This trip is Kevin Second time hunting the FAD. First FAD we saw few Mahi Mahi but after few shot the become to Shy. Second FAD there were smaller Mahi Mahi and we manage to shoot Enough for Kevin's BBQ inn his Villa.
Spearfishing at The Bali, Indonesia FAD for Mahi Mahi
First Day We arrive at fishing village and sit down with village elder to have some coffee and tea. after our short break after driving for 2 hour we headed to the FAD open blue water spearfishing. The Result was good we saw many Mahi Mahi and Wahoo.
Second Day We went Spearfishing at the Reef and Visibility was good and We caught Maori Saeperch, Red Bass, Midnight Snapper, shark Mackerel
Matthew and Sandy decide to learn Spearfishing on their trip To Bali Indonesia. During the 2 day trip Matthew and Sandy learn some basic duck dive, saftey, and basic spearfishing technique.
First Day we dive at reef and did some basic training and toward the afternoon we start Spearfishing. We manage to get some Dinner and headed back to the Hotel. We went To the Restaurant and the chef prepare us a nice dinner with the fresh catch
Couple of tasty reef fish for dinner
The next Day we went to the FAD to hunt for Mahi mahi and Wahoo. We manage to spot a few but the ocean condition change very fast and made it very hard to Hunt. Sandy manage to get really close to Mahi Mahi but miss the shot. Better luck next time. We headed back to reef and hunt for more reef fish.
3 day trip spearfishing at the eastern part of Bali is like running a marathon for 3 day. We experience strong current, unfriendly swell, but its all worth it because we witness school of dogtooth tuna, GT and plenty of giant reef fish..
Day 1:
Spearfishing in East Bali is a nice Challenge , the fish are smart the spots are variating in depth around 5-15m, everything can be found from big midnight snappers, maori seaperch, red seabass , job fish , and the occasional swimming by Giant Trevally. Justin our customer already was on the island and booked a 2 days trip to go spearfishing with us, i arrived the day before and cusulted him on the evening whats about to happen the next f
ew days and what we are going to do, organised our boatman so everyone is on the same page and there wont be any miscommunication.
Next next morning at 6am I picked justin up from his Hotel and we made our way on the scooter to Made’s house and grabbed all our gear and walked it down the beach to the boat, the Tide was very low so we had to slowly drive out of the bay to not damage the propeller of the engine, after we hit deep water we started steaming out with 25knots heading for our first fishing spot on the side of nusa Penida the island next to Nusa lembongan,
Stunning coastline
We geared up and had a quick communication how the spot looks like, how to hunt it and where to look.
As we jump in the water is a bit colder due to incoming tide and the upwelling of the colder water from the deep , and its early in the morning where the sun is still low , perfect hunting conditions since the fish wont be able to see our shadows and we can sneak up easily,
i went down and did a bottom time, and spotted few Maori Seaperch but they where really shy , also few midnight snapper but since it was just the warmup dives my Mammalian dive reflex was not fully in action yet. So we let the fish be and hope we can shot them another day.
We left the bay for another bay to show some other reef fish species and ended up with few sweetlip and dived few caves which where really cool, the structure in East Bali are awesome, sometimes you don’t need the gun and can just enjoy the freediving part. The big caves and rocks are perfect hideouts for Red Seabass so you always keep an eye open and try to maximise your bottom times and hiding skills.
Hotel View
We dived bit along the coast and then decided to change the scenery to a beach break where we can find some Maori seaperch, the swell was around 4feet so the spot had lots of surge but the more active the fish are, we tried our luck at few nice 10kg seaperch but due to moving surge underwater at the point of shooting we got moved, it’s a nice smart and challenging fish, which ends up not only as perfect food but an amazing trophy for every spear fisherman. As the day passes by hunting the fish , we slowly get tired and decided to finish after 6hours of diving to be ready for the next day.
Day 2:
On that trip we are a bigger team , as Alexander and Peter join us for some hunting
We swap it out to be more exciting , Alexander joined up with me to hunt some big trophy GT’s and Justin went with Peter to slay reef fish.
In the first spot we experience some murky water , despite that fact we still jump in , the swell was big too so we couldn’t get to close to the wall but managed to do some good dives,
Offshore lifestyle
Alex dove down and shot a perfect sized Golden Trevally for Sashimi and we both where stoked, but the conditions were getting worse so we decided to move spot to another bay and hunt for some reef fish.
Justin and Peter seen many reef fish but due to surge the hunting was hard and they shot few parrot fish for dinner that day.
In the next spot Alex and I did some few deep drops on a Seamoun, i’ve spotted a big Giant Trevally on my first drop and called Alex over so he can have a go with his custom made Andre Speargun Quad Roller on the big dark GT (approx 35kg) despite the current we had to fight we stayed at the spot at hoped for something big to pass by , but as we know the famous GT sometimes they just patrol the area and that guy was a patrolling one , he didn't return and continued to look for his lunch at the next pit stop.
Peter and Justin landed a nice jobfish and travally when they where hunting in the reef, which is an amazing catch and perfect sashimi as we know the famous job fish for his soft white flesh.
Green Jobfish, Parrotfish and Trevally
After around 7h we all been tired but wanted to save our energy for the next day because thats when the action begins!!
Day 3:
We shot a unicorn fish to bring out the big boys and it works like a charm. The first batch was 30-50 GTs average size was 20 kg. The biggest was atleast 40kg to 50 kg. Hubert Shot a 19kg GT.
The second batch after the GT was shot the fish we all waiting for the famous Dogtooth Tuna. 3 Doggie 10-20 Kg size, then not long after 20-40 kg size in group of 20-30.. We try our best to come close but the attempt was not successful.
Heavy gear for the big boys!!
later of the day Hubert attempt to shot few Green Jobfish but the jobby manage to break off.. but he manage to secure 2 small doggy for sashimi lunch. To sum up all the trip we are very happy that nature still manage to fight back. The spot that we visited have been overfish the last 10 year. But what we saw that day put a big smile in our face.
I have great respect for famous doggy spot, my advise you must always dive save, dont take any risk, and think positive. On Day 3 i almost fainted twice due to equalizing problem, i experience extreme dizzyness going up to the surface after a dive and lost balance. luckly i have my bouy not to far and i quickly hang on to it to rest. For 2 weeks i have problem with migrane and low blood pressure. The problem was blood was not flowing properly to my head. A quick fix by mr Ketut, my migrane and blood probem dissapear. Healing Bali style...
North Bali is perfect if you want to experience both blue water and reef Spearfishing. We have 6 FAD to hunt the famous Mahi-Mahi , Wahoo, Sailfish, Skipjack Tuna, Tripple Tail, Rainbow Runner and Yellowfin Tuna.
Alex Personal Best Spearfishing Rainbow Runner
Second personal best Beautiful Female Mahi Mahi
The reef we have several spots to choose from acording to the tide, visibility and moon phase. The first day we hunt at the FAD and the result was good, Giant rainbow runner 5 Kg, 8 kg Mahi Mahi, and 3 kg Skipjack tuna.
The next day we hunt at the reef but visibility was not so good we manage to hunt few medium size. Overall is a the trip was good experience with good dive buddy.
The second trip with Kevin Noone ended with spectacular spearfishing hunting result. we came back with a smile in our face with disbelief with all our experience hunting at blue water.
FAD #1
First drift we got a taste of what is coming for us. Second drift bam!! first Mahi Mahi Down, and 2 more follow (Even Capt. Edi Van Halen caught one on his handline)
FAD# 2
First Drift we scouted and saw what we came for. Seond Dirft and third drift was Bulls on Parade. Kevin Shot his first Bull. There was 2 other bull roaming but kept it distance. Then i spoted a Wahoo by iteself. I drop and waited for it to come closer and bam!! wahoo on the boat.
FAD # 3
more Mahi Mahi and we each shot one and call it a day. Our Cooler was full :)
Kevin Noone and Peter Oprandi Posing with Mahi Mahi and Wahoo
We started the dive with really good visibility during high tide. We did a drift dive with mild current through different bays. Result was a good size Maori Seaperch, Parrotfish, and small GTs..
My First Rumpon Experience was unforgettable experience. Only slept 3 hours, It took us 2.5 hour to go to the Rumpon, plus our heart was pounding from excitement and we were surrounded with Yellowfin Tuna and Skipjack. We left the fishing village at 3:00 am and reach the first rumpon/FAD at 5:30 am. We were to early because it was dark, but the 30 minute wait was worth it. All the sudden the surface was bubbling from all the bait fish being attack by Yellowfin Tuna and Skipjack.
The size 90 double rubber speargun didn't really help , 110 3 rubber also was useless because it was undersize, and we had zero experience. We still caught the tuna but by using Handline with life fish bait. From that first experience i never stop going back to the rumpon. Is the best spot to catch pelagic fish: Yellowfin Tuna, Wahoo, Sailfish, Spanish Mackerel, Tripppletail, Rainbow Runner and Mahi Mahi.
This year i lost a rumpon so i decide to make another rumpon little bit further from before. Hopefully with my experience and a lots of planning we will shot few Yellowfin tuna and sailfish and of course a lot more Wahoo and Mahi Mahi in the cooler Bag!!
The process took 2 weeks to build the Rumpon. We need to order the rope from a shop in Denpasar and it took us 1 week to buy one because they need to delivered from Jakarta. The concrete anchor will take several days to properly dry. The construction of the rumpon platform only take 2 days. Once we completed the Rumpon we made a small ceremony will simple offering to the gods and holy Hindu priest to lead the prayers. The next day the rumpon was escorted by 12 Traditional boats to position. The location is famous for the migration route for the famous Yellowfin tuna and Billfish.
Perfect sunrise - salty air - magnificent sunset, yup = Indonesia.
A so called paradise for fellow Spearfishierman. Where time has no value , it just happens. We wake up in the morning to pack and prepare our bags for a long day out on the water. Sunscreen,Food (crackers and some fruit) and an empty belly to increase the hunting senses.
Sunrise at 6am.
Everyone knows not catching a feed in the old days would equal to hunger. I believe in not eating before diving helps towards catching -maybe because im not digesting and it increases my breath hold? (hahaha silly me sometimes). Makes me think “If you wont catch anything or your mates , we will starve that night.
But sometimes that just puts to much pressure on. So having the option to eat in a Warung is always good to have.
Whats so special about all that? The feeling of having perfect views of the sunrise especially in remote places - and yes Indonesia has many of those , where tourists are to lazy to go to, which is perfect for us hunters since we prefer to have less then to much fanciness.
Traditional Jukung.
School of Mani Mahi
Finding a local boatman takes practice, you don’t want anyone random to be your boatman in the middle of the Bali Sea while your hunting inside currents on the open water and your boatman is taking a nap..(yea happened few times).
We got our boatman waiting, Ketut. We know that gearing up inside a Jukung is really annoying, we got our wetsuits on already , socks too. All thats left to prepare is the speargun / float mask and gloves. Most fisherman wont have a big engine so it takes awhile (45-60minutes) weather dependent to get to the Rumpon (FAD- “ Fish Attracting Device”)
Aiming on a school of Mahi Mahi
Bull Mahi Mahi
There is certain rules for those in Indonesia, not everyone can use them they are being shared since one of those FAD’s costs around 3000$, and yes thats alot of money for Indonesian circumstances, we have to respect that.
Its pretty simple, drive up to the Fad, check out which way the current goes, drift with it towards it or around. The fish will be hunting around it in a radius of 50-200m. We are targeting Mahi Mahi and Wahoo’s on those days, and maybe a nice Rainbowrunner if it has a decent size.
Mahi Mahi for dinner!
The stunning views of the coastline from the open sea is breathtaking , the fishing can be good and bad as we all know.. but ANY day on the water is a good day ?! Right!!!?
Well spend day with Awesome views, good fish, sunrise/sunsets and getting wet.
We start the day hunting at the FAD. We saw few Mahi Mahi but the all kept their distance. Then the first Wahoo greeted me and i shot it right at the spine. Then not long after we spotted a white tip shark super friendly playing with merman.
Not long after the whit tip visit more fish come to merman, but this time it was 3 star eating fish. The fish was too friendly that merman was touching it, it was a triple tail. if I was there i will shot the triple tail and have a nice oven baked rosemary triple tail for dinner.
We move to next FAD we shot few Mahi Mahi but we miss the shot. We decide to go Back to reef and get some snapper. We spend the rest of the day trying to hunt the Midnight snapper and Maori Seaperch. After countless try finally Merman shot his first Seaprett!! We call it a day and celebrate.
We met in North Bali, to dive at the famous Indospearfishing FAD. Indonesia Spearfishing Charter bought the FAD 2 years ago and it was the best investment!! All year we had interesting visitor such as school of Yellowfin Tuna, Mahi Mahi, Spanish Mackerel, Wahoo , dolphin , sailfish and naughty pilot whale. But with Pelagic fish we cannot predict who will be lurking at the FAD hunting our little fish farm.
The condition was perfect, no wind or swell. When we arrive no current which is not good because usually there is no fish. But there was plenty of mahi-mahi. We shot few for dinner, then on our last dive we saw school of baby yellowfin tuna. We couldn't get close but there was 100s of them.
Then we went back mainland to dive at the reef to hunt some snapper. When we finish we had some fresh unicorn fish Sashimi that Justin and Antok prepare for all of us and many cold beer. We had interesting conversation, but the highlight was Ayman Comment, " I think the ocean here is Desert, and over fished !" That is very good point Ayman and i hope our Fishery minister the Ibu Susi cantik read the Blog because ayman made very good point about our amazing ocean, we need strict quota, strict regulation and tell the Chinesse and Taiwanesse vessel to fish their own desert water!!. It was good dive and company. Ayman Hajo thought me many interesting lesson from his experience diving all around the world. It was good start of friendship and looking forward to dive many more trip with you brother!
