Me and my GSB and my SMB.

[Mike Boswell]

Just for future reference, DFG recommends the following;
VENTING: A sharp needle or steel cannula is used to puncture a fish’s inflated swim bladder.
The California Department of Fish and Game does not currently encourage venting as it can cause
serious injury to fish and angler. You may accidentally puncture the wrong organ and/or introduce
infection. Even when done properly, venting damages a fish’s swim bladder.

Other methods of sinking a fish are at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/pdfs/release.pdf

Thanks, Max. That is very good information. I think most people - including me - would have tried to puncture the large "bag" sticking out of the fish's mouth, but as your DFG link points out, that is the fish's stomach, not his air bladder.

The GSB was once common along the California coast, but was nearly wiped out by overfishing. They were protected by law in 1982, and since then have been making a slow comeback.

One of the joys of diving in San Diego is seeing these magnificent fish in the kelp forests where they live. There are a number of awesome You-tube videos of them if you want to do a search.

These days it is not uncommon for anglers to catch them while targeting other species, and unless fishermen are equipped with the means to return them to depth, they are unlikely to survive.

At "only" 4-1/2 feet long, he was just a baby: Giant sea bass - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Mike Boswell]

Was the sea bass AOW? I don't think you or the sea bass is qualified to do that dive. I'm sure the sea bass has been deeper, but without the AOW cert, he really shouldn't be going that deep, especially on what was essentially a "trust me" dive. And you should have a divemaster or instructor rating if you're going to be taking uncertified students on dives like that. Don't even get me started on the folly of in-water recompression. You should have called DAN and put the sea bass on O2 while you waited for evac--that's standard protocol.

Regrettably, all that you say is true, but as he wasn't wearing split fins I assumed he was experienced. Far worse was my failure to have him sign a Liability Release Waiver. In CALIFORNIA, no less! I just got a letter from his lawyer, he's claiming a bad tummyache. They are filing a Bass-Action Suit.

 

[TSandM]

Regrettably, all that you say is true, but as he wasn't wearing split fins I assumed he was experienced. Far worse was my failure to have him sign a Liability Release Waiver. In CALIFORNIA, no less! I just got a letter from his lawyer, he's claiming a bad tummyache. They are filing a Bass-Action Suit.

Mike, do you have any idea how hard it is to get Coke out of a keyboard? You owe me.

 

[diverrex]

Regrettably, all that you say is true, but as he wasn't wearing split fins I assumed he was experienced. Far worse was my failure to have him sign a Liability Release Waiver. In CALIFORNIA, no less! I just got a letter from his lawyer, he's claiming a bad tummyache. They are filing a Bass-Action Suit.

That is pretty funny.

Seriously though what an interesting little story this is. Thank you for your efforts in helping it. Out of 100+ California dives I have only had the pleasure of seeing one GSB, and even then it was just a glipmse out of the corner of my eye, and then it was gone into the murky water. I first thought it was another diver because of its size until I saw a fin attached. It is such a shame they were fished out. How much more fun it would be to see them on every dive. No I wouldn't get tired of them at all, just like I still don't get tired of Garibaldi.

 

[vladimir]

They are filing a Bass-Action Suit.

 

[wwkayaker22]

Great story. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Mike Boswell]

Laudable to help the fish and learn new skills but not very wise to have done the second dive for a number of reasons. No buddy, lack of surface interval etc.

Also, learning new skills like smb deployment should ideally first be done in pool or sheltered water under instruction. As you saw from first deployment a lot can go wrong.

Hi sk001,

I'm actually glad you raised these points. After most dives I do a self-critique, in terms of what I did right, what I did wrong, and how I could improve in the future.

For those who might learn something from my mistakes, I offer the following self-analysis:

I have done a lot of solo diving so I am comfortable with that.
We did in fact have a SI of over an hour.
I agree that it would have been better to do SMB practice in a more controlled environment.
It would have been MUCH smarter to tow the fish over to the kelp beds and submerge him there in 50' of water - much safer for both of us.
I should have slowed my descent WAY down and maintained better control.
I should have taken a few seconds to discuss a plan with the others in both boats.

 

[firstdive2005]

Maybe the 'bass action suit' will get dropped when they see the good that has come out of this dive.
That was funny.

 

[QatarDiver]

I cheat, 90% of the time I deploy the SMB at the 5m stop, so I have a separate piece of line, 5m long, then you dont have to manage the finger reel with one hand while holding the spare reg set with the other and the DSMB with the third. (The fixed line has a breaking strain of 100 kg, so if anything goes wrong, it will snap)