I'm just back from a recent trip to Comoros Islands and would like to share a brief spearfishing report.
It's a deal to resume a stay in an exotic/ unusual diving destination.
Unusual? Probably because this former french colony is one of the world's poorest country which has a long history of political turmoil made of repetitive military plots. Tourism is a challenge!
In addition the main island has the most active volcano (Karthala) in the world.. it erupted last time in 2005.:@
Extreme heat and humidity (rainy season is beginning), malaria... electricity and water only at night in the main city, permanent lack of gas ...high level of corruption made this trip sometimes difficult.
Despite the fact I have been preparing my stay for month helped by reliable connections on the main island, I felt everyday exhausting my patience/ tenacity!
I could find and rent the only "sport fishing" boat on the island: an old unequipped vessel (no anchor, no safety gear...) but powerfully enough to allow me heading on offshore.
Comoros is formed by 3 islands Comore, Moheli, Anjouan. I did a bwh trip in the fourth island called Mayotte (a french state) in oct 2009.
Oct/ nov is the high dogtooth tuna (called by locals "thon blanc/ white tuna") fishing season, because these fish do breeding and females are the greatest in small school.
I was told by my friends about an amazing spot located about 15 miles off the Grand Comore coast and called "Mwamba Raya"
This about ten miles square shoal is the top of a sea moutain/ volcano coming up from 7,000 feet depth and reaching of the surface within 50/ 60 feet at the low tide. All around the reef is a wall breaking sheer to the abyss... it may make you feeling dizzy at the time you are diving close to the wall in the dark blue water. On the reef the visi is great in crystal clear water.
The whole shoal is out fished after decades of over fishing, of using explosives and vegetal poison, of spearing tinny reef fish ( however the locals feel a great fear of sharks and do not dive close to the wall)
During the first days I had to improvise while looking from the surface for the wall location: a narrow limit between clear water and blue dark open sea.. if the sea may becalmed enough. Spotting baitfish made of tiny yellow reef fish is an excellent clue.
The sea current on the reef is pretty strong and over 5 knots so that it usually do drifting the diver fast to the dark water.
My main trip goal there was pioneering doogies chasing. You may only spot these pelagics at the top of the wall and from 80 feet depth towards the abyss... and because of the strong current, each dive lasted every time only a couple of minutes : just enough time for spotting (or not) the fish , diving and trying to get close to the tuna, then getting back to the boat, then diving again for hours.As usually tuna do patrolling slowly close to the bottom beyond 70/ 90 feet depth .They do showing a mix of curiosity and distrustfully behavior at the time you'r trying to get close. As well as the other apex predator they seems to be confident.. too confident, so that they sometimes visit you briefly. These gregarious pelagic probably control a private hunting territory.. Speared, they are much more powerful and tough than the other tuna of the same size. As soon as they get speared they go through to the deep reef rocks and try to break the shooting line. Then getting back to the boat, then diving again.. for hours
I caught some medium size tuna and lost the only massive (over 150lb) I could spot and spear. The fish vanished in the abyss and broke the 2,5mm steel cable line while swimming fast in the deep rocks, the bungee was obviously too long...
Using a correct bungee + line length is, in my modest opinion, a dilemma:
-too long (over 100feet ) that could increase the risk of loosing the fish + gear which will get tangled in the depth by the tensile strength of the fish and making the fight too long (reef sharks predation++)
-too short (under 80 feet) at the time you dive you have to pull in vain a floating system drifting fast with the current on the surface.
Before shooting the fish you must first check your body/ bungee/ fish position : an over 70 lb fish can kill you by pulling easily the tangled diver to the depth.
I lost during the first days the 2 bungees I brought there because of the unmindful captain of the current : they got completely shredded by the boat propellers...
During the last days I got some help from a local / well experienced fisherman named M"Ze who has some skills in diving.
He guided me to visit Moheli, a magnificent island which has a marine park.
He told me that shark finning, dolphin spearing/ eating, turtle and other fauna poaching/ trafficking are common and have to do with misery/ ignorance..
The most amazing encounter I did there was a great hammerhead school made of about fifty sharks swimming slowly like a squadron just under my fins at the time I was breath holding close to the flasher.;)..
