2017 Individual state titles

Only one more week until the 2017 Individual state titles
The NSW individual state titles will be held over the weekend of the 28th and 29th of October on the beautiful Central Coast of NSW. The competition is generally rotated through the zones every 4 years with the other zones Sydney, Northern and Southern each holding the competition when it’s their turn. This year the Central Coast Sealions are hosting this prestigious event with aim of making it a fun and exciting event promoting safe diving , camaraderie and participation. between divers.

The State Titles are historically a rock hop in order to make the competition as fair as possible for all participants. The Locations selected for this year’s event are Catherine Hill Bay, Norah Head, Pelican Point and Bateau Bay. The aim of the competition is to swim out from a central location and catch one of each species from a restricted list of quality table fish. Once the competition is over competitors must be back in the designated weigh in area by the finish time where their fish will be weighed and scored. A huge selection of trophies and prizes are up for grabs covering every grade and also largest fish, most meritorious and committees choice. The NSW State Titles is open to all divers with any level of experience and we encourage all USFA members to attend this great event.

 

2017 South Coast Mighty Bonanza

I guess when I first heard about this massive, huge, big money fishing comp I was a bit ““oh yeah” line fishing, so what?!?”  I was surprised that there was going to be a spearfishing event, I pricked my ears and I liked the phrases I was hearing “great for the community…educate the growing spearfishing community on safety…getting all kinds of rec fishers together…family weekend away during school holidays…. the council is right behind this…Fisheries love it….” then Adam Martin who seems to run the beautiful township of Tomakin on one hours sleep a week, contacts the USFA and asks if they would be interested in “running” the spearing side of the event on the Tomakin Fishing Clubs behalf. How could you say no!

After a couple of months of brain storming back and forth between many spearos and fishos it was decided to run a true pairs event, that is, two divers spearfishing together that sees one spearfisher diving while his pair dive buddy remains on the surface, this is really putting into practice what the now well coined term “One Up One Down” is all about, it’s great spearfishing safety. TO explain a little further each pair partner can use one gun and has one rig cord connected to their gun, one of these cords is only 4m long, generally the partner on the surface has the short cord hence the diving partner in the pair has the longer rig cord,  both cords are connected to one float only, thus ensuring the float is generally immediately in their dive zone, as east coast southern water spearos can attest to the huge boat traffic we can encounter a dive float and flag is the start of our safe diving checklist.

North Shore Underwater Club had a great Junior representation at the Tomakin Bonanza. Juniors made up one quarter of the sign on. A bright future for spearfishing.

Continue reading 2017 South Coast Mighty Bonanza

NSW State Titles – 2017

This year the 2017 individual State Titles were held by the Central Coast Sealions.

The weekend started at the North end of the Central Coast at Norah Head.

Day 1 – Norah Head

Day 1, started with sign on from 7am which saw 33 divers including 5 female divers from all over including the Far South Coast, Sydney District, Newcastle, Central Coast Region and even Victoria sign on to compete.

Once all safety protocols were checked and species on/off were announced we gave recognition to the first Australians, service men and women & Day 1 commenced.
Divers ran off in all directions from South of Norah to pellows all the way to north of lakes reef… some even made the venture out to the bull!

We had reports from divers swimming back and forth, running from one end to the other of viz between 2 and 15m. Those who had the opportunity to enjoy the 15m had luckily made the right choice in to where to dive. With hours passing we had divers begin to return, some carrying kings over their backs with stories a plenty including the first king taken for Irene a female South Coast Diver.

The great team of the Central Coast Sealions who had chosen not to dive or return early began weigh in and prepare for lunch. Once the fish were weighed divers were given the opportunity to donate any fish which were then filleted, crumbed and put into a wok.

As sign off approached at 1 o’clock all divers had returned and the fish burgers station was in full swing. Fresh bread rolls, salads and fresh crumbed fish fillets were frying away.The burgers went down a treat and were a great hit with several divers returning for seconds and even thirds.
As the day closed and the scores where tallied the leaders and scores for day one were complete.

Day 2 – Bateu Bay

Bateau Bay was chosen as the location for Day 2 with conditions looking good and the final day set to excite.

Day 2 had 34 divers sign on and another beautiful day on the central coast was in store.
Bateau Bay set a challenge to the divers as it was a new adventure and new spot to dive for most. It offered plenty of ground to cover with multiple species to come accross.

All divers returned to the ring on time many with some great fish to show including a decent size king from a Sydney Junior.

Presentation

After a good BBQ feed with home made fried rice and pad thai kindly made by some lovely family members of the USFA and Central coast sealions all the scores where tallied and winners ready to be announced to the eagerly awaiting divers.

With a massive thank you to ADRENO SPEARFISHING, DIVER AUSTRALIA & ACE SPEARGUNS the central coast sealions had the opportunity to give away over $2500 worth of prizes awarded to promote participation along with the tropheys & prizes awarded to the rightful and well deserved winners of each category.

Please enjoy some pictures of the event and place holders throughout the day also attached final score sheets

Day 1 Photos

Day 2 Photos

Presentation Photos

 

Canada Cup 2017

Sunday the 12th Of February saw the 65th running of the Canada Cup. An amazing turnout of 67 divers signed on with an impressive turnout of 21 boats . After a quick briefing the divers hit the water and the boats slowly made their way out of the Haven ready for the start. The flag dropped and the boats were off racing. Almost all of the boats headed north to dive the 2 and 3 mile reefs with some venturing as far as Norah Head and the Bull. The weather gods were really in our favor today with almost glass out conditions for most of the day. The divers had plenty of time as the weigh in was not until 2:30 PM that afternoon. Was great to see every category filled including an amazing 13 juniors, 3 ladies and 3 sub Juniors. The predicted forecast for the day was for temperatures to reach upwards of 35 degrees with a late southerly change late in the afternoon. Continue reading Canada Cup 2017

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 BayResults
December – Gunnamatta –

Continue reading Alliman Shield 2017

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!

Continue reading Alliman Shield – 7th August – Bayview