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Author Topic:   Spring at last

tomol posted 03-23-2010 02:32 PM ET (US)
It's a sickness. We Southern California freedivers sit around and whine all winter waiting for the first spring white seabass. When the season starts it's almost unseemly watching grown men behave so obsessively.
Incidentally, the classic 18 Outrage is a nearly perfect spearfishing boat. We use a lot of gear, and the deck space to size ratio leaves us lots of elbow room. Plus, the Outrage splash well is a great, secure place to let a fish bleed out without getting slime all over the deck. http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j19/Tomol_2006/IMG_9255.jpg And most important to old guys like me, low freeboard makes is easy to climb aboard.
Digging a fish out of deep kelp at dusk is creepy, but the indelible memory of finally surfacing with a fat one, seeing the Outrage silhouetted against an impossibly gaudy sunset, splashing it into the well http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j19/Tomol_2006/DSC00399copy.jpg and then enjoying a brisk, 15-mile ride up the coast in the dark is why this is the last boat I'll ever own. You can't explain this to people who don't have boats.

elaelap posted 03-23-2010 06:23 PM ET (US)
Oh yeah!!
contender posted 03-23-2010 06:31 PM ET (US)
Excellent catch, how deep do you have to go for them, or is just finding them in the kelp?
tomol posted 03-23-2010 06:49 PM ET (US)
Contender,
That's a closely guarded secret. :-)
The truth be told, you can sometimes shoot them lying on the surface. The hard part comes after you shoot them. They're too big to stop. All you can do is slow them down and let them have a couple of hundred feet of line.
Eventually they entangle themselves on a kelp holdfast on the bottom. Then it's an arduous process of first braining the fish and then untangling the mess enough to get the whole mess to the surface. It can take an hour or more of repeated diving. Both these fish tied up in about 50 feet of water. The second one was a race to get it done before it got too dark to see.
contender posted 03-23-2010 07:22 PM ET (US)
I'm in Ft lauderdale and dive in the off South Miami, Fla Keys, and when I'm lucky we take a small trip over to the Bahamas. We shoot Hogfish and grouper mostly and every once and a while a mutton snapper. The grouper can be hard to pull up if its a big one, they head toward the rocks and can pull you with them. I can tell that the fish you are shooting is built more for speed and mid water/surface area. Have you ever tried using a float tied to your speargun line, After shooting the fish let him tow the float and you can follow him in the boat. Same system that blue water divers use...Again Good Catch
tomol posted 03-23-2010 07:53 PM ET (US)
Yes, we use floatlines and floats when shooting pelagics like yellowtail locally and for grouper & snapper in the Sea of Cortez. But you can't use a float in the kelp. It hangs up in the canopy. Many divers use a long floatline without a float so it'll slip through the kelp. I'm a reel guy. Old school :-)
David Pendleton posted 03-23-2010 07:56 PM ET (US)
Let's see...
Injured fish, blood in the water, kelp beds, just about dusk.
What's wrong with this picture?
tomol posted 03-23-2010 08:40 PM ET (US)
Right. And it's about a mile and a half from Trestles, the legendary surf spot that gets closed a couple of times a year because of white shark sightings.
I never claimed to be very bright.
Estero posted 03-23-2010 10:35 PM ET (US)
I've caught many WSB with hook and line but only one by spear- I'll stick with staying above sea level. Nice fish, Tomol.
Tim
lizard posted 03-24-2010 09:51 AM ET (US)
David Pendleton- I was thinking the same thing as I was reading along. A lot of San Diegans do not know about the Great White population where he was diving, only surfers and divers do. Trestles is a popular and crowded surf destination.
A veterinarian died just south of there last year from a Great White attack, swimming with a morning swim group he was a part of. I have always wondered why they don't make more wetsuits in colors other than black. To that Great White, you resemble a seal=meal.
tomol posted 03-24-2010 11:00 AM ET (US)
None of us can figure out that spot. Along with the sightings from surfers, a couple of divers have seen recently decapitated harbor seals in the kelp that were still bleeding.
But with all the diving there by hundreds of divers over several decades, nobody that I'm aware of has ever had an encounter with a white shark.
That doesn't mean they aren't there, just that they don't seem to be interested.(Denial is a powerful thing.)
As an aside, last year I spoke with a local commercial fisherman who said that if the good people of southern California and the authorities had any idea how many HUGE sharks inhabit our near shore waters, nobody would ever go swimming again.
Narragansett Outrage posted 03-24-2010 03:03 PM ET (US)
Have to add that as I was looking at the color of that water, and knowing where you are... it occurred to me that there's no way I'd get in there.
Then again, it took me years to get in a swimming pool after seeing Jaws.
I'm ok now with swimming off the coast of Rhode Island and Block island (which has its fair share of Great Whites), but I don't dress like a seal, and the water needs to be relatively clear.
Nice fish, though!
David Pendleton posted 03-24-2010 03:36 PM ET (US)
I have to say, I admire your bravery.
I wouldn't even consider doing what you do. Ever.
tomol posted 03-24-2010 06:05 PM ET (US)
I appreciate the sentiment, but many many more divers die from bad decision making regarding their breath-hold than from Sharks.
That doesn't mean we don't get the creeps periodically, particularly this time of year. White seabass love bad visibility, and we frequently can only see 10 or 12 feet while we pursue them.
But, hey, it's worth it. I get to blast around in the Outrage, and occasionally come home with dinner.

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Author	Topic: Spring at last
tomol	posted 03-23-2010 02:32 PM ET (US) It's a sickness. We Southern California freedivers sit around and whine all winter waiting for the first spring white seabass. When the season starts it's almost unseemly watching grown men behave so obsessively. Incidentally, the classic 18 Outrage is a nearly perfect spearfishing boat. We use a lot of gear, and the deck space to size ratio leaves us lots of elbow room. Plus, the Outrage splash well is a great, secure place to let a fish bleed out without getting slime all over the deck. http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j19/Tomol_2006/IMG_9255.jpg And most important to old guys like me, low freeboard makes is easy to climb aboard. Digging a fish out of deep kelp at dusk is creepy, but the indelible memory of finally surfacing with a fat one, seeing the Outrage silhouetted against an impossibly gaudy sunset, splashing it into the well http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j19/Tomol_2006/DSC00399copy.jpg and then enjoying a brisk, 15-mile ride up the coast in the dark is why this is the last boat I'll ever own. You can't explain this to people who don't have boats.
elaelap	posted 03-23-2010 06:23 PM ET (US) Oh yeah!!
contender	posted 03-23-2010 06:31 PM ET (US) Excellent catch, how deep do you have to go for them, or is just finding them in the kelp?
tomol	posted 03-23-2010 06:49 PM ET (US) Contender, That's a closely guarded secret. :-) The truth be told, you can sometimes shoot them lying on the surface. The hard part comes after you shoot them. They're too big to stop. All you can do is slow them down and let them have a couple of hundred feet of line. Eventually they entangle themselves on a kelp holdfast on the bottom. Then it's an arduous process of first braining the fish and then untangling the mess enough to get the whole mess to the surface. It can take an hour or more of repeated diving. Both these fish tied up in about 50 feet of water. The second one was a race to get it done before it got too dark to see.
contender	posted 03-23-2010 07:22 PM ET (US) I'm in Ft lauderdale and dive in the off South Miami, Fla Keys, and when I'm lucky we take a small trip over to the Bahamas. We shoot Hogfish and grouper mostly and every once and a while a mutton snapper. The grouper can be hard to pull up if its a big one, they head toward the rocks and can pull you with them. I can tell that the fish you are shooting is built more for speed and mid water/surface area. Have you ever tried using a float tied to your speargun line, After shooting the fish let him tow the float and you can follow him in the boat. Same system that blue water divers use...Again Good Catch
tomol	posted 03-23-2010 07:53 PM ET (US) Yes, we use floatlines and floats when shooting pelagics like yellowtail locally and for grouper & snapper in the Sea of Cortez. But you can't use a float in the kelp. It hangs up in the canopy. Many divers use a long floatline without a float so it'll slip through the kelp. I'm a reel guy. Old school :-)
David Pendleton	posted 03-23-2010 07:56 PM ET (US) Let's see... Injured fish, blood in the water, kelp beds, just about dusk. What's wrong with this picture?
tomol	posted 03-23-2010 08:40 PM ET (US) Right. And it's about a mile and a half from Trestles, the legendary surf spot that gets closed a couple of times a year because of white shark sightings. I never claimed to be very bright.
Estero	posted 03-23-2010 10:35 PM ET (US) I've caught many WSB with hook and line but only one by spear- I'll stick with staying above sea level. Nice fish, Tomol. Tim
lizard	posted 03-24-2010 09:51 AM ET (US) David Pendleton- I was thinking the same thing as I was reading along. A lot of San Diegans do not know about the Great White population where he was diving, only surfers and divers do. Trestles is a popular and crowded surf destination. A veterinarian died just south of there last year from a Great White attack, swimming with a morning swim group he was a part of. I have always wondered why they don't make more wetsuits in colors other than black. To that Great White, you resemble a seal=meal.
tomol	posted 03-24-2010 11:00 AM ET (US) None of us can figure out that spot. Along with the sightings from surfers, a couple of divers have seen recently decapitated harbor seals in the kelp that were still bleeding. But with all the diving there by hundreds of divers over several decades, nobody that I'm aware of has ever had an encounter with a white shark. That doesn't mean they aren't there, just that they don't seem to be interested.(Denial is a powerful thing.) As an aside, last year I spoke with a local commercial fisherman who said that if the good people of southern California and the authorities had any idea how many HUGE sharks inhabit our near shore waters, nobody would ever go swimming again.
Narragansett Outrage	posted 03-24-2010 03:03 PM ET (US) Have to add that as I was looking at the color of that water, and knowing where you are... it occurred to me that there's no way I'd get in there. Then again, it took me years to get in a swimming pool after seeing Jaws. I'm ok now with swimming off the coast of Rhode Island and Block island (which has its fair share of Great Whites), but I don't dress like a seal, and the water needs to be relatively clear. Nice fish, though!
David Pendleton	posted 03-24-2010 03:36 PM ET (US) I have to say, I admire your bravery. I wouldn't even consider doing what you do. Ever.
tomol	posted 03-24-2010 06:05 PM ET (US) I appreciate the sentiment, but many many more divers die from bad decision making regarding their breath-hold than from Sharks. That doesn't mean we don't get the creeps periodically, particularly this time of year. White seabass love bad visibility, and we frequently can only see 10 or 12 feet while we pursue them. But, hey, it's worth it. I get to blast around in the Outrage, and occasionally come home with dinner.