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British Columbia Spearfishing Trip

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
I know this is off topic - but I'll take the jump anyway. As you guys probably know I've been stalking the elusive Freshwater Drum of late - with my camera since the DNR does use binoculars. These are pretty skittish fish. This morning I dropped my daughter off at work and parked down near my usual spot. I've been checking out an old pipeline about 100 meters south of my usual haunts. It's a popular spot with the Scubies and runs a little deeper which is nice for my work on depth. The morning was overcast, with light rain, and visibility was down under 30 feet; making it very dark on the bottom. I ended up encountering quite a few. One large one with some scarring around it's mouth seems to know me and has been getting bolder. Here is a shot taken in very dark water at about 10m.

The Video is definitely a personal best for proximity. Looking at it now it seems almost that the drum was getting aggressive! It was the first time I've ever seen one spook and come back in. I think the spook was caused by some small bubbles escaping my hood.



Drums of DOOM!!
 
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Thanks for the article Pete, great job. Also, once again Chris, excellent video and fish stalking skills.

lee
 
hmmm.. you know. To my knowlege there is no law preventing me from hunting with a knife... Today I saw a huge school of shad - a first - and a salmon in the 1 meter range.

I discovered the drums were spooked by a noise I made with my soft palate while equalizing. The big one seems to find it a bit of a challenge and likes to circle back.

Pete - I really enjoyed the way your article was written.
 
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Indeed, that article was excellent and serves as a reminder to all here to try and get together and enjoy the water and eachother's company. As with the Keyz Kraze and the Ab Grab, many of you participants will enjoy long lasting friendships.
 
Great photos and vids, Fondu! You are the ambassador of L. Michigan.

Strange that the drum (sheephead to some) are usually so spooky. We can get right on top of them in the inland lakes. Don't get me wrong, they are NOT curious like centrarchids. But, they also don't flee when they see you coming. I could shoot them all day.....were it not for the fact that other fish taste better (imo), and drum are very thin across the backbone, too. Deceivingly little meat for their size.

That fish is the sole fw representative of its family. Because it has such recent sw roots, it still breed sw style - in a big mass orgy in open water, floating the eggs on the surface. During the fun, they males "serenade" the females by clacking together bones in their heads. I'll bet if you could mimic this sound, you get males running from all corners - similar to grinding a pair of antlers during the rut.

And great article, Pete!!
 
Well written article as always Pete. It helped me to see what I missed
Next year amigos.
Erik
 
Reactions: BatRay
Looking forward to your next idea Erik - that one was certainly a winner.

Unirdna. As I get quieter the drum get closer. Particularly that big one in the video. But generally they move off the minute they see me - sometimes returning with limited curiosity. I have managed to watch them feed for a few seconds - by hiding behind a big pipe and just peaking over. It was a kick yesterday watching them bolt when I equalized. They definitely don't ignore you! I'm sure I'll get onto something else soon but they sure are awesome looking fish - quite large too.

Big fun encountering the scuba divers out there. They were a little blown away to find me lounging at 10 meters and waving as they swam by. They kept looking back over their shoulders to see if I'd surfaced yet. On the way back I was sitting with my back to them - leaning against a big pipe watching for a big school of shad like I was at the movies. Maybe soon I'll have someone to dive with!! then I could start working more on depth. After watching Eric, Pete and Tyler I decided I want to be as comfortable at 30 meters as I am now at 10 or 15.
 
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unirdna said:
I'll bet if you could mimic this sound, you get males running from all corners...
Click to expand...


Uh, ok Ted. I'll take your word for it. :mute

Yes, if this is going to be an ongoing event, definitely keep me posted. With the familar temps and game, the people and the viz are definite pluses!
 
I'll second that. If there's a Telegraph Cove Part II in the works, I'd love to be there .
 
Third! Just announce it early enough for me to order an Elios to keep this tropical wuss warm.

Connor
 
She fell for Jim in a big way, and took it hard when he chose a greenling over her.
 
I found this beautiful pic I took from the trip and thought I would share it with everyone!



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Beautiful pic Jim. Not hard to find a good subject out there, eh (local slang overtly interjected for US residents)?
I wish someone would give me a job there

Erik
 
If we are going to do Telegraph again, we will need to make sure that the boat details are laid down prior. We got lucky last time with a great short notice gig. I am trying to keep contact with our fearless captain and hopefully he will be available again. His boat as you know will have limits in the number of divers. I think we could have squeezed a couple more onboard? Also, in order to minimize our cruel and barbaric presence and keep the whale lady from exploding, I like how we met up at Beaver cove the next boat day at the abandoned docks. As far as where we stayed, I don't think it can get better than that with the showers, water, phone, freezer, store etc. all in such close proximity for diving style camping.

lee
 
How is Lindsey? I emailed him awhile ago and never heard back.

He did a great job on short notice - Though I did have a close call with the motors. A little more situational awareness re-divers would be good but I definitely liked him and would be very happy to have him as skipper again.

I think well-organized probably two more would fit on his boat, when all of us were there it was still pretty comfortable.

The campsite was great for sure. Our luxury accomodations were also extremely cool - being roughly 90 seconds from a good point of entry. No cooking was inconvenient however and houskeeping was horrified by what we were doing to their towels. Some of the other cabins have full kitchens and are quite cheap in the off-season - which is about a week earlier. I had a fortuitous convergence of fortunes for this trip - likely I'll camp next time.

I'd love to do that again. Much better heat conservation knowlege now for those long days. I also have an appointment with a large lincod and some good ideas re-photography and movies. I would really enjoy the opportunity to document the trip in a more systematic way - now that I have the lay of the land, eh. (I noticed the 'eh' is implicit more often than explicit) My bottom time is also steadily improving.

When we had to leave I was just getting started
 
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:inlove Beautiful pic, Jim. I'll try harder to make it if the trip is to TC again.
 
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