Till next spearfishing report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!
Tone
http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com/
Tone
http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com/
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Spearfishing Bayfront Report and Pix...SettingSteel
Late spearfishing report, been kinda crazy with the new pole spear we're prototyping...Headed out Sun. wind was under 5, seas were nice slow 1-2's water was below 70, cold as hell perfect for a 5mil, mostly sunny so that helped. We headed spearfishing outa Bayfront about 8'ish viz in most places was top to bottom we hit a few patch reefs outa Ceasars in 20-40' spearfished a few hogs, blacks, and YJ including a nice mule,and the biggest Trigger this year (yeah I know we're still in Jan. but hell that trig was a Toro). And in all a productive day spent a good 40 minutes extracting a black grouper, the snatch gaff (another new prototype) was christenen, and it saved the day, or is it the catch? The trick for pulling a holed up fish is to feel for the head and thats where you set the talon. I cramped in both hams late in the day (guess that tonic water does help as I ran out the night before), so that messed with my dives the rest, guess I have a good excuse for losing that 30+" black I thought I stoned off Alans ledge...Had another bud shoot my new bubinga/carbon custom enclosed track gun, 15+' and clearing fish, dead on accurate!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Spearfishing Report...Elliot Key
Headed out this spearfishing past Sun. 1/18/09 Conditions finally calmed down as predicted headed out of Homestead Bayfront Park, water was nippy, and sunless day added to the chill factor, a 5 mil would have been the ticket. Seas were under 2 viz was hazy, but good, wind was blowin from the east at 5 then switched ESE a bit more than 5...towards the end of the day the tempt. dipped and so did we...Nothing too extraordinary we spearfished close to a limit of hogs, a nice YJ, and a few of my favorite eating fish...Mojarras, and a new waypoint entered...Mojarra Patch, rightfully named as I speared quite a few of these quality eating fish there.
Today Wed. 1/21/09 its cold as hell low 40's probably less in the morning, dead still wind under 1...thinking of heading out spearfishing...NOT
Till next spearfishing report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!
Tone
http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com/
Today Wed. 1/21/09 its cold as hell low 40's probably less in the morning, dead still wind under 1...thinking of heading out spearfishing...NOT
Till next spearfishing report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!
Tone
http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com/
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Spearfishing Forecast....
Winds been howlin' for the last 2 days, tempt. dipped to the low 60's too, but tomorrow Sun., looking like we may get a break and go spearfishing AT LAST. Forecast calling winds 5-10 with waves at 3' outa Miami...hmmmmms looking mighttttttty tempting.
Till next spearfishing report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!
Tone
http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com/
Till next spearfishing report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!
Tone
http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com/
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Another late spearfishing report, from Blackpoint
Headed out Sunday 1-11-09 from Blackpoint, through Boca Chika for another spearfishing adventure, the area from Soildier to Ceasars....the weather was great! We had under 5 mph winds, seas were under 2' (which the 30' Cat ate up), water was nippy, but comfy in a 3mm. Viz was top to bottom a little milky at about 40'...current was ripping in most places again likely due to the moon. ...Spearfished with a few spearo's and his son (a spearfisherman in the making). We saw plenty of fish, nothing to memorable other than some decent size hogs.
On another note Mon. 1-12-09 & Tue. 1-13-09 the wind was howling, had some rain and the days were overcast throughout, seemed like a front rolling in. Today Wed. 1-14-09 it slowed and the day is bright and sunny, tempt dipped to 60's...pretty decent day to go shoot some fish, hopefully it'll continue till the weekend and we'll go spearfishing!
Till next spearfishing report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!
Tone
http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com/
On another note Mon. 1-12-09 & Tue. 1-13-09 the wind was howling, had some rain and the days were overcast throughout, seemed like a front rolling in. Today Wed. 1-14-09 it slowed and the day is bright and sunny, tempt dipped to 60's...pretty decent day to go shoot some fish, hopefully it'll continue till the weekend and we'll go spearfishing!
Till next spearfishing report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!
Tone
http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com/
Monday, January 12, 2009
Spearfishing Report Duck Key 1-10-08
Headed out to Duck Key early Sat. morning. Although conditions called winds under 10 with seas 2-3 we were met with some nippy winds more in the 20+ and seas 3-4 with some 5'ers thrown in the mix. Although seas were pretty rough for our 20 footer the viz was surprisingly good top to bottom with some milky spots, current was ripping, probably due to the "very" full moon we had (and are still having) We headed to a couple of spearfishing spots I'd discovered on the last spearfishing trip and it did not disaapoint producing a few nice fish. The Rubble never disappoints with permits and YJ (were present but none of the "car door size"curious enough to check our shafts closerup) so I can't say the spearfishing was outrageous, but nonetheless productive. Hog Grass didn't dissappoint with the fish its named after we nailed quite a few hogfish snapper on this great spearfishing spot, and Hammerhead Finger produced the usual reef denizens and Fur speared this toad of a Red- as Fur tells it 
" I was stalking this black grouper and all a sudden I see this fish kinda staring at me at a distance, next thing I know I was wow he's gonna bolt so I went down as quick as I could thinking he's a gonner and this big'ol fish just sat there all lit up waiting for me to stick my shaft in him....boing...then he went crazy...I tackled him and wrassled him up" WTG Fur!!! All in all a nice day and heavy cooler!
Till next spearfishing report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!
Tone
http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com/
" I was stalking this black grouper and all a sudden I see this fish kinda staring at me at a distance, next thing I know I was wow he's gonna bolt so I went down as quick as I could thinking he's a gonner and this big'ol fish just sat there all lit up waiting for me to stick my shaft in him....boing...then he went crazy...I tackled him and wrassled him up" WTG Fur!!! All in all a nice day and heavy cooler!Till next spearfishing report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!
Tone
http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com/
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Spearfishing World Record YF Tuna- 2007
As told by Julian Allen-Ellis
Julian Allen-Ellis 353 Pound Yellowfin Tuna October 2, 2007
It is day two of our long planned week-long trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Ray Klefstad, Eduardo Godinho and I boated out to Corbetena Rocks in a moderate sea-state in high spirits. Peecha is our excellent panga skipper and Ben Cowley is his first-rate deck hand. This spot is known for big fish and is the location of the current IUSA world record yellowfin tuna, so fortunately, we had prepared by studying the IUSA and IBSRC rules before the trip.
Conditions were improved over day one and visibility was very good at 90 ft plus. Large tuna were jumping on the surface pretty regularly and the whole area seemed very fishy. The high spots are home to tons of natural live bait that fight for food drifting with the current. Hundreds of boobies are diving the bait on the surface, which Peecha says is a very good sign for big tuna.
On day one Ray and Eduardo had taken two shots each. Ray shot and landed two wahoo. Eduardo shot and landed a wahoo then shot and lost a 100 lb class yellowfin tuna with a tear off. I passed two good shots on wahoo while waiting for something special. I spotted a solitary 200+ lbs “cow” tuna, a truly magnificent sight, but it never came in range. We had seen large schools of tuna up to 100 lbs, huge numbers of jack crevalle cruising in the shallower places and gafftopsail pompano on the surface. There were tons of bait fish at various depths and smaller jacks hanging up current of the high spots and the tuna seemed to be just up current from the live bait. This is the prime region to be at hunting depth during each drift. The dense walls of skipjack tuna were a surreal spectacle and held out the exciting possibility of predatory wahoo and marlin close by.
The typical pattern is for Peecha to motor the divers up current, where we get in and drift down over the high spots. I got into my normal routine of two minutes breathing up on the surface followed by up to two minutes diving, aiming to be down at around 40 or 50 ft when we run into the yellowfin tuna ahead of the high spots. We did a few drifts without seeing any game fish. Ray got back into the boat and shouts out, “Guys, were going to get a big tuna within the next three drifts, I can just sense it.” The next drift nothing. The following drift is one I will never forget.
As Ray drifted nearer to the high spot, he spotted a 300 to 500 pound marlin swim by the leading edge of the bait. I dove before the bait, held my depth at 45 feet, passed on several 50 to 200 pound tuna as they swam by, and then waited in hope for a bigger fish behind the main school. There were many fish in this school and it seemed to take an age to pass me on the left. The school had nearly passed from sight over my left should when I saw a dark shape approaching steadily and effortlessly about 15 foot below me. From above the tuna’s skin was jet black in the deep water below and made it difficult to estimate range but the huge distance between the pectoral fins left me in no doubt this was a really big fish. It was either unaware or unconcerned by my presence and maintained its direct path and depth as I made myself as small as possible by crunching up and trying not to look it directly in the eye. As I slowly angled down and extended my gun to shoot I saw the long, arching sickles that are found only on big yellowfin. The gun seemed to extend and fire of its own free will. I had aimed for a gill plate shot and allowed significant lead but had underestimated the size and speed of the fish and was at a greater range that I had judged – perhaps 20ft. The shaft struck the rear third of the fish from above at 45 degrees but it didn’t look like a deep penetrating shot at all despite the forward momentum of the target. We suspected this fish could be a record contender, so I was careful to do everything myself and everything by the rules – which is not difficult as long as you know them beforehand.
I was using my Darryl Wong Ono gun (4 bands, with a 5/16'' shaft 65'' long), Aim-rite slip tip, and 100 ft of Kitto/Klefstad tuna bungie, tuna float, and trailing flag. In the time it took to watch the tuna turn a full 180 and angle my head up to look to avoid entanglement the float had left the surface, stretched the 100ft bungie to its maximum and steamed past me vertically down before disappearing out of sight within a second or two. Both the fish and the float left behind a dramatic trail of cavitation bubbles. The speed and power of the first run was unlike anything I have ever witnessed underwater before. I wondered if I was ever going to see me gear again or if I could handle such a powerful beast.
My bottom time for that dive was 1:45 and max depth 60 ft/ 18m according to the Suunto. Eduardo and Ray are yelling their congratulations from the boat but I remain very, very cautious. It isn't in the boat yet and I am going to do everything I can to make sure I don’t lose this one.
The float surfaced after a nervous 5 or 10 minutes wait on the surface. The trailing flag Ray had made for my trip to Guadalupe made it very easy to spot when it did resurface - even from the water - as it stands a good three feet above the waterline. This is a wonderful piece of equipment and the Kitto/Klefstad divinycell float and bungie floatline was instrumental in capturing this trophy. Ray credits Ron Mullins with developing this entire big-game fighting system for landing big tuna. I also thank Ray for showing me how to rig the shooting line properly so that it will not fail. I crimped this shooting line myself using the techniques he had taught – using two thick-walled cable crimps per connection, not one mono crimp as some use.
I worked the cable-stiff bungie up using the retrieval clip attached to the float a few inches at a time. The fish ran at least 5 more times, some runs lasting up to 10 minutes. I was very nervous about the holding quality of the shot. I tried to swim with the pull of the fish to reduce drag as I held onto the rear of my float and was towed along with each run. Several times I had to let go of the float as I judged the pressure on the slip tip might be too much and had to swim after the float and trailing flag. The runs at first were fairly vertical as the fish dived for the bottom (around 150 ft) but became more horizontal as the fish tired and the bungie was effectively shortened as I clipped it off to the float. Ray’s tuna floats give 60 pounds of floatation, which seemed to be plenty for this fish. I climbed on top of the float several times to ease my retrieval of the bungie.
When I had retrieved all but about 3 feet of my bungie, I dove down the 30ft of 1/16” 49 strand shooting cable to inspect the quality of the shot. I could see the slip tip just under the skin and I knew I needed to get another spear in. I called to the guys on the boat for a second gun. Ray handed me his unloaded five-band tuna gun as he shouts “shoot it right in the brain!” At this point, the fish was visible from the surface, so Eduardo jumped in with his camera to take some video and stills.
I was so exhausted from the fight and worried about getting too close which may cause the tuna to run again that I rushed the shot and missed! Fortunately, the fish was pretty tired by now. I reloaded again, dove and intended to hit the brain, but I just got worried that I might lose this monster fish, so I shot it mid-body near the first shot – I did not want to miss again. Once I had secured the entire second gun’s floatline to the float I felt the fish could only be lost to the sharks now and was motivated to get it boated. I had lost my first yellowfin at Guadalupe Island to a great white shark and did not want to repeat the experience.
At this point, the fish as still about 30 feet down, but he is very tired. It was time to kill it. It had been a long fight. I had lost my dive knife on a Guadalupe Island trip the year previous and had no chance to purchase a new one. Fortunately, Ray had a brought spare dive knife that he lent me for the duration of this trip – one of those that has no plastic handle – just a solid piece of stainless, which turned out to be ideal for this purpose. I dove to the fish and was shocked by the huge size! I just couldn’t get the knife into him on that dive. I dove again, and this time, I delivered the coup de gras with a knife into the tuna's head and then pounded the knife in with my fist to get it deep enough into the tuna's brain to finish him off. I saw one more powerful twitch and that was the end. A stream of blood poured out of his head area.
I pulled the fish up towards my float and clipped it off . I got the required three meter teather from Peecha and tied the tail of the fish off to the boat. I climbed into the boat and was dying of thirst. Gaitoraid has never tasted so good!
Peecha tied another rope through his mouth. It took four strong guys to pull the fish into the panga. My dive buddies were convinced this could be a world record contender and insisted on heading back immediately to weigh the fish. Eduardo had read a fish can lose ten percent of its weight sitting on a boat all day which could mean the difference between a record or no record. My buddies gave up a whole day diving in prime season to get this fish back before it lost too much weight. We had a bumpy ride home, but were eagerly anticipating the weigh-in. It took five strong men to manoeuvre this fish from the panga 100 yards up the beach to where my very understanding wife Rebecca and our son Tom were waiting for us with ice cold beers. Peecha and the crew raise the tuna up on the scale. A massive 353 lbs and the new world record. It was 35 pounds heavier than the previous IUSA world record speared by Dr. Craig Petersen the year before. It turns out that saving the ten percent in weight loss was critical.
It took 1 hour 30 minutes from the time I shot this tuna to the time I finally killed it. The end of my shaft has a 30 degree bend about 8'' back from the tip and will make a nice memento of this magnificent fish. The adapter of the slip tip was also bent and is testament to the power of the fish and its initial run.
Thanks to Ray, Eduardo, Peecha and Ben. This was a team effort and the realisation of a life-long dream.
Julian Allen-Ellis
It is day two of our long planned week-long trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Ray Klefstad, Eduardo Godinho and I boated out to Corbetena Rocks in a moderate sea-state in high spirits. Peecha is our excellent panga skipper and Ben Cowley is his first-rate deck hand. This spot is known for big fish and is the location of the current IUSA world record yellowfin tuna, so fortunately, we had prepared by studying the IUSA and IBSRC rules before the trip.
Conditions were improved over day one and visibility was very good at 90 ft plus. Large tuna were jumping on the surface pretty regularly and the whole area seemed very fishy. The high spots are home to tons of natural live bait that fight for food drifting with the current. Hundreds of boobies are diving the bait on the surface, which Peecha says is a very good sign for big tuna.
On day one Ray and Eduardo had taken two shots each. Ray shot and landed two wahoo. Eduardo shot and landed a wahoo then shot and lost a 100 lb class yellowfin tuna with a tear off. I passed two good shots on wahoo while waiting for something special. I spotted a solitary 200+ lbs “cow” tuna, a truly magnificent sight, but it never came in range. We had seen large schools of tuna up to 100 lbs, huge numbers of jack crevalle cruising in the shallower places and gafftopsail pompano on the surface. There were tons of bait fish at various depths and smaller jacks hanging up current of the high spots and the tuna seemed to be just up current from the live bait. This is the prime region to be at hunting depth during each drift. The dense walls of skipjack tuna were a surreal spectacle and held out the exciting possibility of predatory wahoo and marlin close by.
The typical pattern is for Peecha to motor the divers up current, where we get in and drift down over the high spots. I got into my normal routine of two minutes breathing up on the surface followed by up to two minutes diving, aiming to be down at around 40 or 50 ft when we run into the yellowfin tuna ahead of the high spots. We did a few drifts without seeing any game fish. Ray got back into the boat and shouts out, “Guys, were going to get a big tuna within the next three drifts, I can just sense it.” The next drift nothing. The following drift is one I will never forget.
As Ray drifted nearer to the high spot, he spotted a 300 to 500 pound marlin swim by the leading edge of the bait. I dove before the bait, held my depth at 45 feet, passed on several 50 to 200 pound tuna as they swam by, and then waited in hope for a bigger fish behind the main school. There were many fish in this school and it seemed to take an age to pass me on the left. The school had nearly passed from sight over my left should when I saw a dark shape approaching steadily and effortlessly about 15 foot below me. From above the tuna’s skin was jet black in the deep water below and made it difficult to estimate range but the huge distance between the pectoral fins left me in no doubt this was a really big fish. It was either unaware or unconcerned by my presence and maintained its direct path and depth as I made myself as small as possible by crunching up and trying not to look it directly in the eye. As I slowly angled down and extended my gun to shoot I saw the long, arching sickles that are found only on big yellowfin. The gun seemed to extend and fire of its own free will. I had aimed for a gill plate shot and allowed significant lead but had underestimated the size and speed of the fish and was at a greater range that I had judged – perhaps 20ft. The shaft struck the rear third of the fish from above at 45 degrees but it didn’t look like a deep penetrating shot at all despite the forward momentum of the target. We suspected this fish could be a record contender, so I was careful to do everything myself and everything by the rules – which is not difficult as long as you know them beforehand.
I was using my Darryl Wong Ono gun (4 bands, with a 5/16'' shaft 65'' long), Aim-rite slip tip, and 100 ft of Kitto/Klefstad tuna bungie, tuna float, and trailing flag. In the time it took to watch the tuna turn a full 180 and angle my head up to look to avoid entanglement the float had left the surface, stretched the 100ft bungie to its maximum and steamed past me vertically down before disappearing out of sight within a second or two. Both the fish and the float left behind a dramatic trail of cavitation bubbles. The speed and power of the first run was unlike anything I have ever witnessed underwater before. I wondered if I was ever going to see me gear again or if I could handle such a powerful beast.
My bottom time for that dive was 1:45 and max depth 60 ft/ 18m according to the Suunto. Eduardo and Ray are yelling their congratulations from the boat but I remain very, very cautious. It isn't in the boat yet and I am going to do everything I can to make sure I don’t lose this one.
The float surfaced after a nervous 5 or 10 minutes wait on the surface. The trailing flag Ray had made for my trip to Guadalupe made it very easy to spot when it did resurface - even from the water - as it stands a good three feet above the waterline. This is a wonderful piece of equipment and the Kitto/Klefstad divinycell float and bungie floatline was instrumental in capturing this trophy. Ray credits Ron Mullins with developing this entire big-game fighting system for landing big tuna. I also thank Ray for showing me how to rig the shooting line properly so that it will not fail. I crimped this shooting line myself using the techniques he had taught – using two thick-walled cable crimps per connection, not one mono crimp as some use.
I worked the cable-stiff bungie up using the retrieval clip attached to the float a few inches at a time. The fish ran at least 5 more times, some runs lasting up to 10 minutes. I was very nervous about the holding quality of the shot. I tried to swim with the pull of the fish to reduce drag as I held onto the rear of my float and was towed along with each run. Several times I had to let go of the float as I judged the pressure on the slip tip might be too much and had to swim after the float and trailing flag. The runs at first were fairly vertical as the fish dived for the bottom (around 150 ft) but became more horizontal as the fish tired and the bungie was effectively shortened as I clipped it off to the float. Ray’s tuna floats give 60 pounds of floatation, which seemed to be plenty for this fish. I climbed on top of the float several times to ease my retrieval of the bungie.
When I had retrieved all but about 3 feet of my bungie, I dove down the 30ft of 1/16” 49 strand shooting cable to inspect the quality of the shot. I could see the slip tip just under the skin and I knew I needed to get another spear in. I called to the guys on the boat for a second gun. Ray handed me his unloaded five-band tuna gun as he shouts “shoot it right in the brain!” At this point, the fish was visible from the surface, so Eduardo jumped in with his camera to take some video and stills.
I was so exhausted from the fight and worried about getting too close which may cause the tuna to run again that I rushed the shot and missed! Fortunately, the fish was pretty tired by now. I reloaded again, dove and intended to hit the brain, but I just got worried that I might lose this monster fish, so I shot it mid-body near the first shot – I did not want to miss again. Once I had secured the entire second gun’s floatline to the float I felt the fish could only be lost to the sharks now and was motivated to get it boated. I had lost my first yellowfin at Guadalupe Island to a great white shark and did not want to repeat the experience.
At this point, the fish as still about 30 feet down, but he is very tired. It was time to kill it. It had been a long fight. I had lost my dive knife on a Guadalupe Island trip the year previous and had no chance to purchase a new one. Fortunately, Ray had a brought spare dive knife that he lent me for the duration of this trip – one of those that has no plastic handle – just a solid piece of stainless, which turned out to be ideal for this purpose. I dove to the fish and was shocked by the huge size! I just couldn’t get the knife into him on that dive. I dove again, and this time, I delivered the coup de gras with a knife into the tuna's head and then pounded the knife in with my fist to get it deep enough into the tuna's brain to finish him off. I saw one more powerful twitch and that was the end. A stream of blood poured out of his head area.
I pulled the fish up towards my float and clipped it off . I got the required three meter teather from Peecha and tied the tail of the fish off to the boat. I climbed into the boat and was dying of thirst. Gaitoraid has never tasted so good!
Peecha tied another rope through his mouth. It took four strong guys to pull the fish into the panga. My dive buddies were convinced this could be a world record contender and insisted on heading back immediately to weigh the fish. Eduardo had read a fish can lose ten percent of its weight sitting on a boat all day which could mean the difference between a record or no record. My buddies gave up a whole day diving in prime season to get this fish back before it lost too much weight. We had a bumpy ride home, but were eagerly anticipating the weigh-in. It took five strong men to manoeuvre this fish from the panga 100 yards up the beach to where my very understanding wife Rebecca and our son Tom were waiting for us with ice cold beers. Peecha and the crew raise the tuna up on the scale. A massive 353 lbs and the new world record. It was 35 pounds heavier than the previous IUSA world record speared by Dr. Craig Petersen the year before. It turns out that saving the ten percent in weight loss was critical.
It took 1 hour 30 minutes from the time I shot this tuna to the time I finally killed it. The end of my shaft has a 30 degree bend about 8'' back from the tip and will make a nice memento of this magnificent fish. The adapter of the slip tip was also bent and is testament to the power of the fish and its initial run.
Thanks to Ray, Eduardo, Peecha and Ben. This was a team effort and the realisation of a life-long dream.
Julian Allen-Ellis
Thats amazing, they can who believe they can or is it chance favors the prepared mind!
Till next report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!
Tone
Spearfishing World Record Doggie
As told by Cameron Kirkconnell
Current world-record dog tooth tuna for men—91kilograms (200.4 pounds) by Cameron Kirkconnell February 4, 2006 at East Nusa, Tengara, Indonesia
Description of the hunt by Cameron KirkconnellWith the two fish in the boat and our time expired we decided to head back to the mainland 2 hours away. Something in me felt wrong though and I persuaded the boat driver to stay another hour ($15 more) so that we could dive in the ever increasing current for one last shot.
With a rain squall coming hard on us and the visibility darkening we decided on one last drift. Fighting his way out of a whirlpool a while later Craig breaks a blade on his fin before we can catch him with the boat. Handing me his tuna gun he smiles and says, "This is it, this is the one, make it count, I'll ride shotgun and bring the second gun so you can shoot your fish twice..."
5 minutes later i was relaxed and diving down through the warm surface layer to the cooler water below relishing the change in temperature that these type of Tuna love so much. At 50 feet i stopped kicking and glided down to find a school of dogtooth tuna surrounding me from 15 to 120 lbs. Patiently i glided deeper and caught sight of the black back of a slightly bigger one on the bottom at 90 feet. Passing the other smaller tuna the big fish turned slightly just as i reached the end of my float line and i squeezed the trigger.
Thunk!
The fish immediately shook his gills and then made two circles on the bottom banging the shaft against the coral in an attempt to break free of the object now lodged in his after half.
As the great fish strained for deep water i pushed hard for sunlight and grabbed my passing floats on the surface just in time to tell Craig, " I shot a TOAD!!!!"
Without pulling the first float under the fish headed for deep water. With my hands on the bungey I worked my way towards the fish and after only 45 seconds felt him stop kicking. Slowly but firmly I worked him towards me and again he powered down only to stop again. Nervous the fish would pull out i fought him as gingerly as possible trying to drown him by pulling him backwards every time he stopped. Within a few minutes the fish was in sight and I could see he was hurt bad but there was no way i was going to lose this fish. Grabbing my 115 Omer America with a reel from Craig, I quickly reloaded, dove and approached him. At 12 feet my lungs were screaming for air at the exertion of the last few minutes and I prayed that my shaking hands would aim true.. whoosh! The fish went stiff and i surfaced pulling the ever growing fish to me.
Oh my god. Oh my god.
I can't wrap my arms around him! I have never screamed so loud in my life. The rocky cliffs a mile distant reverberated with the sound of my voice and then mingled with that of Craigs and the boat driver.
With a raging 10 kt current approaching I handed the tail of the fish to the boat driver and jumped in the boat to relieve him but even with Craig and I pulling we could not budge the fish from the water. Trailing the fish to calm waters the three of us pulled the beast into the boat and then there was complete silence.
Looking at the 6 ft long fish at my feet my mind shut down and I was flooded with emotion at what I had before me. Never in my life could i have imagined this possible. Craig and I stared in utter silent disbelief.
Dogtooth Tuna. What I have always preached as the most challenging and difficult fish in the world to land. Diving 30 miles from civilization in 6-10 kts of current. The whitewater rafting we had done the week before doesn't even compare to the whirlpools and down currents and 5 ft standing waves we encounter every drift here. All the nights worrying about Malaria and days spent unsuccessfully trying to convince local fisherman to take us to the ends of the earth were forgotten. Before us lay the fruits of all our efforts and the answer to all our dreams.
200.4 lbs. 6 feet long and 4.5 feet in girth.
I am the luckiest man alive.
Cameron
Current world-record dog tooth tuna for men—91kilograms (200.4 pounds) by Cameron Kirkconnell February 4, 2006 at East Nusa, Tengara, Indonesia
Description of the hunt by Cameron KirkconnellWith the two fish in the boat and our time expired we decided to head back to the mainland 2 hours away. Something in me felt wrong though and I persuaded the boat driver to stay another hour ($15 more) so that we could dive in the ever increasing current for one last shot.
With a rain squall coming hard on us and the visibility darkening we decided on one last drift. Fighting his way out of a whirlpool a while later Craig breaks a blade on his fin before we can catch him with the boat. Handing me his tuna gun he smiles and says, "This is it, this is the one, make it count, I'll ride shotgun and bring the second gun so you can shoot your fish twice..."
5 minutes later i was relaxed and diving down through the warm surface layer to the cooler water below relishing the change in temperature that these type of Tuna love so much. At 50 feet i stopped kicking and glided down to find a school of dogtooth tuna surrounding me from 15 to 120 lbs. Patiently i glided deeper and caught sight of the black back of a slightly bigger one on the bottom at 90 feet. Passing the other smaller tuna the big fish turned slightly just as i reached the end of my float line and i squeezed the trigger.
Thunk!
The fish immediately shook his gills and then made two circles on the bottom banging the shaft against the coral in an attempt to break free of the object now lodged in his after half.
As the great fish strained for deep water i pushed hard for sunlight and grabbed my passing floats on the surface just in time to tell Craig, " I shot a TOAD!!!!"
Without pulling the first float under the fish headed for deep water. With my hands on the bungey I worked my way towards the fish and after only 45 seconds felt him stop kicking. Slowly but firmly I worked him towards me and again he powered down only to stop again. Nervous the fish would pull out i fought him as gingerly as possible trying to drown him by pulling him backwards every time he stopped. Within a few minutes the fish was in sight and I could see he was hurt bad but there was no way i was going to lose this fish. Grabbing my 115 Omer America with a reel from Craig, I quickly reloaded, dove and approached him. At 12 feet my lungs were screaming for air at the exertion of the last few minutes and I prayed that my shaking hands would aim true.. whoosh! The fish went stiff and i surfaced pulling the ever growing fish to me.
Oh my god. Oh my god.
I can't wrap my arms around him! I have never screamed so loud in my life. The rocky cliffs a mile distant reverberated with the sound of my voice and then mingled with that of Craigs and the boat driver.
With a raging 10 kt current approaching I handed the tail of the fish to the boat driver and jumped in the boat to relieve him but even with Craig and I pulling we could not budge the fish from the water. Trailing the fish to calm waters the three of us pulled the beast into the boat and then there was complete silence.
Looking at the 6 ft long fish at my feet my mind shut down and I was flooded with emotion at what I had before me. Never in my life could i have imagined this possible. Craig and I stared in utter silent disbelief.
Dogtooth Tuna. What I have always preached as the most challenging and difficult fish in the world to land. Diving 30 miles from civilization in 6-10 kts of current. The whitewater rafting we had done the week before doesn't even compare to the whirlpools and down currents and 5 ft standing waves we encounter every drift here. All the nights worrying about Malaria and days spent unsuccessfully trying to convince local fisherman to take us to the ends of the earth were forgotten. Before us lay the fruits of all our efforts and the answer to all our dreams.
200.4 lbs. 6 feet long and 4.5 feet in girth.
I am the luckiest man alive.
Cameron
Wow thats a great adventure and quite a feat, that dogs a beast...gets the blood boiling...here tuny, tuny.
goes to show not always the first man in gets the fish...but most of the time he does. WTG Cam
Till next report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!
Tone
Spearfishing Forecast...That NOAA dun'noa'ting
Yep seems NOAA's a 50/50 wind was howling today and cold front starting to move in its 10pm now, hopefully it'll get better for the wkend, my shoulder too.
On a side note got most of the materials to start the pole spear prototype...looking forward to it!
and about finished with another carbon/teak custom enclosed track spearfishing gun, this one is a 120, 2 banded...laser!
Till next report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!
Tone
http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com/
On a side note got most of the materials to start the pole spear prototype...looking forward to it!
and about finished with another carbon/teak custom enclosed track spearfishing gun, this one is a 120, 2 banded...laser!
Till next report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!
Tone
http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com/
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Spearfishing...Dropping In
Weathers been nice these last few days sunny & bright with under 5mph winds in the a.m. and pickin' up to 10-15 after 12 noon, decent. Friends headed out spearfishing this past Sat. winds about 5's pickin' up to 10's then laying to 5's about 2'ish, vis was horrible outa the G.C. on North and water was quite cold, beyond nippy in a 3mm...shoulder still killin' me so I'm holding out, hopefully by this weekend it'll better up and so will the spearfishing conditions. Cold front suppose to come in tomorrow (dropping to 50's), but then its just a forecast, right?...Moon is at half, seems a it wants to fill in. Weekend looking goodish (is that a word) Got some buds heading out tomorrow for a spearfishing outing lets see how they fair.
Putting the final touches on another of my Miami custom spearguns this is a 100 euro carbon/jacatoba rail speargun (not enclosed) with a magnetized muzzle 1 band...of pure fishing killing mayhem!
Till next spearfishing report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!
Tone
http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com/
Putting the final touches on another of my Miami custom spearguns this is a 100 euro carbon/jacatoba rail speargun (not enclosed) with a magnetized muzzle 1 band...of pure fishing killing mayhem!
Till next spearfishing report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!
Tone
http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com/
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Spearfishing...Long Key Hunt 12/29/08
Went out with a couple of spearo's this Tuesday (12/29/08) over to Long Key...what a great day spearfishing with some great guys! NOAA said it would be under 5mph winds, and although it was gusting in the early a.m (15mph) and bumpy headed out (4-5' waves) it laid down around noon...vis was amazing top to bottom everywhere which is not to common in Long Key...current was slow, very lazy, even at our famous snapper ledge...we also scouted some new spearfishing spots that might be quite good for the summer spearfishing adventures. Saw a few nurse sharks no bulls...surprisingly we didn't see any "huge" fish but plenty of legals, hundreds of hogs everywhere, and a bunch of 20-23" blacks. Climax was a huge kingfish that Jim speared and shook off his speargun, oh well we'll gett'em next time Jimbo...arrivato
note the big smile which was triggered by the big Yellow Jack, that was stoned...Gotta say the carbon wood custom guns I'm making are lethal...WTG Jim!
a black and toad red all part of our spearfishing trip, courtesy of Long Key
Here's a baracuda I speared or should I say, ran into my shaft...fought him for about 15min and he went airborne 3 times before he was strung, goota add that my low profile floatline I'm prototyping performed like a champ too!...cudas makes great crudo, and escabeche...and yeah, yeah chum/shark bait too.
note the big smile which was triggered by the big Yellow Jack, that was stoned...Gotta say the carbon wood custom guns I'm making are lethal...WTG Jim!
a black and toad red all part of our spearfishing trip, courtesy of Long Key
A half days bounty...gotta love them keys.
Till next spearfishing report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!
Tone
http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com/
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