mts0628
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Hey All:
So, This past Sunday, I went out on my favorite charter here in North Carolina for a PM one tank trip on the USS Indra. As usual, I have no dive buddy that I can call on to go with me, so I get an insta-buddy when I get to the boat. No biggie really, because I just like to swim around, practice skills, and see neat things all which my newly found buddies seem to accommodate me on. They like the way I plan my dive and then dive my plan, and the fact that I am safety oriented. Anyway...
This past Sunday was no different but I was lucky enough to pair up with a diver that had my experience level (actually he was a bit more schooled than me but we had about the same about of dives). I had brought my AB Biller and stringer, with the hope that any buddy that I was paired up with would humor me trying to get a fish. John was more than accommodating and was kinda' excited about the idea.
We finally hit the water together and start swimming towards the bow of the wreck. After some minor logistic stuff, we see a school of Amberjack just kinda' hangin' around. They were pretty friendly and unsuspecting, and swimming pretty close (within 10 feet range). I had my gun, can I say cocked? Or is it banded? I dunno but it was ready for shooting as soon as I flipped the safety to kill, or at least shoot.
So, I pick a fish, aim, safety off, and shoot. Immediately, the gun jerks forward and pulls me a bit. Yup, I got him! The fish starts swimming erratically and I totally underestimated the strength and power that a fish this size has, and after all this is their home and environment. My main concern was to make sure that the big flopper was on the other side of the fish as my shaft has two: a small one near the tip and a big one behind it. I shot him right under and behind his gills and it wasn't the place I was aiming for either.
I look at John, and he flashes me an ok. I nod as I have my hands full but I am managing it so far. I begin to reel him in hand over hand, and then I get the shaft. This time, I let my gun go and I know where it is (up) but I do this to focus on my fish. Well, this fish is squirming to beat the band, and Barracuda are being attracted. John is kinda wide-eyed but cool and I am not too concerned because this is not my first encounter with them but they do look menacing.
Well, as soon as I get close to the fish, he is squirming and squirming, and then- he's gone. Damn. It was like slow motion seeing him come free from the shaft, I just wanted to cuss because he was about 30 inches long and just, BIG! I look at John, he looks at me, and then we look at out gauges. Ok, let's try this again.
I reassemble my gun, pull both bands back, and find another fish. I see one, aim, safety off, and fire! Whoa, this one is a doozie! I was hoping to get a stone shot but I was a little off- maybe 2 inches behind the brain I think. I let this one swim a bit because I know that the second barb was on the other side. Well, this fish thanks me by bolting to the wreck! He tries to hole up in a hatch and he rounds the corner with such speed and power that as he disappears, I see the shaft bending! Uh oh! I quickly grab the shaft and pull him out, levering the shaft against the wreck to avoid directly pulling on the fish.
Now to handling the fish. Well, first I know I need to become a little better shot. But I have watched 23six's excellent videos and am just in awe on how him and his peeps just grab near the tail fin, grab the gills, and the dispatch the fish (if necessary). So, thinking, monkey see monkey do, I try to grab the tail. Um, no go. Big no go. So then all I think about is getting my hand as far up the shaft as I can so that I ensure this fish doesn't do a disappearing act like my last one. I do, and then my other hand moves towards the gills. I grab the underside of the gills, and then because of poor planning, I use my stringer to dispatch the fish.
Funny story about the knife situation. I always carry one, but most of the time a broken steak knife one (DIR style). I do have a Victory Diver's Knife that would have made short work of dispatching, but unfortunately, it was in my dive bag on the boat! Good place for it as I knew it would not get lost but bad place for it because I would have killed for this knife right about now.
I open my stringer and use the pointy end to dispatch my fish. It took me a few seconds and of course, the fish wasn't interested in my plans but eventually I got it. I then strung it through a gill and then out of the mouth. I did it this way because honestly, I was shaking so bad and extremely tired and I didn't think I had the coordination nor the strength to go through the eyes. I handed the stringer and fish to John while I contended with my mess of a gun and line which was everywhere including behind me and on my tank!
Some final comments. I think I may have bit off more than I could chew with this one but I was extremely lucky. Also, when I had seen these fish before, I improperly identified them as a Bluefish (no size limit, max 15 per day). I know I know but I am not the sharpest with the fish ID. Next time, I will have a good knife for spearfishing and I will leave the canister light topside because really, it was more of a hassle than help. And finally, even though I did not mention John much, he was invaluable to me and OUR catch. After we returned to the dock, we cleaned and filleted the fish to the best of our abilities. It was pretty gnarly but you could still tell it was a big fish and in the end I gave John half and I took half.
Oh, and I guesstimate the fish to be about 36 inches and about 20 pounds. Someone more knowledgeable and better with estimation please feel free to correct me (but in the cooler his tail curled up the side). In my pictures, it felt like a ton (thus my braced body position) but maybe I just need to hit the weights more. I dunno...
Well, thanks for reading and good luck to all of you.
With kind regards,
Thomas
So, This past Sunday, I went out on my favorite charter here in North Carolina for a PM one tank trip on the USS Indra. As usual, I have no dive buddy that I can call on to go with me, so I get an insta-buddy when I get to the boat. No biggie really, because I just like to swim around, practice skills, and see neat things all which my newly found buddies seem to accommodate me on. They like the way I plan my dive and then dive my plan, and the fact that I am safety oriented. Anyway...
This past Sunday was no different but I was lucky enough to pair up with a diver that had my experience level (actually he was a bit more schooled than me but we had about the same about of dives). I had brought my AB Biller and stringer, with the hope that any buddy that I was paired up with would humor me trying to get a fish. John was more than accommodating and was kinda' excited about the idea.
We finally hit the water together and start swimming towards the bow of the wreck. After some minor logistic stuff, we see a school of Amberjack just kinda' hangin' around. They were pretty friendly and unsuspecting, and swimming pretty close (within 10 feet range). I had my gun, can I say cocked? Or is it banded? I dunno but it was ready for shooting as soon as I flipped the safety to kill, or at least shoot.
So, I pick a fish, aim, safety off, and shoot. Immediately, the gun jerks forward and pulls me a bit. Yup, I got him! The fish starts swimming erratically and I totally underestimated the strength and power that a fish this size has, and after all this is their home and environment. My main concern was to make sure that the big flopper was on the other side of the fish as my shaft has two: a small one near the tip and a big one behind it. I shot him right under and behind his gills and it wasn't the place I was aiming for either.
I look at John, and he flashes me an ok. I nod as I have my hands full but I am managing it so far. I begin to reel him in hand over hand, and then I get the shaft. This time, I let my gun go and I know where it is (up) but I do this to focus on my fish. Well, this fish is squirming to beat the band, and Barracuda are being attracted. John is kinda wide-eyed but cool and I am not too concerned because this is not my first encounter with them but they do look menacing.
Well, as soon as I get close to the fish, he is squirming and squirming, and then- he's gone. Damn. It was like slow motion seeing him come free from the shaft, I just wanted to cuss because he was about 30 inches long and just, BIG! I look at John, he looks at me, and then we look at out gauges. Ok, let's try this again.
I reassemble my gun, pull both bands back, and find another fish. I see one, aim, safety off, and fire! Whoa, this one is a doozie! I was hoping to get a stone shot but I was a little off- maybe 2 inches behind the brain I think. I let this one swim a bit because I know that the second barb was on the other side. Well, this fish thanks me by bolting to the wreck! He tries to hole up in a hatch and he rounds the corner with such speed and power that as he disappears, I see the shaft bending! Uh oh! I quickly grab the shaft and pull him out, levering the shaft against the wreck to avoid directly pulling on the fish.
Now to handling the fish. Well, first I know I need to become a little better shot. But I have watched 23six's excellent videos and am just in awe on how him and his peeps just grab near the tail fin, grab the gills, and the dispatch the fish (if necessary). So, thinking, monkey see monkey do, I try to grab the tail. Um, no go. Big no go. So then all I think about is getting my hand as far up the shaft as I can so that I ensure this fish doesn't do a disappearing act like my last one. I do, and then my other hand moves towards the gills. I grab the underside of the gills, and then because of poor planning, I use my stringer to dispatch the fish.
Funny story about the knife situation. I always carry one, but most of the time a broken steak knife one (DIR style). I do have a Victory Diver's Knife that would have made short work of dispatching, but unfortunately, it was in my dive bag on the boat! Good place for it as I knew it would not get lost but bad place for it because I would have killed for this knife right about now.
I open my stringer and use the pointy end to dispatch my fish. It took me a few seconds and of course, the fish wasn't interested in my plans but eventually I got it. I then strung it through a gill and then out of the mouth. I did it this way because honestly, I was shaking so bad and extremely tired and I didn't think I had the coordination nor the strength to go through the eyes. I handed the stringer and fish to John while I contended with my mess of a gun and line which was everywhere including behind me and on my tank!
Some final comments. I think I may have bit off more than I could chew with this one but I was extremely lucky. Also, when I had seen these fish before, I improperly identified them as a Bluefish (no size limit, max 15 per day). I know I know but I am not the sharpest with the fish ID. Next time, I will have a good knife for spearfishing and I will leave the canister light topside because really, it was more of a hassle than help. And finally, even though I did not mention John much, he was invaluable to me and OUR catch. After we returned to the dock, we cleaned and filleted the fish to the best of our abilities. It was pretty gnarly but you could still tell it was a big fish and in the end I gave John half and I took half.
Oh, and I guesstimate the fish to be about 36 inches and about 20 pounds. Someone more knowledgeable and better with estimation please feel free to correct me (but in the cooler his tail curled up the side). In my pictures, it felt like a ton (thus my braced body position) but maybe I just need to hit the weights more. I dunno...
Well, thanks for reading and good luck to all of you.
With kind regards,
Thomas
Last edited:
Congrats and welcome to the addiction!
