Mozambique Miracle Spearfishing Episode 2

Here is the second episode in the epic Mozam Miracle Series. Here Richard 'Snoek' Leonard lands his personal best Dog Tooth Tuna, and also takes time out to share some of his secrets on filming spearfishing with a GoPro camera.


For More on Gopro Setups, Tips and Tricks for Spearfishing
Get the whole 'Behind the Lens Series' by Richard here Spearfishing GoPro Setups and Instruction Series

If you missed the first killer episode here it is:

If you can't see the videos view them on YouTube here:
Mozam Miracle Episode 1
Mozam Miracle Episode 2

The next one will be out in the next few weeks ... and its the grand finale!!

Hope you enjoy

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

Spearfishing a Black Marlin with Tim McDonald

Great video of Tim McDonald Spearfishing a Black Marlin

It is very rare that spearfisherman catch massive marlin, and then its even less common to have the whole hunt captured on film.
Tim McDonald from Queensland Australia shoots and lands a 138kg (305lb) Black Marlin on a reelgun. The fish towed Tim around for some time before subduing the massive fish.
Watch this amazing video edited by Richard Leonard - Spearfishing Black Marlin - Tim McDonald

Enjoy

Coatesman

Spearfishing Nacala Mozambique

Nacala Wahoo

I have just got back from an epic spearfishing adventure at Nacala in Mozambique. I went up to do spy the place out as a future place to take guys spearfishing. I met up with Mike Donnald from Kwalala Lodge in Nacala. He has been living and spearing out there for almost 15 years. But had done little exploring as there are very few guys to dive with up there.

Mike with a great Rock Salmon

We were very unlucky with the water conditions but we explored some of the craziest structures I have ever dived. Huge drop offs going from as little as 10m to 30m plus ... and then in a short distance disappearing into 100s of meters. With the water in Nacala being bad we decided to do a last minute dhow trip up the coast to see what we could find.

The 'Ororomela' somewhere off the coast of Mozambique

So for 3 days we sailed the coast north of Nacala. We had some great diving in some of the most amazing beautiful places I have ever seen. But it was the dhow trip its self that was the real adventure, fortunately we had great weather and slept under the stars with no major problems.... well the one night was windy and we landed up not getting too much sleep.

Paradise .............

Some of the beaches are insane little paradises with baobabs and coral reefs .. It is hard not to want to build a shack and just stay there.

Some of the amazing structures we dived.

We found some crazy places to dive with massive cracks that are like a maze through the coral reefs, complete with long swim throughs, arches, and caves. Here you land up hunting and stalking crafty reef species like Speckled & Boha Snapper.

I have loads more pics and will get the best ones and do a full write up on Nacala in the Ultimate Spearfishing mag.

Cheers

Chris