Short trip to Carnarvon Part 1

PART 1.

After a lot of false starts and missed opportunities my good friend Greg Pickering and I finally managed to get a away for a few days diving together. We planned to go north to Carnarvon and dive the offshore Islands in search of Broad Bar Mackerel and their larger cousins Spanish Mackerel. As the departure date got closer it looked like we would be blessed with some of the best weather seen over the last 2 months, could we really be so lucky?
I fueled up the car and boat and filled the jerrycans with extra fuel for the boat the day before we were due to leave, Greg finished work and drove up to Perth arriving late in the evening and got a few hours sleep before arriving at my house at 6:30am. I had packed everything in advance so all we needed to do was load Greg's gear and set off. We left my house at around 7am and headed off on the long 10 hour drive North to Carnarvon. The weather was as forecast and as we topped the hill outside Wedge Island we could see the water was clean and there was no swell, hopefully conditions would be the same 700km's further North.

We made good progress and arrived at the 440 roadhouse north of Geraldton at around midday and stopped to refuel and have some lunch and a drink. After a half hour break we continued on our way looking down at the ocean from the road leaving the 440, things were looking even better than we hoped, none of the reefs were breaking, a very good sign!!! Around 2 and a half hours later we stopped at the Overlander roadhouse to get some more food and drinks and change drivers, Greg driving the final 220km into Carnarvon.  We arrived at our friend Andy's house just as the sun was setting and quickly unpacked our gear while Andy made dinner for all of us. We ate dinner and swapped stories for a while before heading off to bed in preparation for an early start.

We woke at around 6am and after a quick breakfast loaded the boat for the long trip to Koks Island at the very Northern tip of Bernier Island offshore from Carnarvon. We launched at the new town boat ramp and slowly weaved our way through the channel to the Ocean. The exit form the channel was a bit tricky and a dredge was working to remove a large mud bank that had formed blocking the last part of the passage. After overcoming this obstacle we were into open ocean and made way for Koks island, the light wind and small chop hardly noticeable during the 1 hour trip.

On arriving at Koks island we were greeted by clean water but a strong current making things a little hazardous, so we opted to anchor close to the top of Bernier Island out of the current. On entering the water we were greeted by schools of Golden Trevalley, Goldspot Trevalley, Blackfin and Common Barracuda and Broad Bar Spanish Mackerel. Greg swam out to the edge of the reef while I filmed the schools of fish. Shortly after Greg returned holding a nice 15kg Mulloway, which was promptly placed in the boat and covered with wet hessian bags to keep the fish cool.

Greg's Mulloway 

I then swam towards the edge of the reef and took a Broad Bar Mackerel before returning to the boat and placing my fish under the bags. I was then lucky enough to locate a school of Mulloway in another gutter and took a nice 12kg fish back to the boat.

My Mulloway.

We both then swam South along the edge of the reef looking for more fish on the sand edge and I added another Broad Bar and a Coral Trout to my catch. I then worked the edge North and secured a reasonable Spanish Mackerel after the Barracuda continually made things difficult by spooking every fish that came

within range. I also added a medium sized Baldchin to my days catch before heading back to the boat for a drink and something to eat. Greg had also done well with a big Baldchin, a Cobia and a couple of Broad Bar Mackerel.  By this time it was getting late in the day and we decided to have a quick look on the Eastern side of Bernier Island at some of the reef life before making our way back to Carnarvon. During this brief stop I managed to get a few minutes video of an old green Turtle that was not at all concerned with me.

We made the long trip back to Carnarvon in reasonable time with a light wind and very little chop making for a very comfortable trip. After washing our gear and packing the fish in ice we settled down to Pizza and a couple of drinks before an early night.

A Monster Rooster Fish

The day after the La Paz Blue Water World Cup I met up with my good friend John Perretti and his wife Gillmena, after a coffee and a short discussion we decided that we would have a nice easy dive from the shore off the beach at Los Arenas. So John, Gill Patti and I packed the car and headed off to the beach in front of an old abandoned hotel. When we arrived we were greated by a clean white sandy beach and a light offshore breeze. We quickly suited up and discussed our plan as we walked across the sand to the water, to the right of the hotel is a reef that runs out along a rocky point. We decided we would swim the edge of the reef and look for Rooster Fish, as they often ambush schools of small Green and Blue Jacks along the edge. They use the reef as a natural wall to bunch up the small fish then burst through the school devouring any fish within reach.

We would swim the edge and if we encountered a school of bait fish we would allow the bait to swarm around us and wait for a Rooster Fish to burst through the bait. After entering the water we quickly swam out to the edge of the reef and started to follow the edge. Soon I was seeing Cow-tail Rays resting on the bottom and Spotted Eagle Rays cruising along the edge so I decided to film them for a while. While I was filming a big school of Blue Jacks suddenly appeared and swarmed around me. They looked nervous and I could see fresh scars on some of them where they had narrowly escaped being eaten.
I left my GoPro running as I sensed something was about to happen and sure enough 3 big Rooster Fish burst through the Jacks. I quickly picked what I thought was the largest of the 3 fish took a deep breath and started to dive. As I dived another even bigger Rooster Fish burst through the school and turned broadside to me before starting to swim away. I quickly lined up with my 1.4mt Rob Allen and took the shot, planting my shaft solidly in the fish. The fish instantly threw up its comb then dropped it again and took off on a screaming run over the sand. I let it have line from my reel and yelled to John that I had a big Rooster Fish on.
The fish ran extremely hard for about 5 minutes then started to tire and I slowly gained line on it. as I swam up my line keeping an even pressure on the fish it slowly came into view. It got bigger and bigger as I got closer until I was able to slide my hand into it's gills. It was only then that I realized just how big it really was. It was an absolute monster well over 30kg, I could not believe the size of it.

John, Gill and Patti all congratulated me on the size of the fish as I swam it to the beach and carried it up the sand. John did the honors and took photos for me as I struggled to hold up the fish. We cleaned the fish and packed it on ice to keep it fresh then packed away our gear and got dressed. We were exuberant and John asked if we would like to go to a nearby restaurant called the Giggling Marlin for a late lunch. We decided this was a great idea and had a nice relaxing, well deserved lunch and celebratory drink.
All too soon it was time to head off and say goodbye to John and Gill, all the while I was thinking of what John and I will get up to next time we get together, we always seem to have the craziest adventures when we get together like the time we camped on an island and were eaten alive by bugs, but that is another story.

Route 66 to the Grand Canyon and the2013 20Fathoms World Cup. Part 2.

Well they say nothing in life is simple and that definitely runs true for checking in for a flight out of LAX, I had the usual dilemma with AA over a second checked bag that they wanted $240 for. After some polite conversation and a couple of checks with a supervisor we came to the agreement that my spearfishing gear should be classified as, Sporting goods/ Fishing/ Thin and therefore only incur an additional fee of $40.
Having overcome this obstacle I proceeded through screening and on the the departure gate.
I bumped into Brock my dive partner for the meet whilst waiting for my flight and we caught up and discussed how we would like to dive the competition for the 40 minutes I had until boarding.

The 2 hour flight down to San Jose Del Cabo was uneventful and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the airport had undergone a renovation and had sky bridges and air conditioned arrivals halls. No longer would one endure the 200 yard walk across the baking Airfield Apron to the equally stifling terminal of old.
The modernization did not stop there, Customs and Immigration had also been upgraded and processing went without a hitch. I was met outside by my driver Roberto and once we had collected the 2 other passengers we go underway on the 2 hour road trip to the fishing village of La Ventana. One of the 2 other passengers being my friend Patti who was joining me to scatter some of her late husband's ashes, the 3 of us having dived together in La Paz in 2005.

Descending the last hill with the Ocean in the distance is a welcome sight after a 2 hour road journey from Cabo.

On arriving at Palapas Ventana we were met by Tim and Karen and allocated rooms, our baggage was then delivered to the rooms for us. After some settling in and unpacking we wandered down to the Bar to catch up with the competitors that had already arrived over dinner and a Margarita. Old friendships were renewed and new ones founded. Most of us would be taking advantage of the next day to dive the competition zone and ensure our equipment had not been damaged during the long journey to Mexico. Brock and I chose to circumnavigate the island of Cerralvo and ensure we knew the conditions in every corner of the competition zone. It turned out that the best conditions were on the South end of Cerralvo, this area does not often produce good conditions or fish but when it does the fish can be outstanding.

Day 1.
Brock and I decided to stay on the South end of the Island, we also had a camera man from the cable TV show "Speargun Hunter" filming us for an episode of the show. The Guy's name was Rob and we hardly even noticed him, he was not intrusive at all and a pleasure to work with. Both Brock and I ended the day with 2 fish, a Wahoo each, me with a Milkfish and Brock with a Torro. It took me all day to get the Wahoo I just had the worst luck, I clean missed 2 and had shafts pull out on 3 then finally landed one. Rob got the whole sequence on film and said it was one of the best he had ever filmed and the first Wahoo he had seen landed with a reel gun. All up it was a good day and we saw plenty of fish, we both knew from the conditions that we would do well the following day but so would the other competitors. It was all going to come down to luck in the end, as everyone was equally skilled.

Brock with a Torro.

Day 2.
Day 2 was a virtual repeat of day1 I landed a Milkfish and a Wahoo pretty early on in the day. Brock was not far behind with a nice Torro and an Amberjack but was having trouble with the Milkfish. They are an extremely hard to approach fish and I discovered a few years ago that to be successfull with them you must tuck your gun in under you and lie dead still like a log. If you so much as blink they will shy away, once they are under you slowly and quietly drop onto them and get them from above. Once I had explained this and my theory as to why they behave that way to Brock he had one in the bag on his second attempt.
We both saw a large Marlin and Brock had a long shot at it but fell short, one of the other competitors Francisco managed to land a Marlin later on in the day giving him a huge lead that would prove to be telling later in the event.

Francisco with the Marlin and biggest fish of the meet.

Day 3.
Day 3 was a rest day so Brock, Patti and myself decided to go into La Paz to do some shopping and had lunch at Jonathan Roldans Tailhunter Bar. If you are into fishing or just good food and service this is the place to go, It comes alive after dark and when Jonathon and his wife are in they make a point of meeting every single customer. After a long lunch we drove up the coast a little to Pichalingue, where Patti, Robert and I had dived together in 2005. It had changed alot and not exactly for the better, there were more trucks at the ferry terminal and the resort we stayed at looked tired and rundown. We then drove back to La Ventana and spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach relaxing.


Day 4.
Day 4 saw us back on the water competing and again we were diving the South end of Cerralvo. I put a solid Milkfish in the boat in next to no time and closley followed up with a small Wahoo. Brock put a Torro on the board and nice Milkfish, then things went a little quiet just before midday.We put in a lot of deep dives that afternoon looking for Amberjack and Yellowtail. Our persistance paid off around mid afternoon with Brock landing a solid Amberjack and me landing a Yellowtail from a very deep dive.
I quickly backed that up with a Torro and a small Skipjack Tuna.
Back on the beach my Skipjack turned out to be 1/4 inch under the competition minimum size, still I had 5 fish for the day, the first time I have ever shot a whole days limit in this competition. The Wahoo and Milkfish didnt count towards my score as I already had presented 2 of each, but the Torro and the Yellowtail left me in a healthy 4th place with 1 day remaining.

Day 5.
Day 5 was not our day the current had changed direction slightly and brought some colder water in overnight. We spent the whole day trying to get Brock a wahoo and me a Torro and Amberjack.
I couldnt get away from the Wahoo and the Torro would not leave Brock alone. Late in the day I shot a big Torro from a large school only to have the spear pass through 2 seperate fish, each fish ran in the opposite direction and I lost them both to tear offs. I then put a shaft into a very large Amberjack only to loose it after a 10 minute fight. I had a large Marlin come in on my flasher but didnt see it until it started to peel away, I worked the flasher in an attempt to get it to come back but it had a better place to be and kept on traveling.

Early morning starts made for watching sunrises.