[Previous entry: "PAINTED CRAYFISH .......JH catching tropical lobster"] [Next entry: "Giant groper ....... about 120 pounds"]
09/10/2006: "BROOMFIELD REEF ...fish collection for future science"
31 August Well the strong southerly winds we expected last night didn’t come. In fact only a light N E has blown all day. We were onboard the Riversong at 7:30am and our skipper Wal took us down to Broomfield Reef again, only this time on the opposite side to yesterday.
We stayed in about 30 feet of water nearly all day. The first impression that we got of the reef wasn’t too good. But within a matter of minutes Ron and Snowie had a big brown spotted cod each.
Ron’s was slightly larger than Snow’s which was 90 pounds and Ron’s about 100 pounds. I got a smaller flourey cod on my first shot. We took a couple of underwater photo’s with our Calypso’s then went on with our fishing.
I watched Ron shoot a nice blue spot coral cod about 40 pounds or more. Snowie and I reckoned it was 50 pounds but Ron said it was probably only forty. I wish he would have broken the Australian record of 50 pounds held by Ben Cropp.
I shot a big maori cod in a cave. The shot was a little too far back though and he snapped the spear line and took off with the spear sticking out of him.
We also noticed a couple of big moray eels about five to six feet long. They were whoppers. I noticed four baracoutta swimming near the Riversong, but unfortunately didn’t have a gun with me at the time.
We got eight cod today – three brown spotted and five flourey cod. Snow says that so far we have speared 40 cod between us. Over half of them, over the 60 pound mark!
I noticed a couple of small reef sharks and Snowie saw a whaler about six foot.
I buggered my cartilage in the right-hand knee cap yesterday while trying to straighten a spear over my knee. Confined to the stretcher tonight.
Snow shot a chook and we ate it for tea.
(Valerie boiled it in seawater. The bullet passed through both legs of the chook)!
