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Northern Atlantic: New England States An area for the cold water divers of the New England States.

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Old 07-17-2017, 10:33 AM   #1
carlock
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Fish story, safety lesson!

Well,
I figured I need to share my story, yesterday was my closest call spearfishing and I figure it may help others, plus it's a good story!

Three of us were fishing the southwest corner of Block yesterday, it was a beautiful day out there. Loading up on scup, sea bass and found a few triggers. My buddy ended up getting a 40lb bass early in the day, but we were having a little trouble finding them after that, did a few deeper drops in 50 feet by the line, not much happening.
Looking toward the island we see birds working and go to check it out.
Get in and birds and fish are on the surface... Breath up quick and make my drop, on the way down I was passing 20 to 30 lb bass, getting excited. Hit the bottom at 58 feet, it was loaded walls of 30 to 50 lb bass all around me. Pushed my limit just a little bit looking for the biggest fish, nothing unusual for me to do.

Here's where it gets interesting...

Shoot a nice bass just behind the Gill plate, he starts ripping line, I am out breath and head up...

Then I notice my carbon fin on my left foot had snapped in half... Going no where fast, pulling up fish...
Halfway up I realize I am not gonna make it and unclip my belt, thank God.
I held my belt and continued to swim up untill I lost motor control and dropped the belt and gun.
Inhaled some water and blacked out for a bit, but was able to fight through it at the surface, my buddy was right next to me, but I couldn't ask for help... And he had no clue I needed any...

Thankfully I had a floatline on the gun that day because of some boat traffic in the area... I swam to the line and pulled it to the boat, where I told them I was not OK and they took it and helped me in.
As I coughed up water and got my breathing back under control I watched them pull in the fish, close to a 50lb bass, then they kept pulling, a 30lb or so can up on my shaft with the flopper toggled behind the Gill plate... Wow, I was confused, guess I got 2!

So here is the safety point...
Would have been dead if I did not remember to undo my belt when things were getting bad. Lost it, best money I could ever spend. Whenever I feel like I am pushing it more than normal, I grab my belt and undo it, holding the tag end of the rubber untill I make it to the surface, I think it's good practice.

Took 20 minutes to stop coughing and breath normal and started to realize all the things that came into play, bad and good.

Things that went wrong:
Deeper drop than expected
Shot big fish that took off
My fin snapped on the bottom, no clue why or how!
I have been sick for a few weeks...

Things that went right:
Dropped my belt and gun
Boat was close and keeping an eye on me
I had a floatline( I know the fish or gun don't matter, but it was fun to land them after all of that!)

Just something for you guys to think about, things go wrong, try to take as many safety precautions as you can take! Dive safe and keep an eye on each other, and catch some fish!
]

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Last edited by carlock; 07-17-2017 at 10:47 PM.
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Old 07-17-2017, 10:57 AM   #2
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Re: Fish story, safety lesson!

Holy cow. Glad you're still with us.

That's really, really close. I had a similar event where I lost control. I believe it was related to breathing up a little aggressively before the dive. (Not saying that's what you did). Those are some great depths but you shouldn't be doing a "quick breath-up" for 58'. Have you taken any of the classes? (PFI, FFI, etc?) I learned a ton about my breath-up and technique that helped me to more comfortably work 50-80'.

You might want to get checked out - people can have "dry drownings" ("secondary drowning?") after ingesting water.

Good thinking on the weight belt removal. Nice fish, congratulations.

Thank you for sharing the story.

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Old 07-17-2017, 11:12 AM   #3
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Re: Fish story, safety lesson!

Yeah, I been diving for 10 years out there, 60 to 90 feet is usually ok for me, but I haven't been in the water much and I just got over a nasty respiratory infection... Gotta do a PFI course... It's just so hard to do that instead of going on a trip to shoot fish!

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Old 07-19-2017, 08:23 AM   #4
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Re: Fish story, safety lesson!

daaammmm awesome story.great fish. definitely go get checked tho


gabe great to see ur still around bro
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Old 07-19-2017, 11:15 AM   #5
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Re: Fish story, safety lesson!

how often do you feel the need to undo your belt? Thank god you did and all is well, but that is not good man. scary shit indeed.
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Old 07-19-2017, 11:24 AM   #6
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Re: Fish story, safety lesson!

I don't undo it that often, just when I get the feeling like I need air and I still got 40 feet or so to go, usually a drop to 60 plus when ya get the feeling you spent too much time checking out the scenery, this time was all I could do, it was like the broken fin was pulling me in the opposite direction, hanging on by the tendon like a parachute, and I didn't realize it was broke till I needed it...

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Old 07-20-2017, 09:59 PM   #7
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Re: Fish story, safety lesson!

You should never have to undo your weight belt. You should always be positively buoyant on the surface. I dive a 5mm top and 3 mm bottom with 6-10 pounds.
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Old 07-21-2017, 01:29 AM   #8
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Re: Fish story, safety lesson!

Thank you for sharing your story it is interesting and we can all learn from it.
One thing that puzzles me is that you were not diving alone but that your buddy was not aware of your problems? He didn't help although he was right there and you did black out! I can only conclude that for some reason he was not watching you. You are extremely lucky with the way things turned out.
In your list of things that went wrong it should say that your buddy should have been watching you, especially with a dive to that depth. He also should be aware and trained to act appropriately when something happens.
Again this was really close, happy you made it. You owe it to your beloved ones to take a course learn about simple safety practices and adjust accordingly. You will dive deeper, better, safer and look back at this event from a very different perspective.


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Old 07-21-2017, 06:41 AM   #9
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Re: Fish story, safety lesson!

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Originally Posted by MeTo View Post
You should never have to undo your weight belt. You should always be positively buoyant on the surface. I dive a 5mm top and 3 mm bottom with 6-10 pounds.


If you are deep, fighting a fish (or two ) and have a broken fin and feel bad... I can't think of a better time to drop the belt (and gun).
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Old 07-21-2017, 06:59 AM   #10
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Re: Fish story, safety lesson!

Jeezus Carl, Glad you are still here. That story could have had a terrible ending. As you know. The gun, the fish, the weight belt, who cares.

I've snapped fins a few times and every one of those times was fighting a big fish. In those shituations I usually broke off the bottom of the fin or just ditched the fin, loosened my Reel drag, and made it to the surface. But it's easier to understand what is happening when the Water is real clear and also once you've thought this through, which is what your story will give people a chance to do. In the old days.. we used to break several pairs of fins a year, so it was more normal to understand what happened. It's easy enough to swim with one fin.. but one broken one flapping around is like an anchor.

I also undo my weightbelt and hold onto it in a sketchy situation. The idea that you are supposed to be buoyant at 25' doesn't do you much good when you are not sure if you are at 30' or 20'.. and you want to float quickly up..

Thanks to share. It's so important to visualize all of these problems before they happen. I'm so glad you made it.
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Old 07-21-2017, 10:17 AM   #11
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Re: Fish story, safety lesson!

Drop the belt!!!

If it is a MAKO belt, I'll happily buy you a new one. Thanks for the reminder.
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Old 07-21-2017, 12:32 PM   #12
carlock
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Re: Fish story, safety lesson!

Kodama, thanks for the insight, I don't fault my dive buddy at all, we really just don't do it right, we all know we should, and we try. I dive with a lot of very good and knowledgeable divers, but fast currents and murk make the buddy system almost impossible... It is what it is.

Jon, maybe I picked up that weight belt drill from you, if so thanks!
We can also add to the list of things I screwed up loosening the drag before I dove... It's better to have it just tight enough to hold your line if your going deep!

Best comment you made is that it will give people a chance to think about how they do things, what there plan is, are they being safe, that was my idea in posting it. It's hard to make a plan when it's happening to you.
Closes make you reevaluate how you do things, I just hope others can do the same without having there own.
This story makes me look foolish, ignorant of some basic safety principles... I don't really care what people think of me, or how I dive. I just hope people try and not make similar mistakes!

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Old 07-21-2017, 12:34 PM   #13
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Re: Fish story, safety lesson!

Thanks Mako spearguns...I won't lie, It was not my Mako belt, that one is set up for blue water and a light suit!

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Old 07-21-2017, 12:56 PM   #14
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Re: Fish story, safety lesson!

Glad you are ok and can write about it.

Had similar happen in Bahamas on 75ft dive broke a fin while shooting a fish. Nice thing was I had floatline I just dropped my spear and swam up with one fin using arms. Buddy was there to help me and grab floatline and fight the fish. I never felt bad though on way up, but I rarely push my dives and try leave something with breath just in case.

I'm not sure on strippers but if they don't hole up after being shot why even fight them at all if using a floatline. Shoot them and swim up. Fighting a fish underwater will zap you quickly of energy and breath.
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Old 07-21-2017, 01:01 PM   #15
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Re: Fish story, safety lesson!

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Originally Posted by Ryfish View Post
Glad you are ok and can write about it.

Had similar happen in Bahamas on 75ft dive broke a fin while shooting a fish. Nice thing was I had floatline I just dropped my spear and swam up with one fin using arms. Buddy was there to help me and grab floatline and fight the fish. I never felt bad though on way up, but I rarely push my dives and try leave something with breath just in case.

I'm not sure on strippers but if they don't hole up after being shot why even fight them at all if using a floatline. Shoot them and swim up. Fighting a fish underwater will zap you quickly of energy and breath.
Great point, usually just use a reel... But why I tried to fight it... I dunno, I am not used to having the float line...guess I forgot it was there!

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