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And so began the legend of Barker’s Grand Slam Spearfishing Tournament - a ‘boys only’ weekend about mates and fun. It’s a tournament, so by its very nature it involves competition, but it’s more than that.
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I can quite honestly say I have shot more hapuka than I have John Dory and boarfish. My biggest hapuka to date was taken from the Alderman Islands in 1996 - an absolute leviathan of a fish weighing in at 40.4 kg and only 460 grams short of the NZ record |
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This is a story about one of those magic afternoon dives when everything just seems to go your way – and even the tax collectors can’t spoil the fun
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It’s said that the most effective time to hunt boarfish is in the early hours of the morning. My dive buddy James had planned to hit the road at 5am much to my dissatisfaction – however weather forecasts had predicted calm, glassy seas and variable winds for the entire day |
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Nick Binks retells his encounter with a school of mahi-mahi off the northland coast.
0-5 knot winds, 20miles off the back of The Poor Knight Island. Trawling through a calm purple ocean, captain Lue yells out, “there’s fish jumping up ahead” as we get closer Mahi-mahi are jumping out in front of us,
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Serious fish need serious pole spears
As we headed out to spot X Scott gave me a run down of our target species and the gear we would be using to get them. At that time of year on the inshore reefs the main target is what the locals call black Rockfish, which is more widely referred to as the black grouper,
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Steve Hathaway discovers the amazing kelp forest in the city of Angles and develops an addiction to pursuing the elusive White Sea Bass.
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When conditions are right and the vis allows, Hawke's Bay can be a great place to hunt...
“You need two weeks of light westerlies and no swell.” That’s what Mel Blackwell once told me at the Freedom Divers club meeting. |
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For us Americans, Christmas and New Years are the two great winter holidays. Full of bright lights, snowflakes, and stocking stuffers. For a select few, winter also means spearfishing the wrecks of the North Carolina coastline. |
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“ I claim I was dragged into the sport of freediving kicking and screaming and while that is a bit dramatic it is not too far from the truth.”
I developed a fear of water in 1994, after being involved with a body recovery. I was a member of the local fire service recovering the body of an experienced scuba diver.....
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Niue, ‘The Rock of Polynesia’ – not many have heard of it and even less have ever been there. And here we were, gearing up for seven days of spearfishing around this unspoiled coral island in some of the most untouched waters in the South Pacific Ocean. |
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DNF (Dynamic No fins)
Kathryn McPhee discusses her new training techniques that are taking her to the top of Dynamic No Fins.
Over about the last year I have learned a new and effective way of training that suits me and my competitive freediving goals. I do short, intense sessions mainly focussing on perfecting technique. |
