Our annual club trip to South West Rocks was approaching and the anticipation was growing, as tales of past adventures to this fantastic part of the NSW coast were being told over a few refreshments at the club house. South West Rocks is one of those destinations where dreams run wild and anything can happen. The time had come with around 15 divers making their way up the coast. The forecast looked challenging to say the least. But everyone was more than keen for the annual trip up to such an awesome spot.
Day one and we had 3 boats in the water (one traveling up to Coffs Harbour), eager to make that early grab of some quality fish. The usual runs were made to the usual spots and we were met with big easterly swells which made it very difficult to escape. The days diving was very difficult with very few fish being speared. The boys managed some excellent Kings and some great fish were seen such as Jewies and Spanish Mackerel. Conditions began to worsen as forecasted, with weather conditions deteriorating we called it a day. Alex Lewis and Evan Leeson doing better in Coffs Harbour with a 17kg Sampson fish speared by Alex, and a 4kg Blue Bar Parrot and 1.2kg Moses Perch speared by Evan.
With talk of poor conditions for the Saturday the boys managed to take the night off and relax with a Rum or 2 with little talk of waking early the next morning. It was a chance to catch up with great mates and swap stories. A great highlight of dive trips away as most would know is getting away.
Day 2 and a few got out to test their luck with as expected very poor conditions with water surge throwing divers around like a rag doll from top to bottom in the water column. With fleeting hope and over two metre seas a short attempt was made to fill the esky, which was shortly followed with a long attempt to empty the drink esky. So we settled in for another night, and joined the locals down at the pub for a feed and refreshments.
Day 3 for most was packing up and heading off to rejoin normal life back in Sydney. A few guys managed to drag themselves out of bed early enough to excellent kings being speared (who also had some kingy luck on day one). Fish they shot over the weekend include Emanuel Bova 18 kg, Cohan Jones 13 kg, Paul Scimone 12 kg and David Rogers 5 kg.
With such a great weekend away with a great bunch of mates, poor weather rarely dampens spirits. And I’m sure all would agree just getting away and having a laugh with mates is always the highlight of the trip. With good fish being an awesome bonus!
Looking forward to next year!
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