Newsletters

Newsletter # 93

Wed, 4 Apr 2012 20:13:50 +1200

Out & About
The end of NZ’s summer daylight saving has officially signaled a changing season, if your excursions outside have not already convinced you of that! Diving conditions for Easter weekend are not looking promising. So as a reminder of what was, here is a photo of some members of the recent NZ Spearfishing Team in Hawaii with a day’s catch. (L to R) Jackson Shields, Paul Best, Todd Herbert, Herb Herbert, Manager.

There are still three spearfishing competitions about which we have been given specific details planned to run before winter really sets in. The first one at Tairua in the weekend after Easter is a good opportunity for divers new to competition to mix it with those who have been there before. You will be made welcome and you get the opportunity to measure your own skills alongside others.

Newsletter #93.pdf

Newsletter # 92

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 20:41:12 +1300

As this issue of the Newsletter comes to you it will be just another 10 days to April 1st when it is goodbye to daylight saving. That date and noticeably cooler water temperatures are hardly a joke for those divers wondering what ever happened to the idyllic days of summers past. Those freedivers planning to compete in Lake Taupo on the 24th and 25th of this month in the National Depth Championships will find it was not just the coastal waters that were often ‘user unfriendly.’ Comment from Dave Mullins is that, “The Lake is very cold after this lousy summer, about 17C surface temperature and no fun in a 2mm suit.”
However, those relatively new to diving are likely to view the past summer through masks more rose-tinted than those with long memories. At the same time those South Island readers who dive the east coast from Kaikoura to the Bluff in regulation 3m-4m visibility will wonder what there is to complain about with northern sea temperatures of 18C plus and visibility usually in double figures. More comment about Kaikoura will follow.

Newsletter #92.pdf

Newsletter # 90

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:31:07 +1300

Coming & Going
Welcome to a considerable number of new readers of this Newsletter. You can expect to receive 5 or 6 issues a year. Whether you are a first time reader or one that has been with us since last Century hopefully your time in the water over summer lived up to expectations!

By all accounts the sea and diving conditions around NZ were as variable as ever, some saying “as bad as” or “even worse than usual!” Certainly the wind and rain did various coastlines no favours and as this Newsletter was being prepared we noted that the wind affected, Wettie sponsored South Island Champs in Dunedin set down for February 4 was postponed until 18th February and to be run from the Otago Underwater Club Rooms. Wild Blue’s Summer Series competition on the same day on Wellington’s south coast had a calm sea, but a sunless sky and dull day of near persistent drizzle. Many decided the west coast was a better option. Ben Roe and Sebastian Kramer won having brought to the scales all 5 species. The hope is that the North Island Champs on February 18 in conjunction with Wild Blue and the Kapiti Underwater Club will have respite from indifferent weather.

However, those who attended Oakura for the National Spearfishing Champs, or a week later, the Catfish Cull at Lake Taupo made the right calls! More about each of these events follows.

Newsletter #90.pdf

Newsletter # 89

Thu, 5 Jan 2012 20:29:35 +1300

Coming & Going
Of course it is summer! The calendar says so. No matter that the New Year was ushered in over most of NZ with torrential rain and that northern and eastern coastlines started the New Year catering more for surfers than they did for holiday campers and divers. We are informed that the latter could apparently do no worse than swim the waters around Invercargill. Being relatively sheltered from the northerlies that have swept rain down the length of NZ, the bottom of the South Island has basked in its best summer in memory of those who live there. Still, we can all anticipate better times to come, “Just as long as it doesn’t include persistent easterly winds,” we hear many of you say. Wherever you are diving though we wish you “a whale of a time” in great visibility, sentiments encapsulated in this Tongan scene!
Newsletter # 89.pdf

Newsletter # 88

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:48:08 +1300

Coming & Going
It has been a good start to summer spearfishing judging by the photos and comments we have received from around NZ. There are though many more divers joining your pursuit out there in the water so it is worth thinking about what that means in places that are fished almost daily by a number of divers when the weather allows it. Ask yourself if the fish in those ‘spots’ are getting smaller? If the answer is “Yes” as we are sometimes told, then for the more or less resident species it is not hard to work out why, is it!

Mind you, other recreational fishers in areas around NZ are making similar observations about smaller fish in respect of species that most divers do not spear such as Trumpeter, Hapuku, Gurnard, and even Blue Cod in some areas. The bag limit for Bluenose was 20, but this year it has been reduced to 3 and is now in line with the Kingfish bag limit. If that many are taken of either of these species even if they are smaller, it is still a lot of fish to eat if a fisher is going out every few days or as often as the weather permits.

Newsletter # 88.pdf