The DeeperBlue.com Spearfishing Hall of Fame.

The Deeper Blue Spearfishing Hall of Fame.

Black Marlin 70Kg

Hiya guys,

Me and 4 other guys recently went on a spearing trip to Barra Mozambique with Hamerkop Spearfishing SA (John Little) http://spearfishingsa.co.za/hamerkop.htm it was a 13 day trip with 4 other guys. We all had a great time as for 4 of us this was our first spearing trip abroad, John was an outstanding host having brought himself, another guide with two boats, two professional chefs and a couple of local blokes to do the day to day chores. So in total there were 6 blokes to look after us 5 spearos! absolutely outstanding. No cleaning or cooking of any kind, all we had to do was jump on and off the boat walk 20 yards to the front door of our house and fall asleep in the hammock underneath a palm tree. (bloody hard work as you can imagine)

The water temp was a balmy 28C with the visibility being around 20/25 meters with most of our diving around the 20 meter mark. Unfortunately there had recently been a cyclone in the area which messed the fishing up a bit as the water temp and currents kept changing. But none the less we made the most of it shooting a few cuda, cokop (excuse spg) kingfish, sea pike, rock cod, coral trout, prodigal son and i managed to bag a 70+kg Black Marlin.

I managed to shoot the Marlin on our last day of diving fortunately. I was breathing up on the surface when i had a sudden urge to look to my left hand side, upon doing so i found i had a marlin looking straight at me. I gave a quick flick of my fins to get closer to the fish and then nailed it, i was using a Rob Allen 120 Carbon Caranx, Reel gun with a single 18mm rubber (hell of a setup, a perfect combination of maneuverability and power, it punched straight through the fish no probs). My dive buddies Peter Reid and Steven Batten promptly started screaming Marlin, whilst i was busy trying to put some pressure on my reel and hold on for dear life. After a few minutes of being towed around with the other 2 guys hanging off my weight belt and not being able to clip a float to the gun, (we were all using 120 reel guns) i find myself watching my reel empty and the end of my dyneema line disappear off into the distance!! I 'stupidly' took it for granted that the line would be tied onto the bloody reel. My thinking being that when you pay good money for a new gun you expect it to be ready for action straight away. So after a milli second of me feeling sorry for myself thinking i had lost the fish of a lifetime, i switched back on and swam like a mad man after the end of the line. Fortunately i had a pair of C4 40 rockets on and i managed to get a couple wraps of line round my hand before the Marlin Express started again. After a few more minutes of water skiing i was found by the guys who had the boat and float in tow, and 50 granny knots later Steve had tied the float line on. Although to be honest i didn't trust the knots one bit, so i kept my hand wrapped firmly round the dyneema line. I didnt fancy losing the fish a second time.

So after 20+ minutes of what can only be described as total chaos. I managed to land my first Black Marlin Although Poseidon did get his revenge in his own small way, as i was climbing out of the water i managed to drag a jelly fish right across my face and spent the rest of the day thinking my teeth were falling out The fish tipped the scales at 70kg but unfortunately we weighed it 5hrs after it was shot and it had to be cut in half to be weighed. So personally i am telling the girlfriend it was more like 75kg haha

If any of you guys buy a Rob Allen Reel gun in the future i urge you to check the line is tied onto the reel. I know my mistake seems a school boy error not checking its tied on in the first place but its one easily made. Both of our guides were also amazed that the line wasn't tied on to the reel. I have emailed Rob and he informs me that they don't tie the line onto the reel as people would rather risk losing the fish, spear and line instead of the whole set up. Seems odd to me but who knows.

All in all though the trip was outstanding, a perfect combination of relaxation and diving. John was a great host with all his staff being top blokes and i managed to rustle up more jam than Hartley's, to land a Marlin with less than a years diving experience in my bag.


Cheers Ian

Re: Dorset Spearing 2008

Bass: 11lb 3oz

I will now try to piece together some sort of story about sundays dive.

The other boys were right the weather was great when we set off in SS Crash & Burn with the banter about my lost gear on friday in full flow

We tried the first spot with a large sand patch that used to produce flatties.The vis was variable with May bloom starting to make an apperence.There was a slight swell running which was no good for flatties so i got back into the boat while the others had a look around.As Podge has mentioned i hooked and lost a bass on mackerel feathers which just added to the pain from friday i was paying Neptune a heavy price.When the lads got back into the boat we motored a short distance to the next spot.The tide was starting to run and on entering the water the vis was better and there were sandeels about.I swam uptide inshore and then drifted down with the tide which is when i started to notice the school bass and 1 spookey mullet.After my second drift i was joined by a good size garfish who was no more than a meter away from me his big eye swiveling in its socket working me out.No big fish here so off to the final spot of the day.In over the side and the vis looked even better this time.I swam inshore and as i crested over a reef it was like someone had put the perfect spearing scene in front of me.Tall weed with a mixture of sand a rocks on the bottom.The vis was amazing and i noticed a bass straight away finning slowley hovering over the sand but he was too small.Then i noticed some more behind some weed in front of me so i dived down and started to make my way slowly toward them but they were all too small.I was too exposed now so i moved backwards came up and made my way down the reef.I moved across the sand and into thick weed when there below me was a huge tail just moving slowly.Above and behind the fish i tracked my 75cm dessault up where i guessed his head to be then brought it back a bit and fired.No sooner had i fired then i was diving down to grab the fish and the spear and what seemed like a huge clump of weed.I struggled to hold the fish as i shouted to jim i had a fish and made for the shore line where i dispatched the fish.My first impressions were the fish was in the 8-9lb mark and as i had no float i had to clip him to the stringer on my belt which it promptly broke.I started to make my way back to the boat and noticed the large male spider crab which i dived and picked up as a present for the captain.(more good karma).I got to the boat and chucked the crab in over the side and then climed in.I unclipped my stringer and put the fish in the fish box which only just fitted the bass in.I called Podge over for a look and we both sat on the boat enjoying the moment.I did get back in but my day was already made so i was just looking.

A great day with good people who made the experience even better.I think the catch would not have had the same impact if i had been on my own.Nice to see Brett and Ben for some pictures and a drink afterwards.

Had some of the bass tonight in a light bear batter with spring onions,red chilli,coriander and lemon juice.The fillet was that large that when i cut the strips they looked like fish fingers.

I can start my season now.Duties paid.

Re: South Devon Report 2008

Gilthead Bream 4lb 4oz + Lobster 8lb 1oz


I was hunting for bream on the day I had the Gilthead. We start getting them here in Plymouth about April time. We rod and line catch them on tidal mud flats, usually on the flood tide, they seem to be in shoals because for ages you get nothing then you will get 2 or 3 close together. The ones I have had or missed have all been on their own. I did hear talk last Easter time of a large shoal of giltheads on a local wreck, sighted by some scubies, 500+ but in 30m of water to deep for me to dive.

I seen 1 a day or 2 before when hunting the area for bass, it caught me off guard being in mid water when i was looking down through large areas of string weed where I getting some nice bass. Its a area that can only be fished on a high tide, low waters got zero viz and once the tide starts to run its almost like a river. I made a point of diving top of the tide leaving any bass I came upon, which was hard. My patience paid off in the end, I spotted the big silver slab feeding on the bottom, I was on the bottom myself and he was about 4 metres in front of me in a sandy hollow, I expected him to move as I got closer, I had lost sight of him now and when I looked in to the sandy hollow he was nowhere to be seen, then something high to my left caught my eye and there he was just like the 1 the day before in mid water, I fired, it went up through the belly and out the gill plate on the other side, he was stoned and I was over the moon.

I put the boat back on the mooring left all my gear in there ready for a evening trip from low tide up, I had a sleep then outside the boat house in a deck chair. Left the harbour about 4ish and headed off out of Plymouth Sound. The first stop produced a 4lb 4oz bass the same size as the gilthead I had in the morning. I was checking holes for lobsters when i bumped into a massive conger looking out of his hole at me, my face was only about 2 foot from his, he was 30 to 35lb,i let him be, what a sight though it was only in about 8 foot of water. My dive partner had nothing then (not Janner this time). The second spot we both had 2lb size fish, we tried 3 or 4 more spots picking up 3 bass, 1 of which was on my spear when I noticed a lobster out of his hole on some sand, I was quickly down to him and put my hand on him to pin him down, he thrashed around a bit but I had a good grip and off to the surface I went, lobster in one hand and a bass on my spear which I hadn’t had time to pull in. It was a bit of a drag swimming back to the boat but i managed. The lobster was 8lb 1oz. So what a end to a great day and a mixed bag. One other thing, we saw a basking shark not far from the boat just after a dive, the first one I seen this year.

Re: South Wales / West Wales 2008 ( Gower / Pembroke / Ogmore )

Pollack 10lb 15oz


Had a great few days over the weekend, first was a boat dive out from Milford, loads of good sized Pollack around and got me a pb of 10lb 15oz! would have been over 11lb but was weighed about 2 hrs after it was out of the water!
Lots of other good ones about up to 7lb as well.

On sunday I was back in my usual stomping grounds in west Wales, loads of bass at most depths but no biguns! there were loads of schools of mullet and I took 2 of about 3.5lb each, the viz was really good on Sunday (upto 5m)but a bit dissapointing on Saturday.

The Deeper Blue Spearfishing Hall of Fame.

Ling Cod 25lb

Here's a pic of a 25lb Ling I got in 8C water, 13 metres, near Port Hardy.

The Deeper Blue Spearfishing Hall of Fame.

Mutton Snapper 11lb 9oz



Last weekend in key west I managed to go out both days.

On sunday, I got this magnificent mutton snapper, just west of looe key,and east of american shoal, at the roll off. It goes from 20ft to 40ft and down to 50ft and 60ft in spots. That's challenging freediving for me, but quite productive. These mutton snappers are VERY elusive , (as any florida spearo will attest) but also VERY good eatin'.

I shot this bad boy in about 20 ft of water inside the drop off, coming in off the sand. I got what I considered to be a good shot on him, but he fought like crazy! He was close to tearing away. My original shot was a few centimeters high, with a 110cm euro riffe, with a 6.5mm shaft on 2 / 20mm rubbers,(incidently) at about4.5 meters.

I hit where I aimed, but his brain was lower than i guessed! He was fighting really hard and I had to be careful not to bend my 17/64 spear, but I grabbed him just in time. He started spinning around and freaking out until finally i got him through the gills , put him down on the reef, and silenced him with my knife.

Mutton is really one of my top 3 white fillet type fish. You can cook them numerous ways, for instance I love "blackened" fillets. However, in this case, I gave 1/2 the meat away , and the other half , my girlfriend put fillets in flour, then egg white mix, then japanese bread crumbs with a little lemon pepper in the mix, then baked at 375 till done.(8-10 min, I think), served with lemon wedges and some saffron rice. It was very good.

End result,: 30.1 inches, 11.9 lbs, gutted . my personal best so far. I love livin' in key west!!
__________________

Re: South Devon Report 2008

Gilthead Bream 2.256kg & 1.95kg



Hi, just like to share these photos. Hope you like. Two gilthead bream, 1.95kg and 2.256kg, speared local.

Yes, that was a good day. With father we had a lot of nice bass too. Father had one 7lb and a couple of 6lbs bass, so yes it was a good day. Hope to catch some more. There was a shoal of 6 giltheads, an unbelievable sight underwater. I should of had another 2 .

The biggest Gilty was larger than the old british record which stood for 9 years. I did go through the process of recording but I was told by the british spearfishing national records officer that the 9 year record was beaten last year and the new record was 2.5kg. I was gutted. Cheers and happy hunting.

Re: Dorset Spearing 2008

Brill 1lb 8oz


Just back in from a cheeky little dive at a spot near Bournemouth. Just weighed the Sole in at 2lb 11 5/8 & what I think is a smaller Brill or Turbot? at 1 1/2 lb.
oh..and the lobster...1lb 8oz
I was actually a nightmare to see much. I could not see much past the tip of my 90 so started concentrating on checking just where the sand meets the reef. I almost put my hand on the brill and and stabbed it like I was nailing dracula! The sole I looked at for a while as I though it was some form of mesh partly hidden in the sand:duhbut hell did that piece of mesh kick up a stink when I speared it. I actually dropped my gun to let it weaken as it was going so crazy. Most enjoyable and all because Bryn makes flatty bashing look so gucci on his webpage:t

Re: 2008 Fish Spearing/Garbage removal contest entire year - Wisconsin

Carp 44lb


I have put myself back into the lead for biggest rough fish at 39in 44# for a total of 83 points i had scott take pics for me and he will put them on a little bit later she was a heck of a fight :martial


Largest rough fish 39in 44# total 83

Re: christchurch dorset

Grey Mullet (Common thick lip) 8lb 15oz


So im resting up a bit as been a bit krook.

So i thought as i had time id add a couple of pics of spearin christchurch.

Got the shrimp and mussels the day before. Shrimp were in a trap and well the mussels are in a spot thats lets say are right under the commercial fisher dudes noses!!!

Went on a night dive in the harbour and shot the useal 5 flounder....It is always 5 or 1 nothing else...not even 0...well not yet...(touch wood!)

Was flapping around in the shallows when this big shiny head pops up. I head shot it with my 40cm beuchat. The rubbers are a little old and mullet have a solid head so not taking any chance i jumped on the fish. It was stunned until i did that. I coped a beating it even head butted me. It came to 8lbs 15oz

Enjoyed it with the girl frend and her brother (asleep on in the background!)

Re: Dorset Spearing 2008

Plaice 6lb 6oz


A great dive yesterday as mentioned by all but i am on holiday this week so i wanted more.I knew where to go and what to get.It was drizzling when i got in but the vis was very good.I swam straight out to a marker buoy previously visited and started my search.The depth was only in the 7 meter range and i covered alot of ground and a surprising amount of sea grass on the bottom not good for flatties.I collected some shellfish and continued to search.The weather was moving in and it started to rain heavy with some low cloud i was along way off shore and had to make a decision should i see it out or make my way back.I thought 5 more dives if nothing then back in.I soon found a very large double figure thornback ray that was not backing down so i left him alone.(he looked like he was going to kick my ass!)

Dive number 3 and a fair way away from my float at the end of my dive i noticed a large lump on the sea bed.As i got closer i realised it was a big plaice.I aimed and fired hit him and rushed to make sure the spear had gone right through.It was a real struggle to get back to my float and an even bigger struggle to put him on the stringer.He was fighting so much i gutted him while on the float game over.

Mission accomplised i started to make my way back slowly stopping from time to time to dive and check the bottom.Half way back in on a dive i noticed a strange fish on the bottom which turned out to be a John Dory.He was so cool and always kept himself at a 45 deg angle to me.

I made my way back to shore very tired after yesterdays swim and todays effort.In again for about 2 hours with a good result.

Plaice weight 6 1/2 lbs and is a PB for me.

The Deeper Blue Spearfishing Hall of Fame.

Wahoo 35lb

well, i took my homemade enclosed track gun out in the blue water today and i shot a 35# wahoo! i actually shot an even bigger one but when we were trying to boat him, he tore off at the last minute somehow. but i managed to get this one after two missed shots. the 10 foot hammerhead was zipping around my fish but i got him anyway. we all got one each, this was an excellent day!

Re: eelpout (burbot/lawyer) eating

Burbot 8lb

I shoot them up here in Canada. Bad pic, usually I'm smiling haha. Yes that was an interesting day. Could have got more but that was enough. The big one was nearly my biggest ever. One of the smaller ones was shot midwater! 3 of them were swimming together when I was on the way up from a recon on the bottom; I picked the biggest of the 3 and the other 2 swam off.

I know in Winter- under ice, they get into big balls of many burbot while breeding, but I'm not sure why 3 were together, not sleeeping during the day in the Summer. In the day they go into cooler water to sleep, usually. Get under the thermocline and just start searching, they'll be lying on the bottom camoflaged. Up here that means 25' or deeper. Not hard to shoot, just hard to find. They tend to be very twitchy even after you've brained them.In the dusk or dawn, they come into shallower water to hunt perch etc. It's common to clean them and find whole fish inside them.Excellent eating, fried in batter in smaller chunks.

Here are some that I ate promptly

Re: Uk fish of the year!!!

Vieja 7kg


.... hugged this one up from a cave at -15M, shot in the tail, thrashing, weighed 7Kg, my PB.

A nice days diving with a Spanish buddy, just off my house near Valparaiso on the central Chilean cost. We can see the kids on the terrace playing from the dive spot (what a treat).

The vis was average but there was quite a nice luminosity on the bottom, and being with a buddy we ventured further out to a new spot. The bottom was at about 15 or 16M, the viz about 8. Water temp. despite being midsummer, in the 13C range.

The area is very nice in that there are huge boulders forming large caves, combined with sandy areas, and nice, short kelp too: plenty of fish hiding spots.

We were just starting to hunt this area, I think I was on dive 10, and I dropped down to investigate a strange "L" shaped crevice in between two rocks, not quite big enough to get into, but big enough to see in and point my omer cayman 90 (with a very short spear, around 105cm, barely clears the guns muzzle). I saw a Vieja (similar to a black grouper Guia de Peces.) in the back of its cave, and tried to ascertain its size. After a little too long it showed me its side and it looked just around 3kg, too small for me.

I start to remove myself from the crack in the rock, and something (who knows what) draws my eye to a shadow to my right. About 2M away is another nice dark hiding place. My eyes are already used to the dark, no torch being used, and I see a large tail disappear. I do one of those shots that you always tell yourself off for doing, a kind of "no hope" shot that normally only results in cursing and time wasting reloads. The cave exploded and my spear disappeared. Already way too long down on a tiring dive, around the 1:10 mark, I pull on the gun planning to swim up, letting the reel do its job. NOPE. Reel jammed. Check drag, it's loose, but the reel is still jammed.

OK mind in overload: thought process, not necessarily in rational or logical order:

-Fish big, impress wife and dive buddy, me want
-Going to lose gun (done exactly same before, with same fish, not 100m from this spot)
-Need to breathe
-Ok, try to extract fish
-Need to breathe

So, unwise decision of the month: extract fish slowly, pulling on reel line, then mono, then spear. It slowly appears from the exploded cave. It’s big, mad, and shot in the tail. Thrash, thrash, thrashing head, big teeth. Need to breathe. Thrash some more. Get thumb in one gill, hug fish body, swim up slow (spear flopper hanging by an inch or less of tail skin).

Sweet air. Better still buddy nearby. Hobble to float, buddy still unaware of the size of this fish (he’s keen to do his next duck dive). On arriving at the float I have a problem: how to get out my ike spike and kill the fish, with one thumb of one hand in a gill and the other clasping the body and tail? It was not working and I was not about to loose the fish. I called my bud over, a few times (I said he’s Spanish, I speak “Chilean” Spanish, that at the best of times is bad) he got it in the end and helped me brain the fish. Looking down at it in the water, its head was huge, I had a feeling it could have been a PB.
Several dives later, a seal showed up trying to steal our catch, I more or less kept guard of the float, fish and my buddy for the rest of the session. At the shore the vieja tipped 7Kg. My buddy got a very nice one too, at 4Kg, normally a very appreciable catch, but it looked quite tiddly next to this.

It was all eaten about 4 days later and much enjoyed!

Re: The Deeper Blue Hall of Fame.

Freshwater Black Bass 9 lbs

This is an italo-american one, same as John Travolta and Danny De Vito (just slightly bigger than Danny...).
Buggers like this one have a latin name (micropterus salmoides) and an American descent. They were brought to Italy in 1909. Since then they colonized italian rivers, lakes and ponds all along from the Alps to Sicily. In some provinces they are still called "American bass" (branzino americano), as well as Largemouth (boccalone).
This is one of the biggest I've caught in Lake Garda.
When I got this one, it was soon after the tench breeding season. Tench, a fat european freshwater fish, make love during late spring in shallow weedy bottoms, and many species of fish soon rush to the area trying to feed with eggs and newborn baby tench: gizzards, bluegill, perch and black bass (i.e. the bloodiest bastards in the freshwater environment) run in numbers to the feeding frenzy.
There is a small beach near my parents' old house, the bottom starts shallow with stones and then goes slowly deeper upon a strange, soft muddy sand, pointed with big boulders and bushes of a high leafy weed that looks like kelp.
I had noticed a big, white, isolated boulder surrounded by kelp bushes and flat sand all around. That could be the ideal hiding for the schools of newborn tench, and where's the prey, there's the prowler.
I swam stealthily till I reached some 10 meters away from the boulder, then ventilated, spit the snorkel and went down. I swam belly-crawly (no fin kicking, just using my left hand) and made a wide loop, then I slowly tightened my trajectory and turned around the boulder. The fish was just behind: he was fat! The shot of the Comanche 60 was slightly high behind the gills, did not crack the spine. The reaction of the fish was strong, pulling very hard, but didn't last for long, luckily.
It ended roasted in the oven with chips, with the compliments of the local Tench population.

The Deeper Blue Spearfishing Hall of Fame.

Green Jobfish (UKU) 17lb



COOL! A HAWAII FORUM. I guess Ill do the honors of making the first post. Here is an experience from the other day.

Well... as the title says, to day was a very strange day and to be honest I really dont know where to start but since its a spearfishing forum ill start with the dive... well a little before the dive.

So I was sitting at home checking my work schedule online to see what time I had to go into work tonight and I noticed, to my astonishment, that someone had picked up my shift. I had released it in the beginning of the week but didnt really think anyone would pick it up seeing as its not the best section in the restaurant but anyway some one did pick it up. Manager approved and all. SWEET! Im gonna go for an evening dive.

My roommate and I loaded up the gear and headed for the water. When we got to the bottom of the hill we noticed the horrible traffic which was not moving at all. Im not too sure how many here are familiar with how west maui traffic gets when there is a fatality. We have no coroner so they have to close the road until one flies over from oahu to pronounce any victims dead. This was kind of a bummer because we were planning on heading in the direction of the traffic to make our dive but someone was and is having a way worse day than I was so cant really complain about that. The other way was blowing gale force trades so what ever, we decided to try right out in front of our road. Never been too successful there but felt like getting in the water anyway.

We parked the car at a friend's house, who is visiting from Texas, but that comes later. Walked a couple hundred yards up current and hopped in the water. The water on the inside was pretty dirty but got progressively cleaner the deeper we went. On my first drop in about 30' of water I had a pile of about 6 nice sized moilua swim up to me and somehow I missed the point blank shot. Frustrated I made another dive but they had moved on as they usually do.

I headed out into some deeper water where the reef ended and the scattered rubble and "uku grass" begin in about 55-60ft of water. Made a few drops but didnt see anything. Just as I was about to move on I thought I had seen what looked like an uku but it was far away and the light was fading so I couldnt really tell. I told my buddy and he took a few drops but didnt see anything. I decided to take one more drop. As I lay on the bottom scratching, grunting, throwing sand, rubbing bands, and so on I began to get a little disheartened as nothing was coming in and just as I was about to give up I saw two unmistakeable shapes materialize. UKU and good size ones too. I relaxed again and put my head down. After a little more time I looked up to see them both just out of range. Now the urge for air was getting a little stronger and I tried to relax again to see if I could get them closer. They turned towards me and swam just to within range but stopped and turned off again. This is when I decided to head for the surface. Ill try again on the next drop. But as I pushed up off the bottom one of them turned around and swam in again. I stopped... and it just kept coming. I let him get well within range when he turned broadside and gave me a nice shot. I wasnt really aware of how big it was until I started putting the breaks on the line he was peeling off my reel. Ended up weighing in at around 17lbs.

After we got to the beach I ended up having to take a kayak back out to rescue the friend from texas I had mentioned earlier. Apparently Johnny Dep is staying on this HUGE yacht anchored about a quarter mile off lahaina. Little "southern bell texas girl" thought she would get a glimpse of mister Jack Sparrow by paddling a soft top out to the boat. Well long story short, she got stuck in the current and wind and swept halfway to Lanai... and guess who had to go get her?

Well after that whole fiasco I checked my messages on my phone to find that the shift I thought I had gotten out of was actually a mistake. The restaurant was freaking out because they didint have enough servers so I had to rush into work to help run food. On the way I had chosen a back rout through lahaina due to the bad traffic when a off-duty police officer tackles some dude on the hood of my truck. I sat there for 10 minutes watching this brawl go down. I would have helped the officer out but it didnt look like he needed it much.