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Obesity in fish

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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Bill McIntyre

San Clemente, CA
Staff member
Forum Mentor
Jan 27, 2005
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I set out on the Eastern Pacific, Northern Hemisphere, with Austin Derry and Gavin Miller.

At the first stop, Austin was first in, and I was last, as usual. I barely got off the swimstep when I heard Austin whooping. Turns out that on his first drop he had just let the bubbles out of his hood when this fish swam by on the edge of vis. It was pretty clear, so he was lucky he was carrying his Wong Ono gun. It weighed about 56 pounds and was very fat.

Gavin and I worked the bed at least an hour more with no joy.

We tried three more spots and found good vis and lots of mackerel and sardines, but no wsb sighted. It was a one-drop day.

At some point, Beek came by with two friends in another boat and said he had a fish but no scale, so we invited him aboard. I think his fish is the fattest wsb I've ever seen. I forget whether we settled on 66 or 68 pounds, but its his call. Its hard to hold the scale steady with a pig like that hanging on it.

BTW, I heard that another place that we were not at has been red hot the last few days. Its sort of ironic that no one has posted, but a hell of a lot of people still know about it.

If you are going to a spot exposed to the south swell, a beach dive might be hairy. We saw a very large long interval swell as we came home.

I'm really going to have to insist on getting into the water first.
 

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Reactions: Mr. X
Nice going Bill, I just got back from baseball and now I'm really smiling seeing
your great haul. Beek's WSB sure is fat, that Austin is a nice guy
Cheers Don
 
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There you are again Bill! It's just matter of time and you'll get yours! Who knows, maybe a bigger one!
 
Those are fine fish Bill. Are white sea bass a tough fleshed fish? Austins fish in particular seems to be hit in a weak spot but hasn't torn loose. Maybe slip tips help
prevent this too?
 
Those are fine fish Bill. Are white sea bass a tough fleshed fish? Austins fish in particular seems to be hit in a weak spot but hasn't torn loose. Maybe slip tips help
prevent this too?

They are very soft fleshed fish, and slip tips are essential, at least for me.

Austin's fish took all but about 15 feet of his 125 foot float line before he stopped it. If he had put on more pressure, maybe it would have torn off.

Beek's shot didn't go all the way through, and the slip tip toggled inside.
 
Reactions: sunfish
Thanks Bill. I love to read of WSB. Hopefully someday I'll come and dive for them.
 
The WSB is my unicorn hopefully well meet in the next couple of months
 
I'm cheering for global warming.

It's the only way Strangelove or I will ever be seeing one up here.
 
Aloha Bill,

Thats a great picture! I got one of those from Beek. He shot his fish with a magnum hybrid!

I want to see you with a huge one next! Good luck.

Aloha, Daryl
 
Aloha Bill,

Thats a great picture! I got one of those from Beek. He shot his fish with a magnum hybrid!

I want to see you with a huge one next! Good luck.

Aloha, Daryl

Daryl,

Here's another one he got a couple of days ago, and he even got the gun into the photo. The guy is on fire.

I was hoping to get one tomorrow, but we have rain and winds to 25 knots forecast, so I'm taking a look in the morning and consulting with my crew.
 

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Amazing fish. Kudos. Looks like it ate a spearo! Are the fish "good eating"?
 
Amazing fish. Kudos. Looks like it ate a spearo! Are the fish "good eating"?

Very very good, but I can only speak for Long Beach Neptune's, we pretty much only target the best tasting gamefish. I only know of one Neptune that doesn't enjoy eating fish, and he rarely hunts any more.

Cheers, Don Paul
 
Very very good, but I can only speak for Long Beach Neptune's, we pretty much only target the best tasting gamefish. I only know of one Neptune that doesn't enjoy eating fish, and he rarely hunts any more.

Cheers, Don Paul

I agree that they are very good.

I'm just not quite sure why only Neptunes like to target fish that they think are good to eat.

I am not a Neptune (as you know), but I don't shoot fish that I don't think are good to eat.

Well OK, I'm not crazy about yellowtail, but a lot of my dive buddies are, and they are glad to take them off my boat.

BTw, I recall hearing that one of the most prominent Neptunes, Terry Maas, was a vegetarian and didn't eat fish. Is that true?

If so, he sure has shot some big fish.
 
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I'm just not quite sure why only Neptunes like to target fish that they think are good to eat.Quote:Bill McIntyre

I just did not want for speak other divers or club members that target fish like big wormy amberjacks, roosterfish, and local opaleye and halfmoon.

I am not a Neptune (as you know), but I don't shoot fish that I don't think are good to eat. Quote: Bill M.

I find you to be a very conscientious diver, judging from your posts and a smart one. Why have hambuger when you can have steak.( or WSB in our local bed).


Well OK, I'm not crazy about yellowtail, but a lot of my dive buddies are, and they are glad to take them off my boat. Quote: Bill

We all have different favorites. I'm just the opposite I love fresh Yellowtail,
wrapped in bacon, topped with fresh made dill sauce after a sashimi appetizer.:friday Some time I would like to come down and BBQ some for for you and your friends.


BTw, I recall hearing that one of the most prominent Neptunes, Terry Maas, was a vegetarian and didn't eat fish. Is that true?

If so, he sure has shot some big fish. Quote: Bill

When I dove the off shore banks a few times with Terry, we didn't target the WSB or YT we saw as we had tuna on the brain.I haven't broke bread with him in a while, but he had a very big custom BBQ on his estate up north.
Perhaps he has become vegetarian over the last few years. The two of us
pretty much lived on Insure,salad, and fish on our French Poly adventures.

Have a great season Bill, let those kids let you get in the water first.

Cheers, Don
 
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