Alliman Shield 2015 – 12th April – Little Manly

6:45am one week after daylight saving ended dawned dark and grey at Little Manly cove as the boats gathered on the beach as the ring was put up and the tables set up for the weigh in later in the day.
Alliman Shield 2015 - Little Manly 2
Forty three divers signed up for the competition including that old stalwart Trippey from the Dolphins who was seen shaking out mothballs out of his dive gear. There was a lot of talk and catching up and it was good to see a new breed of young guns from the North Shore Seahawks that a forming a good team.

Alliman Shield 2015 - Little ManlyThe safety talk was conducted and everyone made their way from the reserve to the boats and a few minutes before 8am the boats made their way out slowly to the gathering point outside the cove ready for the flag start from Emanuel’s big R.I.B.

The flag was waved and the boats made their way in all directions some up the harbour and the rest out to sea.

The conditions were quite ordinary with a strong Southerly wind blowing and a nasty sloppy chop making things uncomfortable. Coupled with this was an ordinary 6m to 8m cloudy visibility with a lot of particles throughout the water. Nevertheless the conditions were still very spear able and the fish that came into the weigh in was proof of this.

3.055kg Coral Trout pending NSW state record
3.055kg Coral Trout pending NSW state record
3.055kg Coral Trout pending NSW state record
3.055kg Coral Trout pending NSW state record

The competition end is at 1:15pm and the weigh in was conducted soon after, as divers gathered around the fish tubs there was a lot of pointing out in one particular tub. The fish of interest was a coral trout taken by North Shore’s Peter Kemp. It weighed in at 3.055kg. This is second coral trout of the year with SSDs Derrick Cruz getting a 2.8kg specimen in the January Alliman competition at Gunnamatta Bay (Cronulla).

(Pending State record)

Pending National & State record Rough Jacket of 1.220kg taken by Rob ‘No Tears’ Tierney.
Pending National & State record Rough Jacket of 1.220kg taken by Rob ‘No Tears’ Tierney.
Pending National & State record Rough Jacket of 1.220kg taken by Rob ‘No Tears’ Tierney.
Pending National & State record Rough Jacket of 1.220kg taken by Rob ‘No Tears’ Tierney.
Derrick Cruz from the Dolphins with a good deep body (or Mozaic) leatherjacket weighing 2.115kgs
Derrick Cruz from the Dolphins with a good deep body (or Mozaic) leatherjacket weighing 2.115kgs
Sans Souci’s Evan ‘wee willie’ Leeson with a great Yellow Spot Surgeon fish of 2.645kgs
Sans Souci’s Evan ‘wee willie’ Leeson with a great Yellow Spot Surgeon fish of 2.645kgs
San Souci’s Ben Bayfield with another unusual catch; a 1.030kg Grey Sweetlip
San Souci’s Ben Bayfield with another unusual catch; a 1.030kg Grey Sweetlip
Evan with a prehistoric pike weighing 805grams
Evan with a prehistoric pike weighing 805grams
The weighing in progress, suns out, a café next door with coffee, hot chips and burgers….what a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
The weighing in progress, suns out, a café next door with coffee, hot chips and burgers….what a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
The two weigh in teams: The Dragons team of Nathan, Luke & Harry
The two weigh in teams: The Dragons team of Nathan, Luke & Harry
The two weigh in teams: the Dolphins team of Brad, Scott & Patrick.
The two weigh in teams: the Dolphins team of Brad, Scott & Patrick.

Thanks guys for the effort you put in all the boys appreciate it.

Alliman Shield 2015 - Little Manly
And of course the Dolphins were up to their old tricks leaving this silver drummer under the score table, luckily one of the boys took it home for pet food.

Anyway another great day diving the Alliman , the biggest monthly competition in the Southern hemisphere running continuously from the early 1950s.

The next competition is scheduled for Sunday 3rd May at Watsons Bay

If you are interested in competing or want to know more email me at [email protected]

Safe Diving

Lee Dalli
President
Metropolitan Spearfishing Zone