first (pelagic?) predator taken with my new Omer Cobra.

[tbgsub]

hi all, I just wanted to share this with people who care.
I only wish it had been a head /or/ spine shot, and not a belly, but I didnt lose him to the forces of the ocean, and I didnt have to come home talking about the one that got away. this guy was dinner. by the way, does anyone know what time of the year these guys become toxic, if at all, in the Marianas area? thanks for looking.

Scott M
in saipan.

here is some of the gear, and my new Gun.

 

[josedesucre]

I don't know about the Marianas, but in the Caribbean people dont eat barracudas ever for fear of "ciguatera", which is a very serious illness caused by toxins. The toxins are highly resistant to heat so they can not be eliminated by cooking. It is not a seasonal problem. If the Marianas are in the tropics, then the problem should be the same. You can check about ciguatera en Wikipedia. Good luck and enjoy your new Omer.

 

[tbgsub]

thanks, I think I lucked out. it has been 24 hours and I am feeling good. It appears, in at least this report [http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~ear/CIGUAT.html]
that it has happened on occasion in Guam, but occurs in sporatic places around the globe, and occasions, Guam is just 142 miles south of us; too close for comfort. I think this will be my last cuda; Not worth the risk of bioaccumulation, however most reef fish seem susceptible to bioaccumulation, (local food includes Triggers, and Parrot fish, including Unicorn fish, and Wrasse of many varieties, red snapper is also on the menue, and fish markets) and I am now wondering when the sick Haolie season is on our island, as I am sure the locals have developed some resistance at least to its immediate effects


I appreciate the caution, and will use it.

again, thanks.

guess I will stick to Blue fin Trevally, and Giants!!

....Crap!, even Jacks appear to be potentially Ciguatoxic!!
what is the point of shooting them if you cant eat them!? here is the report on jacks [http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~frf/rfe2gb.html] I really hope that there is a report or outlet somewhere among fishermen indicating where and when symptoms occur to prevent further incidences, or inrease awareness where and when it happens.

well here is some reassuring news, at least for me, from the US food and drug administration [http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/chap36.html]

as taken from the site above "Initial signs of poisoning occur within six hours after consumption of toxic fish and include perioral (around the mouth) numbness and tingling (paresthesia), which may spread to the extremities, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Neurological signs include intensified paresthesia, arthralgia, myalgia, headache, temperature sensory reversal and acute sensitivity to temperature extremes, vertigo, and muscular weakness to the point of prostration. Cardiovascular signs include arrhythmia, bradycardia or tachycardia, and reduced blood pressure. Ciguatera poisoning is usually self-limiting, and signs of poisoning often subside within several days from onset. However, in severe cases the neurological symptoms are known to persist from weeks to months. In a few isolated cases neurological symptoms have persisted for several years, and in other cases recovered patients have experienced recurrence of neurological symptoms months to years after recovery. Such relapses are most often associated with changes in dietary habits or with consumption of alcohol. There is a low incidence of death resulting from respiratory and cardiovascular failure".

Scott-> "I experienced nothing like this even remotely and I ate at least two pounds of it myself. still have the other half in the fridge, but am debating wether or not to just chuck it out, rather than accumulate any more potential toxins".

till I go to Rota to fish with the Doctor Franscois {local 100+foot club legend} from South Africa, looking for dogtooth, and tuna. are they potentially Ciguatoxic as well!? I hope not.

so what do other spearfishermen feel about Ciguatoxic concerns of the U.S. food and drug administration?
is there space for another forum question, or has this been covered?

 

[IB Boyd]

I forget where I saw it, but there are ciguatera test kits available. Nice fish, bet he was fun!!

 

[spaghetti]

What length and set up the Cobra?

 

[mundial]

nice fish & shot

 

[tbgsub]

Spagetti:
The length is 100 cm, it is the Circolare, but I am only using it stock, straight form the factory, with 1 wrap of 200 lb black line. it arrives slightly slack and tightens up with use, strange. also the stock line has some stretch.

this morning I probed a nice Bluefin Trevally in our Lagoon just after the sun came up.

I think this one was more fun than the CUDA, only because I had to work harder at luring him in.

any ideas on making a short Euro gun, slightly blue worthy?

thanks,

Scott.

 

[tbgsub]

OOh I heard that Hawaii shops have a Ciguatera test kit for just under 5 bucks, probably more. just cut a small ammount of flesh, put it in flask, and if it turns blue (ironic color for a toxin test), DONT EAT IT!!!

our local Spearo shop, Aquasmith, owned by Morito Asai, is looking into it.
he is also begining a spearfishing Nonproffit organization aimed at fundraising for competitions locally and abroad, and hopefully nationally, there are some serious pro's in the CNMI Islands. 80+ feet with 2+ minute bottom times/ 3-4 min total apnea (UNREAL! I Have witnessed some of em. seems like cheating)

here is a backyard pic I know you guys are going to love, I am seriously going to miss this place.

thanks.

 

[yugyug]

wow you certainly know a thing or two about product photography!

 

[tbgsub]

actually I am an ameture Spearfisher, only 6 months experience, and an Amature Photog with 2 years experience with a Nikon 5600 Point and shoot camera, sometimes I use the uderwater wP-cp3 housing when freediving in the Marine Protected areas. I felt that this shot was emphasizing my backyard more than the fins. My Ice fins broke, I ordered them online from Subprof, but the hassle of getting them replaced to Saipan aftere shipping, and waiting caused me to try out the Black version of the same press, from a local Omer Stockist, hope they last, if these break soon, I will get Cressi Gara 2000 fins. By the way I waited happily for 6 months to get an Omer Cobra, and discovered that they are still on back order at most shops for the next few months, so I feel special that they shipped my 100 circolare, Thanks OMER.
I am an Omer fan primarily because they appear to have put a great deal of thougt into their products, and even their distributers, like Mark Labocetta, are very helpful with their potential customers. I called him pestering him about the right suit size from West Virginia, and he was very professional. I believe a good company is good people that provide good service, and that is what I feel that I have bought into. hopefully I am right.

That having been said, I am in no way afiliated with the industry (I WISH!!)
I suppose anyone could wardrobe themselves in any brand and jump in front of a camera. maby next year I will be Picasso MAN! or RIffe DUDE! Perhaps that fool is me sometimes. I didnt realize that it looked like an add; that was
unintentional.

thanks for the compliment.

I will work on non brand specific shots, like banana leaf shots of catch on the grass with a naked lady. (which do you prefer, an articulating lady with a double band thong or a traditional lady with a wide single band unit?? and would that make her a reef babe? or a blue water babe? would she have a double wrap of line or a breakaway setup? I better get back too spearfishing)

ooh I got it, an articulating babe with the double powerband set up, breakaway bungie, and an Ice Pick. That would be a "fatal attraction wouldnt it?" ok now I am big game model hunting, any takers, you will have a free place to stay in Saipan, and can go spearfishing every day, you just have to be willing to pose for some eye catching shots. would that make me Dix Roper? sheesh, i read online too much. happy fising, and happy thanksgiving.

thanks for looking at my photos.

tbgsub.

 

[Ol Dirty Diver]

Scott,

I have used the ciguatera test kit you mentioned ("Cigua-Check"). Unfortunately it's not that cheap...It goes for $20, and you get only supplies for 3 tests. If I caught a nice ulua that I would want to share with several people, the cost is worth it, but spending over $6 to test a single fish is not worth it to me. One of my reasons for fishing is to 'live off the land', and not have to pay money for dinner every now and then. But that's just me (I'm a cheap bastard). I suppose $6 might be deemed a trivial amount to others, though, who normally spend well over that for dinner.

I didn't really like the test kit much either. It just seemed like there was too much room for error. The one time I used it, I tested it on a kahala (amberjack) I naively caught (most locals don't even think of eating these, for fear of ciguatera and knowing of the worms they contain). I followed the instructions as best as possible, and in the end I was left with a test strip that appeared slightly blue to me (blue = positive), but I just couldn't be sure (you pull the strip out of a blue solution, then rinse it...did I rinse it enough?). I've heard that the test strip should come out dark blue in obvious cases, which definitely wasn't the case with this fish, so I felt like the fish might be OK (probably smarter to discard any suspect fish, but that goes against 'spearfisherman code'...couldn't get myself to throw a nice fish away). I ended up going ahead and eating it, and wishing for the best. After a nervous night of sleep, I seemed fine in the morning, so I guess the fish was OK.

So I mainly didn't like the subjectivity of the test, having to discern the shade of blue of the test strip. It felt like I needed to be back in the lab (I was a molecular biology major) in order to do it right, as it is essentially an antibody assay. I thought of some of opportunities for attaining false positives:

• Non-specific binding of antibodies is always a possible problem in these assays. The antibodies could some times bind the test strip despite the lack of the matching protein (I really thought I noticed a slight blue tint when I tested my kahala, perhaps due to this reason).
• The amount of flesh that you use in the test could perhaps manipulate the results. They only specify using a "rice grain" size piece of flesh. The subjectivity allowed here could really affect the size of the sample used, and thus the concentration of toxin provided for the test.
• I wonder if extracting the flesh from different parts of the fish could affect the results. Are some parts of a fish more ciguatoxic than others? There are definitely different amounts of fat in different parts of fish, and I believe in the toxic pufferfish the toxin is highly localized.

There is also the possibility of false negatives (the worse case of the two), due to using an expired test kit, not using a large enough sample, not performing the assay right, etc. So I think the kit could be improved.

Just the other day I couldn't resist taking down a small barracuda I saw while diving (almost the same size as yours), which is another fish most local fisherman absolutely avoid eating for fear of ciguatera. But I've been very curious to try them, and I thought that shooting a smaller one should drastically reduce the chance of the fish containing cig (although that line of thought has been disproven by the examples of individuals even getting cig from smaller, younger fish). Anyway, I didn't bother with the test kit due to all of its inadequacies I perceive. The fish turned out delicious (the barracuda sure is underappreciated), but I had to endure another nervous night of uncertainty. I was relieved to wake up OK this morning.

I don't know why I can't just completely avoid the fish with a reputation for ciguatera...Maybe it's because they usually look so delicious (uluas, barracudas, grouper...), and make for such gratifying spearfishing game because of the sizes they attain.

A fellow [ame="http://forums.deeperblue.net/showthread.php?p=620851#post620851"]OMER whore[/ame],
Kurt
Honolulu, HI
http://www.myspace.com/oldirtysurfer

 

[tbgsub]

nice pic of the vis, and the prey!