Spearfishing News: Braiden's Garrick and Cold Water

Braidy 9.5kg Garrick

The east wind s have pushed in some clean water, but as can be expected any water from the east is going to be cold. With the afternoon high tides Braidy and I climbed in to look for some Garrick. He out did me 1- 0 ...and some how I get the feeling that this is only the beginning of him beating me.

Other spearfishing news is that there have been some Snoek on the Westbrook to Umhloti stretch. This is rather strange in the 18deg water that we are having. Maybe they think that they are Cape Snoek!!

The Zululand coast has had some marginal conditions, but the Couta are still coming out in fair numbers.
...... maybe we will go have a look there next week if the sea doesn't warm up here at home.

There are still 18 more days left in the Spierre Carbon Fins Promo on the Ultimate Spearfishing Magazine. The topics so far are cooking, and there are also some heated debates going down.

So far the top topics are:

Which Carbon Fins for Spearfishing?

Imported Wetsuits or Local?

Baited Diving, Chumming & Cage Diving

So if you don't feel like working head over to the forum ... 

Coatesman

Markus Potgieter - 22kg Garrick Spearfishing

Markus Potgieter 22kg Garrick

The spearfishing the last few days has slowly gotten worse. And now the conditions are bad with some swell and wind all thrown in together. Yesterday seemed like that last gap and a few guys tried to jump in and make the most of what conditions were diveable.

Markus Potgieter snuck out to one of his spots in some deepish only to find a 22kg Garrick in a shoal of snoek?? Here's the mail he sent me:

Hey bud thought you might be interested in my Garrick I shot yesterday; I shot it out of a shoal of snoek. When I first saw it I thought it was a GT at first, but was the biggest Garrick I have seen! Every time I get one it amazes me at the power of the fish! It tipped the scales at 22kgs a personal best!

This is with out a doubt the biggest Garrick of the year this side, and possibly the biggest over the last few years. Ok ...some guys have claimed bigger but when you look at the picks and fish is no ware near shoulder high then you know they need to check the scale.

The last 'genuine' big Garrick I have seen spearfished off our coast was Warren Blackmore's 19kg Garrick in 2004

Warren Blackmore 19kg Garrick - Tinley Manor

So well done to Markus, any more crazy fish like that and we will have to make him 'King of the Coast' ....sorry Brod :-)

Coatesman

Braidy gets a Garrick

Braiden 7.6kg Garrick speared off Boulder Point Ballito

For some time Braidy has been trying to get a Garrick, but for some reason he has just been unlucky ...over and over. He first took a shot at a Garrick 2 years back, and that was about the best opportunity he has had since. We have seen some fish but they always seem to keep their distance from him.

Saturday turned out different tho, we had been in the water for about an hour and I got bored waiting for Garrick so I went off into the white water to look for Brusher. I turned back after a while to see how Braidy was doing on the outside to see his gun unloaded and floating. I swam across to him and as I approached he gave me a big thumbs up.

I went down on the fish to see if it needed a second shot. Braidy had planted a perfect shot at the pectorals, so I left him to enjoy landing ...more like wrestling the fish.

There were a good couple reports of Garrick up on the coast and I think that this down run will be a good one next month.

Coatesman

Spearfishing UpDate

Robert and I after a great day up the North Coast

After seeing that the water had cleaned up over the last 2 days I bust my ass yesterday on the grapht mission sothat I could take the morning off to dive today. I hooked up with Robert and Ivor and went out to some our local spots up here on the North Coast.

The vis was not as good as we had hoped for, but it was more than good enough to spearfish in. The south west was still pushing so it was a bit rough, but we had all cleared our svhedules and so we went anyway.

We all got some great fish, I managed a nice sized Daga Salmon of about 14kg on a ledge in 27m. Robert got a Garrick out on the 20m line and also got some good size Grunter out on the sand.
There were a few snoek around, I got 2 and the one was 8.5kg gutted.

The forecast looks good for tomorrow and I am sure the guys will be getting in all along the coast. I have heard the guys are also getting in down south, Here is a report from Wayne:

I visited Umtintwini for a few days. Day 2 i woke up, and the sea was calm and clean. I only had 50 min, so i quickly jumped in.
5 min later i was lying on the bottom in about 4 meters of water, when two garrick swam past. they did not even see me behind the rock. i planted a great kill shot, and it was all over for this lovely fish.
I saw onother one a few min later, but it was very small. Sad to say the whole point did not have a single crayfish on it?


Here is a report from Darryl:

 Ken and i went for a quick one down at Port Shepstone just before low tide yesterday - viz was quite good with a bit of a groundswell and we got our quota of bugs, didn`t take my gun out,but didn`t see much fish either.
On the way back, it looked really clean at Southport with the patches of reef vizible a few hundred meters out, the groundswell was churning quite badly but otherwise viz was 6-10 meters, on the way back in a garrick swam underneath me in the whitewater, just after 3 big sets came through and as i dived a shoal of 15-20 materialised and shot one of 11,5 kgs, luckily the bigger surf had passed so managed to subdue it in the midbreak.
a bit bumpy and greenish this morning but it could settle.

cheers-

darrell

Hope you manage to get in this weekend

Coatesman

Spearfishing Update - Deep Water Garrick

The sea had a small change of heart this week and actually gave us a gap to dive. Tuesday was actually very pleasant and it got quiet clean out in the deep. Wednesday morning the swell ws up so I decded to surf as the swell had churned the first 100m and it was not looking inviting.

Deep water Garrick on it's down run to the Cape

This morning the sea again dd not look all that inviting, but with next weeks tuna trip coming up I decided to get in anyway and get the blood flowing.
The swim out was bad as it always is on a low tide with swell at Tiffs. The water was not too bad, and there was about 6m vis on the surface getting worse on the bottom with 'Yellow Peril'.
A health Garrick swam up to me on the surface deep out on the drop off. It shooked and then disapeared into the gloom as is headed for the bottom. I chased and it turned to have a look what was chasing it. It gave me just enough to get a shot in.

This might seem unusual but Garrick do seem to swim in deeper water on their return trip to the Cape. I guess this means that the Garrick are on their way back, which will mean that when the water clears there should be plenty of action on the local points.

Thats all for now. It looks like the next gap to get in might be Saturday morning.

Cheers

Coatesman

Weekend Spearfishing Round Up

Proper sized Wahoo caught off Tiffanies!!

The past few days has seen some of the best vis on our coast this year. And best of all its been 4days and tomorrow still looks good. There have not been too many fish around, some cuta on the bottom out in the deep ...around the 25-30m range!! and some snoek also out in the deep ... they must be lost??

I have been spending time with Braidy looking for Garrick, we have seen a couple shoals but in the clean water they have kept their distance. A wahoo came out on a fishing ski off Tiffanies!!! Its not the first time this has happened ... but its not common. 

I have heard the Aliwal Shoal has had some good fish and Alistair from Extreme Spearfishing Charters got two good fish yesterday arvo.

Alisair 32kg Sailfish and 18kg Wahoo shot off  Aliwal Shoal

Anyway, I am sure we will start hearing of some action from down south soon with the Sards hopefully making an appearance ....

Coatesman

Weekend Spearfishing Update.

Hey Guys,

The weekend started with a bang! Helen Garner came and spoke to us about Freediving and Breath hold, it was truly amazing. We had a full house at Club Nite and I think every one came away enriched or realizing how little we actually know about the sport we love.

I am going to be chatting to Helen about doing some more extensive training over some weekends ...should be the bomb.

The diving conditions were good all weekend, but there was not too much action. I did hear of some Snoek and Garrick action off the backline by one diver, I suppose that is too be expected this time of year when everything kind of happens on the back line.

I got a small Brusher this morning up against the bricks, its about time these fish started to make an appearance. And hopefully we will get some more before they disapear again.

This week looks yuk, easterlies and rough seas ..... I guess I will have to haul the running shoes out .....

Coatesman

Monster Garrick

Well it was;nt such a quiet weekend after all.
Craig Burmeister nailed this 19.1kg Garrick off Tinely.

Here is the storey ....

Was diving with Greg Bisset, Danie Van Huyssteen and Gregg Audie all the Midlands SU / Pmb Underwater Club guys! We dived the 16m+ most of the
morning and after Gregg Audie shot a snoek out there, I swam inshore to have a
look-see, water wasn't too bad out deep, maybe +/- 5-6m ? We got quite a few
nice bottoms. 19.100Kg Garrick after an epic 45 min walk back to the
bakkie... Tinley Manor, south of river mouth, 18.11.07,
+/- 08:00 Viz
2 - 5m Backline
+/- 5 - 6 m Deep
No snoek...

The last time I saw a monster garrick like this was acouple years ago diving Warren when he got a 19.5kg Garrick - click to check it out.

Coatesman

Garrick Barrels and lost Equipment

Well the week end was an eventful one, Shane and Darren ... and I am sure many others hit the south coast and hammered the Garrick. Some nice ones came out around the 10 kg mark.

There was a bit of swell around and while trying to subdue a Garrick Darren got totally milked! Loosing his fin,bootie, dive knife ...off his leg and his mask!! His mask was found by his mate ...lucky, but the rest is in that place with single socks and lost dive stuff. Neptune has a serious collection going!

On the North Coast the surf was real good and the water not bad, but we decided to catch some waves. It has not been good here for ages so to get some barrel time was good.

Anyway back to Darren .... if any one has a spare or lonely Genisis fin lying around give me a shout and we can help the guy out a little.

see ya

Coatesman

One Good Thing!

Well at the moment with strained lungs the sea very average ...but diveable, and the work load insurmountable. Its hard to find something good to talk about.

Then while I was diving into work ....at 5:40 I realised it was light even tho there were some low clouds. And that my friends is great news, it means that when it gets clean we can dive from 5:30!!
No more swimming for 25min to the drop off to dive for 30min turn around and sprint back to the beach to get to work.
Now we can ....swim for 25min to the drop off to dive for 60min turn around and sprint back to the beach to get to work. :-)

I suppose that also means that there is enough time to hit a dive after work aswell now. If you are int the water at 5pm you can probably dive till some time after 6pm. Its a good thing!

And while we are on good things .... Salty Divers are having their Club nite on Friday in Ballito. We are are doing a Garrick and Brusher workshop ....should be fun.

Give me a shout if you are keen to join in. 083 631 0841

Cheers

Coatesman

Salty Diver - Club Meet - Garrick and Brusher Workshop

Next week (Friday 7th September) is the Salty Divers Club Meet and we will have a workshop on Garrick and Brusher hunting.

Believe it or not there are some techniques to shooting Garrick, and Brusher well they are another story. We will go over the when, where, how and with what .... And then ...... we will have a compo. Its kind of becoming a tradition to have a Garrick and Brusher spearfishing comp, and what makes this year any different??

I thought I would spice it a up a little, and make it more interesting. However I need to organise with sponsors before I let the cat out the bag.

I did have high hopes that this week was going to produce some good point diving with high tides in the morning. But the sea has been on its ear!! The winds look like they are moderating and maybe the water will come right aswell.

See ya

Coatesman

August Unlucky Dip

I went for a run past the beach last nite and it looked like there was going to be a dive this morning. The swell was small and there was good enough vis for a good point dive looking for Brusher.

But alas this morning I was greeted by some serious swell, and green offish water. My hopes of a dive dashed I looked to see if there was any chance of a quick surf in Ballito, but with the tide high and the banks still not 100's, there was nothing to write home about.

I hope the swell drops in the next few days and lets us get in on the early morning high tides. The Brusher normally hang around during late winter and soon the Garrick returning from up north will give us some action.

It is strange but my best Garrick months have been in November??? These are the last of the return Garrick and you dont get the shoals of fish like you do in early winter. Brusher on the other hand seem to enjoy the cooler waters and start disappearing mid november ..... but like anything in the sea ... who really knows??

Coatesman

Brusher Season

Well we have had an epic week as far as conditions go. The water has been clean, and the sea & wind have played along as well. The west is blowing now and this might make for great diving tomorrow again.

The gamefish have been quiet tho, the odd snoek and the rumors of cuta!!
If you saw my post yesterday you would have read that I did not get in, I felt miff the whole day, especially when having to drive past the sea.

I decided to rid myself of my mornings sins and jump in after work. With only an hour and the tide going out, it was more for the hell of it. I have not spent any time this winter looking for Brusher and I had heard of a few sightings along the coast. So I added a few weights to my belt grabed my reel gun and jumped in off the point near my house.

The water was a little to clean for Brusher ... but hey I was not complaining. I realised that I did not have enough weights on the belt and was getting washed around abit. Never the less about 10min into the dive while hanging near a proven brusher spot I saw a nice cracker in the white water. I dived straight down into a crack and waited. I have learn't that you can not chase these fish at all. And as Bobs your uncle in comes mister Brusher to have a look, well he got a spear through the gills!!

I suppose this must be a sign for me to stop chasing the Cuta and start hunting some winter fish?? Next Cuta Brusher must be one of my best fish to hunt, they are elusive and take a real 'hunt'. You need to knowing the cracks,and have a strategy its not just floating along waiting for something to swim into you ..... like Garrick!!

6kg White Muscle Cracker - AKA Brusher

Any way tomorrow is another day and we will see what the sea brings!

Coatesman

Great Water = Happy days

There has been some good water around, unfortunately it has been extremely quiet. Yesterday saw the swell drop off enough for my son Braidy to jump in.

He is amping to get a Garrick and the swell that was still fairly strong could not put him off.
(I wonder where he gets that from??)

The last time we dived it was cold and green, so it was good to get in to some really clean water. Lemon Fish Reef off Boulders was like an aquarium with loads of bait fish around.
It was not long before Braidy was getting stuck into the Bugs ....... I think I am going to grow to like the idea of him filling the bag in future.

I got bored of trying to wait for Garrick and we headed out to the Reef, Braidy waisted no time nailing a nice Galeon in the head. Gee he was stoked!
On the reef there were alot of small reefies, but bieng about 6-7m it was getting a little deep for Braidy. He swam onto the pinnicle in about 4m, while I got the last few bugs to fill the bag. Next thing I see Braidy wreseling with his line, I go over to see whats up and he has a small King Fish reefed in a hole.

The shot was good ...through the head (I suppose no one told him to aim anywhere else)
He pipes up proudly, "I was hiding behind that rock and when they came past, I gott'm!)

As per usual we had to eat the spoils, and the little kingie was like pudding!

Braidy's first game fish

Happy days!!

Coatesman

Its a Hard Life!

This week looks like a pearler, I got in last nite and water is nice and clean. I took my 9 year old son Braidy for a dive hoping to get him to get a Garrick. No Garrick but we saw a rather large snoek, it did want to get speared and darted away with out Braidy or myself getting a shot off.

Snoek - They are such bad sports!

We still had fun pulling some buggs, playing with an Octopus and watching life underwater pass us by.

I should have dived this morning, but work has been a bit hectic. But I am not too stress as it looks like we might dive every day this week. A light west today and light variable winds till the weekend. So lets see what happens!!

Other News-

Wahoo Winter Game Fish 2007 - The winter Game Fish is only a week and a bit away and things are hotting up!! The guys are already storming the shop sorting out their kit for the comp.
Iain and crew were up at Vidal this weekend and he dropped a Marlin. So having your kit in top condition is paramount.
Late July going into August is a good time to be up there coz anything can happen. Some times the Wahoo are on but most the time you are after the large return cuta. I know of a number of guys that highlight this time of the year for Vidal, so it will be interesting to see what fish are going to come out on the day.

Shark Week - Just something of interest... Discovery Channel has a whole week of shark programs in Shark Week. Some of the shows are premiers and are showing for the first time. There is one called Deadly Stripes .. shot off Aliwal Shoal with Mark Addison. I will be making a plan to see that one for sure. Check this link- Shark Week