North Shore Underwater Club

Club Meeting

Kingfish Presentation

Invited by the North Shore Seahawks to attend their recent meeting and address their members on the upcoming Sydney Kingfish Cup, discussing some background about the USFA and its commitment to spearfishing along with the benefits of being a member of the Association saw me eagerly looking forward to catching up with a lot of like-minded people.

The large gathering, at least seventy people in attendance, were welcomed by Seahawks President Henry Blaker-Morgan and new attendees were made to feel welcome. Sport Secretary Matti Hallanoro gave an amazing report on recent club dive events including updated “Trophy Fish” catches. Here I am thinking, “Wow! What a great club to be a part of, what a presentation, and look at these great fish being caught…” then James Williams hops up and talks about his recent Mulloway adventures further captivating the crowd and drawing me in.

The core of the meeting now began as club Training co-ordinator Ali Gordon introduced Chi Lo and together they began a thorough presentation on Yellowtail Kingfish. All eyes were front and centre, an outstanding presentation. Now I am thinking that if you were a first timer to this club you’d become a member for life.

To talk about the Sydney Kingfish Cup in any time frame is difficult, as it is a huge, loveable beast, there is so much to say about it. I think the best and it is the shortest approach, is to say it is the social spearfishing event on the calendar, where else can 250 odd divers get together repeatedly over a couple of weeks and talk diving and fish, go diving and attempt to catch a fish while having a heap of fun doing all of it. Tick! Come along and be a part of it www.adrenosydneykingfishcup.com.au

The founding of the USFA by our pioneer fore-fathers is always a good story to retell. It begins post-world war 2 in NSW where Australians taking up the sport in droves after seeing it done in the Pacific Islands are being arrested for participating, and the threat of their new hobby being banned divers rally together and form the Association in 1948. Their basis of inclusion for all stakeholders to the resource – the right to spearfish; to have safe access and to not be restricted on headlands and shallow water reefs; to have a voice at the decision table; to encourage ethical and sustainable spearfishing ; and of course promoting safe diving practices is still pursued today by the committee, the clubs and their members.

Those in attendance took on board the messages, I left on a note that the North Shore Club have Sydney Harbour, Pittwater and the Northern beaches at their doorstep, they are privileged to have it, while the USFA and its clubs have fought for it for over 75 years, they need to continue to uphold the principles of our mantra Safe, Selective, Sustainable or they may well lose that privilege. Their President Henry, earlier in the night, stated the popular catch cry “…once you put on your wetsuit you are now wearing a uniform, you represent all spearfishers, do the right thing…”

With the passion and energy displayed this night it pleases me to see the Seahawks and spearfishing on the Northern beaches is in good hands.

Simon Trippe

President USFA

Kingfish Cup

Save the dates

Spearos save the dates for these Kingfish Cup events

Thursday October 31st – Information night at Adreno Sydney

Saturday and Sunday November 9/10th – Kingfish Cup

Thursday November 14th – Presentation at Adreno Sydney

From Bird Island to Bass Point be a part of the biggest Spearfishing gathering around Australia.

More information to follow soon.

Be Ready

Adreno Sydney Kingfish Cup 2024

What is the Kingfish Cup?

The Kingfish Cup is about spearing a kingfish, over one weekend in Sydney’s prime Kingfish season, traditionally this is late October through November.

Where is it held?

“Greater Sydney” is the area entrants may enter. It stretches from Bird Island in the Central Coast to Bass Point in the South covering just over 250 kilometres of coastline. Weigh in Stations are at Adreno Sydney itself, Little Manly in Sydney Harbour, both Terrigal and Norah Head on the Central Coast, and of course Wollongong too.

Who enters the KFC?

Such a wide-ranging demographic of both age, sex, and area. Going on recent years we are expecting over 200 spearfishers entering including sub juniors from 14 years of age right up to Grand Masters (over 65’s), Ladies entries have been strong (9 ladies competed last year). Divers come from as far as Queensland to fish the event. Those who are not competitively focused also fish the Kingfish Cup. We also get relative newcomers fish the Kingfish Cup some of which spearing their first kingfish in the event.

How does it work?

The USFA runs the event, Adreno Spearfishing and its partners are a big part of the Cup and sponsor the Cup, and we work with the Adreno Sydney team to make it the success this community event has become. Prior to the Cup, some 8 days before, we host a “get together” at Adreno – putting on some great food – one of our members creates amazing paella, we explain the simple rules, we have guest speakers (spearfishing gurus) that discuss kingfish habits and hunting tips, and this year we have some great scientific data being divulged on Kingfish by a team that is tracking fish via satellite. A great social night that includes several prizes being given out, for the attendees, and for the early bird registers, including one major prize (to be announced).

Since the running of the inaugural event in 2019 we have seen healthy registration numbers from 170 to well over 200 entrants, thus it requires a lot of organising from an efficient team. Entrants register online, they are given details of the event and how to “sign on” and “sign off” (any times between 0800 and 1600 you may fish multiple times on a day) on each day – (some entrants fish only one day) this lets organisers know who is in the water and importantly when they are back out – safety is paramount. On safety, the organisers also make the decision on postponing the days fishing if the weather is decided to be inclement.

The fish are weighed in at the weigh stations, we try to keep the weights discreet to build some atmosphere for the presentation night the Thursday following the event.

The event is ethical! Sustainable too!

Kingfish are in healthy numbers along Australia’s east coast. Take 2023, when we held the Cup over two days, we had 235 divers in the water for approximately 1343 hours, of the fish that were caught it worked out to over 83.9 hours of effort per fish, with an average weight of 9.5 kilograms per fish. Spearfishing is amazing.

Dates to remember!!

1 – The information night –

To kick off the biggest event on Sydney’s spearfishing seasonal calendar we host a social & information night to bring the community together under one roof to set the scene for the following weekends event.
This Kingfish cup was born out of necessity, a competition built to bring our communities together in a sustainable and ethically focused competition with divers from all around Australia participating. A competition driven by inclusion, from the most experienced to aspiring greenhorn learning the ropes and piecing it together. This is what spearfishing is all about. Mateship, adventure, respect for the fishery and healthy competition.

A Q&A panel with kingfish gurus such as Aaron Puckeridge, Derrick Cruz, Matt Poulton, Josh Ward, Artie Mensdorff along with past champion’s the night’s goal is to share experiences and knowledge around Sydney Spearfishing with a focus on the Kingfish species. Feedback from you has been requested on the science of this fishery, and we are giving this to you on the night, we have a very dedicated team who have been satellite tracking large Yellowtail Kingfish off our coastline and they are excited to be sharing their findings with us on the evening. An evening meal catered by the Paella King Rico, throw in some sensational door prizes for those in attendance on the night, and to those who early bird register for the Cup, the night is shaping up to be a ripper.

This social event will be bigger than the Cup itself!

2 – Adreno Sydney Kingfish Cup – the main event! Held over two days on the second weekend of November

3 – The Presentation – held the following Thursday after the Cup is held

Another fantastic social evening, where many of the entrants gather, again at Adreno Sydney Superstore, mingle and talk about the one that got away while enjoying some quality food while anticipating the results. Sponsors for the event are amazing and the 2023 event saw over $15 000 of prizes given out.

We look forward to greeting you at the next Kingfish Cup!