Whitsundays Sail x Spearing Trip!

Clean, warm water and plenty of fish. Everything a southern water spearo wants in Winter AND the Whitsundays Sailing x Spearing trip delivered!

Eckart from Salt Sessions Freediving in Melbourne and I organized a charter this month up to Airlie to sail and spear the outer reefs. We sailed aboard the Prosail vessel Condor.Condor is an 85ft long maxi sailing yacht designed for racing. Built in 1981 by Killian Bushe at Kiwi Boats U.K,Condor won every major ocean racing event twice back in its heyday. The 22 of us aboard felt pretty confident headed out despite the 25-30 knot Southerlie!

Image by: @blaze_parsons

After settling in and enjoying the sailing on day 1 and finding a decent anchorage, it was time to go spearing. Like just about every trip, there were first day nerves and it took some time for everyone to settle into their spearing. Our guys rolled off the tenders into 20 meter vis and warm 24C water. Drifting along a reef wall dropoff, fusiliers and other bait hinted at a fishy day. With 5 Instructor Guides helping our guys make the most of it, we soon had fish sent over the sides of the capable inflatable tenders.

Many headed into the <10m ground and enjoyed targeting Spanish Flags (Stripeys), Coral Trout, and Blackspot Tuskfish. Shark Mackerel, Gold Spot Trevally, Red Throat Emperor, Mangrove Jack and Spanish Mackerel were also around but not many were taken on the first day of spearing. The crew on board were legends, patiently putting us on the good ground and maintaining the stoke despite remaining topside aboard the tenders in 25+ knot winds.

By the end of the day, everyone looked exhausted but the chatter was non-stop with crew getting tips for the next day, going over their missed opportunities and reliving the high moments. These kinds of evening debriefs amidst a few drinks and laughs are an awesome part of spearfishing trips.

The second day of spearing started early and I was accompanying Adam and Linton. The water had similar vis. The topside conditions were still pretty hectic but all of a sudden, everyone was hitting their flow and starting to hunt. Linton and Adam are both competent divers and worked well together. At one point, we were drifting the front edge of a reef with a fairly steep dropoff to around 20m. The current was pushing onto us as we gradually finned our way along taking turns with a throw flasher and making drops. Linton descended steadily finning into the deeper blue as Adam and I watched from the surface. Suddenly, something drew Linton's attention as he started making a straight line for something in deeper water. I took a few breaths and began to fin over above his position. Thhhhhftttt his speargun fired and he began finning up powerfully putting pressure on the fish that was still out of sight at this point. I dived and passed him on his way to the surface. As I descended, I made out the Gold-Spotted Trevally fighting and trying to bury Linton in the reef. I intercepted the fish with the intent to put in a second shot and end the fight. I could see that Linton's shot was a little high but still solidly in the sinew beneath it's dorsal fin. I then lined up and let fly and completely missed the fish🤦‍♂️ - but that’s where the team came in! Adam dropped down to take a shot but was stopped by another diver in the frame. That’s when Blaze grabbed the Trevally's tail and the fight was all but over. We were all pumped on the surface for Linton and the high fives were on. Moments like this are a massive part of team diving. We look after each other, learn together, celebrate the wins and have a story to share afterwards.

Image by: @blaze_parsons

On the second day of spearing some beautiful fish were taken including (I'm missing more): Rory with a 6-7kg reef Mangrove Jack, Ryan's Red Throat Emperor, Eckart and Sam with 10+kg Spanish Mackerel each, along with everyone taking some big Coral Trout and other reef fish.

Day 4 was planned to be a short sail to a second reef system but due to the hectic weather, broken instruments and a smart plan from the Skipper, we headed in early to the Whitsundays and spent some time out of the wind snorkeling, freediving and chilling out eating ceviche. I can see why the Whitsundays are regarded as a premium R&R location and it was great to get photos and enjoy them on the way in. Day 5 we got up, went freediving on a reef edge and then headed in for debrief, prize giving and dinner together before flying out the next day.

It was a sensational trip and I recorded several audio interviews for the Noob Spearo Podcast while onboard. These episodes and 240 others are available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and every other Podcast app. The interview with Captain Matt Crisp and Ben Crisp, brothers, legends, hardcore fun seekers and mad keen spearos was epic. The Noob Spearo Podcast is always grateful for the generous support of major partner, Adreno Spearfishing!

If you are interested in going on a spearfishing charter, I can highly recommend Adreno trips as I have been on a few and enjoyed them to bits. Remote locations, big fish, like-minded frothers, seafood as fresh as you can get it and time away from the digital life grind is a winning combo.

Check out Adreno trips at https://adreno.com.au/pages/spearfishing-trips

For now though, if you are interested in going on this trip, check it out for next year 2024 at https://www.noobspearo.com/trips