Ant & Ocean Sercombe - Aimrite Team Divers - "Like Father, like Son, like Grandson"

For me, Spearfishing is the best sport in the world! I can expand even further on that and comfortably say that spearfishing has molded my life in so many ways. Where I live, elements of my working career, my recreational pursuits, what I do on holidays and even how I 

raise my son. For me it's so much more than a sport, and as cringey cliche as it sounds, it is 100% a way of lif ! Let me expand even further.

When I was around the age of 6 my Father, Nigel started taking me out in the tinny he had at the time, getting me in the Ocean with him (often begrudgingly) and follow him around. I grew up on the Mid-West Coast of West Australia in Geraldton and luckily we had access to 

an abundance of limestone reefs very close to shore which was a perfect set-up to learn and grow confidence in the water. Id follow Dad around while he chased W.A Dhufish, Coral Trout, Baldchin Groper and Spanish Mackerel and despite at times being borderline petrified,

The Ocean held so much mystery, excitement and rawness. Even though I look back and consider myself quite timid I can definitely say that I was absolutely hooked from those early days.

I first picked up a speargun around the age of 10 and started terrorizing the local fish stocks off Geraldton, bomb diving every fish that swam my way and as the years went past, like anything I kept at it, improving my confidence, breath hold and hunting skills. The majority of our family holidays were in locations on the West Coast that had great diving and my fondest child and teenage memories are diving new locations chasing different species with my Dad and sisters and all the adventures that come along with those experiences.

Fast forward some 20 plus years to now, as a 37 year old with my 5 year old son (whose name is Ocean believe it or not) I really didn't know any other parenting method then introducing him to the Ocean, boating and being on the water from when he was still in nappies. Ocean

started coming out with me on spearfishing trips from the age of 2, often in locations 30, 40, 50 nautical miles out to sea. Some might say that's reckless, but when it's in your blood there is no other alternative. Like myself and my Dad the Ocean is in Oceans blood and based on

the name you could say he didn't have a choice. It only takes a few minutes of talking to the little man, It is clear that he just lives and breathes the outdoor marine lifestyle and is obsessed with boating, diving, fishing and camping.

Now I moved from W.A to Queensland around a decade ago (to chase different fish species suprise suprise) and the one thing I miss more than anything about living back home is Diving with my Dad, sisters and the adventures we used to do. I always love when Dad flies over here 

and we get to dive together, however sadly with life's commitments it just doesn't happen enough. 

In January of this year, Dad had organized to fly over and spend a week with Ocean and I which coincided with other personal plans he had while he was here. I live on the Gold Coast and despite the spearfishing locally still being of a high standard whenever there is a weather

window north I always try to get up to the Southern Great Barrier Reef where the diving can be unbelievable. Dad has had a bit of a taste doing a few trips north with me over the last few years with great success; he was more than eager to get up there and dive. We just needed the weather to play ball which doesn't always happen in January as it can often be windy and dirty. 

The plan was to spend 5 days in Agnes Waters at a beautiful holiday house one of my friends owned and hope that the weather was in our favor. Dad was flying into Brisbane and landing around midnight so after a couple of hours of sleep at home the alarm sounded at 11 pm. I got up, put Ocean in the car and drove to Brisbane to pick up Dad with the boat in tow. We drove through the night, in the pouring rain and got to Agnes Waters around 6 am. After a much needed nap in the morning we were up, unpacking gear and spent the day sightseeing and at the beach. 

Now fortunately for us the weather was forecast to play ball for the next few days and there was looking like an opportunity to spend a few days out at the reef. I had a plan to do one day exploring some new areas, diving some deep wrecks and reefs in 30-40 meters and then end up at an outer reef to round out the day diving some shallower ground. The second day I was planning to dive one of my most favorite reefs on the Southern GBR where I have had some great success over the years with shooting XL Tuskfish, Jobbies, Jacks, Purple Cod and Reds to name a few of the key target species. I had some close friends who I dive with a lot, Eddy Watson and brothers Tom and Charlie Lapier who planned to drive up to Agnes that night, stay with us and do a few days diving. 

First day had a 3 am start with a quick coffee at home and a drive to the boat ramp and launch in the dark, hoping to get out to the first wreck at first light around 5 am. We spent the day exploring and finding new wrecks and ground which held a lot of potential. Dad speared a nice

Barcheek trout around 4-5 kg and a similar sized tusky and while the fish life wasn't as productive as it can be we still ended the day with some great table fish such as coral trout, Tusky’s, jobfish and red throat emperor. The highlight of the day for me was the glamorous

weather, the great company, the laughs and banter and watching Dad and Ocean interact and dive together. The day was topped off with Ocean spearing his first ever parrotfish which he was chuffed with. 

It's so rewarding watching the little man grow in confidence in the water and watch him constantly improve. He's going to be a force to be reckoned with in a few years.

After a couple of cold beers on the way in and a delicious big feed of spaghetti bolognaise for dinner it was an early night for us all to recharge the batteries ready for another bright and early start the next morning and preparing for the 45 nautical mile run out the following morning. Now the visibility the day before had been quite reasonable around the 20-25 meters in areas and given we were going further east the second day we were hopeful this would translate into crystal blue water. About half way out to the location once the sun was on the water a bit We were pretty excited to see dark blue water, indicating it was likely going to be one of those days with water that is gin clear.

After a 2 plus hour steam out we were at the location, we suited up and got in an area I have dived a lot and done very well. This area is all around 27-32 meters deep and we could easily see the bottom from the surface. How good! My first drop to the bottom produced a 2.5-3

kilo coronation trout; and on my ascent I could see tuskys and coral trout, the signs were looking promising. With little current on the day which is a rarity for this location we could easily work the ground and a few more dives produced a solid red throat emperor of 3.5 kilos and a new personal best Bigeye sea bream/mu of 3.5 kilos which I was chuffed with. Dad and the other boys got in amongst the action spearing some nice trout, tuskys and spanish mackerel to add to the box. 

Glassy flat conditions, 28 degree gin clear water, plenty of fish life spent with my son, Dad and great mates. The morning had already offered so much and had only been there a few hours. With such ideal conditions Ocean was frothing to get in so with the crystal blue water and no current I wanted to make the most of the opportunity and let him jump in and drift with us in the deep water, watching all the action unfold from the surface.

After working some of the different areas in the deeper ground I moved to another deep rock I had done well previously and jumped in with Charlie. I breathed up on the surface, took a breath and made my way to the bottom. Once i raised my head on my descent for a scan of the

area I could see a big chin bee-lining towards me, the unmistakable head of a big blackspot tuskfish. I positioned my body towards the fish with the idea to shoot it on the drop if a shot was presented. The fish was very inquisitive of me and not shy whatsoever which allowed me to take a close shot just behind the head, hurting what I originally thought was an 8-9 kg fish. After a short tussle and keeping him off the reef I got him to the surface to reveal he was a lot bigger than 8 kilos and he ended up weighing 12.5 kg which is a new PB.

After boating the tusky I did a few more dives in the area which produced a nice common trout. Again on descent I thought the fish was around 3-4 kilos but the blue water was getting the better of me and the trout went 6.8 kilograms. A really good sized common trout!

After an unreal morning in the deep ground we went on top of the reef for the afternoon producing some more coral trout and mackerel and with another glorious run in which I sat comfortably around 30 knots just topping off a memorable couple of days.

So there you have it, a very brief little snapshot into my passion and love for spearfishing, and the epic adventures Myself and Ocean get up to and how lucky I consider myself to be raised the way I was and be introduced to this incredible sport at such an early age.

Ocean and I have a Youtube Channel which I document our adventures - 'Ocean and Ants Adventures' and would appreciate any support on that page.