Category: Tournaments

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.

Canada Cup

Doug Pearson Canada Cup Trophy
Doug Pearson Canada Cup Trophy

The Canada Cup is Australia’s longest standing spearfishing competition. With origins dating back to 1952. The Canada Cup spearfishing competition attracts competitors of all levels from as far as New Zealand, and notable divers including eight-time Australian spearfishing champion Ian Puckeridge, to compete for the top places.

But competitive spearfishing isn’t just about the competition, it also offers a great opportunity to improve spearfishing skills, meet new divers, and have a great social gathering.

 

Canada Cup Junior winners

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Eden 3 Way

The Eden 3 Way State Championship spearfishing competition is held in winter and is a highly competitive 1 day event which has been running for 42 years. Over the years of 2009 and 2010 there was 100 spearfishing competitors which cements the Eden 3 way state championship as one of the biggest events on the east coast. This spearfishing competition is all about the beautiful weather, great location and showcasing the perseverance and skill of the competitors.

 

 

 

Far South Coast Championships

The Far South Coast Spearfishing Championships are held annually in Narooma. They are proudly hosted by the south coast skindivers club. With a fantastic junior division, this spearfishing competition is famous for its rock hopping and good quality kingies that are caught.

Australian Pacific Coast Spearfishing Championship – Spearfest

Organised and hosted by the Newcastle Neptune’s Underwater Club the Australian Pacific Coast Spearfishing Championships are held at Nelson Bay, Port Stephens over the Easter long weekend.

A mystery teams event is held on the afternoon of Good Friday along with training and 10 individual age comps (8 to 17) for juniors. The Premier Team event and 1st heat of the individual championships are held on Easter Saturday and the Premier Pair and 2nd heat of the individual championships on Easter Sunday. A Bluewater shootout for the largest 3 fish operates over any of the 3 days with cash prizes ($500, $300, $200).

PLEASE NOTE THERE IS A FISH AUCTION AFTER THE EVENT and all proceeds go to the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service.

There is a huge range of accommodation available just Google Port Stephens, Nelson Bay or Shoal Bay. Divers must be USFA or AUF financial and have appropriate safety gear (float with flag, mirror and whistle).
It is a fantastic competition with great prizes and spectacular fish weighed each year.”

Australian Pacific Coast Spearfishing Championships – Spearfest – Easter Program 2015.pdf

Alliman Shield

Curly Alliman Memorial Trophy - Presented Annually to the top Sydney Club
The Alliman Shield – Curly Alliman Memorial Trophy – Presented Annually to the top Sydney Club

The Sydney Metro Alliman Shield competition is a fin fish spearfishing competition open to both males and females and is held on a monthly basis with scores accumulating across the calendar year. Four Sydney clubs compete in the Alliman Shield with some great competitive rivalry between both mates and clubs.

The Alliman Shield Competition days are a great opportunity for divers to learn how to hunt a large diversity of fish species and forces divers to think about the fish they want to take, where to find them, techniques and the best equipment to use. It also provides a set date, usually the first Sunday of each month, when divers can plan to hit the water together and try their best in the local arena or just have a bit of fun with mates.

The Curley Alliman Trophy - Presented annually to the top Sydney diver in the Alliman Shield
The Curley Alliman Trophy – Presented annually to the top Sydney diver in the Alliman Shield

Only one of each of a set list of species of fish may be scored by a diver, thus maintaining the sustainability of our sport and of course there are many rules in place to enforce and emphasise the safety aspect of our sport.

There are many different categories within the Alliman Shield competition based on age and diver ability and divers range from National Champions through to absolute beginners. There is no better way to learn about spearfishing than to dive the comps and learn from the experience of the great divers around you.

The weigh-ins at the end of the day are always good social events with divers swapping stories of the adventures of the day, proudly showing off their fish or just enjoying a drink or two with mates and fellow divers. And of course, you end of with some fresh fish for dinner at the end of the day!

You can find out more about the history of Alec ‘Curly’ Alliman here.

Local Competition Rules for USFA – Sydney Metro Zone

Taylor Shield

The Taylor shield competition is held every month on the first Sunday. The spearfishing competition dates back to the early 60’s. In the height of spearfishing popularity, the early 70’s, there were many clubs on the south coast, all of them being a part of the two zones in the region, the southern zone and the far southern zone. Gradually less competitors were competing so smaller clubs weren’t able to function with so few members, they ended up joining up with bigger clubs such as the South Coast Skindivers Club.

The Taylor Shield is now contested within the Southern Zone, which comprises of the Barracudas, Reversby Workers Club and a southern branch of the San Souci Dolphins. Each competitor dives not only for his individual points but also to contribute to a club score. The sum of these points over a competiton year decides the winner of the Taylor shield in that year. Barra’s have won the Taylor Shield 28 times in 44 years, RWC 13 times. Other clubs won the title the other 3 times.

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.