You gaze out over the plain from your rocky lookout
and out of the
haze a shape materializes, cautiously edging closer. The range far
exceeds that of your weapon patience learned in your training must
prevail. You are well hidden but must catalyze the partially aroused
curiosity of your striped prey.
This is a delicate matter if you are not subtle
enough you will send it off with a series of deep thuds as the heavy
tail drives into the water. Remaining too well camouflaged may cause
it may loose interest and drift off back into the haze from where it
You slightly expose yourself, ensuring that your
eyes are essentially out of direct view, then tuck away completely.
Only the glistening tricut tip of a 1700 mm cylinder of hardened
spring steel is now visible. The steenbrass curiosity is now
overriding caution and it steers in for a fatal closer look.
The white steenbras is one of South Africas larger
sparidae family. It possesses an elongated body and a rather
pointed snout which evolved for feeding on sand/mud prawns. They
also feed on other bottom invertebrates, including worms, crabs and
occasionally appear to scavenge redbait when single fish
accompanying schools of musselcracker.
Live specimens are silvery white with six to eight
dark narrow vertical bars, which are lost after death. The scales
are large with a silvery grey edge. These fish are normally found in
sandy areas near prawn colonies in the ocean and estuaries. The fish
may reach a size of almost 30 kg but a 16 kg specimen is considered
large with specimens over 20 kg being considered rare.
The SA angling record is 29 kg which leaves some
room for improvement for underwater hunters whose record is 21 kg.
The steenbras is considered to be under considerable
pressure from fishermen in certain areas such as False Bay. It is
not a commercially available species. Fishermen and hunters may take
only one fish per day and it must exceed 60 cm in length. Typically
a 1.2 m fish may weigh 18 kg.
for the hunt
It requires some effort to prepare to hunt these
fish as they are rather shy and do not often occur in very shallow
water. Training will typically include swimming in the pool,
running, and dry apnea (breathholding).
Part of the training includes becoming comfortable
and extroverted underwater while holding ones breath. In South
Africa spearfishermen may not use artificial breathing apparatus. A
downtime of 1-1.5 minutes will be needed to successfully hunt these
shy fish. Training may be difficult at first, but with persistence
breathholding becomes easy as a phenomenon termed the mammalian dive
reflex kicks in. When this occurs, breathholding becomes
surprisingly easy. Also the hunter must get to know and use the
rubber powered spearguns that have an effective maximum range of 4-5
m when used for fish exceeding 15 kg.
Concurrently to self conquest in extending your
breathholds you will venture into the domain of the white steenbras,
seeking their feeding grounds the massive prawn beds. The ideal
hunting grounds are reefs or shipwrecks near these prawn beds.
Tracking the steenbras is actually rather easy to
the few that know the signs. The great tails of these of these fish
are raised and heads lowered when they feed. Craters up to 1.5 m
across are blown onto the sand as they blast the hapless crustaceans
out of their sand grottoes with jets of water from their mouths.
Even if visibility does not permit, one may easily
detect their feeding activity by the thudding sound of their heavy
tails against the water.
Their presence is readily confirmed by fresh bits of
prawn left lying about the craters. On such days hunters will have
The ideal time to seek the white steenbras is when
cold water is being raised by specific weather conditions. The
upwelling of the cold water (thermocline) is normally brought about
by offshore winds that cause a lifting of the water from deep in the
ocean. Along the South African coastline it is predominantly the
easterly winds that cause this phenomenon. The reason this rising
thermocline is so effective is that fish, just like their land-based
warm blooded counterparts, are also sensitive to temperature
The cold water herds fish up from the depths as it
sweeps upward and concentrates them on reefs. The ideal scene for a
steenbras hunt is a thermocline on a reef that juts up from a sand
bottom, which is occupied by a colony of sand prawns. When the cold
water is a meter or so above the sand but has not yet covered the
reef one has a good chance of meeting the steenbras; singly or in
shoals of up to 200 fish. Predators also follow such conditions as
hunting is then considerably easier. Sharks such as sand tigers and
bronze whalers are the most common predators of concern but the
occasional great white is not excluded.
On some days the surface water may be 20 ΊC and the
thermocline perhaps five or six degrees cooler. Thus, to increase
the probability of taking a trophy the underwater hunter must expand
his knowledge of underwater "weather" conditions and learn to
forecast the rising thermocline on good reefs.
Due to the shy nature of these fish many hunters
prefer to seek them in conditions of reduced visibility perhaps
only 2.5 - 4 meters. This way they may hunt with a shorter speargun.
In such poor visibility the hunter can often obtain a solid shot at
any time he can aim at the fish.
Some experienced hunters even predict the path of
the fleeing fish and shoot where they expect it to be through the
murk and still land their fish. Personally I have taken many a fine
steenbras this way often expecting to have missed the shot
completely but in fact having rolled it over with a spine shot.
Typically an underwater hunter will require a good
pair or spearfishing fins either thermoplastic or carbon fiber.
Freedivers, Spierre, or Rob Allen are good brands often used by
South African underwater hunters.
Spearguns can be either pneumatic or rubber powered,
the latter preferred for their simplicity and robustness. A seven or
eight mm spring steel spear with a downward barb of about 70 mm is
The spear is ordinarily powered by a single rubber
(elastic) of 18-20 mm, or on occasion by two 16 mm bands. A 5 mm
open cell wet suit will provide protection against cold and a weight
belt is required to retain neural or slightly negative buoyancy.
Placing the shot
The fish most often determines the shot. If unaware
of the hunter, it may swim above forcing a shot from below. Most
often the white steenbras will approach and then broadside to have a
good view of the alien body of the hunter in its aquatic domain.
This type of side shot is most common. The ideal
place to spear a big white steenbras is through the brain or just
behind the head thought the spine(neck). The neck shot is risky
though since if the shot is just too high the fish may tear free as
there is little sinew in the flesh just behind the head. Such a
wound is not mortal and will readily heal, as is the case with most
fish, scales will eventually grow over the scar.
Aiming directly for the heart is undesirable, unlike
in hunting land dwelling animals. A 15 kg steenbras has a heart of
only 2.5 cm(1 inch) in diameter and this presents a small target,
especially in a moving fish. Similarly, a direct brain shot is
seldom attempted. Instead a body shot is often the best option and
very seldom tears out.
Once speared the fish will often run extremely hard,
hence the nickname white steamboat.
The fish may easily bend a seven mm spring steel
spear. Another shot that holds superbly is placing the spear through
the fishes cheeks, but in this case the fish will fight hard and a
bent spear is almost guaranteed. My personal favourite technique is
to wait for the fish to turn and spear it obliquely from behind as
it departs in through the body just behind the gills and out
through the cheek.
The spear is seldom bent and the fish may run hard
if not spined and the flesh does not tear significantly.
Rubidge holds four South African spearfishing records
and represented SA as Springbok spearfisherman in 2007
in Spain. He is an author, holds a doctorate in
analytical chemistry, has done over 1300 dives and spent
more than 6000 hours at sea in the last 17 years.
Pan fried or fire roasted steenbras is excellent.
Braaing (fire roasting) should include a baste to prevent the flesh
Underwater hunting is rather similar to bow hunting
where the hunter must closely approach the prey to allow for an
effective shot, only that it must be achieved in an environment
where man is disadvantaged by his lack of mobility and the need for
However, the very strangeness of his presence
beneath the waves combined with the inherent curiosity of fish is
the catalyst that brings the prey to him.