Author: hayden

due to having our AGM on the 19th we wont be having our regular monthly club meeting tomorrow (9th Dec)

With restrictions eased we can now hold our AGM, complete some paperwork and vote in the new committee but most of all get together and have a good social event. As usual we will be at the Sir Charles Hotham hotel and we will have enough finger food to feed everyone to go along with our share of Carlton from the “love your local” campaign.

WHEN: 6:30 on the 19th Dec
WHERE: Sir Charles Hotham Hotel
1 Gheringhap st
Geelong

Looking forward to seeing you there

so far ew have completed 2 of the month long showdowns, squid and snapper and now that we are in December we are in the cray comp! So when you go out to collect your Chrissy crays, pop them on a scale, take a photo and submit it

Due to metro lockdown the committee has decided to extend the squid comp for another month. Several members have been getting onto the squid in the past week and the action is just going to get better!

November also sees the snapper comp start up, heaviest snapper submitted wins the comp.

Remember to sign up for each of the showdown comps by the monthly club meeting. Signup can be found here.

And as usual, the species comp is still running so don’t forget those entries too.

October see the first of the Species Showdown competitions, Southern Calamari.

The squid have started to come in to breed with several being taken on line over the past few weeks but none taken on spear as of yet (that I’m aware of anyway).

Enter now at competition-entry so that you can have the whole month to submit as many entries as possible.

Due to the ongoing uncertainty with COVID and having cancelled our last seasons competition series the GFD committee have decided to change things up for this season. We have put on hold the Surf Coast Cup and the Underwater Photography Challenge but we are still keeping the Club Spearfishing Championship and adding a new series called the Species Showdown.

The species showdown is a new competition series with month long individual competitions targeting a specific species.

Whilst similar to the CSC there are differences, CSC runs all season long and competitors can submit fish anytime and have a maximum of 2 entries per species and points are awarded for the biggest fish down and the person with the most points at the end of the season wins.

The Species Showdown is actually 7 individual competitions, each comp targeting a specific species and lasting just a month with the exception of Tuna and Kingfish which runs for 2 months concurrently. Each competition will have just a single winner who is the person who submitted the heaviest fish. There is no limit to the number of entries in each comp, so feel free to keep upgrading! Competitors can submit fish from any dive they have during the target species month. And finally, competitors must sign up for each comp at a cost of $8 per competition and must sign on by the date of the club meeting for that month. For more information check the website.

Species Showdown Target Species/Month

• October – Southern Calamari
• November – Snapper
• December – Southern Rock Lobster
• January – Flathead
• February – King George Whiting
• March and April – Kingfish
• March and April – Tuna

We have our monthly club meeting scheduled for this Wednesday and unlike the last couple of months let/s not Zoom, let/s meet up in person! Our sponsor Sir Charles Hotham Hotel are able to host us again so lets rally behind them and meet up in person whilst ordering a drink (or two) and a meal. There is a size limit of 20 people and social distancing rules apply.

Date: 8th July
Time: 6:30 pm
Location: Sir Charles Hotham Hotel

This Sunday we will be holding the Surf Coast Cup boat comp launching from the Queenscliff boat ramp. Make sure you get there early to launch so that you are ready for the comp start which will be 9am. Launch your boats and park your cars and we will do the safety briefing in the car park before jumping in the boats and heading off to the actual starting point.

There’s been a good number of people getting onto tuna so lets hope that a few schools are still about.

As usual, open to all AUF members and sign up by the night before via the website at https://geelongfreedivers.org.au/competitions/competition-entry/ and rules can be found at https://geelongfreedivers.org.au/competitions/surf-coast-cup/.

Date: 23rd Feb
Time: 9am start so be there early to launch your boat
Location: Queenscliff boat ramp

Tomorrow is our monthly club meeting at the Sir Charles Hotham Hotel at 6:30 where we will have a special guest speaker Renée Venville from the Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA).

The VFA is the control agency for all shark hazards in Victoria and Renée is leading the VFA on emergency preparedness. Part of her role includes shark education. The VFA are partnering with CSIRO, LSV and Deakin on research projects; including eDNA, drones and the relationship between whale carcasses and sharks.

So please join us for a presentation and discussion on shark safety, risks and current research projects.

We are calling on the first round of the Surf Coast Cup which is the polespear comp for this Sunday at Aireys Inlet. Entry is open to all AUF members. Participants can only use a polespear, no guns, which makes it an interesting and challenging event. For all rules check out our website.

Please sign up online at https://geelongfreedivers.org.au/competitions/competition-entry/ by midday Saturday so that we can cater for the post dive BBQ.

The Surf Coast Cup is proudly sponsored by Geelong Dive Centre who have kindly donated a Rob Allen gun as the prize for this competition series.

Details
Date: 1st Dec
Time: 8am
Location: Aireys Inlet