Competitions Front Page – Page 2 – Underwater Skindivers and Fisherman's Association

Living Water Freedivers

The Living Water Freedivers comp structure has evolved over the past three years, concentrating on selective taking of fish as this is an ecologically sustainable sport.

The comp is run by Living Water Freedivers who are proudly affiliated with the NSW Underwater Skindivers & Fishermans Association. The competition is open to all spearos affiliated with the USFA which encourages selective fishing by awarding the top ten biggest fish, from a selective species list, weighed in for the day. Competitors can only weigh one fish in this competition making it a comp that allows the diver to target a particular species rather than several.

Big Fish Comp

Nelson Bay is located a comfortable 3 hour drive north of Sydney in NSW. Its well known as a popular tourist destination that offers great accommodation, restaurants, spectacular views and beaches. Another exceptional quality is the areas well-known ability to produce large game fish and other species in the clear warm waters from January to June each year as the East Australian Current pushes warmer water down from more subtropical areas up north.

The warmer current brings with it marlin, dolphin fish, yellow tail kingfish, mulloway and cobia, just to list a few. The coast has a number of offshore islands and reef systems that hold excellent reef fish and pelagic fish, a small tinny can easily access these, so to enjoy the fishing does not mean big dollars.

The Spearfishing Challenge was designed to limit each competitor to one fish at weigh in. By doing so we limit the overall catch of competitors and normally the weigh in is much more spectacular due to people hunting for larger fish. It also decreases the amount of time it takes to conduct the weigh in, leaving more time for the important things eg. talking about the one that got away! The format for the comp is one fish per diver to be weighed in, a Species List will be made available on the day for all divers to have, this is not a pelagic only comp.

1770 Comp

For the last six years in late June early July a large group of mostly like-minded spearfishermen and women have gathered in the small coastal town of 1770 in Central Queensland for the 1770 Classic. The Classic was started back in 2009 by the Organising committee of the Curtis coast Spearfishing Club. For the first two years it was held as an in house competition, but in 2011 the competition was opened up to all A.U.F. registered divers with an overwhelming response of 43 competitors. Since then the competition has grown each year and this year’s competition has already attracted interest from around 70 divers.

The location for the Classic (1770) is one of the most picturesque, laid back coastal town you are likely to find anywhere on the Queensland coast, with impressive headlands and sheltered bays 1770 is a must see destination for both Aussies and overseas travellers alike. Also 1770 is in very close proximity to the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef (1 hour by boat) and has access to a vast network of coastal inlets and reefs. The Competition for the 1770 Classic is not unique however it is a different scoring system to most of the other spearfishing competitions around Australia. The system simply sets a species list and a target weight for each species. Divers are allowed to weigh in three fish each (from the species list) and points are awarded as a percentage of the target weight.