OceanEd
03-25-2005, 04:20 PM
Just returned from my annual 4 month Bahama trip. We base the boat out of Georgetown on the island of Exuma in the southern Bahamas. Every year it takes me a little while to make the mental and physical shift between hunting with tanks and guns to hunting by freediving and using a pole spear. Because of the amount of marine life still present in the southern Bahamas we are hunting in depths between 10ft. and 70ft (that is my limit for working).
No question that the fish, lobster, and conch populations are being thinned out greatly by the commercial interests down here. Ever since the new government got in power and became pro-development for the islands you can see the ocean foodstocks being depleted as the building picks up its pace. However, it is still so superior to almost anywhere else I can think of that it is well worth the time to come down here each year.
One of the purposes of the tip this year was to try to develop a way to start blue water hunting with polespears. I have managed to take 6 Dorado with pole spears in the last couple of years, but it was on a random basis. So I wanted to design and develop a set of equipment that would make it possible to go after not only Dorado but Wahoo and possibly Tuna and other large pelagics. I will write another thread about that part of the trip.
The largest grouper I managed on this trip was a 43 lb. yellowfin. Also managed many hogfish, yellofin jacks, almoco jacks, cerro mackerel, silver margates, mutton snappers, etc. No problem coming back with a limit of lobster any day you wanted them. It took more time to find the conch beds, but when you did find one there would be anywhere from 20 to 80 conch stretched out below you.
The best day of the trip I managed to land 3 African Pompano; 36 lbs., 38 lbs, and 40 lbs.. Hunting these fish with a polespear takes a different technique. You can't approach them or they will leave. I feel I need to get the tip of the spear within 3 feet of the fish to get a really good shot that will penetrate completely through the fish, so that is what I wait for. You dive down to the bottom (in this case 40 feet) and become stationary, then take a handful of sand off the bottom and throw it up in a small cloud. This seems to attract them and they sometimes come close enough to get a good shot. This technique can work with mutton snapper also.
Once the polespear is in the fish you have to let go of it. They are so strong they will usually rip it out if you don't. The fish takes off like a rocket for about 100 to 150 yards and I am swimming like crazy just to barely keep him in sight. My polespears are 10 ft long and that creates enough drag when sticking out of a big fish that I can almost always keep him in sight. Then they usually tire and start swimming in large circles with the polespear draging them in one direction or the other. This is when you grab a second polespear, dive down, and hopefully get a kill shot and bring them up. It is also the time when you wonder why you didin't avoid all this work by getting a kill shot the first time.
Even in the southern Bahamas it is not usual to see African Pompano that often, and in every other case I have managed to get one fish and the others are gone for good. This time I landed the first fish and thought that was it for the day. So after straightening out my polespear (big fish have a tendancy to bend it during the fight) I was resting on the surface and getting my breathing back under control when the school showed up again. So I went back down to the bottom, threw up some sand a second time, and once again one of the fish came in close enough for a shot. Once again the chase was on only this time I am not swimming quite so fast as the first time and am straining to keep him in sight. Once he slowed and started swimming in a circle I grabbed my second spear and managed a good shot but not a kill shot. I brought him to the surface but he then came alive and dragged me back down 10ft. underwater before I could bring him up. They are strong.
Once again I get the bends out of my pole spear and am huffing and puffing on the surface, thinking it's time to quit because it couldn't get any better and I am not getting any more rested. Out of the corner of my eye I see the school of African Pompano's off in the distance and they make a turn towards me. I can't believe it. I am also not sure I have anything left to repeat this whole process even if they are stupid enough to come my way. Just on the off chance they would go for it, I dive down to the bottom and throw up more sand. These guys must have been the dumbest Pompanos in the ocean because they went for the ploy. Whack, the polespear hits a 40 lb. fish. Whizz and he is off and running. Huff and Puff, I am limping along as best I can to keep him in sight and eventually he tires before I cramp up completely in both legs. He ends up in the boat with the other two.
I doubt if I will ever have a day like that again, but who knows? That's one of the great things about the out islands in the Bahamas, you never know what will show up when you are in the water.
I have pictures I am trying to attach, but it doesn't seem to be working. If I can get them up on this tread I will post them asap.
No question that the fish, lobster, and conch populations are being thinned out greatly by the commercial interests down here. Ever since the new government got in power and became pro-development for the islands you can see the ocean foodstocks being depleted as the building picks up its pace. However, it is still so superior to almost anywhere else I can think of that it is well worth the time to come down here each year.
One of the purposes of the tip this year was to try to develop a way to start blue water hunting with polespears. I have managed to take 6 Dorado with pole spears in the last couple of years, but it was on a random basis. So I wanted to design and develop a set of equipment that would make it possible to go after not only Dorado but Wahoo and possibly Tuna and other large pelagics. I will write another thread about that part of the trip.
The largest grouper I managed on this trip was a 43 lb. yellowfin. Also managed many hogfish, yellofin jacks, almoco jacks, cerro mackerel, silver margates, mutton snappers, etc. No problem coming back with a limit of lobster any day you wanted them. It took more time to find the conch beds, but when you did find one there would be anywhere from 20 to 80 conch stretched out below you.
The best day of the trip I managed to land 3 African Pompano; 36 lbs., 38 lbs, and 40 lbs.. Hunting these fish with a polespear takes a different technique. You can't approach them or they will leave. I feel I need to get the tip of the spear within 3 feet of the fish to get a really good shot that will penetrate completely through the fish, so that is what I wait for. You dive down to the bottom (in this case 40 feet) and become stationary, then take a handful of sand off the bottom and throw it up in a small cloud. This seems to attract them and they sometimes come close enough to get a good shot. This technique can work with mutton snapper also.
Once the polespear is in the fish you have to let go of it. They are so strong they will usually rip it out if you don't. The fish takes off like a rocket for about 100 to 150 yards and I am swimming like crazy just to barely keep him in sight. My polespears are 10 ft long and that creates enough drag when sticking out of a big fish that I can almost always keep him in sight. Then they usually tire and start swimming in large circles with the polespear draging them in one direction or the other. This is when you grab a second polespear, dive down, and hopefully get a kill shot and bring them up. It is also the time when you wonder why you didin't avoid all this work by getting a kill shot the first time.
Even in the southern Bahamas it is not usual to see African Pompano that often, and in every other case I have managed to get one fish and the others are gone for good. This time I landed the first fish and thought that was it for the day. So after straightening out my polespear (big fish have a tendancy to bend it during the fight) I was resting on the surface and getting my breathing back under control when the school showed up again. So I went back down to the bottom, threw up some sand a second time, and once again one of the fish came in close enough for a shot. Once again the chase was on only this time I am not swimming quite so fast as the first time and am straining to keep him in sight. Once he slowed and started swimming in a circle I grabbed my second spear and managed a good shot but not a kill shot. I brought him to the surface but he then came alive and dragged me back down 10ft. underwater before I could bring him up. They are strong.
Once again I get the bends out of my pole spear and am huffing and puffing on the surface, thinking it's time to quit because it couldn't get any better and I am not getting any more rested. Out of the corner of my eye I see the school of African Pompano's off in the distance and they make a turn towards me. I can't believe it. I am also not sure I have anything left to repeat this whole process even if they are stupid enough to come my way. Just on the off chance they would go for it, I dive down to the bottom and throw up more sand. These guys must have been the dumbest Pompanos in the ocean because they went for the ploy. Whack, the polespear hits a 40 lb. fish. Whizz and he is off and running. Huff and Puff, I am limping along as best I can to keep him in sight and eventually he tires before I cramp up completely in both legs. He ends up in the boat with the other two.
I doubt if I will ever have a day like that again, but who knows? That's one of the great things about the out islands in the Bahamas, you never know what will show up when you are in the water.
I have pictures I am trying to attach, but it doesn't seem to be working. If I can get them up on this tread I will post them asap.