Screen Name
11-28-2003, 12:34 AM
Did a pretty adventure packed trip to the Marquesas and the Tortugas last weekend. My fellow spearfishermen were David Shelton, Lou Bonsey, Bruce Myers, Mike Ryan, John Bains, and Oscar Menendez, all great people.
Small Craft Advisories were in effect as we made the trip down to the Keys on Thursday. It settled down to just "blowin too hard" as we left port on the Playmate on Friday morning. The boat handles the seas well, and so does the captain......but a few of the guys became seasick, adding to the "flavor" of the trip.
Captain Bob Demauro made sure we got on fish right out of the chute. I got a 12 lb Black while freediving, Lou got a 22 pounder with tanks, and I lost a maybe 20+ lb mutton early on. The highlight of my day was the last dive. They dropped us in a fishy spot with lot of current and bad vis. It definitely had potential as we drifted from big rockpile to big rockpile. It was spooky. I did not do a lot of shooting because I was looking for the big one.
About a half hour into the dive, I encountered a nice Cobia and then some 40 lb Jacks. Just as I was trained on the Cobia, the silhouette of the largest shark I had ever seen appeared. The shark was 25 to 30 feet long. Its tail was maybe ten feet tall, its dorsal fin was 6 feet tall. Its pectorals were as large as the dorsal. Its gill slits alone were maybe 3-4 feet long. The Jacks and Cobia belonged to the shark. They, me, and my speargun, suddenly felt very small. "I hope I'm not over with" ran through my mind.
As the shark and its entourage drew closer and circled me a couple of times, I realized it was a whale shark. Hmmmm, I know they aren’t man-eaters, I think. I don’t know what he had in mind, but he and his friends kept circling and coming ever closer, until his pec fins passed about a foot from my face. He circled me for maybe 15 minutes and I was starting to get dizzy from watching him. He wouldn't go away. Hard to shoot fish in that circumstance, at least with my constitution, and grabbing his dorsal and going for a ride was the last thing on my mind. Eventually I got used to him, and as I finished my dive I decided to shoot one of his fish......not sure if it was a good idea or not. I was happy that the Jack rolled over dead rather than taking off and tangling me with an agitated whale shark.
The next day we covered a lot of ground and wore ourselves out kicking. I got a 27 lb Yellowfin and a 9 lb mango. David Shelton got a 33lb Black and missed a 70 lb black. Bob then dropped us on a huge middlegrounds type ledge, 140 feet deep and 60 feet tall. David and I swam quite a ways, and then came to a 45 lb black. We chased him around a rock for a while, but never could get a clean shot. He was educated. I swam down the ledge.......and encountered maybe 10 other big blacks. I shot at a tail down in a crack and missed. I spooked an 80 to 100 pounder into a hole and he murked it up. I moved on to let it clear a bit, then took a shot at a 50 pounder that was lying on his side, just lying there, he looked like he was taking a nap. As I drifted quietly to him, he started to move and I took the shot. The vis was so good and the fish was so big it was deceptive.......I was too far away, and the shaft fell harmlessly into the sand at the spot where his brain had been laying. Out of time, I planned my next assault as I surfaced.
"I want to dive that spot again", I said. "Backdiving is a waste of time, those fish are spooked, I have another spot just like it nearby" they said. Why I let them talk me out of my rule "you never leave fish to go search for fish", I will never understand. Popular opinion prevailed, and we moved to a fresh but similar spot a mile or so away. I was loaded for bear with both David's No Ka Oi with a reel and my Spearfishing Specialties 52". Lucky for the Grouper, but not for me, they were not there.......and there were no dives left.
Overall, a great trip on the Playmate, and we want to thank Captain Bob for the adventure and excellent accommodations. I am working on another trip as we speak.
By the way.........I can assure you there was no shortage of Hogfish in the Marquesas or the Tortugas. In fact, we got more hogfish than anything else.
Small Craft Advisories were in effect as we made the trip down to the Keys on Thursday. It settled down to just "blowin too hard" as we left port on the Playmate on Friday morning. The boat handles the seas well, and so does the captain......but a few of the guys became seasick, adding to the "flavor" of the trip.
Captain Bob Demauro made sure we got on fish right out of the chute. I got a 12 lb Black while freediving, Lou got a 22 pounder with tanks, and I lost a maybe 20+ lb mutton early on. The highlight of my day was the last dive. They dropped us in a fishy spot with lot of current and bad vis. It definitely had potential as we drifted from big rockpile to big rockpile. It was spooky. I did not do a lot of shooting because I was looking for the big one.
About a half hour into the dive, I encountered a nice Cobia and then some 40 lb Jacks. Just as I was trained on the Cobia, the silhouette of the largest shark I had ever seen appeared. The shark was 25 to 30 feet long. Its tail was maybe ten feet tall, its dorsal fin was 6 feet tall. Its pectorals were as large as the dorsal. Its gill slits alone were maybe 3-4 feet long. The Jacks and Cobia belonged to the shark. They, me, and my speargun, suddenly felt very small. "I hope I'm not over with" ran through my mind.
As the shark and its entourage drew closer and circled me a couple of times, I realized it was a whale shark. Hmmmm, I know they aren’t man-eaters, I think. I don’t know what he had in mind, but he and his friends kept circling and coming ever closer, until his pec fins passed about a foot from my face. He circled me for maybe 15 minutes and I was starting to get dizzy from watching him. He wouldn't go away. Hard to shoot fish in that circumstance, at least with my constitution, and grabbing his dorsal and going for a ride was the last thing on my mind. Eventually I got used to him, and as I finished my dive I decided to shoot one of his fish......not sure if it was a good idea or not. I was happy that the Jack rolled over dead rather than taking off and tangling me with an agitated whale shark.
The next day we covered a lot of ground and wore ourselves out kicking. I got a 27 lb Yellowfin and a 9 lb mango. David Shelton got a 33lb Black and missed a 70 lb black. Bob then dropped us on a huge middlegrounds type ledge, 140 feet deep and 60 feet tall. David and I swam quite a ways, and then came to a 45 lb black. We chased him around a rock for a while, but never could get a clean shot. He was educated. I swam down the ledge.......and encountered maybe 10 other big blacks. I shot at a tail down in a crack and missed. I spooked an 80 to 100 pounder into a hole and he murked it up. I moved on to let it clear a bit, then took a shot at a 50 pounder that was lying on his side, just lying there, he looked like he was taking a nap. As I drifted quietly to him, he started to move and I took the shot. The vis was so good and the fish was so big it was deceptive.......I was too far away, and the shaft fell harmlessly into the sand at the spot where his brain had been laying. Out of time, I planned my next assault as I surfaced.
"I want to dive that spot again", I said. "Backdiving is a waste of time, those fish are spooked, I have another spot just like it nearby" they said. Why I let them talk me out of my rule "you never leave fish to go search for fish", I will never understand. Popular opinion prevailed, and we moved to a fresh but similar spot a mile or so away. I was loaded for bear with both David's No Ka Oi with a reel and my Spearfishing Specialties 52". Lucky for the Grouper, but not for me, they were not there.......and there were no dives left.
Overall, a great trip on the Playmate, and we want to thank Captain Bob for the adventure and excellent accommodations. I am working on another trip as we speak.
By the way.........I can assure you there was no shortage of Hogfish in the Marquesas or the Tortugas. In fact, we got more hogfish than anything else.