January – Gunnamatta –
February – Terrigal –
March – Bayview –
April – Long Reef –
May – Kurnell –
June – Little Manly –
July – No Competition
August – Kurnell –
September – Long Reef –
October – Bayview –
November – Watsons Bay –
December – Gunnamatta –
Author: Lee Dalli
Alliman Shield 2017 – November – Watsons Bay
It dawned a dark, rainy day on the morning of the competition and then The Gap was checked to see the conditions outside the seas looked like a washing machine!
But as the divers gathered the safety boat went out and came back the competition was on! The safety talk was conducted and the roll call and the divers went out for the days diving. The harbour turned out to be surprisingly clear with a lot of fish about. Both Shark Island and Sow & Pigs Reef had excellent conditions. But outside the harbour the conditions were rough and sloppy and challenging to spearfish in.
The competition finished at 1:15pm and all competitors were back in time, some interesting fish came in like Parry Gryllis’s blue bar parrotfish, Phil Sheppard’s spinefoot. Phil also got a huge silver drummer of over nine kilograms. The weigh in went smoothly and some of the tourists that hung about were rewarded with a fish or two, good public relations!
When the score were done it was SSD Derrick Cruz who took out the day with 699pts and Matt Poulton coming fourth with 419pts which has them level pegging at first going into the final round. The last competition is on December the 3 rd at Gunnamatta Bay, Cronulla. A BBQ and drinks will be on after the competition and all are welcome.
Lee Dalli
President
Metropolitan Spearfishing Zone
Scores are missing October results and will be updated soon.
Alliman Shield 2018
January – Gunnamatta –
February – Terrigal –
March – Kurnell –
April – Long Reef –
May – Little Manly –
June – Kurnell –
July – No Competition
August – Bayview –
September – Long Reef –
October – Kurnell –
November – Watsons Bay –
December – Gunnamatta –
Alliman Shield 2017
January – Gunnamatta – Cancelled – dangerous ocean conditions
February – Terrigal – Results
March – Kurnell – Cancelled – dangerous ocean conditions
April – Little Manly – Results
May – Port Kembla – Results
June – Gunnamatta – Results
July – No Competition
August – Bayview – Results
September – Long Reef – Cancelled – dangerous ocean conditions
October – Kurnell –
November – Watsons Bay – Results
December – Gunnamatta –
Alliman Shield 2016 – 11th September – LongReef
Day of the Bumper Bream
It was a good looking day as the boats gathered in the bay below the historic fishermen’s hut at Long Reef. The fifteen odd boats and nearly fifty divers signed on listened to the safety talk, and waited impatiently for the start. North Shore meant business with a roll up of twenty six divers! After the roll call the divers went to their respective boats and motored out a few hundred yards off shore where the flag start was done from big Maccas boat and boats raced north and south to their dive spots.
The conditions were good, although there was a building southerly swell and the water was cold and even colder on the bottom, the divers dived hard working towards the weigh in at 1:15pm. Continue reading Alliman Shield 2016 – 11th September – LongReef
Alliman Shield – 7th August – Bayview
BAYVIEW = Gone to the Dogs!
Well it wasn’t a good forecast for the Sunday of the Alliman with gale force winds and a big swell running all week not helping. But the brave sport secretaries of each club voted for the comp to be on and on the dawning of the day a dozen boats and nearly forty divers turned up to compete on what turned out to be a pretty good day.
After the safety talk the boats motored slowly down the four knot channel to Pittwater and the open ocean. Weigh in was at 1:30pm sharp and luckily all divers were back in the ring well before the cut off time. The weighing and scoring commenced and as we were next to the huge dog park we had a lot of interested persons and their canine friends to see the fish that came in. One cute pooch modelled the Aussie spearfishing team cap (available from me for $25, please support your team!) and another cute little Maltese helped Gordy with the scores! (See pics).
The ‘Adreno’ Most Meritorious Fish winners for this competition are Ben’s (STG) big bream for the senior category and young Eddie Sherb (SSD) with a 48pt Reef Leatherjacket, prizes will be presented before the competition at Long Reef. Remember anyone can win win one of these prizes but only if you compete!
NSW State Titles – 2016
HOSTED BY METROPOLITAN ZONE SPEARFISHING
The annual state spearfishing titles was hosted the Metro Zone and there were a number of locations earmarked in Sydney for this two day competition on both sides of the Harbour. Divers came from all over from Coffs Harbour (Cheers Brian) and up from Kiama (Max).
Alliman Shield 2016 – 1st May – Watsons Bay
Sunday dawned with heavy overcast conditions and rain as the divers gathered in Robertson Park next to the historic Watsons Bay hotel. The safety talk was conducted and the divers jumped into the boats and headed out slowly to outside the moorings where the event start was made from Matt Poulton’s boat.
The rain was a dampener but as the forecast promised sunny conditions later in the day the fifty brave divers headed out into Sydney Harbour hoping for good conditions. As it turned out the conditions were great slight sea light winds, 15 – 20m visibility outside and up to 10m even in the Harbour even though it was low tide.
All the boats and divers made it back by the 1:15pm finish time and the fish were lined up at the weigh in table ready for the scoring. At this stage a crowd gathered to see the fish and ask plenty of questions. There was also some fish donated to the onlookers which made us very popular! Continue reading Alliman Shield 2016 – 1st May – Watsons Bay
Sydney Cup 2016
The Sydney Cup was held this year on Sunday 31st January; it was a calm day when driving down to Gunnamatta Bay with a fog forming over Botany Bay. As the divers gathered for the sign on and safety talk the weather cleared and it promised to be a good day for spearfishing.
Divers had come from all around with divers from the South Coast Barracudas, Newcastle Neptunes, Sans Souci Dolphins, Mosman Whalers, Central Coast Sealions & Revesby Workers attending with many of them juniors and sub juniors. There was the standard safety talk on emphasising the importance of flags on individual divers floats (mandatory), and the need for boat drivers to be extremely careful in and around divers floats. Twenty eight divers then walked down the hill to their boats to travel down Gunnamatta Bay and the open ocean.
The competition end was scheduled for 2:30pm and thankfully all were back well in time. The weigh in was then conducted and Tony a supporter of the Zone was there with a fantastic BBQ lunch of Portugese chicken, salad and plenty of iced drinks, a real social atmosphere with plenty of members catching up for a chat and a catch up.
The presentation was held at about 4pm with Simon Trippe as the presentation host and ably assisted by the glamorous Natalie Vercoe presenting the trophies, awards and prizes. The prizes were donated by Adreno Spearfishing who is a great supporter of spearfishing in NSW.
Congratulations to the Sydney Cup 2016 champion, the well-deserved Jack Lavender from the Barracudas with a score of 903pts which was way ahead of the next score of Evan Leeson’s (SSD) of 575pts, Jack reportedly ran all the way down to Port Kembla seeking clear water and found it.
In the age categories Grand Master was won by Patrick Mullins (SSD), Master Joe Hyzdal (SCB), Veteran Simon Trippe (SSD), Senior Jack Lavender (SCB), Intermediate Graeme Casey (MW), Junior Josh Green (NN) & Sub Junior Patrick McGimpsey, congratulations all. They shared in the quality prizes donated by Adreno including a speargun, diving fins, numerous smaller prizes like sun glasses, gloves booties and other accessories, this was much appreciated by all who received them.
The day was a lot of fun with a lot of the old hands being there as well as some new faces. Competition diving is a lot of fun and not as hard as most envisage. If you want to find out more and a list of upcoming competitions go onto the USFA website, usfa.org.au or contact any of the executives listed on the site.
Results:
Alliman Shield 2016
January – Gunnamatta – Cancelled – dangerous ocean conditions
February – Bayview – Cancelled – dangerous ocean conditions
March – Kurnell – Results
April – Little Manly – Results
May – Watsons Bay – Results
June – Gunnamatta – Cancelled – dangerous ocean conditions
July – No Competition
August – Bayview – Results
September – Long Reef – Results
October – Kurnell – Results
November – Port Kembla – Results
December – Gunnamatta – Results
2016 End of Year Alliman Shield Results
Congratulations to:
Individual placings:
1st – Matthew Poulton
2nd – Derrick Cruz
3rd – Evan Leeson
B Grade – Cohan Jones
C Grade – Phil Sheppard
D Grade – Patrick Koch
Grand Master – Patrick Mullins
Master – Gordon Black
Veteran – Rob Tierney
Senior – Matthew Poulton
Intermediate – Aaron Puckeridge
Junior – Joe Halkyard
Sub Junior – Jarod McKenzie
Congratulations to: Sans Souci Dolphins winning the year on equal points with North Shore Seahawks.
Grade Changes for 2017
Legend:
++ up two grades
+ up one grade
– down one grade
A Grade
B Grade
C Grade
Alliman Shield 2015 – 11th October – Kurnell
The conditions looked good as the sun came up over Botany Bay. It was 7am and there were the usual bike riders and dog walkers about while the ring and sign on sheets were organised in the park but no divers!
Sure enough from various directions the spearo boats came steaming in and by 7:30am nearly fifty divers in fifteen boats signed on and gathered for the safety talk and at 8am wandered off to the boats to gather about 500m away for the boat start flagged by Macca. Continue reading Alliman Shield 2015 – 11th October – Kurnell
Alliman Shield 2015 – 13th September – Long Reef
Hello All Fellow Spearos,
The day dawned a beautiful pink promising clear skies and at Fishermen’s Beach the air was still and the sea a mirror. There was nobody around as I set the ring up but by 7:30am the place was buzzing with boats zooming in and the divers signing on. What a great day for an Alliman!
The usual safety talk was given with the emphasis on diving in pairs as the many reports of shark activity had some divers nervous but as it turned out not one was seen. Just before 8am the divers made their way to the boats and putted out slowly to wait for Macca to wave his boat flag to signify the start of the competition. The boats raced away North & South! Continue reading Alliman Shield 2015 – 13th September – Long Reef
Alliman Shield 2015 – 2nd August – Bayview
The day dawned perfect for the sixth round of the Alliman Shield 2015 at Bayview. Forty two divers and fourteen boats gathered on the beach on a rather mild winter’s morning and after the safety talk and the sign on the boats made their way up the channel into Pittwater and then out in the open ocean, although some hit the estuary first.
The water was a cold 13 degrees celsius at Bayview and around 17 in the ocean around the bend after Barrenjoey Point. Continue reading Alliman Shield 2015 – 2nd August – Bayview
Alliman Shield 2015 – 14th June – Gunnamatta Bay
The day dawned calm and conditions looked terrific for the fourth competition of the 2015 Alliman Shield competition year. The boats & competitors arrived late (bloody winter!) but the sign on, safety talk & roll call went quickly and the divers made their way down to the boats only a few minutes after 8am.
Continue reading Alliman Shield 2015 – 14th June – Gunnamatta Bay
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.
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.
The 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. Continue reading Alliman Shield 2015 – 12th April – Little Manly
Alliman Shield – 1st March 2015 – Kurnell Botany Bay
It dawned a perfect day for the second round of the Alliman Shield. The sky was clear and the wind light as the forty three intrepid divers signed on for the 8am start. The safety talk was given and the divers signed off then all made their way to the beach and into their boats and all made their way out towards the heads, although I noticed a few of the sneakier divers stopping off at places like Watts Reef & Bare Island Bommie to get the estuary species.
The water visibility was surprisingly good as it has been very ‘green’ in recent weeks. Generally there was a layer of dirty water but once under it opened up to a clearish 8-19 metres of good fishy water.
The end of the competition was at 1:15pm and most of the boats were back in plenty of time. All Clubs organised their weigh in teams and the scoring was started soon after the finish time. Some great fish were presented including an 11.67kg Cobia taken by North Shores Phil Sheppard who said he found the fish somewhere south of Marley lying on the sand in 10m of water, why don’t things like this happen to me! Phil also got a nice bream that went 1.1kgs. Evan Leeson (SSD) showed his class with the biggest fish of the day a 12.67kg kingfish and a beautiful 2.69kg Samson Fish. His Sans Souci brother Ben Bayfield with a stunning 1.485kg snapper and a thumper 2.090kg dusky flathead. Eleven year old George Manolias shows he is going to be a great spearo with a 1.245kg Salmon and a 715g goatfish. Some other good fish pictured were a pair of nice flathead taken by San Soucis Alex and Scott weighing 1.725kg & 2.465kg respectively. The Dragons old gun Rob ‘No Tears’ got a 995gm tarwhine and a 1.050kg king wrasse, both very good fish. Continue reading Alliman Shield – 1st March 2015 – Kurnell Botany Bay
Alliman Shield 2015
January – Gunnamatta – Results
February – Bayview – Cancelled
March – Kurnell – April – Little Manly – Results
May – Watsons Bay – Cancelled
June – Gunnamatta – Results
July – No Competition
August – Bayview – Results
September – Long Reef – Results
October – Kurnell – Results
November – Port Kembla – Cancelled
December – Gunnamatta – Results including end of year results
2015 End of Year Alliman Shield Results
Congratulations to:
Individual placings:
1st – Derrick Cruz
2nd – Gunther Pfrengle
3rd – Evan Leeson
B Grade – Ben Favorito
C Grade – Cohan Jones
D Grade – Jarod McKenzie
Grand Master – Patrick Mullins
Master – Gunther Pfrengle
Veteran – Gary Baxter
Senior – Derrick Cruz
Intermediate – Aaron Puckeridge
Junior – Cameron Gall
Sub Junior – Jarod McKenzie
Congratulations to:
Sans Souci Dolphins for winning the Alliman Shield & most species
St George Sea Dragons – winning Four Mans Teams
Most Meritorious – Alex Lewis with the great Dusky Flathead – 166 points
Intermediate – Peter Kemp – Coral Trout – 152 points. 2nd time one has been speared in Sydney. 1st being Derrick Cruz earlier in the year also in the Alliman comp.
Sub Junior – Brad McKenzie – Silver Travally – 91 points
So many more categories to list, go take a look at the results.
Grade Changes for 2016
Legend:
++ up two grades
+ up one grade
– down one grade
A Grade
Ben Favorito +
B Grade
Tom Rasdall –
Malcolm Murphy –
Cohan Jones +
Paul Marsh +
Parry Gryllis +
Jarrod McKenzie ++
Peter Kemp ++
C Grade
Thomas Mercer +
Justin Delaney +
Brad McKenzie +
Jamie Hutton +
Tony Couchman +
Cenk Alper +
Dom Falconer +
Adam O’Neill +
Martyn Kieselbach +
Sydney Cup – 2015
Alliman Shield – 2014 December – Gunnamatta & End of Year
It dawned a beautiful day last Sunday for the last competition for the year The Alliman Shield – 2014 December. 59 divers gathered at the pavillion at Gunnamatta bay looking forward to the days competition. Little did they know as the were putting up the channel that the diving conditions would be very ordinary indeed with very dirty water, a sloppy Nor-east swell, cold water and a scarcity of fish (You were the smart one Trippey).
A few fish came in the pick being:
Continue reading Alliman Shield – 2014 December – Gunnamatta & End of Year
Alliman Shield – October 2014 – Bayview
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Scores are attached, congratulations to the Dolphins even with one boat disqualified they took out the day, and the four man teams.
Congrats to Paul Roso who came out of the South to take out the day.
Alliman Shield – September 2014 – Long Reef
A good day weather wise for the Alliman Shield – September 2014 on Sunday, sunny, light winds and flat clear seas, all of you that didn’t make it you missed a great day! There was a bit of fog about though!
The divers gathered from 7am and by 7:30am there were 71 divers signed on and ready to go. All were excited because of the three month layoff due to cancelled comps and July being a no comp month (this needs to be reviewed)
It was impressive to see the bay full of boats and the boat start was as usual spectacular including a jet ski crew that were dumped in the water!
1:15pm saw all divers back with no late comers and no disqualifications and the weigh started and some top fish was seen to come in like:
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It was a superb day for diving as all the divers on the day would agree, there are three more competitions left for the year the next one on the 12th October at Bayview. All USFA members are welcome to compete and if you need the Alliman fact sheet emailed to you please let me know.
Scores are attached
Membership – Why Join/Renew?
Why a USFA Membership?
We as spear-fishermen have some very real issues to deal with, e.g. the grey nurse shark exclusion zones and the Marine National Parks. There are very highly organized and politicised groups out there who would want the whole of our coastline preserved for nothing more than observation and would deny our basic right to catch a feed of fish!
To be a member of our organisation means that you have a collective voice to speak out against those issues that threaten the very fabric of our sport, something that is very hard to do as an individual. The USFA is funding these fights and need as many members as possible to show the governing bodies that we are united and that we have the numbers to make a difference.
The USFA generally represents members from the state of New South Wales but has representatives from all over the country. Being aligned with other peak fishing and outdoor organisations gives the USFA real ‘weight’ when dealing with the authorities. This can be seen with the grey nurse exclusion danger that was defeated in court with great cost to the USFA.
Other reasons to join the USFA are:
- Competition – The clubs of the USFA organise both monthly zone (Alliman & Taylor shields) and state competitions such as the Sydney & Canada Cup, and the State Titles to name a few. We also have initiated a host of Social based competitions such as the One Up One Down, Kingfish Cup, Selfie Comp, Junior Cup and our Exceptional Capture Awards. These programs cater for those who want a more social level of involvement without entering the traditional competitions mentioned above.
- Insurance – As a member of the USFA you are covered by a sporting injuries insurance policy that covers you in the event of an accident. This policy is the most comprehensive ever for spearfishermen. It does not cover you just in competition and is valid all over the world! This coverage alone is worth joining for! Please visit our Insurance page for specific details and extensive benefits.
- USFA website – Through the website & social media the USFA makes extensive use of the internet to keep members & supporters informed of legislative developments, media releases & general matters of interest as well as upcoming events.
- Youth development & Diving Safety Education – the USFA is committed to diver education programs and the nurturing of our youth to participate in our sport in the safest manner possible.
- Independents – Independent divers are encouraged to join and have a representative to stand for any issues or suggestions they may have.
How do I Join?
Easy, the new application form has several new features to make this process as easy as possible:
- Pay online via our online membership form where you can pay securely via credit card.
Not a member of a Spearfishing Club?
No problem, join and become an Independent member, there is a growing number of divers who are not part of the Club scene but wish to be part of the future of the sport but want to do their own thing as well. A lot of independents dive the state titles, Eden, Pacific Coast championships (Spearfest) etc. and participate in our social programs.
So help us to help you and join today. Support Spearfishing for you and your kids! If you need any further information email me at memberships@usfa.org.au or phone on 0413 033 224.
Lee Dalli
Membership Officer
U.S.F.A.
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