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Australia, New Zealand & Indo-Pacific Post your shooting reports and other stuff from Down Under and beyond

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Old 02-08-2013, 07:29 PM   #1
steepNdeep
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Cool LAND of NZ (& OZ)

Hey boys. Since I'm usually landlocked in the mountains & usually on get my spearin' fix online, I thought I'd return the favor. Here's a read for dark winter days...

After bustin' my hump livin' the dream of business ownership (all the sh!t, twice the hours & half the pay ; ) for the last 5 years on a project, I needed a serious break... After months of dreaming about it, the call was made: ocean therapy is the goal & Downunda the destination! Here's the inspiration:


For the next few months tuning up the gear & arsenal occupied my spare time... I had recently taken Mark (Stickem) up on an offer to build me a custom bluewater cannon & he delivered in style - thanks bro! (Hopefully I'll see something worthy of it...)


The airlines are full of luggage nazis these days, so packin' everything including an inflatable kayak was quite the challenge to avoid their fines... Luckily I'd be happily livin' in boardshorts & t-shirts for the next few months (& I stowed away gear in the kids luggage)...

Wasn't gonna miss the snow for a change. Wings up...

Last edited by steepNdeep; 02-12-2013 at 04:27 AM.
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Old 02-08-2013, 07:34 PM   #2
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Re: LAND of NZ (& OZ)

Cool!! Have fun. Be sure to let us live vicariously through ya!
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Old 02-08-2013, 07:38 PM   #3
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Smile Re: LAND of NZ (& OZ)

You Go steepNdeep!
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Old 02-08-2013, 08:33 PM   #4
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Re: LAND of NZ (& OZ)

I like those jbl elites! let us know how they do for you. I don't miss the snow one bit.
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Old 02-09-2013, 07:28 PM   #5
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Re: LAND of NZ (& OZ)

Thanks boys... Welcome to NZ!


Despite the serious fatigue, I couldn't wait to finally get wet! Stopped at a remote beach that I'd pre-scouted online & I went for a ~1km swim out to an island to shake the rust off... the vis opened up to a green ~15-20' once I rounded the point. (Didn't know the beaches were so ugly here.


The area is known to have a healthy population of sharks (mostly bronze whalers) that love bleeding fish. A veteran spearo told me to just sit on the rocks for a while if they get too aggressive out there... I was lookin' forward to swimming with them, but with the murky spring vis, encounters would most likely be pretty close. Here's a german spearo that I got to know with his first close encounter in the area... lol

Spearfishing NZ ! Shark contact ! How to kick a shark in the Face :D - YouTube

My white float is off the bottom-right point in this pic.


I got a feel for the terrain - awesome structure once I reached the point with interesting guts, pinnacles & lush kelp forests all around the island. I swam with a big ray, small octopus, many fish species (that I need to learn) & shot some dinner (butterfish - similar to greenling). Terrain reminds me of the Pacific Northwest...

Last edited by steepNdeep; 02-11-2013 at 01:58 AM.
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Old 02-11-2013, 04:07 PM   #6
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Re: LAND of NZ (& OZ)

From a thread on the trip in another section: http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=157346

Quote:
Originally Posted by SpearMax View Post
Dean, I loved New Zealand when I spent a week there. A paradise it is. Tony
I agree Tony! The people & the landscape are incredible...


Quote:
Originally Posted by North Star View Post
Super cool Dean! You earned it! Looking forward to the story as it unfolds! Love the photos!

Yup, the freezer is full of fish. We served a bunch of it to our church people today at the pot luck and they raved about it. The wife has a killer recipe and you would think the stuff was ice cream the way it disappears. Hoping to go spearing in the not too distant future, but the ocean wants to kick up on the days I have off, so cooling my heels for now while I let the fish get a little bigger before I give them a friendly visit.

Kill some monsters for us - we are all counting on you - but no pressure, eh?
Max, I brought the whole family with me, so the priority is fillin' their bellies on a regular basis. The goal is to be sick of eating seafood by the end of the trip. (I wouldn't hold it against you if you sent me your wife's killer recipe... I'll return the favour with an exotic one for you. ; )


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Originally Posted by LittleGoat View Post
Good luck and have fun... and don't forget to update as you go so you don't forget any of the details!
Thanx Goat. I'll do my best to keep up on the homework, but I'm a bit of a crammer.


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Glad you're enjoying it mate. Now just wait till you hit the North East Coast.
I hope to dive the Coral Sea in the NE before all of the closures take effect & see a doggie, if I'm so lucky... You actually helped inspire this trip when you posted this video (last year) on the MPA Closures in OZ. Thanks mate!

Apparently, the closures eliminate ~99% of diveable water less than ~15m deep in some dive networks!


Here is a knowledgeable & passionate spearo (from ~Coff's Harbour) speaking against the proposed closures in Oz. (He gets into spearing at ~7:00 in the vid)

The Marine Park debate. NPA Address - John Featherstone - YouTube

Last edited by steepNdeep; 02-12-2013 at 04:17 AM.
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Old 02-11-2013, 04:33 PM   #7
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Re: LAND of NZ (& OZ)

Transport... standard motorbike rental co's want ~$150/day so... after much searchin', I finally found a bike for the month on NZ 'Craigslist' from a guy willing to sell it & buy it back in a month. She's a beaut & should serve me well gettin' groceries & for fishin' trips up & down the coast - at least no one would want to steal her...

Comin' back from spearin' I wore my wetsuit & gear, so I'd have room in the pack (~80 lbs) for the fish. Cold at 6am... I'm sitting in wetsuit soup in this pic...!



A little different than my bike at home...

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Old 02-11-2013, 06:41 PM   #8
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Re: LAND of NZ (& OZ)

Go get 'em Dean...
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Old 02-12-2013, 06:28 PM   #9
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Re: LAND of NZ (& OZ)

Quote:
Originally Posted by No I'm Josh View Post
Thanks for the report Dean! Like Jarom said, keep us up to date please!
Thanks boys! We have a house with an extra room overlookin' a reef & surf break & you're welcome to it...

Made it out with some local boys that love to spear most weekends. The captain was a veteran that sailed (& speared) around the world for 18 years & 2 good guys that had been spearin' 10-15 years. It was their spring, the beginning of kingie (yellowtail tuna = hamachi sushi) season & they'd just speared their first kingie of the season the week before.


It blew S. ~40 kts the day before on the outer islands, so they didn't think it would be worth it & stayed closer. I was psyched as we passed some quiet workups (bait balls) with birds sitting on them, but the first few spots we checked the water was brown-green & sh!tty vis. They prodded the new guy (me) with a story of their bloody encounter with a 10' blue shark at the first spot... lol Cool lookin' country!


We finally found some cleaner green water on the back side of an island & anchored in 30' at a dropoff. There was a big reef with weedy heads & a decent current running through the 300m gap between 2 islands. 2 worked the dropoff, while Turk & I worked the reef. We dove for ~3 hrs & the boys saw a couple smaller kings but didn't get a shot & shot a couple of kalawai (favorite kingie baitfish similar to a mackeral ~2' long) & grabbed a cray each. Beginners luck was on my side & I stocked the freezer with a smorgasbord - cray, kalawai, blue moki, john dory (one of NZ's best eating fish) & a pannie snapper. The fam' was happy...


Later, after a few guys commented on it, I learned that the blue moki might have challenged the World Record of 22 lbs, but I don't usually weigh my fish anyways... They are pretty easy to shoot. I was snoopin' along for snapper, peeked around this huge weedy boulder & he was busy eating - he just looked tastey, so I rolled him. lol It was an awesome day on the water with some great guys!

Last edited by steepNdeep; 04-29-2013 at 04:32 PM.
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Old 02-12-2013, 09:42 PM   #10
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Re: LAND of NZ (& OZ)

Great pics. Looks like the perfect adventure!
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Old 02-13-2013, 12:47 PM   #11
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Re: LAND of NZ (& OZ)

yellowtail aren't tuna, just an fyi. they're a jack. sick trip. i'd like to eat a dory.
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Old 02-13-2013, 04:18 PM   #12
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Re: LAND of NZ (& OZ)

Thanks boys!

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yellowtail aren't tuna, just an fyi. they're a jack. sick trip. i'd like to eat a dory.
Yeah, I actually learned that on this trip - I'd never seen one before... They look just like amberjack with some added bling & pull like donkeys like them. lol They are commonly called tuna in N. America, so I was differentiating (ie: from yellowtail snapper) - Yellowtail Tuna Report Technically there are 3 YT subspecies - California, Asian & Southern (the largest & found in NZ/Aus).

JD's are easy to shoot, but tough to find. Luckily for them, as they're damn delicious... Looks like you had a great trip to NZ!

Quote:
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Wow! Great trip. I might have to talk to you sometime. I've been thinking about doing something similar on the coast of Oz south of Perth (down to about Albany) and the coast of New South Wales (from Kiama down to about Eden), plus maybe even east coast of Tassie. I had exactly the same idea about buying a motorcycle, but was wondering if that was crazy by the time I pack speargun, pole spear, etc. etc, and maybe even some clothes. But sounds like it worked out for you. Awesome!
It'd be a bit of a trick to travel with all your spear gear on a motorbike, but it could be done. If I had longer I would have bought a car, but with only a month I wouldn't want to get stuck tryin' to sell it once I had left the country... In my youth I bought a car on a C. America trip & it worked out well.

We'll be on the E. Coast of Oz for a while & I've already met some good dudes online. Definitely hit me up!

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Old 02-15-2013, 07:10 PM   #13
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Re: LAND of NZ (& OZ)

Dirk - I'll PM ya.

Some details... Reports were showing that water was still cold & kingie action was slow to get started further south. I had rented a car to move our gear to another house down the coast, so I decided to head north for a dive with Andy, a great guy & spearo that I got to know online. We sat around & told some hunting, fishing tales & he gave me a room for the night in the beautiful home that he built overlooking the Bay. Up at first light, the weather was perfect & my anticipation was high as we headed for a morning kingy spot on the outer edge of the islands. The current was rippin' around some cool lookin' pinnacles, but the 62' water's vis was a green ~20'. He had told me of kings on boiling baitballs in the area, but today it was pretty quiet & the bait was deep. After workin' the spot for an hour & many deep dives, I'd only seen a glimpse of one small kingie. I saw Andy back at the boat & swam over - he had a good kingie & I was inspired!


He said that things were slow, but there should be a couple around & swam me over to a another pinnacle. Finally, on a dive I was at 60' below a small school of bait just lookin' at my watch & about to head up, when a decent kingie appeared just off the bottom in front of me. I squeezed one off from ~8' away & luckily he just rolled over, as I was feelin' light headed on the way up. I was so stoked to get my first kingie on the boat! "You earned that fish, mate!" Andy grinned, as we cleaned them up, & snapped some pics. A pod of dolphins came by as we headed in the tourist route & did a little snapper snoopin'.


Unfortunately the snapper spawn was on & most had left the reefs, as evidenced by ~20 boats fishing one deep spawning bed. He put me on 2 of his favorite points, but I didn't see a single snapper. He made me feel a little better, when he told me that last week he didn't see any either, but that was short lived. When I opened the cooler this 27+ lb monster was stickin' out (apparently he was retired from spawning)! For most guys a 20+lb NZ snapper is a fish of a lifetime, but he's shot many. It was his personal best & icing on the trip to be there when he shot it. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy! He told me that when he was a kid, his father would go out to sea commercial fishing & drop him off on the beach in the background for a few days camping. They'd dive & fish catching all kinds including a big shark (on H&L) off the beach... a slice of paradise!


His son (already a competent waterman as a teen) got some crays & we shot some trevally & pinks. Exhausted (at least I was), we still stopped to gather a feed of scallops in 20', check another cray spot & were stopped by the fish cops, who were decent guys. We ended the day on his deck with some fresh-as sashimi to go with the beer. They were incredible hosts & it was so cool to see father & son so stoked about diving! Despite less than ideal conditions, thanks to my tour guide, it was one of my best days of diving, ever. I hope to return the favor when his son goes walkabout in N. America... Thanks mate!

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Old 02-15-2013, 10:42 PM   #14
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Re: LAND of NZ (& OZ)

Congrats on the YT and another great day. Keep them coming
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Old 02-16-2013, 05:55 PM   #15
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Re: LAND of NZ (& OZ)

AMAZING! I'm getting over there ASAP. Thanks for looping us in...
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