It all started back in November 2009, when my wife and I visited Madagascar for a belated honeymoon. We fell in love with the place, and because of the nature and flexibility of our work (I am an offshore commercial diver and Catherine is a wildlife artist) we decided that returning to spend some extended time in the country would definitely be an option.

So here we are now, and enjoying every moment of life in Madagascar. It does have its challenges, but when you think about it, no matter where in the world you’re living, there are always obstacles, and solutions that need to be found. Traveling here was a life’s journey in itself. After many months of preparation, major help from numerous friends and family and two very dubious boat trips, we are finally settled in a tropical paradise. Fortunately we have rented and are looking after the house of a friend on Nosy Komba Island (a friend who helped us out tremendously with local knowledge and adjusting to the ins and outs of Madagascan life).

A recent discussion on the USM forum regarding reelguns vs conventional buoyline setups sparked some interesting topics, one being ‘How to attach your shooting line to your reel line’. Traditionally, clips were used in the past, but as they often snag your line and make a noise, spearfishermen in the know have progressed to using a simple Quick Release knot to secure the 2 lines.

One of the guys posted a very informative pdf showing how to tie the Quick Release knot. This was the same standard knot I had been using for some time without fail. However, just recently I discovered a different variation of the knot, which is superior.

The knot may not be as simple as the standard Quick Release knot, but it forms a neater knot and tightens up easier when tied. I can hear my grandfather’s words to me as a youngster tying fishing traces: “A neat knot is a good knot.” This saying has always stayed with me, reinforcing my 2 basic rules by which I judge the value of a knot: how easy the knot comes together when tied, and how neat the final knot is.

Many spearfisherman prefer to use dyneema for their shooting lines attached to their spears. Dynema does not have a memory like mono and does not get scuffed on the reef and bones as much as traditional mono.

Dyneema can be difficult to tie if you don't know how, so here is a simple and very effective knot. This knot can also be used for attaching clips and bungees to spearguns and 100 other uses.

It’s no wonder our forefathers named it the ‘Transkei’… loosely translated as ‘that place over that river’. It was a place so formidable and difficult to transverse yet alluring beautiful. Not much has changed since those days. Sure, now there’s a spiderweb of mud roads criss-crossing the landscape, which makes getting from A to B at least possible. The mystery of the Transkei still grips you. It’s almost surreal.

Deep green valleys carve their way through to cliffs that plummet into the sea, as if the hand of God came and tore away the shoreline. The Transkei is like something out of a Tolkien novel, a ‘Middle Earth’ of sorts complete with rolling mists that cloak its secrets. Even the trees grow strangely, twisted and battered by the wild winds and elements.

The Transkei ocean, not unlike the land, also has its own thing going on. It’s not at all like the Cape or Natal. The Transkei cliffs seem to give the sea an odd ‘bump’ even on calm days. The colour of the water is different, a ‘clean green’ gloom with an airy feeling to it that only adds to the adventure and craziness of this phenomenal place.

Just the other day I watched a guy fill up his booties with water, walk up the beach and rinse his feet off with the water in each bootie before putting them on. I have been shore diving for as long as I can remember and there I was learning something new, I had always been the guy looking for a rock pool to rinse my feet in.

When spearfishing you are just never too old to learn new tricks, so we thought we would nail down a few basics in this edition. Sure, this is how we do it on the KZN North Coast and there are probably a bunch of guys from the Cape no doubt, who will have a completely different approach. That’s fine as long as they share the ‘love’ and let us know what works for them..

A little while back we were having a discussion on the USM forum on the importance of correctly powered speargun rubbers, and the effects on accuracy and penetration etc. Then out of left field Corry chirps something along the lines that everything we had discussed was useless unless the spear was sharp. Not only did he have a good point, but it also got me thinking on a number of other aspects that dramatically affect accuracy, penetration and more.