by Adam HeibloemPhotos by Casey Harrison and Seyoung Kim

ith all the diving we do throughout a year, how many times can we really say we’ve had a great day of spearfishing. What things need to come together to be able to say this? Good vis? New species of fish encountered or even speared? Maybe it’s the moments of adrenaline fuelled action that we get off on, or even serene moments of peace that we can sometimes become complacent with. I try and dive at least once a week, and work hard to find fish, but it’s a rare thing for me to say;

“I’ve had a crackin’ day of spearing”. But recently it occurred on a local reef and it caught me by pleasant surprise. I really felt like it was a great day filled with all of the ingredients mentioned above. Here is a bit of an insight on what occurred.

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We all clambered into Casey’s white Ford and made a beeline for the boatramp, some 20 minutes away. As the 6-cylinder sedan struggled off down the country road, I take note of the gang assembled. The large bulky guy in the front, who does most of the talking, is Casey. A super keen diver who loves catching the spearing action on his great little 12 mega pixel cannon. In the front passenger is Seyoung, another super keen diver, who dives a lot with the younger spearos that live in Brisbane. He is quieter then the rest of us and is happy to sit and listen to everyone’s stories of past adventures. Next to me is Tim McDonald who is possibly the most dived spearo in SE QLD. Always pumped on finding new areas that are usually full of fish. For anyone who has not met Tim, he’s a super friendly diver with a deep passion for the sport of spearfishing. He has a good knowledge of the ocean and is great at getting divers on to good fish. Definitely a good person to have along for the trip, and it’s his idea to head out to outer reef today.

As we wind down through the hinterland, towing the heavy boat, we weave and pass through thick blankets of fog and mist. It’s very heavy and there’s one thing on everyone’s minds and that is the lack of wind. Small comments are exchanged on how heavy the fog is and how we all knew a “glass out” was imminent. Our arrival at the ramp was around 6am and this was hardly a new record. Tim and I exchanged comments on how good the day is and how we should have been here an hour ago.

Through the mouth of the harbour and out past the headland we notice the water is blue but not crystal clear. Our first patch of reef is only 15 minutes out to sea and has at least 15 metres of visibility. We grab our gear and clamber over the sides. The baitfish are seen straight away in a thick cloud of shimmering reflections. Around them we have the docile, though friendly company of the simple Sawtail surgeons. These are often targeted by spearos as a great indicator that good fish are in the area. I’ve shot so many different types of fish hanging around surgeon schools, especially the highly favoured Mangrove jack. When the schools are thick, it’s a wonderful experience to go lie on the bottom and have sometimes hundreds of Sawtails circling you while you look through the school looking for that flash of red. Unfortunately no jack’s are here today.

We can just make out light and dark patches on the bottom and we all start diving on the different parts of this small reef. I head for a reef edge that scored me a nice trout earlier in the week, and find it quiet. Coming up from one dive I shoot a small Spanish mackerel. Normally I don’t shoot the ones under 7or8 kilograms, but with a friends party on tomorrow I am happy to take my first Spanish for the summer. Someone then yells out “Wahoo!” and we all pump our legs into gear to see what the go was. Casey says he saw a nice one and that we should deploy a flasher. As he heads back to grab his neat little homemade flasher, Tim and I dive the other side of the reef where some nice blue-barred parrot have gathered on a sand edge. After a few

dives, Tim mentions to me that he also saw a nice Black wrasse and he soon follows up by shooting a great 3-4 kilogram Goldspot wrasse, an extremely attractive fish, which is very rarely encountered on the inshore reefs here.

After half an hour of diving, we decided it’s time to head wide, some 50 minutes away. We sort our gear and put the fish in the esky and head off East. However, we don’t make it more than one or two hundred metres before stopping again. The sounder has shown us a new patch of reef not seen before. It was 15 metres to the top and the bait on there was thick. One thing Tim has taught me is that you should

always watch your sounder, as you never know when you might pass over a new “spike” as we call them. Definitely one of the more valuable tricks I’ve picked up from him. Anyway, we decided jump in for a quick look. There was baitfish everywhere and as I dived down below them, I don’t see much else in the way of desired reef fish, although as I leave the bottom for the surface I get surrounded by a school of Amberjacks. I line up a larger one from the school and shoot it with my 1.4metre gun. As I head for the surface, I notice Seyoung above and I leave my fish at depth as the rest of the school are circling it. This allows Seyoung to dive on them and take one from the school.

Ten minutes later we are all back in the boat and arguing about who’s going to grab the anchor. Seyoung happily slips past and pulls it up without any fuss and we are soon hopping from one glassed off lump to another as we head East. The swell is low and we hold a comfortable speed of 30 knots for the next 50 minutes as we all talk loudly above the groan of the noisy 2 stroke, 115 Mercury. (I resisted

the temptation - Ed)We approach the reef and I watch the sounder

for any sign of change or indications of bait or other marine life, but notice no significant change in the sounder reading. For the final 500 metres it stays very deep, in over 50 metres of water, before we encounter a steep wall that rises up to around 35 metres. We spend some time sounding and eventually find the shallow part of the reef. We position ourselves and anchor over this lump and nervously talk about the conditions as we gear up. The water looks a stunning cobalt blue, and its surface is still smooth and like a mirror. We notice a school of green fish come to us at

the surface, and someone yells out “Dolphinfish!!”. Our nervousness quickly loses out to a new found adrenaline and we race each other to get into the water. As we slip into the very pleasant 24.5 degrees of water, we are encountered with a striking vision that would put a smile on any spearos face, 25 metres of crystal clear vision. I stare into the warmth and just stare. It looks insane. Ten metres below me, a large school of smaller chevron Barracuda swirl under me. I then snap out of it and head for the front of the boat to try and find the “Dolphinfish”. I see instead though only a small school of Rainbow runner and realise that this is what we all became excited over. Someone grabs an old fish frame from the boat and begins knocking off any left over meat to create a burley trail. A small 10 kilo Wahoo swims in to see what these strange surface creatures are. Tim makes chase and I decide to leave him to it as I drift back away from the boat. I can’t help but smile at the water, clear and 24.5 degrees. I study the bottom from the surface and notice the rise and falls of this very alive, though very deep reef. I

Tim McDonald - Goldspot Pigfish (or wrasse if you are old school)

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As we wind down through the hinterland, towing the heavy boat, we weave and pass through thick blankets of fog and mist. Its very heavy and there's one thing on everyones minds and that is the lack of wind. Small comments are exchanged on how heavy the fog is and how we all knew a glass out was imminent.

then see a swirl of dark red on the bottom and can make out a large school of very big Red bass. I’ve seen Red bass before, but never a school of 20 or 30 all 10 plus kilos. I decide to have a closer look to see if there are Mangrove jacks amongst them. Red bass look very similar to jacks and when I first started diving, I would always get them confused. Over the years though I’ve noticed a few differences in how they look and how they behave. Firstly, Red bass seem to dart about very quickly; like a fish that’s high on red cordial, but the Mangrove jacks move slower and without as much haste. Red bass have a more solid build throughout the body and have a big dome shaped head with a bright yellow eye. Anyway these were Red bass and I wanted to see if there was anything with them. Tim was still off chasing the Wahoo, so I decided to do a safe recognizance dive to around 10-15metres to see what was happening down there. As I held my ground and breathed up, all I could think about was how lucky the boys were in North-west Australia. They were allowed to target and eat these big brutes. In Queensland though, they are on the no take list as they are one of the reef species that are very susceptible to ciguatera. I feel my lungs relaxed and at ease. I roll my shoulders, slow my kicking, place my hand on my snorkel and take one last deep breath before descending. At ten metres, I stop kicking and float down to 13 metres and focus on the bottom. I can make out large rises and caves. Large plates of coral cover the bottom and all over the terrain Red bass dart and weave. I can’t make out much else and as I climb back to the surface I decide to cover some ground and maybe this will see me bump into a Wahoo.

There is a slow but steady current running, and I find myself kicking into it looking for Wahoo. The burley that had been dropped brought in a great mixture of various shark species. Many different types of Whalers began to appear and I start to see types that I haven’t seen before. There were Silver fringe halers, Silky sharks, one Sandbar whaler, and lots of Bronze whalers seen. I think I even saw a small Tiger. They hang around us all day and make us act cautiously whenever we had shot a fish, but they were never a problem and the only person to lose a fish to the sharks was Seyoung after he shot a nice size trevally. The last trip Tim and I had made to this reef though saw us come very close to a very large Tiger shark. Later estimates put it between 12-15 foot. The biggest fish I’ve ever seen, and definitely an adrenaline fuelled moment.

Apart from the sharks, we also encountered many different sized Manta rays. When we first saw

them, they slowly passed under us and I watched as Casey dived down to investigate. It’s funny how you learn a divers body language from the surface and when I see him stretch out his arm, I know there must be something under the huge ray. Seconds later I

see Casey wrestling with his rigline and slowly pulling his first Cobia to the surface. Its only a small fish, but I know he has been trying to get one for years, so finally he has the monkey off his back, so to speak.

Casey with his first Cobia

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Another large ray passes and I bag a nice eating size Amberjack also. We put the fish in the esky and jump straight back in. There has to be a Wahoo somewhere.

I bump into Tim behind the boat and he reveals a nice 3kilo Mangrove jack and a medium size Jobfish. His ability to find good fish is always evident. He tells me he’s seen some great fish up past the front of the boat, though I’m still exploring the area behind the boat and as I cruise back to the same area I notice the Barracuda are still assembled in their large school and occasionally a group of larger ones come through. I make a few dives on them hoping that some other pelagic fish have been attracted by their presence. I am in luck and see another Amberjack come into view, though this one looks different. It is darker and has a long tall fin coming off its back. I realise it’s a great size Highfin amberjack and swoop down on it with the railgun. The fish looks at me and slowly turns away with just the right angle for me to place a good holding shot without fear of bending the spear. I bring the fish in and quickly dispatch it, all the time looking over my shoulder for Mr Tax Man. We’ve been in the water for around an hour now and the call is made to try a different tactic.

We decide to do a few drifts over the front edge of the reef. So we pull up anchor and Seyoung graciously puts his hand up to boatie. We position ourselves using the GPS and sounder and as we slip overboard, I can feel the eerie feeling of deep water. The bottom can’t be seen and it doesn’t take long for a large school of Trevally to come in and investigate. Casey grabbed his flasher and the Trevally swam straight up to it. We decide to leave them be and each grab a piece of old fish frame. We gently shred the pieces of fish and we watch as the Trevally school return, this time being joined by a large Yellowtail. Tim and I hold steady and can sense that Casey is keen to roll this good size King. As he dives we continue to shred our piece of frame. I see him try and get into a firing position but unfortunately Casey does

not get presented with the shot and as he makes for the surface, I decide to take a look to see if any fish are coming up off the bottom. Tim, Casey and I are all fairly close by, and Casey starts copping some grief off the Whalers that keep trying to swallow his flashers. I put this vision out of my head and try to get very relaxed. When I feel the moment is right, I inhale deeply and slowly and gently kick toward the bottom,

which can now be seen from the surface. Descending vertically I glance around for any close sharks and when I see it’s all clear, I close my eyes and drift down. When I get to the fifteen metre mark, I open my eyes again and start to see the feeding Jobfish and Snapper below me. I can also see more big, Red bass. I see sharks look at me and turn away. There are Sawtail surgeon and Rainbow runner intermixed

with the darting frenzy of Jobfish and small Snapper. This is what it looks like inside a feeding frenzy. My attention turns to the flighty Jobfish. They are feeding but can still sense me and offer no opportunities, so I gently cruise back to the surface. I tell Tim of the feeding Snapper and he says he can see them from the surface. By now the Barracuda are under us in a thick school, the Trevally keep passing, flashes of

Adam Heibloem - Highfin Amberjack

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Pink snapper run through the white burley trail with greedy Jobfish in their wake. About five sharks swim through at different times also enjoying the feed. It’s an awesome experience. We do some more dives but don’t really get onto much. I now have the flasher and find myself becoming increasingly frustrated with the sharks that keep trying to eat it. Casey dives again and this time has caught the King completely unaware. I watch as the bulky Kingfish gets speared by an even bulkier human. I start laughing at the action. Fish and sharks everywhere, Casey’s onto a big King, I’m holding flashers away from veracious sharks and he’s fighting them away from his fish. Time to call over Seyoung and try again on another drift.

We all clamber into the boat and take stock of what’s happening. Tim is grinning saying “how good was that”. Casey’s taking photo’s up the front of the boat and I’m eating my mix of fruit and nuts saying “lets do it again”. Once Case has some good shots, he tells us he’ll go boatie. Having never shot a Snapper or a Jobfish, I thank him and we all get ready for the next drift. We jump in again and find it

to be a bit quieter to when we were last in the water. We find some more frames and take turns with diving and shredding. The sharks are quickly back on top of us and we look for fish for around 10 minutes, before having some luck with the return of the wily Snapper. I decide to check out the bottom and grab around one quarter of my rigline so my float will stay above me. The first thing I notice as I am drifting down is the Red bass school that I’ve been seeing all day. They are everywhere on the bottom and as I scan over and past the school, I see a Jobfish down-current from me. “This is it” I say to myself and put my head down to try and rendezvous with it. As I’m staring down and not up at the fish, I notice a black shape I initially took to be a Red bass, stop to look at me. What the?? I think to myself. Red bass don’t stop to look at you. I look closer and can clearly make out a great size Blue-spot trout. A fish rarely encountered so far South. I fin twice in its direction and it swims off for a couple of metres before stopping again. He broadsides me and stops dead only 12 metres away. He’s just outside of range and I gently kick in his direction. Once again I think to myself “this is it”!,

Kick, kick and I stretch out my arm and I feel the horrible sensation of my rigline going tight. I should have grabbed more before I dived. I cannot be sure of my shot and take a long and steady trip back to the surface. Devastated I tell Tim. Ever seen someone’s eyes light up? Well that’s exactly what Tim did.

We anchor the boat and Tim stares defiantly at the reef patch below, trying to hold ground. He spends the next 40 minutes up and down in the same spot. I do one or two more dives in the area, but it’s too deep and too much hard work, so I try to get the Jobfish moving again. Tim though does 6 dives on the one spot determined to find this fish I’ve seen. On his 6th dive he comes up from a great dive with the Blue-spot trout in hand. I’m damn impressed and he is too. We get some nice shots and then he offers to help me find the Jobfish.

We take one gun between us and cut up the last of the frames. Fifteen minutes

Casey Harrison with a solid Kingfish

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Tim Mc - a rare catch in Southern Queensland , a Blue-spot trout

Adam with a fantastic Snapper - always a tough target for Spearfishers

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later the Snapper are back on and so are the Jobbies. I wait till the burley has sunk deep enough, and the fish are in feeding mode. I time my dive just right and Tim is apparently doing a running commentary to Case and Seyoung who are in the boat. I think it went something like this. “OHH there’s Snapper everywhere. Adsy’s getting close, closer, he’s gonna shoot one. OOOOhhhh!!!! Adsy’s shot his first Snapper” Of course I’m over the moon as I’ve never even shot a squire, so to nail my first Snapper at over 5 kilo’s is a huge achievement for me. Tim then works hard over the next 20 minutes to get himself a Snapper and missed on 3 different occasions. One occasion that stands out by far is with him diving to 15 metres where he waits patiently to see Snapper and nothing shows up. Meanwhile I’m above him, spotting his dive, as he’s on the bottom looking around, a 15 kilo Wahoo swims straight under me and stops to see what I am doing. I grunt something through my snorkel just loud enough for Tim to hear and as he looks up, the fish is just staring at us. I then watch as Tim reaches out and pulls the trigger and completely misses the fish. I start cackling madly and as Tim hit’s the surface the look on his face is priceless.

I get fed up with all his bad shooting and decide it’s time for me to actually get onto a Jobby. I grab the gun off Tim and begin to breathe

up. I turn upside down and descend and when I get to the appropriate depth, I look around for those big green fish. None are around at that moment but all is not lost, because “hang on” here comes an even bigger Snapper to the one I shot before - Bang! I’m on again. 2 dives- 2 Snapper and both of them are well over the 5 kilogram mark. To say I was beaming was an absolute understatement. I hang with Tim just hooting and feeling totally elated from the day I’ve had. After that, Tim was able to get onto a Snapper as well. I had an awesome view of him shooting that fish as I was 6 metres below him returning from a dive chasing a big Jobfish. His Snapper was a really nice fish that weighed 6.1 kilograms.

We are high fiving and hooting and just acting like two kids in a toy shop. Seyoung managed some incredible photos of big Whalers as they circled us on the surface whilst trying to take photos of Tim’s fish. One photo shows the shark coming directly at him over his shoulder as he poses for the photo. AWESOME!!

Just as we get back to the boat, a large school of Diamond trevally swim under me. I’ve heard these are the best of the Trevally to eat, so I make one last dive and line up a five kilo Diamond. It’s a good solid shot and he is quickly dispatched. What an unreal day. I’ve shot my first Highfin amberjack, Diamond trevally, Snapper x’s 2. Casey shot his first Cobia and a big Kingy, Seyoung lost a Trevally to a relentless

Whaler and Tim worked his butt off to secure a great Blue-spot trout from deep water. We climb back in the boat, pull up the anchor and make way for home all glowing from the action we’d just experienced. An hour later we make the boatramp in the dying light of the afternoon.

The day ended without any dramas, and the boy’s would have made it back home sometime in the late evening. I am now sitting here and reflecting back to the events of the day. I think about all the great things that occurred and what an awesome experience it was to be in the ocean with so much marine life. The new species of fish taken, the giant Manta’s, the greedy Whalers that tried to eat every thing we shot. I also think about the weather and how diving is so much nicer in a glass-out. How the warm clear water allowed for easier more relaxing dives. I think about the 3mm suits we were wearing, and how they almost felt too hot. The final thing that really topped off the day for me, was simply being out there with 3 other top blokes. Working hard as a team to help each other get onto fish. Big thanks to Case and Seyoung for all the help taking photo’s and shooting film. And also to Tim for helping me get onto some nice Snapper. Hope we can do it all again soon.

Can’t wait till next Friday!!!

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