A flower below the surface

Simon and I decided to try out the northern pier of Århus harbour. We soon found that summer temperatures have subsided. The sea being 9° C! Brr...
We only spotted small cod, but during the dive I noticed this "flower" which I had to photograph. It looks like a Metridium senile, a common species in the Northern seas.

Hunting mullets in shallow water

Having recently shot a mullet, I was eager to have another go at mullet hunting. Simon from AFK and I set out Friday morning, and were in the water 10:15 at Grenå.

We first headed out towards the pier, but the pier construction at the site clouded the water. But did have a shot at a pollock swimming by and spotted several cod.

However, soon turned back and swam towards the mullet site picking out the odd flounder on my way. On arrival it soon became clear that mullets were around. When hunting mullets between ½ - 2 meters water, I pick up at stone to make me heavy and move extremely slowly along the bottom. After having spotted mullets I soon got lucky and came across a mullet gnawing algae off the stones. I hit it right behind the head and a chase and fight ensued, as you can see on the video. I try to make the kill as quickly as possible. You may notice me grabbing my knife from my left arm and killing the fish by sticking the knife through its brain after having a steady grip on the fish. The mullet was 60 cm and 2.8 kg and put up a bit of a struggle.

Grenå 25/9-09

Mounting camera on speargun

Several have asked how I mount my digital camera on my speargun. I'm actually a bit embarressed, cause I have not designed an elaborate mounting device, but simply used ready available items.

For the camera mounting device I use a mini-tripod with flexible legs, three pieces of bicycle tube and cable strips. The pieces of bicycle tube are cut to fit the length of the tripod legs. These serve to avoid the tripod legs from moving. I have an Omer Cayman speargun and the legs of the tripod fit around the handle of the speargun. The feet of the tripod legs are then held together with strips.

I am quite fond of this arrangement, because the flexible tripod legs make it easy to move the camera to fit the angle from which to shot the videos. However, when a shot is released the camera may move.

My first mullet this year!

Having not even come close to a thicklip grey mullet, Chelon labrosus this year, I dedicated a day out to try and get one.

It was a marvellous day with the sun sticking its head out once in a while and a calm offshore wind. First dive was at Grenå's pier. Here I spotted several trout and pollocks but no mullets. However, enjoyed the colourful algae and seaweed that covered the stones - magnificent green, brown and red colours!

About noon I went along the coast searching the shallow water where mullets come to grass algae. This time I came close to some mullets, but mullets are fast fish, and they eminently dodged the shots I took at them. Somewhat dissillusioned I headed back swimming quickly along the bottom through the seaweed. Coming out from the seaweed onto a bottom of sand, I met a mullet head-on much to its and my surprise. I had my speargun ready in front of me, and the puzzled mullet seemed to be considering which way to turn. It made a right turn and paff, I hit it right in the neck. At last my first mullet this year was down.

After this dive I was full of energy and took a swim along the pier. Here I met a group of pollocks at about 6 meters. They were quite curious eventhough I took some shots at them. However, our friendship ended when I shot one from the group. Who can blame them!

In the sea at last!

After having spent the summer taking care of my sons and partly my Ex-wife, I finally had the opportunity to go to the sea. I went for a swim with Alan from AFK and had a stab at some flounders. It was great being back in the water, so the low visibility didn't mind me at all neither the unfortunate facial contact with a stinging jellyfish!

Grenå 26/8-09

Hunting my first pelagic fish on Als

Taking my sons for a holiday to my parents on Als, the island I grew up on, I was determined to shot my first pelagic fish on the island.

Tuesday 14. July: Havnbjerg Strand 18:00
Soon in the water, I found that visibility was very low. I spent the first hour trying to spot a trout but gave up and hunted flounders instead and took some pictures of marine invertebrates. Caught one 1 kg flounder.

Wednesday 15. July: Pøls Rev 22:00
Hooked up with a fellow spearfisher, mad_HC, who borrowed me a diving torch, so I could try night-hunting. We searched the coast near Pøls Rev. I spotted a flounder which I teased and a small cod. Again visibility was low. But still no large pelagic.

Thursday 16. July: Pier by Sønderborg marina 18:00
Discouraged by the seemingly low visibility around the island of Als, I browsed the coast of Als by means of google earth in hope to find a good spot. A pier by Sønderborg's marina looked tempting. In the water it soon became clear that the water was not! However I followed the pier and came across several small cod bringing my hopes up. At the end of the pier I got lucky! A group of trout swam by and I picked out a 41 cm trout. At last my luck had turned - I shot my first pelagic fish on Als! But, alas my wishbone broke after this shot and I had to turn back.

Here are some pictures from the hunts in chronological order. Didn't catch the trout kill on the camera, I'm afraid.

A great summer evening at Grenå

Thursday evening was scheduled for spearfishing! The hot summer weather had warmed the water to 19 - 21 degres C, and a light wind for several days promised good visibility. However, this was not the case! Nevertheless, I enjoyed being among so many fish.
I have posted a video with a compilation of events from the dive. This shows the curiosity the fish have. It can be quite amusing when a fish swims head first to the point of the speargun and circles it to try and make out whether it is edible or not. The video also emphasises that I only try to pick out the larger fish, and that I do not always get the fish!

Notice on the 2. shot released in the video, the cod is dead straight away. Hit it in the spine!
3. shot is a miss! Tried to shoot a trout passing by.
I have attached a complete dive at the end. Here two pollocks (Pollachius pollachius) showed up. Got both of them eventually, but my battery was low, so not all shots are recorded.

2/7-09 Grenå, Denmark, Depth 6-8 meters.

Spearfishing with Elisabeth

Weather was great and I wanted to take a day out and go spearfishing. Elisabeth decided to join me for a spearfishing day and borrowed my Imersion 75 cm speargun. Elisabeth swam with her monofin and succeded in taking out two flatfish. These were her first kill, so she was quite happy! Visit her Blog: Elisabeth Kristoffersen.

21/6-09 Grenå, Denmark

Monofin technic with Elisabeth

Having repaired my monofin (One Wing) im eager to do some swimming with the monofin which I really enjoy. Elisabeth Kristoffersen took a look at my monofin technic. I start a wave through the body by pushing my arms forward. Elisabeth commented that the wave is not complete around my lower back. Have to work on that!

24/6-09 Gellerup, Århus

A great day at Grenå

A fellow spearfisher, Martin, and I enjoyed a day by the pier north of Grenå. There was plenty of life and it was great practising aspetto, an italian word for a spearfishing technic where you dive to the bottom and use a sit-and-wait strategy. It was great lying motionless, blending in on the bottom. I picked out 3 cod, one trout and a pollock on the dive. Watch the highlights on the video. Depth 7-8 meters.

15/6-09 Grenå, Denmark

Looking at monofin technic with Stig

Stig Severinsen joined me for a swim in AFK and filmed me doing 50 m dynamic, so we could look at my monofin technic.

Improvements I have to work on are
1. holding the monofin down when the kick is finished
2. try to swim more like a dolphin using the lower abdominal muscles

11/6-09 Spanien, Århus

King of the lake

Freediving in clean lakes in Denmark can be like swimming in a large aquarium. Here you might meet the top predator: The northern pike, Esox lucius, up to 1.5 m long.

I had just received my new tailormade freediving wetsuit from Elios and decided to try it out in a local lake, Knudsø. I came across about 6-7 pikes that day, but meeting this large tenacious individual sure made my day. It deserved it's name lucius = wolf!

1/6-09 Knudsø, Denmark.

First "shot" with my Olympus 1030 SW

Having joined ASK (Århus Freediving Club) my attention was directed towards the olympus 1030 SW camera, and after purchasing it I soon found a way to mount it on my speargun.

Dying to test this new dimension to spearfishing, I set out on the 8. May 2009 although it was quite windy and there would be low visibility. Once in the water I immediately started playing about with the camera. During my descend in this dive I was surprised at the sudden depth I found myself on. The Olympus camera specifications state 10 meters as the limit, so I was curious as to whether it would be flooded taking it to its limit.

Well, I showed my watch to the camera and everything seemed to be functioning famously. I then looked around and saw a 45 cm European flounder lying almost next to me. I turned around to stab it with my speargun, but the flounder made a run for it, so I had to make a quick aim and shot. I hit the flounder on its rim and consequently dashed to it to grab it and get it up to my buoy. The first "shot" had been a succes and even produced a dramatic hunt and lovely tasting flounder.

8/5-09 East coast North of Helgenæs, Denmark.

First UW pictures - spring 2008

Since I began spearfishing, I skipped scuba diving altogether. However, a friend of mine gave me an old Nikonos V camera which simply had to be tested. On a holiday to the Canary islands, Lanzarote, I went on a couple of dives with a local diving center and tested it. It was fun again to be in the sea with plenty of air, and a necessity when it comes to taking pictures with a Nikonos V, inexperienced as I was.

This picture shows an angel shark which after being disturbed turned on the instructor and a fellow diver. Luckily, no one was bitten.