dennishaussler
10-14-2007, 11:08 PM
OK,
Heres the way it went after 4 days of comp.
25 divers, 16 took fish.
#1 Ian Puckeridge Australia 196.25 pts
#2 Mike Mcguire USA 97.20
# David Shelton USA 55.65
#4 Craig Classen USA 53.20
#5 Alex Bristol USA 31.45
#6 James Hardesty USA 30.65
#7 GR Tarr USA 30.55
#8 Peter Marley USA 18.00
#9 Chris Woods Australia 16.35
#10 Chris Blansfield USA 14.25
#11 Brad Thornbrough USA 14.20
#11 Ryan Davis USA 14.20
#13 Brock Kennedy USA 13.70
#14 Keith Love USA 13.45
#15 Chris Nocera USA 11.10
#16 Bernie Finnerty USA 5.25
So, that being said, congratulations to ALL the competitors!!
They worked hard to take fish, in conditions that most people would not even attempt to go out in.
Sunday the north winds started, and by monday morning the channel between mainland and cerralvo was running 6-8 ft swells, with 18knts of wind on top of that gusting above.
Day 1. Two fish landed on the first day, with James Hardesty taking the lead with a nice blue jack. David Shelton landed one of the smallest wahoo I had ever seen at 6.7 lbs. Only two boats ventured out to La Reyna I think, and one of them Ians boat, broke the tiller off of theyre 90hp honda motor, then took a wave that half filled the boat, freaking out the captian. I don;t think he can swim!Needless to say, It was a rough day for them, hard time handling the boat with the tiller lashed on.
Before you cast judgment on this, understand we had 25 divers in the water, all around the area, and those were the ONLY TWO fish they could come up with!!!
eIt blew hard all monday and into monday night, keeping everyone on edge on what the water was going to do the next day.
Day 2 was a little better, with the wind backing down a bit, and the swell dropping by 30%, but still a rough, slow ride.
Ian Puckeridge started showing what he's made of, finishing the day with a dorado, milkfish, and a 71.35# sailfish that turned out to be the big fish of the meet.
James came in with a big milkfish, almost 20# to make the rest of the catch for the day.
Day 3 was rest day, with some of the divers heading to cerralvo to hunt goats, thats a whole other story that maybe mario can fill in, but suffice to say that GR and Craig set new milestones in what can be done wearing croc rubber clogs, and flip flops. Word I got from Mario is, Brad is half mountain goat. They did not shoot any goats, but had an exciting adventure. Mario was set to try and shoot one with his toothpick speargun, using some kind of tag line to keep it from running off until he could finish it off. If anyone could do it, it would be him, but alas, no joy on the chivo.
Others went to town, some diving the reefs, and some taking it easy. Mike and I took our kids out to the island, and played with the morays, and shot some parrots and what not. Mikes boy landing a nice surgeon fish, and my son Willem taking his first dive in saltwater, on my back to about 12ft riding me like a dolphin. Both our daughters were all over the place, snorkeling about and watching us chase fish and shoot them.
Day 4 was Mike McGuires day. Mike and Chris Wood of australia, sighted a sailfish from the surface, jumped in and worked the area for a bit until it came back. Mike was watching the fish approach chris';s flasher, and did not shoot waiting for chris to dive and take the shot. After two approaches, he figured chris was not gonna see it, to he kicked hard on it and threw one into its shoulder, landing a 61.35# sailfish to start the day. Both of them landed dorado, and mike finished with adding a bonita to the list, bringing him close to Ian by the end of the day.
Alex Bristol brought a nice jack amd a small rooster to the beach, along with Chris Nocera with a dorado. David Shelton got into a really nice rooster, 49#, and at La Reyna, Craig and Brad were working the fish well, with Craig boating a 53.20# sail, and Brad taking a 14.20# wahoo. Now, I got to say, I've seen quite a few fish landed in my day, but Brad took it to a new level while playing this fish. He knew he did not have a good shot on it, so he played this thing like it was on 12lb test. After about 10 minutes or so, he took his pole spear, yeah, thats right, a pole spear down for the kill shot.
I followed him to about 70ft, but he turned back as the fish started to run again, and he was worried about ripping it off. He worked the fish up to about 50ft, dropped down and put the pole spear into it, then wrapped it up and ascended to Craig's whooping and high fives!!
Day 5. GR and David wound up at La Reyna again, with the ocean laying down nicely, and the fish starting to show strong. They got into alot of wahoo, and each of them took one, watching quite a few more while looking for sails or marlin. The current was ripping out there, and if you wound up in the hydraulics, it would take you down as you were flying along on your drop.
Chris Blansfield took a nice milkfish, along with Ryan Davis, while Keith Love, Chris Woods, Mike Mcguire all landed dorado.
Brock Kennedy brought in a Toro, and Bernie Finnerty and Alex Bristol landed wahoo.
BUT, the day belonged to Ian, as he watched two wahoo approach, he took the sure shot on the small one at 22#, letting the chance at the big one, 80# go in favor of a sure thing.
After putting it on the boat, he had the 80# fish following him, hitting his flasher and then turning back on him to taunt him some more.
All the time, theres 6 other divers around him, and no one knows this fish is pestering him!!
He then goes up the island to a small sandy beach, and lays down in the bait looking for jacks or roosters. He taps his gun on the rock a few times, and this 57# rooster bolts right up in his face, and he pretty much stones it with his 120cm railgun!
Latter in the day, looking for jacks again, he has another 50# rooster approach him. Seems he had the fish mojo going that day!!
The day finishes out with James bringing in 4 fish, all different species, but not one of them making the 24" nose to fork minimum length!! He had the smallest wahoo I've ever seen, I don;'t think it weighed 3 lbs!!
But you got to give it to him for style,,,,,,,, he worked hard at landing that beast!!!
I think that about covers the rough stuff, but lots of stories and GREAT time was had by all!!
I want to thank all the divers that came and worked hard to try and get fish on the board, tuffing it out in some of the worst stuff I've seen boats go out in down there.
I also want to thank our sponsors for theyre donations to the prize table.
Florida Freedivers
Rob Allen
Aqualung America
Suunto
Pelaj
Riffe
Thula
Sea Sniper
Daryl Wong and Aimrite
Thanks you guys!!!!!!!!!!!
Everyone took home something nice, with several divers taking one fish, and hitting the jackpot at the prize table with a RA carbon railgun, or Pelaj Kanji railgun. It was a killer prize table.
I also want to thank Tim at Palapas Ventana for really putting on a good show there!!!!!
He did an OUTSTANDING job on organizing everything, with his crew of Eric, Shannon, and his lovely fiance Jimena, they did not miss a beat taking care of whatever was necessary to make things run smoothly. Also a BIG shout out to his mom Karon, and the entire kitchen staff for excellent service and killer grub the entire time!!
THANKS AMIGO!!!!!!!!!
We donated almost 1700$ to the local school, and Tim set up a young dance troop for tuesday night, with these teenagers performing traditional dances in costume, it was a real treat!
The awards banquet was great, with all the families there, stella and savana doing the trophy girl thing, kegs of beer, great food, prizes, killer local ranchero music, beer pong with the pangeros, tequila and all the rest of a great awards party.
Oh yeah, did I mention that 2nd place paid 1200$ US??????????
1st place???????? 3000$ cash dude.
Not bad. Where else can you have a great time, dive and party with some of the top divers in the world, and hunt pelagics?
The stories that ran around were amazing. Guys like GR Tarr, Troy " Lonefin " Williams from Guam, Chris Wood from australia had stories that sounded like movie scripts!!!!
Everyone had a blast!!
Thats it for now, look for the complete story by Mario Korf in the next edition of HSD hopefully.
Next years meet will probably be held in July. Its F@#%kng hot there at that time, but the fish are usually more abundant, and the winds are less prone to blow like they did.
I'll send pics tomorrow.
Adios amigos
Dennis
Heres the way it went after 4 days of comp.
25 divers, 16 took fish.
#1 Ian Puckeridge Australia 196.25 pts
#2 Mike Mcguire USA 97.20
# David Shelton USA 55.65
#4 Craig Classen USA 53.20
#5 Alex Bristol USA 31.45
#6 James Hardesty USA 30.65
#7 GR Tarr USA 30.55
#8 Peter Marley USA 18.00
#9 Chris Woods Australia 16.35
#10 Chris Blansfield USA 14.25
#11 Brad Thornbrough USA 14.20
#11 Ryan Davis USA 14.20
#13 Brock Kennedy USA 13.70
#14 Keith Love USA 13.45
#15 Chris Nocera USA 11.10
#16 Bernie Finnerty USA 5.25
So, that being said, congratulations to ALL the competitors!!
They worked hard to take fish, in conditions that most people would not even attempt to go out in.
Sunday the north winds started, and by monday morning the channel between mainland and cerralvo was running 6-8 ft swells, with 18knts of wind on top of that gusting above.
Day 1. Two fish landed on the first day, with James Hardesty taking the lead with a nice blue jack. David Shelton landed one of the smallest wahoo I had ever seen at 6.7 lbs. Only two boats ventured out to La Reyna I think, and one of them Ians boat, broke the tiller off of theyre 90hp honda motor, then took a wave that half filled the boat, freaking out the captian. I don;t think he can swim!Needless to say, It was a rough day for them, hard time handling the boat with the tiller lashed on.
Before you cast judgment on this, understand we had 25 divers in the water, all around the area, and those were the ONLY TWO fish they could come up with!!!
eIt blew hard all monday and into monday night, keeping everyone on edge on what the water was going to do the next day.
Day 2 was a little better, with the wind backing down a bit, and the swell dropping by 30%, but still a rough, slow ride.
Ian Puckeridge started showing what he's made of, finishing the day with a dorado, milkfish, and a 71.35# sailfish that turned out to be the big fish of the meet.
James came in with a big milkfish, almost 20# to make the rest of the catch for the day.
Day 3 was rest day, with some of the divers heading to cerralvo to hunt goats, thats a whole other story that maybe mario can fill in, but suffice to say that GR and Craig set new milestones in what can be done wearing croc rubber clogs, and flip flops. Word I got from Mario is, Brad is half mountain goat. They did not shoot any goats, but had an exciting adventure. Mario was set to try and shoot one with his toothpick speargun, using some kind of tag line to keep it from running off until he could finish it off. If anyone could do it, it would be him, but alas, no joy on the chivo.
Others went to town, some diving the reefs, and some taking it easy. Mike and I took our kids out to the island, and played with the morays, and shot some parrots and what not. Mikes boy landing a nice surgeon fish, and my son Willem taking his first dive in saltwater, on my back to about 12ft riding me like a dolphin. Both our daughters were all over the place, snorkeling about and watching us chase fish and shoot them.
Day 4 was Mike McGuires day. Mike and Chris Wood of australia, sighted a sailfish from the surface, jumped in and worked the area for a bit until it came back. Mike was watching the fish approach chris';s flasher, and did not shoot waiting for chris to dive and take the shot. After two approaches, he figured chris was not gonna see it, to he kicked hard on it and threw one into its shoulder, landing a 61.35# sailfish to start the day. Both of them landed dorado, and mike finished with adding a bonita to the list, bringing him close to Ian by the end of the day.
Alex Bristol brought a nice jack amd a small rooster to the beach, along with Chris Nocera with a dorado. David Shelton got into a really nice rooster, 49#, and at La Reyna, Craig and Brad were working the fish well, with Craig boating a 53.20# sail, and Brad taking a 14.20# wahoo. Now, I got to say, I've seen quite a few fish landed in my day, but Brad took it to a new level while playing this fish. He knew he did not have a good shot on it, so he played this thing like it was on 12lb test. After about 10 minutes or so, he took his pole spear, yeah, thats right, a pole spear down for the kill shot.
I followed him to about 70ft, but he turned back as the fish started to run again, and he was worried about ripping it off. He worked the fish up to about 50ft, dropped down and put the pole spear into it, then wrapped it up and ascended to Craig's whooping and high fives!!
Day 5. GR and David wound up at La Reyna again, with the ocean laying down nicely, and the fish starting to show strong. They got into alot of wahoo, and each of them took one, watching quite a few more while looking for sails or marlin. The current was ripping out there, and if you wound up in the hydraulics, it would take you down as you were flying along on your drop.
Chris Blansfield took a nice milkfish, along with Ryan Davis, while Keith Love, Chris Woods, Mike Mcguire all landed dorado.
Brock Kennedy brought in a Toro, and Bernie Finnerty and Alex Bristol landed wahoo.
BUT, the day belonged to Ian, as he watched two wahoo approach, he took the sure shot on the small one at 22#, letting the chance at the big one, 80# go in favor of a sure thing.
After putting it on the boat, he had the 80# fish following him, hitting his flasher and then turning back on him to taunt him some more.
All the time, theres 6 other divers around him, and no one knows this fish is pestering him!!
He then goes up the island to a small sandy beach, and lays down in the bait looking for jacks or roosters. He taps his gun on the rock a few times, and this 57# rooster bolts right up in his face, and he pretty much stones it with his 120cm railgun!
Latter in the day, looking for jacks again, he has another 50# rooster approach him. Seems he had the fish mojo going that day!!
The day finishes out with James bringing in 4 fish, all different species, but not one of them making the 24" nose to fork minimum length!! He had the smallest wahoo I've ever seen, I don;'t think it weighed 3 lbs!!
But you got to give it to him for style,,,,,,,, he worked hard at landing that beast!!!
I think that about covers the rough stuff, but lots of stories and GREAT time was had by all!!
I want to thank all the divers that came and worked hard to try and get fish on the board, tuffing it out in some of the worst stuff I've seen boats go out in down there.
I also want to thank our sponsors for theyre donations to the prize table.
Florida Freedivers
Rob Allen
Aqualung America
Suunto
Pelaj
Riffe
Thula
Sea Sniper
Daryl Wong and Aimrite
Thanks you guys!!!!!!!!!!!
Everyone took home something nice, with several divers taking one fish, and hitting the jackpot at the prize table with a RA carbon railgun, or Pelaj Kanji railgun. It was a killer prize table.
I also want to thank Tim at Palapas Ventana for really putting on a good show there!!!!!
He did an OUTSTANDING job on organizing everything, with his crew of Eric, Shannon, and his lovely fiance Jimena, they did not miss a beat taking care of whatever was necessary to make things run smoothly. Also a BIG shout out to his mom Karon, and the entire kitchen staff for excellent service and killer grub the entire time!!
THANKS AMIGO!!!!!!!!!
We donated almost 1700$ to the local school, and Tim set up a young dance troop for tuesday night, with these teenagers performing traditional dances in costume, it was a real treat!
The awards banquet was great, with all the families there, stella and savana doing the trophy girl thing, kegs of beer, great food, prizes, killer local ranchero music, beer pong with the pangeros, tequila and all the rest of a great awards party.
Oh yeah, did I mention that 2nd place paid 1200$ US??????????
1st place???????? 3000$ cash dude.
Not bad. Where else can you have a great time, dive and party with some of the top divers in the world, and hunt pelagics?
The stories that ran around were amazing. Guys like GR Tarr, Troy " Lonefin " Williams from Guam, Chris Wood from australia had stories that sounded like movie scripts!!!!
Everyone had a blast!!
Thats it for now, look for the complete story by Mario Korf in the next edition of HSD hopefully.
Next years meet will probably be held in July. Its F@#%kng hot there at that time, but the fish are usually more abundant, and the winds are less prone to blow like they did.
I'll send pics tomorrow.
Adios amigos
Dennis