Dogtooth Tuna Spearfishing - Speartopia Doggie Spearfishing Heaven

Dogtooth Tuna Spearfishing

Spearfishing Dogtooth Tuna off Madagascar's remote northern tip is mostly uncharted and difficult to get to. This makes for some of the most incredible Dogtooth spearfishing on the planet. Most of the spots on this trip had never been speared before, making this the ultimate spearfishing adventure. For more info on Coatesmans Madagascan spearing adventures : Dogtooth Tuna Spearfishing Madagascar

Ascension Island Spearfishing - Hand Feeding Giant Tuna

Hand Feeding Giant Tuna - Ascension Island Spearfishing

Ascension Island is a crazy special place to spearfish. Giant Yellowfin tuna are in abundance and you can with lots of patience and burly get them to eat out of your hand.
Some of this video footage from Ascension that does not make the cut in the films is ridiculous!! @mjkqatar having fun with some tunas at Ascension Island. Looking forward to getting back there later this year.

Check out Spearfishing Ascension Island page on coatesmans.com if you want to join me ... and do some of this!

Coatesman

MJK Spearfishing Lazarus Banks

MJK 65kg Dog Tooth Tuna - Lazarus banks

I have been away for weeks now guiding different spearfishing trips and adventures. One of the standouts was the week spent with Mohammed Al Kuwari out on the famous Lazarus banks in northern Mozambique. it was the first time I had guided out there so I teamed up with Eric Allard, who has been running charters there for the last year already and has access to good boats. Because Lazarus is so far from shore we needed a live-aboard which meant that we literally just did the 'eat-sleep-dive' thing for over a week.

We were also filming MJK's segment for a new film 'In The Zone' is working on. Richard 'Snoek' Leonard came out to direct the shoot and be extra hands and eyes in the water. Lazarus was perfect for filming with its crystal clean water and shoals of Doggies and Sharks.

Lazarus is an amazing spot, and has some incredible Dog Tooth Tuna. The shallow structure and numerous coral bommies meant that landing the fish was easier said that done. The Doggies were also very cunning and after the first few drifts would sit just a little bit deeper, close enough to pick out the big ones, but just too far for a perfect shot. You learn very fast that unless its the shot is the most perfect you have ever had and that you are 100% sure of hurting or stoning the fish its just not worth taking. Broken steel cable is testament to this, the big Dogs are just insanely powerful.

Mohammed who is known for his epic kill shots was on a good run at first with 3 kill shots (or as we joke with him "MJK shots") in a row. With a prize 65kg Doggie rolling over with a perfect MJK shot, possibly one of the best shots I have ever seen. The good run came to an abrupt end when he shot an even bigger fish. The fish rolled over and we were almost about to celebrate when the fish woke up, it did a slow dazzed circle around us at 30m and then disappeared with 2 x 35l and 2 x 11l floats. We eventually got the floats back, and the steel shooting line had sheared off!! So you can only imagine what happens if your shot is bad.

MJK with a 45kg Lazarus GT

Giant Kingfish are also numerous on the Lazarus and we saw shootable fish every day. MJK took one and it weighed in at 45kg, but I think if we were not focusing on Doggies we would have found a bigger one. Then again we were focusing on great fish on film so we also only took the shots where everything was perfect.

Rich, MJK, And myself

Lazarus is fairly big and a week is not enough time to explore all the spots. We would have loved to have stayed on for more days but we were limited to how long we could stay out there by how long the ice that was keeping the fish would last. So we left feeling like we need more days :-) I guess that's not a bad thing. It just means we will have to go back.

Lazarus is a serious logistical mare, yachts, boats flights and of course this all means that its not cheap. But if you have the means, then this is definitely a place you need to add to your bucket list.

Coatesman

Brazilian Record Breaking Mozambique Spearfishing Adventure

Christopher Ananiadis - 50kg Ignobilis Kingfish

I recently returned from an epic spearfishing trip to Mozambique with some guys from Brazil. Christopher Ananiadis and his friends Guilherme Azevedo and Alex Talarico came out to dive the untouched waters 'some where' between Xai-Xai and Inhaca Island with me.
Christopher being and ex-South African had been to Mozambique before, but for the other guys this was their first time, so expectations were high. Fortunately everything from weather to the crazy fish, Mozambique did not disappoint.

This trip was very different from previous trips for me as the guys from Brazil are not accustomed to doing the typical 'blue water' type diving looking for game fish with a flasher. And preferred to scout the amazing reef systems for an amazing variety of reef fish. On many occasions there was the, "I saw a strange fish with ......are they good to eat, can we shoot those?"

Guilherme Azevedo - 21.65kg Indian Mirror Fish

The guys got some really good fish with a number of fish even bigger than or near the current IUSA world records. Christopher got 2 Purple Cod (White Blotched Grouper) 14.5kg and 13.3kg both bigger than the current 12.5kg record.

Guilherme got a Indian Mirror Fish of 21.65kg (Indian Thread Fish - Alectis Indica or African Pompano - Alectis Ciliaris) if it is the Alectis Indica it almost doubles the previous world record!!!

Alex got a Pickhandle Barracuda of 14.8kg which was over a 1kg of the current world record. With this fish we were ready with the measuring tape and made sure we had all the details to claim the record.

Christopher Ananiadis - 14.5kg White Blotched Grouper

The highlight has to have been the GT's (Giant Travelly - Ignobilis Kingfish) Two of the spots consistently produced good fish. The one is a small bump far north that comes up to 15m and is a mecca for a huge variety of kingfish species.
The one time Guilherme shot a 30kg GT and I dived down to film it when a massive 50kg fish came in. Christopher managed to get down quick enough and land a good shot. Both had massive tussles with their fish and it is a moment I will remember for ever.
The other GT spot is a different deal altogether. It is a deep reef that only comes up to 45m, but there are fish almost from the surface all the way down. It is insane! To geth to the GT's you have to dive through Rainbow Runners and baitfish, then through the Bludgers, Big eyes and Yellow Tails. Then through the sharks and when you reach 30 m you wil see the schools of GT's. The trick was being able to keep real calm and allow them to come in close. Christopher even hid behind some sharks the one time in order to get a shot in. It is one crazy place.

Christopher on the hunt

 For me tho it was great to dive and chase Christopher around the ocean and taking photos. Even though he has been out of competitive diving for a round a decade he has to be one of the best divers I have dived with. His dive rate is exceptional and he had me asking him to slow down on more than a few occasions. I recon he would give the boys back home a good run for their money ...

Alexandre Talarico - 14.8kg Pickhandle Barracuda (WR pending)

All in all this was a brilliant trip, and the move north turned out to be very rewarding. We did land up traveling long distances, but I guess that is what it takes to find the good fish.

Join Coatesman on your own Mozambique Spearfishing Adventure - Read Here


Coatesman

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