[Bill McIntyre]

Today I had the pleasure of meeting and diving with Fuzz (Harold), the guy who is famous for the photo of his incredible arsenal. If someone will post a copy, I'm sure it will be widely recognized. He and his friend Stewart (I'm not sure if he has a DB name) are down from San Jose laying waste to So Cal fish, and I tried to act as today's enabler.

There was quite a big swell on the way out, but at least it was fairly long period and the wind didn't get as bad as forecast, so we survived.

The vis was decent and the water temp was 57, which at least beat the 55 I started in last time. Stewart and I finally got bored and cold and came back to the boat, but Fuzz was still out there quite a bit longer, and it paid off. We spotted his Riffe utility float inflated on the surface and debated going over to help, but he seemed to be moving, and pretty soon he was back with this nice fish, the only one he saw, but the only one he needed for a limit.

It was hard to get a definite weight with the scale bouncing up and down in the swell, but I decided a decent average of the bounce was about 45 lbs.

BTW, he was using a 60" Sea Sniper gun, so I finally got to see one. It sure was pretty.

There was another dive boat anchored where we really wanted to be, so we moved to another bed. I got about 50 feet from the boat and a very nice fish cruised through the kelp under me. I took the surface shot and missed. I was so pissed!

I think my excuse is that the surface was rough and it was hard to hold the gun steady.

Or maybe it was the fact that the fish looked bigger than the one Fuzz shot, and I felt like I wouldn't be a good host if I shot it so I just subconsciously muffed the shot.

Or maybe its just that I suck and was so delighted that I was about to start my season that I rushed the shot .

Pick one of the above.

We moved to another spot but there was a fairly stiff current running. Stewart and I again returned to the boat. Fuzz had been swimming around with his little gun and said a nice pair came by about 8 feet under him while he was on the surface.

Aaargh! There is no God!

With that news, I went back in for another 30 minutes, but it just wouldn't happen for me.

Oh well, one of these days. At least my deck has seen some blood and slime for the first time this season, and it was a very pleasant day with a couple of great guys.