We all know that us spearos are a different breed, especially when compared to ski-boat fisherman. The ‘gun-ho’ do-what-it-takes attitude of the spearfisherman has meant that over the years, the boats that have evolved in spearo circles have had less refinement and finesse than those used by our ski-boat fishing cousins. Wet rides and aching backs from sitting on low hatches have been the norm, but the small boats have always been easy to handle, cheap to run and negotiate the surf well. Not to say that standard ski-boats don’t work for us, it’s just that the deck layouts are usually very cluttered, the gunwales are high and for the most part are too cumbersome. I suppose if you sat on a boat all day roasting in the sun hoping that some fish might swim past your bait, you would want to do it from an arm chair with a cup holder for your beer, and also not want to get wet!

We have received a number of requests for boat reviews to appear in the mag. Especially since the requirements that make a boat a good spearfishing boat are very different to those of normal skiboat fishing. So with this in mind we now have a new Boat Review section, specifically taking into account the needs of spearfishermen.

First off is the C-Ski 444. If you live in Natal and do any amount of spearfishing off a boat, you would have at some stage been on or at least seen a C-Ski in the water. The C-Ski has been very popular with spearfishermen for more than 10 years, and has been specifically designed with the spearfisherman in mind.