Looks like its going to be a good year

I'm embarrassed to say that I just discovered that we West Coast US types have our very own playground now. I didn't realize it until I saw that post from my friend and dive buddy Natedogg about the Neptune Auction. I've been to a couple of those a few years ago, and its a great place to get some insane bargains on gear if you are lucky.

So anyway, my excuse for posting is to just generate some conversation about diving in our area. Last summer was probably the best in recent memory for big white sea bass, and I have high hopes that this one will be as good or better. There are a couple of coastal kelp beds where I did very well last year that can be seen from shore, and they are twice as big as I've ever seen them. Once the weather calms down a bit and the water warms a bit, I'm hoping to get an early start to the season.

Just to remind us what is possible I'm posting some of the better fish taken by me and my friends from my boat last summer. I hope it won't be too long before I'll be posting current catches rather than ancient history.

and a few more.

foxfish said:

Well those pics should "generate some conversation"

Bill, what sort of weights are those fish?

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I guess the smallest are the 30 pound yellowtail and white sea bass that I and my 17-year-old dive buddy are holding in the second photo of the first group, and the largest is the 67 pound white sea bass that my friend is holding in the last one of the first group.

sunfish said:

Beautiful fish. From what I've read in Terry Maas' and Carlos Eyles books, it seems to me that hunting these fish in the kelps must be one of the pinnacles of spearfishing, combining both stealth and diving skills.

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Well, those books do overdramatize it a bit, but it is a lot of fun. I get jaded about yellowtail and often pass up shots, but there is something special about a big white sea bass gliding through the kelp forest, and it always gets my heart racing.

The nice thing about California diving, especially for geriatrics like me, is that most fish are not very deep. I'd say that as long as they are in the kelp bed, most white sea bass are in the top 20 feet of the water column, even if the water is 80 or 100 feet deep. They do generally require some stealth, but at least you don't have to dive deep as is required on Florida wrecks or in the Med.

Our hard work comes after the shot, because the fish are very strong and usually try to get to the bottom where they wrap the shooting line in the kelp, and it can be dicey getting them out.

Old Man Dave said:

What's the technique for hunting WSB. Do you hunt from the surface creeeping along in the weed indian style or do you practice aspetto type diving and waiting in ambush below the surface?

Dave

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Yes.

Actually, there are differences of opinion, and more than one way that works.

In my case, I try to move very slowly through the kelp bed on the surface, trying not to splash with my fins. Many time you can get a shot from the surface, although some purists feel that it isn't sporting. I'm not a purist.
Anyway, I try to make most of my forward progress on the surface rather than during dives, but that isn't always possible. The kelp can be too thick on the surface, and there is no way to make forward progress without raising a ruckus and scaring all the fish away. I've attached a photo to show how it can look. When its that way, its also hard to even dive without raising a ruckus, so I just stay along the outside edge of the kelp bed.

When I dive, I choose between two approaches. I might dive to just above my neutral depth (currently around 21 feet) and grab a kelp stalk and remain motionless (aspetto style?). The grip on the kelp keeps me from drifting up, and I don't have to wave my fins. It took me a long time to get myself to believe that I could wait for the fish to come to me this way, and if it doesn't work for a while I tend to loose faith, but it really has worked often.

The other approach is to dive to my neutral depth and then fin very slowly. When the water is very clear, I might tend to use this method because I'm afraid that staying motionless won't last long enough for a fish to come from over the visible horizon during my breath hold. However, even in very clear water, its surprising how many can come from behind me, from behind some kelp, etc. during my limited breath hold.

Everyone spits out his snorkle as he dives so as to not emit a stream of bubbles. Most people make an effort to get all the bubbles out of their wets suits during a warmup dive. Sometimes they can be stupid as rocks, but many times white sea bass will spook at bubbles. And for sure I'm seen many of them spook when they hear my ears squeak when I equalize pressure.

Another thing that works for me is holding my mid-handle gun "soldier at arms" style, on its back with the handle back near my thigh, and then extending it in the direction of the fish rather than carrying it out in front of me and then swinging at the fish. I've had bad luck swinging at them. The photo stolen from Terry Maas's Blue Water Hunting and Freediving, but keep in mind that is a giant tuna gun, and my smaller gun's muzzle is right beside my head when I carry that way.

Of course I have friends who do very well who never grab a piece of kelp to remain motionless, and who carry the gun out in front of them. I'm just telling what seems to work for me, but its a work in progress. At age 69, I just hope I have time to finally figure it out.

Bill,

I really should have said "the edge" rather than the "outside edge." I agree that there is no magic to the outside. I really just meant that when the kelp is too damn thick to dive in, you have to get to the edge. If I have seen any pattern at all, its that the up-current edge is most likely to have the action, but of course I've been working the up-current edge hard and seen my buddy shoot one on the down-current edge, so even that fails me too.

I just wish I had a breath hold like you- I would do a lot better on any edge.

Yes, I did see the Bill Ernst article. What an awesome fish, to break Skip's old record by 13 pounds. And of course his statement that the fish in back of it was even bigger has everyone dreaming. I'm told you almost had to take a ticket to get a place to dive out there for the next couple weeks.

BTW, where the hell are the California guys? Its not that I don't love telling stories and talking with you Brits and Hawaiians, but I was hoping to wake up the locals from their winter doldrums.

Natedogg said:

Well, I wish I could add something to the conversation but Bill is (as usual)correct and he dives hard (mostly smart) reguardless of his age. Don't let him fool you with the "I'm not that good" stuff. There aren't many people in the world that have landed more WSB than him. I'm just glad I was able to give him a hard enough time about passing up shots on YT to where he started to take one or two per year. :t

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Aw shucks Nate. You are really cute when you lie with a straight face. There can't be over a couple thousand guys who have taken more white sea bass than I have. I just post more stories and photos.

But come to think of it, Nate had a part in the taking of that 65 pound fish that is second from the right in the first group. He and his cousin Chris were in his cousin's boat in a kelp bed just south of us, and Willie, the guy with the 67 pounder, Jeff, the guy with the 65 pounder and I were in the kelp bed to the north. Jeff had gone off around the up current edge of the bed toward shore, Willie was in the middle of the bed, and I was just outside on the edge. I came up from a dive and heard someone shouting that he had one. I looked up and saw Willie waving, so I went thrashing through the kelp to help him. When I arrived, he asked if I had a fish. I replied that I thought he had one. That narrowed it down to Jeff, but we couldn't see him.

Just about then, Nate and his cousin came by on the way home and came down off of a plane. One of them had to get work or some other lame excuse. Anyway, I thought it might have been them that I heard shouting so I inquired, but they said no. So I asked if they could see Jeff, they looked around and pointed toward him, so I asked them to get over there and help because we thought he had a fish. They got over to him and Nate jumped in and helped bring the fish to the surface. It was quite a long way from our boat, so they loaded Jeff and his fish in their Whaler and brought them over.

Damn! That's Chris running the boat and Jeff in the bow with the fish, but I don't see Nate. I never even noticed that he was missing before now.

Nate, did they leave you in the water over there hunting?

I hope all this stuff isn't too boring to everyone, but I'm having a hell of a good time recalling great times from last summer. Our winters in SoCal are not exactly harsh by most standards, but the diving does suck.