Great Trip @ The Rigs 6/28

[CAJUNSLINGER]

We had the best trip in a long long time sat. Flat water, 100' + vis., 80 degree water temp. , blue bird skies. Went out of pecan island La. south west pass. Hit blue water 35 miles out, went 70 miles out to hit the big fish. 1st. dive - rig 215 . Hellish current from surface to 85 ft. AJ's everywhere. Took aim on 35+ AJ when out of my side I spot 25 - 30 lb red snapper sow. persued her for 15 min. could not get a shot. finally I went back to the AJ's . Shot 35lb + AJ which pulled free after a brief fight. 2nd dive rig 245. Mild current on surface only. 3 min. into the dive I shoot a 70lb+ AJ. I hit him of all place's in the jaws. needless to now I have one huge piss off AJ on the end of my line . The shot was @ 82 ft. and blink your eye later I am @ 105 ft. He took me on a personal tour of every square foot of his rig. 18 min. later he pulls me out of the rig into open water. Now in open water with no rig stucture in site @ 105 ft. 800 psi left in my tank it's time to do something. I let pull my self down my line letting gun trail behind ( mistake ) to the fish. When I grabed the fish by the gill plate and took my knife out as soon as stuck him the head he really showed what a fish that size can do. He twisted my wrist and I knew what was coming next. I was trying to grab my line when he pulled free. He headed straight down and I headed down after him grabed his tail and well that lasted about a second and a half. Now with just enough air took make a quicker than would have liked asent all I could do is watch him swim off with my gun trailing behind him and my knife stuck in his head. 3rd dive - rig 249. Get to 80 ft and see more AJ's than I have ever seen on one rig in my life 3 to 4 hundred. they are as thick as mosquitos. Now I have a borrowed gun. Shoot 2 - 2 pull off , both 40lbs +. 4th dive - rig 251. @ 70 ft. I shoot another huge AJ . fight fish for 12 min. Again he gets me to open water but this time I got somewhat decent shot on him right be hind the gill plate and out the lower jaw on the other side . I kick like hell and inflate my bc and surface just be hind the boat then kick like hell again a gainst a pretty stiff surface current to grab the ladder ( no drift line ) just in time. I was totally out of gas. AJ weighed in @ 48lbs. All total 6 divers/ 6 AJ's, 2 cobia, 2 mangrove snapper ( which were there by the hundreds ), 1 21lb red snapper, 1 huge ass 47lb black grouper, and 1 mahi mahi. We went out with Reggie and Dane Fontenot of S & L charters and dive shop and I can,t say enough good things about them. It was like diving with a couple of long time buddies and they did every thing possible to make the trip enjoyable and it was one the best in 20 years. Again to Dane and Reggie thanks a million !!! Pictures will follow shortly.

[Marcus]

Great report! :)


Note to self: Don't shoot 70lb. AJ with line gun lest I have powerhead.

[CAJUNSLINGER]

great tip marcus , but you know the funny thing is it probally didn't teach me a damn thing. spearfisherman go figure?

[KJNDIVER]

Damn, nice trip!! I am jealous. I wanted to go out Sat but had other plans and couldnt get out of em. Is that the Vermillion blocks you are referring to in the report? We dive tht area from time to time but never had any trips quite like that.

[f94gator]

Great report. Sorry to hear about the gun, that sucks.

[CAJUNSLINGER]

yes it was kjn, the trip was even better than i can describe in words . got #'s on the rigs if you would like . and if you have a boat maybe me and mine could hook up with you and yours. chartering a boat all time gets damed expensive and hey maybe could split gas or something. what really freaked me was after the perfect conditions we had i get in late sat. night to see bill in the gulf. thought it was a joke. even though i lost my gun to that monster 70 lber , i still got my personal best AJ 48lbs. feel like crap today though and look like i got in fight with a mountain lion and lost after having the s**t beat out me by two huge AJ's i would'nt trade it for world. lets hook up sometime. pics should be ready for posting tommrow.

[CAJUNSLINGER]

hey gator, thanks but it was an old jbl that i have had for almost 20 years. i was already ordering me a riffe mt 2. I know, I know , I should go with the 3 . but mt jbl was a 48" sawed off and it never hindered me in any way. the mt 2 is 44" but supposedly a lot more powerful. i am on the small side and i here the riffe is already harder to load so if i cant load it i dont want it.

[IyaDiver]

I just love those rigs hunting story...........
Don't mind about loosing the gun, its part of the learning curve.

If u get 3/8 shafts and put 4 x 9/16 bands on ur coming MT2, your 48" JBL will feel like a toy compared to it, trust me. You will love the tracking of that short MT2 and it being a mid-handle.

Great story....

[Steel Shootin']

Oh Man, losing your knife on top of the gun adds insult to injury. I can just picture the site of the gun trailing the fish, and the knife sticking out of his head like a bolt coming out of Frankenstein. Great report. I'll look forward to the photos.

[gulfdiver]

Nice Report, CAJUNSLINGER.
We're Somewhat close to each other, I'm in Orange Beach, Al.
We'll have to get together and shoot somthing sometime.

[lionfish]

cajunslinger, you might want to think about using a riding rig. if you shoot a large fish, don't stone him and the stuff hits the fan
you can let go of the rig and loose the cable and spear but not the gun.

[Griswold]

Cajunslinger, I'm sure you know that Mark and the guys at Underwater Adventures are the ones to talk to about rigging etc., but Ken at La Scuba now carries the Riffe Metal Techs. They are mainly photo types there, didn't even know how the safety worked on the Riffe guns, but it could be good to know where to grab an extra shaft locally.

BTW great report.

[CAJUNSLINGER]

Hey Iya, mt2 is is beinng rigged with 3/8'" shaft and ice pick tip- no more fish pulling off. Gulfdiver, my wife is from mobile and all her family still lives there so I'm there fairly often. maybe we could hook up. Trying to my crew together to shoot the Ala. open in sep.

[gulfdiver]

CAJUNSLINGER
September is the Orange Beach Tourny.

[grumpydog]

I know you guys have probably read it already, but, if not, get "Helldivers Rodeo". Just finished it, and being new to spearing, found it to be a great and informative read, although probably a little exaggerated. Big deal, it was still fun.
What is the situation on out of state fishing licenses over there? Some states are overly expensive and make a trip out of state not worth the money.
We may be making a trip to Florida or Alabama soon, can anyone recommend a reliable charter for a couple of very inexperienced but entheuastic shooters?

[gulfdiver]

grumpydog,
Spearfishing Licenses in Alabama are $8.50.
We have 2 Boats, one dedicated to Spearfishing. We almost always have someone to dive with the ones that may need some assistance.

[jeffe]

Geeze !
Cajunslinger, wouldn't that make a bitchin' avatar !
Big ass AJ, trailin' a Spear gun, knife in skull !
A great story !