Cobia Adventure

[SpearMax]

Technical spearfishing is a brand new section of Spearboard. The idea came to me after a great cobia spearing experience I wanted to share with you.

This past weekend, I went spearing beneath the waterline on the shipwreck Ande which lies in 200 feet of water just outside the Palm Beach Inlet in Florida.

I sometimes wonder why certain people like me want to go deeper than the recreational diving limit of 130 feet. After all, this activity is indeed dangerous! Maybe it is the bigger fish to be speared sometimes. Maybe it is the isolated wrecks to be explored. Maybe it is the nitrogen narcosis that feels like six beers. Or maybe, it is that famous mountain-climbing explanation: "because it is there."

The profiles and statistics of the dives from my Cochran dive computer for the Saturday and Sunday technical dives are as follows:

[SpearMax]

I have created a video called “Cobia Adventure” for you at the following link:

PLAY VIDEO HERE:

http://www.spearfishingmagazine.com/v1.html

A few frames from the video follow below.

Also, check out the Technical instruction thread I started at:

http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=27438

[Screen Name]

Awesome, Tony! :notworthy

[SpearMax]

Awesome, Tony! :notworthy

Thanks John, I knew you would like it. :thumps:

[dagodiver]

Very Very cool.!
Great stuff.!
I always go past that wreck to get to some of the other ones out that way looks like I need to stop and dive that one.!


thanks
Dago.

[OceanEd]

Congratulations Tony. I think it is great the way you are getting your photo's. I am also surprised at the vis.

[kaborkian]

Nice video. AJ's are soo stoopid :P (Edit: the ones swimming around a speared fish always crack me up)

Get an IcePick tip, many fewer bent shafts and no broken tips...

[kitefisherman]

Great video Tony!

[Chad Carney]

Excellent video Tony, and now I can see why you like that wreck so much... it's loaded with big fish!

With all that structure it certainly makes fish retrieval pretty challenging. A second shaft would have been so sweet to bring a quick end to the struggle. One more piece of gear can't be too bad, right?

I'm looking forward to diving the Ande with you.
Good job!

Chad

[Griswold]

Great video, Cobia are hard to stone aren't they.

[SpearMax]

Great video, Cobia are hard to stone aren't they.


Yes Griswold! Cobia must have a brain the size of a pea. In the rod and reel fishing world, they are known for being "green" and coming back to life on deck and smashing everything. In spearing, I have found them to be extremely strong. Just when you think they are subdued they come back thrashing as hard as the initial reaction to being shafted. They are not that hard to spear, but they are a challenging fight! :thumps:

[cerobit]

wow, what a tearjerker!! sniff, sniff :)

Gotta be hard spiking a cobe when your the cam shooter. nice vid, ,thanks!!

[Nsearch]

Very cool video Tony! How much line do you have on your gun......looks to be around 15 or so feet.

[biggsy]

Outstanding! :up:

[SpearMax]

Very cool video Tony! How much line do you have on your gun......looks to be around 15 or so feet.

I have three wraps of the 400 pound monofilament which is 6 gun lengths and approximately 150 feet of kite line on the reel. Cobias are definitely not fish you want to freeshaft! (unless you are Chad Carney LOL)

[Chad Carney]

I have three wraps of the 400 pound monofilament which is 6 gun lengths and approximately 150 feet of kite line on the reel. Cobias are definitely not fish you want to freeshaft!

I wouldn't want to freeshaft that first one, up off the bottom like he was, but pinning the second one to the bottom and adding a quick second freeshaft if necessary, sure looked doable.

Chad

[ROCK BOTTOM]

Great shot. Try shafting the Cobia mid-body/mid-mass. Definitely pass the head shot. I banged one right on the forehead between the eyes last year and he shook the shaft out. Tough mothers.

Zz

[Sherpa]

linky/vid no worky.............. I'm jones'n to see it....................

--Sherpa

[SpearMax]

Sherpa, try this. In Windows explorer go to Tools- Internet Options - delete Temporary Internet files and try again.

[Stealthdiver]

Great thread & video ! :thumps:

[WetDawg]

Awesome video.

Do you have some sort of helmet cam? Show us the video rig, must be a sweet setup.

What happened after the second fish was shot? Why not just pull him in hand over hand and string him? Lots of good video watching him swim around and bleed out..but why give him time to thrash about and break the tip?

[dagodiver]

I'm looking forward to diving the Ande with you.
Good job!

Chad


Me to.!
Chad lets car pool.!


Dago.

[kitefisherman]

Tony: On that first cob, does the video show you tying off your gun to the wreck so that you could approach the struggling fish with less danger of entanglement with that long shooting line? I do that on the rigs and it also saves me air not having to physically struggle with a large fish at depth. I can let the fish fight itself out against the structure and then approach and kill the tired fish from the far side.

[LONERANGER]

Great idea to add a tech dive section to the board. It hurts to see all the big fish I am missing down at 200 feet.

[underwatertaker]

Great video!!! I give you video guys alot of credit to have the ability to video while you shoot a fish, let alone a big cobia.
I feel your pain in losing that cobia. I had an amberjack cut the cable to my slip tip also...VERY DEPRESSING!

[ExFrog]

Tony:
Excellent idea, I've been thinking of learning the civilian equivilent of mix gas diving for this exact reason because no doubt this is the last frontier! I will be reading and learning with interest as this topic grows in the weeks and months to come. Most of the Mix Gas Tech. divers I've talked to think Spearfishing and Wreck/Deep diving is a bad combination and way too dangerous. However, like everything else you have to train and plan for the worst, working to find solutions instead of just saying it's too risky. Bottom line, you have to shoot to score and this is one area that SB can become the recognized go to resource for guys thinking of stepping it up a little...just my .02cents. Obviously, Chad Carney will be a major provider of information, along with yourself, and others, and I look forward to reading everyones threads.

James Martin

[Megabeast]

HAHA.. great video. Man does that bring back some memories. I can't wait for them to get up this way. I love watching cobia battles.

[Megabeast]

Most of the Mix Gas Tech. divers I've talked to think Spearfishing and Wreck/Deep diving is a bad combination and way too dangerous.


Have 'em tell that to Headhunter! It looks like a blast to me. I can see how something hideous could happen while lineshafting at extreme depth, but that's why we freeshaft... with powerheads if need be.

[Scubado]

after just getting cert. for tech diving. I can't get out there quickly enuff to get fish like that, NICE POST!!

[sharkbait]

Cobia have been known to turn on a spearo and ram them in the mask knocking the lens out and leaving them with a black eye. Just ask me.

[Old Bateman]

Nice video lesson there Tony. I'd have to second Chad's advice on the spare shaft, or at the very least, a Ray Odor kill spike. I like the kill spike on a strong, struggling fish, because you can stab it from a distance, avoiding the mask/reg knock off!

[SpearMax]

Nice video lesson there Tony. I'd have to second Chad's advice on the spare shaft, or at the very least, a Ray Odor kill spike. I like the kill spike on a strong, struggling fish, because you can stab it from a distance, avoiding the mask/reg knock off!

Rick, I think you are right. :cool: You can see from the video I already use Chad Carney's great "Quiver" flashlight holder. I am going to call my good friend Ray Odor and order a kill spike! :D Thanks, Tony

[SpearMax]

Tony: On that first cob, does the video show you tying off your gun to the wreck so that you could approach the struggling fish with less danger of entanglement with that long shooting line? I do that on the rigs and it also saves me air not having to physically struggle with a large fish at depth. I can let the fish fight itself out against the structure and then approach and kill the tired fish from the far side.

John, I did not tie off my gun. I usually do that deep dive without a float ball and reel because the current is usually ragibg out there. I spend 20 minutes down there and blow a maker buoy on a reel when I start to come up and leave the wreck. The boat knows exactly where to wait. I was solo on that dive on Saturday. Danny came with me on Sunday. When solo, I am super careful to avoid entanglement with all those cables, wires fishing lines, etc. all over that wreck.

[jfjf]

. The boat knows exactly where to wait.

Yeh but sometimes the crew doesn't.

[hartwelltv]

Tony, that's incredible video, and I like the new section you added. I've been wanting to learn more about this stuff since Dan shot that big grouper at 400 ft last year.

[SpearMax]

Tony, that's incredible video, and I like the new section you added. I've been wanting to learn more about this stuff since Dan shot that big grouper at 400 ft last year.


Yes, Dan's deep work is inspiring. The reception to this new section has been exceptionally positive. The more we all learn about every aspect of diving from freediving to technical diving, the better. Thanks for the feedback!

[Serpent6]

Remarkable video!

If you can dream it, you can do it.
Walt Disney

You did it! And thanks for sharing it.

[Grunt]

AMAZING!!! What a astonishing video. Tony, you da man! :thumps:

[bajahunter]

wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[WreckHunter]

:up: Great idea for the new section. I love it. Thedecostop is a good forum for tech diving but does not include much about spearfishing. It will be nice to see threads combining the two subjects.

[Ironhed]

Awesome video.... I got busted at work hypnotized by the struggling fish what can I say I am an addict :D

[SQUIGGY]

that was awesome........I'll take a bent shaft for a cobia like that anyday. Keep those videos coming.

[Capt.Gene]

Damm those cable tips. That same thing happens to me every time I convince myself to use that type of hardware and get a really good fish.
Kind of surprised you lost that cobe so late in the fight. He looked like he lost about a 2 gallons of green fish juice.
GREAT video , graphics and story!

[SpearMax]

Damm those cable tips. That same thing happens to me every time I convince myself to use that type of hardware and get a really good fish. Kind of surprised you lost that cobe so late in the fight. He looked like he lost about a 2 gallons of green fish juice.
GREAT video , graphics and story!


The real story is that I have had amazing success with the JBL Rock-tip Break away tip. Never had that kind of problem. I love that tip for long shots, shhoting rocky holes and angles where you just can't get a stone shot. That morning of the Cobia Adventure I went to my local dive shop to get a new shaft to replace that bent one. I also bought a no-name brand break-away tip because they were out of my favorite JBL. At the time, I noticed that the steel cable was thinner than the JBL and should have realized it was inferior. So this was a true example of spearfshing equipment failure causing the loss of a fish that I am sure helped the food chain and made a bull shark happy!

[FredT]

The normal cause of cable tip failure is lack of maintennce. Changing the cable regularly and a thorough fresh water soak after the dive makes them very unlikely too fail. Of course I replace mine with cable from kinked shooting lines off my riding rig, so the cable is about 30% heavier than even what comes on the JBL rock tip. Deburring the tip cable socket a bit helps too.

Nice fish in the video.

[Freedro]

Tony,

For a superior slip tip that will laugh at that kind of abuse contact Mori at (310) 628-8082 or Kitto at (661) 400-5223. They build the state of the art slip tips.

[SpearMax]

Tony, For a superior slip tip that will laugh at that kind of abuse contact Mori at (310) 628-8082 or Kitto at (661) 400-5223. They build the state of the art slip tips.

Thanks Freedro, I will call them to hear more about their products. But for now, I'm sticking with the JBL that has landed many fish for me over the years. My problem with the cobia was buying a cheap knock-off tip that morning bacause the LDS had run out of my favorite JBL The rock tip aspect of the JBL is important for my area where we shoot fish out of holes, caves and artificial reef structure quite often. Thanks for the input.

[samson_ite]

Wow. I am relatively new to spearfishing, and that video was absolutely awesome. Thanks for the video. Until recently (past 10 minutes) I didn't have any desire to pass the 120/130ft mark, but I am definately going to look into it now!! :thumps:

[Aquatech]

Hey Freedro! I dive with Tony on occasion. I use a Riffe - Ice pick slip tip. Does your tip compare to the Riffe? You wouldn't happen to have any pictures would you? Thanx!

[Blind Squirrel]

Great vid Tony. Would love to see the video set-up you use.

[Gary Schulte]

I saw Ray Odor hit one in the head that was around 65 pounds. We were 10 miles off St. Pete. Ray came back to the boat with a bent shaft and lost the fish. The skull was so hard that it bent the shaft and didn't penetrate.

[C4DC]

Awesome video!

[Grin]

Awsome video! You are going to have to make some cash and set us all up with video systems like that. Too cool!

[inletsurf]

I just saw this video for the first time today. I know, i know, welcome to last month inlet.


Very cool. The first thing I thought when you shot the cobe and it headed south, was "man you better get a grip on that gun!!!" :D Looks like he tangled himself on some structure and beat himself up before you gave him the dagger of mercy. :thumps:

[keyone]

Tony,
Thanks for shareing that great footage. I'm sure you inspire many of us.

[narcosis]

Very cool video. What type of video equipment and housing are you using, and is it mounted on your helmet?

[scubasniper]

very very nice vid tony

[Thunderball]

I hate watching videos like that. When I'm at work. Which seems like all the time. Thanks for letting us live vicariously down the stock of your gun.

[kitespearo]

Tony.
Eventhough I am a freediver and I know I will be never reach those kind of depths. Props to you and your friends. Those are some big cojones you guys have. Also what a great video very crafty to be able to shoot the gun and not miss anything with the camera. Great job.

German Martinez

[pirate_diver]

Sweet video Tony. Those deep wrecks just seem so peaceful and alien in the videos. That technica/deep diving is definitely something I want to get into. Too bad about the cobia, 1 bent shaft and a broken slip tip and 1/2 on the fish. Not a bad dive. Solo diving that deep must be an experience all it's own...very freeing i bet.

[tonytocco]

Has anyone else had a hard time getting the video to play?

[Chad Carney]

tony,

That thread is almost 3 years old.

It didn't work for me anymore either.

Chad