

On a personal note I think it is high time that the rest of the world break from CMAS and the Europeans
control of the sport. Thing change and spearfishing needs a change. Just like in surfing they moved the contests away from the traditional beaches with 2ft slop to the best spots in the world creating the 'Dream Tour'
Just think about that for a moment! Spearfishing competitions in the best spots with real fish not eels and palm sized Black Tail. How practical I don't know? But it will be a hell of a lot more interesting.

A big thumbs down for CMAS

Coatesman

1 Million Spearfishing Channel Views

1Million views and 2283 subscribers - In The Zone's Spearfishing Channel

Today is a special day as the Spearfishing production company that I am involved with called In The Zone has cracked the 1 Million views mark!!! I know this is not massive in Youtube terms, but in the world of spearfishing it is BIG. In fact its the channel with the most views and subscribers out of the dedicated spearfishing Youtube channels.


This partly due to the fact that our latest trailer for the film Onefish Going East has over 300 000 views in just a few months. I think the 2283 loyal subscribers who like our films also help, and having this many subscribers is also a huge achievement.


If you have not checked in on our Video Channel yet and seen all our other videos HAVE A LOOK NOW

A big thanks to all the crew that have contributed to reaching this milestone.

Thanks a MILLION

Coatesman

Spearfishing North to South

Graham Sinclar 21kg Wahoo - Cape Vidal

This past week I was up at Cape Vidal with some guys, it was great showing the guys around the place. We had great weather and some how even with a morning out fixing a broken steering helm we dived 3 out of 3 days and had epic calm conditions. The fish were a little quiet, but Graham managed to bad a great Wahoo of 21kg, the guys saw a couple more Wahoo and a big Sailfish off the point the one after noon.

Another shoal Couta off to the deep freeze.

There were a few shoal Couta around and there was no problem getting dinner each night. But it was strange not to see any Snoek. I did manage to find a few Snoek back on out home reefs this weekend on a shore dive, but for the most part it has been very quiet.

The spearfishing down south has been quiet, with the odd chap finding some fish here and there. By now areas like Hiberdene should be cooking. Maybe its the no show by the Sards that has messed with the situation. On that note the guys in the Transkei waiting for the Sards have almost totally given up. I know of a few guys that have already pulled the plug and come home with not being shoals of Sardines even after a couple weeks.

Craig Montgommery 41.6kg Couta on Line at Port Edward

That said there is still hope, and a mammoth Couta of 41.6kg came out at Port Edward ... imagine coming across that beast while diving!!

Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come. Especially since this week end is the Hibiscus Gamefish Open  one of KZNs premeir spearfishing comps with loads of prizes up for grabs including R5000 for the biggest gamefish. Download the HUC ENTRY FORM here.

Cheers

Coatesman

Book your own Spearfishing adventure go to: Cape Vidal Spearfishing Charters and Guided Trips

Early Winter Spearfishing

Gregg Audie 40kg Iggie off Sordwana

 Early winter on the north coast can be seriously frustrating. Either the swell is so good its hard to actually go dive or the dive conditions are so good but there are no fish around ... and you are left wondering why you never surfed.

Some guys head further north to Sodwana, Vidal and Mapelane and make the most of the generally epic conditions. Although there are usually not too many fish around it is usually quality fish that come out.
Gregg Audie got a 40kg off Sordies over the weekend and I heard that there were also some good size Couta lurking around Vidal. It will be another month or so before the big return Couta fat on Sardines make their way past Vidal, but there are still some good fish around.

At home its been very quiet other than the odd Garrick off the points, that said some guys found a shoal of Snoek over the weekend and nailed it. It seems they were very luck as I know every one else scratched for fish.

Rowan Colman 38kg Daga off the Bluff

The Daga are slowly making an appearance in the Durban area, and I heard that one or two have been seen on the wrecks already. It is a bit early and we will only start to see the numbers in August. That said rown Colman got a monster Daga a week or so ago off the Bluff. He was in shallow water when a whole shoal swam in on him. I guess that's a good sign and maybe we will get an early run of Daga this year.

I know a couple guys heading down to the Kei so it will be interesting to hear what they come back with.

Dive safe

Coatesman

Winter Swells Arrive

Warren Blackmore loving the off shore winds.

Well winter is upon us and on the north coast the spearfishing kind of goes very quiet. Its a strange time of the year, the summer gamefish have left with only the odd stray Couta lurking around and the winter Garrick and Daga have not quiet got here.

On the up side the morning off shore winds groom the winter swells and almost every point from Transkei to Mozambique is going off. So that's what we have been up to the last few weeks ... more surfing than diving.

This weekend has more swell and winter winds so next week is looking like a cracker for the surf.

See you out there

Coatesman

Spearfishing with Brod Whittaker Vol 10

See video on YouTube Watch Here

Brod Whittaker has become possible one the best guys utilizing a head cam while spearfishing. I personally prefer to hold the camera in my other hand, as head cam footage can often be very shaky. Brod has this system down to a fine art. You only have to go through and watch through his previous videos to see what I am talking about.

I think we also forget sometimes that Brod is also one of the best spearfisherman in the country, a previous SA champ and he recently finished 6th as SA champs in PE. I guess it is the combination of being a phenomenal dive and a great underwater videographer that makes it such a pleasure to watch his films.

This one from up on the North Coast is a cracker ...I hope you enjoy.

Coatesman

South African National Spearfishing Championships 2012 Final Results

1st National Individual Camp Charl Blignaut

South African National Spearfishing Championships 2012 was wrapped up this weekend down in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. The windy city lived up to its name and only 2 days were divable. The 2 days were complete opposites of each other. The First Day the visability was far better than what is usually en-counted in the Eastern Cape. Making spearfishing the common species very difficult. Jaco Blignaut SA's favourite for the event came out in the lead with a small margin with only 9 weighers. 

2nd National Individual Camp  Jacob Blignaut

Day Two was a complete different affair with the wind turning from the east making the visibility really bad. Eventually sending the guys packing early on in the day, with most guys scratching to find some fish to weigh in. Local knowledge clearly made the difference on day 2 with the local guys having a clear edge at the weigh in. Carl Blignaut who was only a few points behind Jaco going into day 2 put in a big effort to come out just ahead. This gave him just enough points to clinch the title from Jaco when the points were finalised.

I could have only imagined the tension going into the last day. Jaco probably wanted another day at sea to have an opportunity to get better points on the board, while Charl was probably praying for the wind not to stop and seal the deal. 

Lohan Geel & 3rd National Individual Camp Carl Werner

The surprise in the competition was the Natal B team that stepped up to the plate from Day one. Carl Werner lead the team & proved himself by holding the 3rd spot on both the 1st and second days. And despite some good scores by some good divers on day 2, he came out in 3rd place overall.

 1st National Team Campions - EP A - Martin van Niekerk, Darryl Hiscock, Charl Blignaut

But its the local boys that had the smiles EP A although being in third position on day 1, came out on day 2 and showed the the other teams a thing or two about diving the Eastern Cape. Martin van Niekerk improved his 1st day score eventually posting a 9th overall with Darryl Hiscock coming in at 12th.

2nd National Team Campions - KZN B  - Carl Werner, Guy Le Meme, Garrick Morris 

 The Natal B team came second over all and 1st in the B division were very happy with their position. Day 2 although challenging for the Natal boys they all did well. Garrick Morris started day one in 5th and finished in 4th position over all and Guy Le Meme came in from out of the top 10 on day one to finally finish in a respectable 8th position. 

Here is a short report by Richard Leonard from the Gully Jumpers on SA Spearfishing Nationals 2012

We had 2 weeks of pristine diving conditions, 10 of the 14 days were dive-able, a phenomena for PE. The west came up the ground swell pulled in and then we started Nationals....as they say, Murphy's law:-(
To sum up the SA Spearfishing National Champs for 2012, in just a few words, most of the contestants said "One of the toughest Nationals we have ever competed in". Out of the 6 allotted dive days the competitors only managed to get in the water on a short 2 day window period between the blasting west and howling east.
Day 1 proved to be amazing, vis wise, but a desperate scratch for most divers with only 1 diver, the local legend Charl Blignaut, weighing in 10 fish. Even so this could not match the quality of fish landed by the SA Dive legend Jaco Blignaut placing Jaco just over 1 point ahead of Charl for day 1.
The big question was what was going to happen on day 2. Jaco new that this title was not going to be a steal, Charl knew the area well and with the tough diving conditions looming ahead of them for the second day's diving, local knowledge combined with great diving ability was going to be hard to beat.
With day 2 pushing up an icy theromocline making it super tough conditions it again made for some super hard diving. Jaco hit the beach with a great catch seemingly the best catch of the day until Charl beached and started hauling out a catch that most competitors would have dreamed of achieving on a perfect days diving. Charl again the only competitor who managed a full 10 weigh'ers but this time he had 5 maxi weigh'ers giving him a substantial lead over Jaco. This left Jaco and a couple other competitors in suspense for the A Team captons meeting shortly after the day 2 weigh in. The big question now was - Was this going to be the final day of the comp or would Jaco get a miracle and dive again? The decision in the meeting was well stated and, quite simply no matter what the comp situation was if there was no vis to dive in then the would be no diving. A huge bummer for the Jaco as the forecast was not good and he was desperate to challenge Charl's lead. In true PE fashion the 2 days of hard east totally destroyed the vis and any chance of a dive hence leaving Charl Blignait, the EP A team captain, the title of 2012 SA National Spearfishing Champion!
A HUGE thank you to Mares for not only sponsoring the event with 25 thousand rands worth of prizes but also for making borrie roles for the competitors and just being there in full support of the competition.
Also a huge shout out and thank you to the hosting club, Gully Jumpers, for the months of planing organising and excellent execution of the event.
Richard Leonard
Gully Jumpers Committee Member 

 Here are the final results at the end of the 2 days:


Nationals 2012 - Individuals
1   Charl Blignaut   69.75
2     Jaco Blignaut     63.9
3     Carl Werner     46.05
4     Garrick Morris     43.1
5     Devon Swart    39.95
6   Brod Whittaker   37.3
7   Kurt Roberts   37.15
8   Guy Le Meme   35.35
9   Martin van Niekerk   32.1
10   Charl Myburgh   31.15
11   Fred Bester   30.6
12   Darryl Hiscock   30.55
13   Hein Eksteen   29.1
14   Garret Staats   28.8
15   Corry Versluis    28
16   Riaan Weiderman   27
17   Angelo Spada   26.35
18   Paul Toich   26.15
19   Manus Nienaber   25.85
20   Iain Ewing   25.75
21   Terance Belinghan   24.6
22   Gary Uys   22.95
23   Hein Sigfreid   22.2
24   Eugene van Wyngaardt   19
25   Nick Horne   13.6
26   Lohan Geel   10.95
27   Max Harrington   10.25
28   Rick van der Merwe   9.35
29   Peter Jacobsen   8.65
30   Christiaan Steffers   6.7
31   Tyron Theeson 4.35
32 Paul Jooste 3.9

Nationals 2012 - Team Results
1   EP A     132.4     100.00%
2   Natal B     124.5     94.03%
3   Border A     93.35     70.51%
4   Natal A     86.6     65.41%
5   EP B     83.55     63.10%
6   Natal C     82.55     62.35%
7   Boland B     82.45     62.27%
8   Boland A     49.45     37.35%
9   Border B     38.1     28.78%
10   EPC     31.25     23.60%
11   EPD     28.25     21.34%

From what I hear the comp was well organised and a big thanks must go out to the local spearfishing club Gully Jumpers for although being in their first year have successfully organised and run a main event like Nationals. New come to the scene was Mares who with a strong presents and support at the event have put their stamp on South African spearfishing in a big way.

I guess for all competitors it back home now and get ready for the next round of trials in prep for next years National Championships. Congrats to Charl and the EP A side for cleaning up, and to Jaco for always putting in a strong appearance at any competition he enters.

Oh and of course lets not forget Carl, Garrick and Guy from the Natal B side, I am sure they will have plenty ammo at the bar for months to come as to how they beat the Natal A side.

Coatesman

South African National Spearfishing Championships Day-2

Local favorite Charl Blignaut notching up some maxi weighers.

Conditions at the second days diving at the South African National Championships made a turn for the worst and the divers had to put in some serious effort to get some quality fish. Local knowledge came in really helpful as the guys in the know managed to still get some good fish.

With the next few days not looking good, and the possibility of the divers getting in again looking slim, the committee running the event have not released yesterdays scores. They say that the results are really close and they want to keep the final result for the prize giving on the weekend.

Jaco Blignaut one of SA's top divers making sure he is not out done.

 I have however been sent an report by Richard Leonard for Gully Jumpers regarding yesterdays diving.

Day 2 started off with light easterlies and clean water in the deap but the competitors soon found ot that it was going to be way more challenging than they thought. The thermocline had pushed in and at most places from 10 meters down there was a radical temperature shift from 18degees to 10 degrees in temperature. The report announced that the east wind was going to increase through out the day gusting up to 25 knots by 11am. The pressure was on, the competitors knew they needed to find their fish early on in the day before conditions got too bad too dive in.
Well the forcast was dead on, the wind started howling by 11 and the water got progressively worse. It proved to be a very challenging dive day for the competitors with most divers scratching out 3-6 weigh'ers. A nice surprise was the Geelbeck and the ever so saught after Miss Lucy or as the EC divers call - Stump which made an appearance in some of the bags.
The big show down and point of suspense was between 2 SA dive legends, Jaco Blignaut and Charl Blignaut. The question was how would Jaco be able to contend against Charl the local champ with local knowledge. Jaco Beached first with a great catch, better than any one else at that point, that was untill Charl hit the beach and started unloading his hatch. It seems local knowledge combined with great diving ability gave Charl the edge and a amazing catch of 10 species - again the only diver of the day to achieve this but what really blew us all away was the 5 maxie weigh'ers in his bag with a 14.5 KG tail to seal the deal as the diver in the lead of this competition.
The results will remain un announced as the weather is up, the divers are not diveing today and there might not be another dive day for the rest of the comp. The results will be anounced on Sat evening after the prize giving.
Richard Leonard
Gully Jumpers Committee Member

Local boy Darryl giving some of the top divers something to think about.

We hope that this is not it for Nationals 2012 and hope that tomorrow sees some diveable conditions. I know from the reports I have gotten back from the Natal boys is that its been tough, very tough.

I will have the final results up before the weekend is out.

Coatesman

South African National Spearfishing Champs Day-1

As always Jaco Blignaut coming out on top.

South African National Spearfishing Champs hosted by EP's Gully Jumpers Spearfishing Club finally got under way yesterday after a few days of strong west winds. The day proving to be quite a challenge, the divers got some great viz for PE, 10 - 15 meters in most spots. This clean water however proved to be difficult to hunt in with only one contestant the local favorite, Charl Blignaut, weighing in his full quoter of 10 fish.

EP-B team with some really good weighers.

 Some of the surprises were Deven Swart a development spearo diving with the EP B team coming in at 4th place with an awesome eastern cape mixed bag and Terence Bellingan also EP B team shooting the fish of the day. A 12 KG Garrick on the bottom at 23meters depth, insane!.

A huge thank you to Mares who have not only donated 25k worth of equipment in prizes for this years event but are also at the event in full force showing their support for the sport of spearfishing in South Africa.

Here are the results for Day 1:

Individual Results:

1st - Jaco Blignaut - 31.4
2nd - Charl Blignaut - 29.3
3rd - Carl Werner - 26.6
4th - Devon Swart - 24.6
5th - Garrick Morris - 24.1

Provincial Team Results:
1st - Natal B - 68.05
2nd - Boarder A - 59.35
3rd - EP A - 53.5
4th - Boland B - 50.3
5th - EP B - 50


Will keep the you up to date as I get more info.

Coatesman

Onefish Going East Spearfishing DVD - Durban Premier

Chris Coates - Rob Allen (sponsor) - Richard Leonard (Director) - Matt Swart (Editor)

This past Friday night saw the Onefish Going East Durban Premier. The In The Zone team celebrated the release of their new film with a good crowd of guys that came out to the event. The film was a big hit and seeing it on the massive screen was insane. Some of the finest spearfishing moments ever caught on film blew guys away and many said they need to buy the film just so that they could go home and try absorb it all.

The guys had an opportunity to check out the latest gear, from boats, suits and guns.

The evening was hosted by the Ultimate Spearfishing Magazine who also organised a mini spearfishing Expo and cocktail evening. This on its own was ground breaking as this is the first time spearfishing in SA has had an expo with different manufactures coming together. The guys enjoyed some of the new products and got to met some of the spearfishing gear manufacturers first hand. SAUFF were also at the event and announced the South African squad for the World Championships in Spain later this year.

For more pics go to : Onefish Going East Durban Premier
Get Your Copy Here Onefish Going East

Coatesman

Umhlanga Rock Spearfishing Club Crayfish Comp

Click Here to see Video

The Umhlanga Rock Spearfishing Club had their annual Crayfish Comp on Saturday, loads of fun was had by all and the overall winner was Richard Forman.

I could waffle more about the comp but Evan Basson's video above says everything and more .... crazy vid Ev


Coatesman

Ultimate Spearfishing Magazine's BIG Night out with Onefish - Going East

THE BIGGEST NIGHT IN SOUTH AFRICAN SPEARFISHING

You are probably wondering why I have plastered this BIG poster across my blog? Well that's because a BIG event needs a BIG poster :-)
In fact I cant remember if there was ever such a big evening event on the SA calendar?


First up is the premier of the much anticipated Onefish - Going East spearfishing film. This is going to be shown in High Definition and on a BIG screen. And this I promise you it will blow your socks off!!

If that was not enough, the South African Team going to the World Spearfishing championships in Spain will be announced, and there will be the R5000.00 worth of Rob Allen gear for the USM subs competition will be drawn.

Then to top it all off there is a spearfishing expo as well, from boats, gear and more .......

The guys have put together an evening not to be missed with cocktail snacks and some serious cheap beer buckets too!!

The cost is only R75 per person and I suggest you book ASAP as there are limited tickets available and it looks like we will sell out of this one just like at the last Onefish premier were we had to turn people away.

To book your ticket email: kerryn@parafilmproductions.com

Don't miss out this is going to Rock!!

Coatesman

New Spearfishing Film 'Onefish - Going East' Released

Watch the Trailer Here - Going East Spearfishing Trailer

Hey Guys,

Today we finally released the next 'Onefish' spearfishing film called Going East. We uploaded the video this weekend (to do some testing and see that the HD was working properly) and did not make it public until this morning, as we wanted to send it out to our fans first.
But this did not stop the video getting out some how and by this morning we had already gotten over 4000 views!! Some guy even hacked it and reloaded it on his channel … I guess we will take that as a compliment :-)

Anyway with no more rambling here is the video, go have a look and leave a comment letting me know what you think.
Here is the video: Onefish – Going East Spearfishing Trailer

Hope you enjoy

Coatesman


To order a copy go to : Going East Spearfishing DVD

Cape Vidal Guided Spearfishing Trip

Stanton & Syd not bad for the first time spearfishing!

This past weekend I guided a spearfishing trip at Cape Vidal. The guys were Stanton and Syd, two guys who were looking to make their first spearfishing experience a memorable one.

Taking first timers is always a bit nerve racking a you never know how competent the guys will be, and how quickly they will pick up the basics.... sometimes just enough to be comfortable in the water. To Stanton and Syd's credit, these guys had done their home work. They had spent time in the Quarry, had at least on session With Fernando from Centurion Freedivers, and spent the last few weeks training.

So when they got to Leven it was not long before they were comfortably hitting the bottom at 15m and doing some impressive dives.

Stanton all kitted up and in the mix.

The fish however proved to be a bit on the quiet side, but even so the boys got fish every day from shoal Couta to some good Queenfish. I don't think these guys realise that for most guys their first fish land up being Stone Bream or Black Tail. I know mine was Stone Bream .....

Syd enjoying the perfect conditions

A big plus was that on the last day the conditions were about as good as it gets. 20m vis, clear skies and no wind. It was such a special day, getting some fish was just a bonus.

Coatesman

Book your own Spearfishing adventure go to: Cape Vidal Spearfishing Charters and Guided Trips