Fear No Fish – Florida Spearfishing – FSDA WCC #3
While I have made an effort to not post anything here that is non surf related, I can’t help myself this time as I have a good story to tell and hopefully you donkeys will appreciate it.
As some of you may know, I have not surfed since leaving Puerto Rico in January and have been occupying my time with work, family and freediving/spearfishing. I am becoming a better waterman as a result of my environment and the lack of surf in my life forcing me to diversify my portfolio. I liken it to being a race horse with blinders on and for 25 some odd years my focus and obsession was with surfing. Now, outside Tampa with no surf and little desire to drive 3 hours to get marginal waves, I have shifted my obsessive nature to spearfishing and freediving.
Last weekend, I participated in part 3 of the Florida Skin Divers Association West Coast Council series. The west coast council is comprised of 8 or so dive clubs who individually have 30-50 members. Most tournaments have between 80-170 participants and after the first and second events of the year I was ranked #13 out of this elite group. Much like surfing, you get to throw away your lowest score from the four part series and the sum of your best three tournaments determines who is crowned the State Champion. The first tournament of the year (my first ever), I had a fairly low score, so I just want to be able to drop that one at the end of the year. Being that this is a new sport to me and that it is my first year of competition I am thrilled to be where I am, and my goal for #3 was simply to outdo my previous performance.
We set out from the dock at 7:30 and traveled at 40kts for roughly 2 hours some 80-90 miles out into the gulf of mexico. Due to the bathemetry of the gulf, 80-90 miles offshore in this case equaled a water depth of 85 feet. (This sort of explains why there is no surf in most of the gulf). My diving partner, Dean Young (my father in-law, current #1 diver in the FSDA, Multiple time state champion spearfisherman and freediver, and Author of the comic strip Blondie) and I descended on a wreck in light seas and marginal visibility. We dropped to about 75 feet, and were there looking for amberjack to fill our large fish category. Due to the warm temps in the gulf 82 degrees on the bottom at 85 feet, most of the larger AJ’s have moved out deeper to cooler waters, so the pickins were a little slim. Most of the amberjack were legal size but ideally for the tournament we needed a fish in excess of 20lbs to fill the points out in that category. Dean, as usual quickly found the biggest fish and rolled it over dead with a single “stone” shot. I meanwhile swam over near him as curious schooling fish like amberjack will often come near to check out what is going on with their now lifeless friend on the end of the spear. I lined up a shot and sank my shaft deep into the side of a slightly smaller one (not 20 lbs) and I did not stone the fish. He was on the end of my line going crazy and thrashing about trying to break free of the speartip’s grasp. The water that day was filled with sealife, 200lb+ Jewfish, Bull Sharks, Reef Sharks, and Barracuda. I reeled the amberjack in as close as I could while staying safely away from him as to not have him wrap me up in my line. He was about 5-8 feet below me and his thrashing was bringing in all the curious predators. I was wearing a Shark Shield so as the sharks investigated and entered the perimeter of the shark shield they quickly departed my view and did not return. The jewfish only followed up about 20 feet or so and then quickly returned to his comfort zone in the wreck. Sharks check, Jewfish check.. I am out of here scott free.. NOT SO MUCH.
I have no guard against cuda except bringing the fish in close to me, and this was not an option since the AJ had a sharp tipped piece of steel through him and he was still thrashing about. The cuda closed in and started to devour my fish. There were about three on the perimeter, but only one, the biggest was attacking. He first ripped the tail off, to disable the fish, then he tore into the meat taking gaping holes (read: pounds/points) out of my fish. There was nothing I could do but watch. I ascended to the surface and was pissed: this barracuda was not going to take my fish and get away with it. I let out some line on my gun, dropping what was left of the amberjack 20 feet below the boat. I yelled to my buddy bill to take my gun and to tie the line off to the cleat, and for him to hand me another gun. He did, so I pulled back the bands and dropped back down to 20 feet. I leveled my body out completely with the ocean surface to give the cuda the smallest prospective of my size, so that I did not alert him as a predator of his. I stayed out about 15 feet laterally from the amberjack and waited. He came in and was clearly focused on the fish, I held my breath and took four quick kicks toward him and glided in effortlessly as i lined up the gun just rear of his grimacing smile. I wiped the smile from his face as quickly as he dismembered my amberjack, his body sputtering twice like a car out of gas, not a fume in the tank. This cuda is high and dry. Payback is a bitch.
He weighed 28lbs gutted, so was well over 30lbs in his natural state.
I finished 11th for the day, and am currently ranked #7 YTD in WCC, with 1 low score to drop. We’ll see how it shakes out in the end.
Erwin out.
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