report below

Shark Shield Freedom 7

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Beagles wrap up – Joe Petrovich

We arrived at the site on Friday night not hitting any animals but passing through a booze bus about 10kms north of the Lanno turnoff. The cops were positioned well at the bottom of a gully which meant that doing 100kmh there was no chance of turning around before they spotted you. Zoran was stopped and found Fisheries were there as well. Not much point, he was going not coming.

Most guys rocked up Friday night with Cam arriving Saturday morning having launched at Leeman. He dove Corner Break and picked up a Spanish which weighed in at 21.22kgs gutted and gilled.… Read more

Click on link below for full wrap up written by Joe Petrovich

Glynn Dromey 2012 results … Read more

The annual Glynn Dromey Memorial Spearfishing competition for 2012 will be held on Saturday, April 14.

The Glynn Dromey Memorial Shield is organised by the West Australian Undersea Club and is advertised both locally and interstate. It aims to foster a competitive spirit between spearos and promote the virtues of safe selective hunting. It is a pairs freediving event held at Lancelin each year since 1994 in remembrance of Glynn Dromey, an accomplished spearo who passed away in the 80’s from cancer. The event is conducted from individual boats. Those without a ride but wishing to enter can contact the WAUC Spearfishing Dive Organizer (David Robson).… Read more

Early start early finish.

D Stick came around Friday night and dropped off some shark shields to take down to Ockys Water World. He wasn’t going in the comp. The irony of entrusting me with 5 of them wasn’t lost on him. He almost asked for a receipt. I hadn’t dived the Bunbury area nor the stretch of coast to Hamelin Bay near Augusta. With his advice I mapped out a plan dependant on the conditions for the day.

I knew the ground around Bunbury was fairly bare and there were 2 shallow(< 15m) divers on my boat so that ruled out the deeper parts. Naturaliste reef and the Bouvards are 40kms to the west and north respectively but the forecast was for a strong sou wester to come in midday. I hadn't dived around Yallingup but knew there was more ground and more species. The drawback was the hour drive each way from Ocky's shop plus kitting up and down. It left us about 4 hours of boating time. The closest ramp was Quindalup near Eagle Bay but Dave advised that Canal Rocks although further south was the same distance by road and closer to Sugarloaf Rock by boat, with all that ground in between. So, up at 3:30am and drive to the shop for sign-on. Gotta love those early starts. Not. Ben was good company and at the shop Ocky and crew had the bacon, eggs and toast going strong. No espresso, something to work on for next year. Twelve pairs signed on and the comp got underway at 7:00am. With Tania and Dale in the car we arrived at Canals and launched at 8:30. Went past indicators, saw a boat there and made a mental note to dive it on the way back. First stop after sounding a lot of ground yielded a Foxfish and Harlequin in 15 metre viz. Ben munted his shaft on a 25+kg Sambo. The ground was mainly kelp covered limestone to 19 metres with the very occasional clean rock. I saw one hole with 2 just size Dhuies and other fish. Second stop was a pinnacle near Sugarloaf which came up out of 24 metres of water to 10 metres. I immediately thought of Kingfish and Mackeral. Half an hour later and Ben shot a Sambo. The rock had small sea sweep and one tiny Dhuie on the bottom. By now it was eleven fifteen and the next dive would be the last. I sounded the 10kms back to the ramp but nothing leaped up. Our last dive would be Indicators. I saw a school of buff in the shallows and went searching for a dropoff. After a few dives I was in 25metres of water. Diving to 15 a Mackeral scoots past my right side. I stop, avoid eye contact. He turns. I am at 20 and shoot him from below. It’s a good shot and is gutted and gilled within 4 minutes. Quarter past twelve and we must leave now to make sign off by 2:00pm at Ocky’s. We get back with barely minutes. Some people were loud, some coy and some standing back with their own ideas. The sauce was flowing and by now the fish had been presented and bums accommodated in plastic chairs. Sausages, potatoes, quiche, pasta salad and chicken. The catering was great. But it’s not the food everyone had turned up for. It was the fish. Seven pairs weighed and highlights were Mike’s Long Snout Boarfish and my Mackeral of course. Surprisingly there were no other Spanish shot or seen. Being on Ocky’s boat and with Shane’s local knowledge, Jack and Zoran were red hot favourites. Graham went towards the Bouvards but said the ground was good but the fish weren’t home. He did manage a nice Swallowtail. Deacon and Adrian had a day off and weighed a Skippy. Nick E managed a nice King George. With seven new members on the day!! I am sure to put names to faces for future gatherings.… Read more

The annual WAUC Rottnest Cray Comp was held on Saturday with 26 people making the weigh-in and Zoran’s boat, late. Matt was called away to work and Jack Moss had an incident with a fishhook which required attention.

This year the weigh-in was held at Porpoise Bay due to Thomsons Bay staging a 1600 metre swim thru. The committee after much consultation decided to keep the same date but change the presentation location. With no facilities everyone had to bring their own food and drinks. This was preferable to the hundreds of people expected at the Quokka Arms Hotel where we usually are for this event.… Read more