Baja Spearfishing video

I wanted to share my buddy Austin Derry's site with you guys. This video is of Richard Balta (4x World Record Holder) selectively shooting a 70# grouper at 60 ft when much larger ones could have been taken.

http://www.spearfishingmovies.com/movies/baja_grouper.html

Allow a few minutes for it to load :)

Erik, Sumora Dive Tools

www.sumora.com

Spearfishing brings the best food to the table

Pictures do the talking today.

Friends & great divers Richard Balta & Austin Derry

My dad ate well for Father's day - fresh scallops Medium

Little lime juice before Tapatio thrown atop
White Seabass Sandwich, cooked and prepared 30 minutes after catch.
Fillets from a 3.5 pound Sargo!

Spierre Fins Initial Thoughts - by Prodigal Son

By Prodigal Son

Spierre fins-Initial thoughts

---

My combined birthday/Father's Day gift was a pair of Spierre fins (kelp camo-Medium stiffness) to replace my old 20 Fathoms Matrix fins (#2 stiffness). I picked them up today from Erik Sun of Sumora. As usual, his service was great. He outfitted them with Picasso Black Team footpockets. The Spierre fins are about the same length as the Matrix fins, but are noticeably wider at the base (near the footpocket) and a little heavier. They also are angled blades. I just tried out the new fins in a pool. They're noticeably more powerful than my Matrix fins, and seemed more comfortable. Slow, gentle kicks propelled me underwater with less effort than before. The additional comfort may have been in part due to the footpocket since I was never comfortable with the Sporasubs on my Matrix fins. I can't determine yet whether the deeper angle on the fins makes a difference in surface swimming, but in the pool, it seemed like there was less strain on my ankles. My guess is that the Medium stiffness is the same as the Matrix #3 blades. I'm going halibut hunting this week (if the water conditions allow) to put these fins through their paces.

http://www.sumora.com/image.php?ID=1492

Croatian Amberjack

This 40kg amberjack was taken by Luka in Croatia while doing aspetto at 31Meters for Dentex. The size of the head was like a 50kg but it was a "skinny amberjack." Doesn't look too skinny to us!

Congratulations on a great fish.

Tai Menz New World Record

Tai Menz in New Jersey recently shot a Weakfish World Record with his Rabitech Apex Carbon 110cm fitted with open muzzle. Congratulations Tai for an All-Time World Record

http://iusarecords.com/world_record_list.php

5.34 kg., 11.77 lbs.

Weakfish, Gray Cynoscion regalis

New Spearfishing bags

We just produced Two of our very own Spearfishing bags - Speargun & Gear Bags

They hold a lot of gear!

Sumora Speargun Bag:

Holds up to 5 Railguns or 2-3 Wooden guns with pouches for spears, YKK Zipper for durability and Nylon outer.

Dive anywhere!

Sumora Dive Bag:

Holds a ton of gear - floats, fins, floatlines, mono, 200meters of dyneema.... you name it.

Two mesh outer pockets for wet storage, large interior breathable compartment, and two nylon for dry items.

South Africa National Results

Friday, May 8, 2009

SA Nationals - Individual's Results

Below are the individual results for the South African National spearfishing competition held on the Natal South Coast this week (5-8 May). We are happy to see how many of the top 25 divers are diving with Spierre fins, 5 of them placing in the top 10. 

Well done to Brod and Gyula for taking 1st and 2nd place.

		Day 1	Day 2	Total	%
1	Brod Whittaker	36.81	69.55	106.36	100%	Spierre Fins
2	Gyula Plaganyi	43.42	56.8	100.22	94.23%	Spierre Fins
3	James Lawson-Smith	38.8	55.95	94.75	89.08%
4	Adriaan Kriel	47.73	44.65	92.38	86.86%	Spierre Fins
5	Angelo Spada	39	48	87	81.80%
6	Craig Heslop	41.02	44.6	85.62	80.50%
7	Neil Barnard	46.58	35.6	82.18	77.27%	Spierre Fins
8	Fred Bester	35.66	39.7	75.36	70.85%	Spierre Fins
9	John Girzda	38.49	36.5	74.99	70.51%
10	Richard Bruno	38.17	28.85	67.02	63.01%
11	Graham Carlisle	39.74	25.5	65.24	61.34%
12	Renier Coetzee	32.82	29.7	62.52	58.78%
13	Jeremy Williams	23.27	38.8	62.07	58.36%
14	Robert Reynolds	25.76	35.3	61.06	57.41%
15	Andrew Henwwood	18.21	40	58.21	54.73%	Spierre Fins
16	Chris West	26.87	30.45	57.32	53.89%
17	Garrick Morris	22.61	34.7	57.31	53.88%
18	Brent Borstlap	41.73	14.8	56.53	53.15%	Spierre Fins
19	Tony Heugh	30.99	25.35	56.34	52.97%
20	Garret Staats	26.82	26.15	52.97	49.80%	Spierre Fins
21	Carl Werner	22.66	27.7	50.36	47.35%
22	Rob Willes	21.58	26.1	47.68	44.83%
23	Sean O'Connor	17.09	29.4	46.49	43.71%
24	Ian Ewing	22.72	23.65	46.37	43.60%	Spierre Fins
25	Chris Swart	21.15	23.9	45.05	42.36%	Spierre Fins
26	Rick de Vries	21.96	22.15	44.11	41.47%
27	Bartho Kotze	22.34	15.55	37.89	35.62%
28	Owen Huxtable	9.73	27	36.73	34.53%
29	Greg Bisset	23.45	11.85	35.3	33.19%
30	Simon Karsten	26.65	6.65	33.3	31.31%
31	Eugene van Wyngaardt	15.57	13.4	28.97	27.24%
32	Paul Putter	16.2	12.75	28.95	27.22%
33	Hylton Newcombe	10.17	16.2	26.37	24.79%
34	Trevor Burger	16.55	9.78	26.33	24.76%
35	Hardus Bouwer	5.74	18.85	24.59	23.12%
36	Darryl Hiscock	11.91	8.75	20.66	19.42%
37	Christo Vermeulen	16.41	4	20.41	19.19%
38	John Little	12.9	5.6	18.5	17.39%
39	Craig Burmeister	4.94	10.85	15.79	14.85%
40	Dane Salmon	2.77	12.5	15.27	14.36%
41	Glen van Ooten	2.42	12.55	14.97	14.07%
42	Dave Coetzee	3.1	11.2	14.3	13.44%
43	Terrance Bellingan	2.15	12	14.15	13.30%
44	Andrew Kallman	3.11	8.9	12.01	11.29%
45	Shane Strong	2.33	6.3	8.63	8.11%
46	Stuart Jardine	7.78	0	7.78	7.31%
47	S Aiken	6.55	0	6.55	6.16%
48	Fred Snyman	3.54	2.05	5.59	5.26%
49	Grant Teubes	2.41	2.6	5.01	4.71%
50	John Kallman	0	1.95	1.95	1.83%

TREK! 5/30-5/31 turnaround

The turn of a key, the touch of a button, and POOF! I was on my way to the rugged Sonoma coast in an instant. What did my eagerness stem from? What had overcome me? I had never felt it before.

It’s just that – in my ten years of diving, I’ve never heard the words “flat” and “calm” used in the same sentence to describe Northern California’s water. 

So began my one thousand mile trek for three shells. That’s right. Not even enough to count one for each finger on both hands, let alone one. 
THREE shells. That’s all we’re allowed to have in possession – or risk Jail time. 

Thoughts wandered through my head as the staccatos of the music blaring from the car stereo music deafened as I tried to tune out unwilling thoughts while I cruised up the I-5. It was just a few years ago that famous diver Randy Fry was horrifically decapitated diving for Abalone on the Norcal coast.

Three Abalones (underwater snails, really) that people gristle and gripe and groan, grind and steal and hurt and kill for. 

What was the big deal? 

I had to find out…

I left Saturday morning after meeting a friend in Hollywood for a quick breakfast. Then on my way to grocery shop, pack dinner and lunch for the next day, a stove, a tent, my dive gear, and nothing else in search of three big Abs…
arriving to the campsite to set up and hear the bellows of the sea lions as I forced myself to sleep unwilling to think of the sealions as bait...

>>>
The next morning in search of a remote location I was greeted rudely by the pessimistic ocean. Even after a 45 minute hike with over 50 pounds of gear strapped to my back, and despite the calmness that resembled more a lake than the Pacific, my high hopes were popped as the milky green water said its first hellos. Plankton bloom. Everywhere. L I knew it would be near impossible to see past the stretch of one’s arm, a far cry from the endless visibility I was expecting due to the nonexistent swell. 

Regardless, my brow was now sweaty after traversing rocks, boulders, and slippery seaweed that near caused my early departure from this Earth…Hips sore, shoulders tired, my drenched-laden body couldn’t wait to douse itself in the chilly forty-eight degree water…


Here’s the pictures…

>>>
It was a great time…and who knows,

Maybe I’ll gristle and gripe and groan and…hold on. Let me get me a taste of some fresh abalone. 

-E

Tip over the cows!

Beautiful sunset
Going through the mountains is calming...
Rugged Sonoma Coastline...
No humongous abalone but 8 1/4" - 8 7/8"...fun for 3 foot visibility!