a question for the ages....

[palomar_hs]

WHERE ARE ALL THE FISH!? im sure this is an annoying question that has been asked time and time again but ive searched high and low, near and far, threads old and new for the elusive answer.
im a southern california boy specifically san diego county. i reside in the beautiful mountian town of julian (an hour and change from the water) so in short i dont get much time to dive and explore the local coastlines. im new to the spearo scene as well as diving in general but have been consumed by dreams of reefs and kelp since my first dive. my regular dive site is a beach know to the locals as "Boomers" but much to my dismay i have been skunked there on most of my outings besides a couple of small perch here and there. ive seen some cool stuff there such as rays, sand sharks, leopards and a few bugs and on my last trip i spotted my first wsb but had nowhere near adequate stalking skills to approach the fish much less get off a clean shot. but enough about me its time to get down to brass tacks here... can sombody please give a poor sap like me a hint as to where i might find some suitable quarry???!!!! lookin for calicos, sheephead, sandbass...anything of the sort. yellowtail and wsb seem to be a notch beyond my skill level and as tempted as i am to pursue game of that caliber i feel i should learn to walk before i run. HELP!

 

[alexrom1207]

PM Sent. Plus there is a....hummm...."more mature" guy on this site named Bill McIntyre who shoots WSB like it's going out of style. He's sort of our requisite expert on the subject. I'm sure he can steer you to some of the places he hasn't cleaned out yet.rofl

 

[Bill McIntyre]

I'm afraid that I don't do any diving from shore, and I'm really not that familiar with San Diego County dive sites. The few times I've been down there, I went on friend's boats to La Jolla ands Point Loma kelp. However, I know that a lot of guys on Spearboard dive from shore at La Jolla and do well on calicos, etc. Yellowtail and white sea bass are also taken by shore divers there, including a former world record 70 pound yellowtail.

 

[alexrom1207]

Sorry for putting you on the spot Bill. Being born and raised in Rhode Island I sometimes assume that people from the same state live close enough that they know the same places. (It only takes me 45 minutes to an hour to drive from one side of our little State to the other. And that's driving across it at its longest part.)

 

[palomar_hs]

thanks gents. i signed up over on spearboard as well and there does seem to be a bit more activity in the "california" forum. and iv been meaning to make my way out to the kelp at lajolla i just dont quite have the cojones yet. my brother and i took up the sport together so were not real "ocean savvy" if you will. still trying to figure out tides and currents and what not. maybe being overly cautious....

 

[Bill McIntyre]

You are not being overly cautious. Take it easy and don't push your comfort level. We lose lots of freedive spearfishmen, mostly to shallow water blackout. Google it.

I've been spearfishing since about 1953, and I'm still learning. I had to bring a dive buddy's remains back from Mexico, and he was highly skilled.

When a new guy boards my boat, I have him fill out an emergency contact form because I know how hard it is to find out who to call. But even if I finally know who to call, I know how hard it is to pick up the phone and tell a woman that she is the single mother of 5 kids. Don't make anyone make that call.