WI Spearos got to F.I.T. 2008

[ILDiver]

Whopperhead hit all the high points, so I'll catch you up on my fish and the lowpoints of my dive today. I got a 12" and a 13" hogfish, I also got a 12" Grey Triggerfish. Revenge for Wreckrunner, he said he got some bite marks on his fins from them. Also for Whopperhead to I guess, the Grey Triggers took an ocean tax from him nabbing a hog he shot...so...

So the lowpoint. Scot and I worked a rock ledge and turned to go back the other way and see if we could push a hogfish out of the rocks. I see my floatline curving towards the bottom. I thought it got caught under a rock while hunting. Nope there are my fish laying on the bottom....um.....crap. I picked my head up and my float was nowhere to be seen. My float had my small gun, my dry box with my keys and wallet....Man, I'm dead! I start swimming in to see if I can see it, hoping it would drift to the shore. Then I saw it. It was a mile down current. Are you kidding me! Ugh.... I was able to flag down a waverunner and asked them to retrieve my float. They headed off and the rental operator freaked out and yelled at them, then jumped on a waverunner and headed out to them, telling them why they were wrong. They explained why they were right and gave him my float and he returned it to me. That was a stressful feeling. Then I headed back to Whopperhead just after he shot his NICE hogfish.

We started heading back up current and it was a fight. Then the waves increased a little and the current picked up and the vis dropped, so we headed in as best we could.

Whopperhead's Shardana float is a beast. He needs a trolling motor on that thing! At least he held on to his though.

 

[WreckRunner]

That's a good hog!!!!! That's awesome guys. Chris.....well, your's will be a good hog when you tape both "halves" together.

Those underwater shots are making me increasingly uncomfortable sitting indoors.

 

[ILDiver]

Jeremy, thanks for the pointers on what to look for. Wish we had a guide in the water though. There were some snapper or something that were good size and were skittish. I had one nice...14" one lined up, but I was so hesitant to pull the trigger.

But it was still a nice dive, there were a lot of fish just to look at.

 

[bgill]

Awesome pics guys! And some nice fish...Is that what you guys had for dinner? Mmmmmm fresh ocean fish! Never did try Hogfish...I have tried triggerfish though...Man them things have some SUPER tough skin...I had a hard time cleaning the one I caught with hook & line years ago. But it was tasty! Steamed it with rice and some oriental veggies...A splash of soy sauce & YUM....I love eating fish!

I can't wait until I finally get to take a course...Just was'nt in the cards for me this year...:head

And HOLY CRAP!!!! There REALLY were monkeys! Cool!

ILDiver...What happened that your float came loose? I'm just glad you got it back...That would've been a real bummer to lose your keys wallet AND a gun! Not to mention the float!

Congrats on excelling at the FIT class to both ILDiver and Whopperhead. The reports AND the pictures have been awesome

Can't wait to KILL some MONSTER fish!

BTW...I'm 20 minutes or less form MANY gin clear lakes that hold relatively heathy populations of BIG carp and fantastic pan-fish. My door is open anytime you guys are in the area...Dotey and Jon and Wreck too...Just bring a pillow...And Whopp...You MUST let me lay my hands on that HammerHead...In exchange I'll let ya' re-connect with you old JBL!!! I beleive it has some fond memories for you! Was'nt it your "first kill" gun? :t Bummer about the Ice Fin breaking...I hope mine don't...I guess I'll need to keep my 2000 HF's with me when I go out...Stuff 'em in the Yak.

 

[dotey]

bgill i may just take you up on that offer sometime :t and hey ill let you give my new gun a shot the thing is super quiet and a real fast loader its called the spetton AMI 2. and guys the whole snorkle thing lets get over it but just beacuse you have taken a class doesnt give you the opp to tell someone they are no good cause i know what a snorkler is see my mom and step dad do it every year in can cun and the put on mask and snorkle and float around on top of the water looking at everything on the bottom. plus i have never heard of a snorkler work on breath holds and talk about down and up times. so lets all just chill out and get along we need all we can get to take the carp down :ko

 

[dotey]

oh yeah forgot to ask how your speed stringers were working out for ya and whopp do i see someone buying some new fins in the near future

 

[Whopperhead]

dotey- if you look at the last pic- I did already buy some new Fins. C4's -

I'm sure everyone will have a go with the Hammerhead. The Spearfishing season is just beginning in WI. We have a long season ahead of us.

 

[bgill]

You spoiled boy Whopperhead! :t

You deserve it bud! Glad to see you are doing so well!

NICE FINS!

 

[dotey]

:naughty whopp your going to be in the dog house :t and yeah that hammerhead is real nice but you will have to give mine a shot just to see what you think. i am thinking about rigging mine up with another spear so i can make one shot and then load another and take two fish i saw it on speargun hunter the other day ???? not sure how i would do that. i think you need to give those fins a try in the fresh water of wisconsin when you get back rofl

 

[bgill]

Dotey...Those guys were commercial spearfishermen...They freeshaft (no line on the shaft) and carry around several shafts and shoot several fish before they retreive them! Cool job hey! They gotta be SUPER good shots to come back up with all of thier shafts. Especially when shootin' Grouper.

But what do I know....I learned everything from watching T.V and the computer! No practical experience whatsoever...But I AM a pretty damn good snorkeler! rofl

 

[Whopperhead]

Rough Day at Sea

We started out the day by going out with fellow DB member TONY BABOWICZ. Tony has a AWESOME 21' Boat called the "S.S. 'Hey Bull Sharks! Come Eat these 2 Divers I'm Trolling with' " It was a cool day- saw some fish, Rays, ILDiver saw a Cuda that for some reason he didn't shoot. The Current was very slow and the vis was not so good. Some areas it seemed like 5' some areas 20'. Tony did get us over some cool/ DEEP places. The Training from Martin's class really kicked in today. We would not of been able to dive down 55' to a BARGE - BLIND, If not for some of the stuff we learned. Tony says "your there- DIVE!" We can't see, But we dive. I think if the vis was better- we could of gotten some fish- But not today. Oh, did I mention Tony says "shoot the cobia that are with the Bull Sharks" Are you freakin kidding me!!!! :head If I see a bull shark with 10' of vis- I'm learning how to fly as I come Screaming out of the water/ Stab ILDiver in the leg so he bleeds and I can make it to the boat before the shark is done eating him. :t After a few hours we packed it up and Started our trip back to ILDivers Folks house.

They took us out to Anna Maria Island- that was pretty cool. And Now we rest for another day of Spearfishing in the Tampa Bay- Hopefully we can find that grouper and some other fish.

PICS: 1st- Tony, 2nd- Spotted Eel

 

[dotey]

whopp you get back here you aint going to want to go in the water being used to that warm water and all

 

[WreckRunner]

I recognize that guy.....He was my buddy in my FIT class. I thought you guys were talking about another dude who dropped out. Tony hit 5 minutes in his static.....I think 5:15, but I can't remember. It was wild.....you could see the water around him shudder from the contractions. Very cool..........

Yeah, I'm with you Scott......The only shooting I'm doing near a Bull is shooting to the surface. Somebody's gotta live to tell the story right?

Have a good trip back.

 

[Whopperhead]

Final Day of Spearing in FLA.

ILDiver and myself decided to try the spot we were at last time in Tampa Bay- We wanted to see if the Grouper was still there. HE WAS!!! and He/She brought some friends. The Vis was pretty bad 8-10 feet. We cruised along the rocks on shore and tried to get some Sheepshead hanging out there. I was able to get a nice one about 17". I also shot a Mullet to use as Chum to try to coax out the grouper- It ended up getting stolen by a Giant Crab. We headed down to some rocks that extended out into the bay. I saw a large school of Cravalle Jacks went cruising by- I pulled up the Hammerhead and shot - I ended up getting 2 with one shot. :friday They are some cool looking fish- But I hear they aren't the best eating. But i will try different ways of cooking them. We wanted to check out the Grouper area again and see if we could find him. We were not very successful- I was just about to leave when I decided to dive down close to the pilans and try peeking in the cracks- There he was - A TAIL!!! I quickly put my gun in the crack and BAM! got him! He takes off deeper into the holes and lodges himself. ILDiver and myself take turns trying to pull him out - Nada. I end up pulling the spear OUT of the Grouper :head - I quickly reload and decide to shoot blindly into the crack in hopes to make contact again. - It works. This shot must of done some damage and he starts to weaken. ILDiver gave me his 55cm gun and he started to pull the Grouper out and I place another shot Verticle into the fish. We Finally manage to get the Grouper out- It's a Nice 28" Gag Grouper. :ko

We eventually head in and try another area before we leave FLA. ILDiver managed to get himself a 12" Sheepshead and we saw lots of HUGE Stingrays.

Now- we must get some Rest - we Have a Long drive ahead of us. For ILDiver it's 18 hours for me - about 23 hours :head

The F.I.T. Trip was Amazing - I feel blessed that I was able to come and the Info I will leave with is undescribable. I'm looking forward to taking my newly learned techniques and improving upon them. FLA is an awesome place- The Spearfishing, The Weather, The Beaches, some of the People. But i do miss my Family and Can't wait to see them.

Pics: 1st-Whopperhead with 28" Gag Grouper, 2nd- Large Horseshoe Crab, 3rd- todays Catch, 4th- Mullet about to feel the Hammer, 5th- Mullet cruising around.

 

[Whopperhead]

More pics from today

Pics: 1st- Me with 17" Sheepshead, 2nd- me with 2 Cravella Jacks, 3rd- Me with 28" GAG GROUPER, 4th- Huge Stingray, 5th- Sunset on Anna Marie Island

 

[bgill]

I hope the carp and panfish up here in Wisconsin still excite you after saltwater spearing!

Awesome pics...NICE Gag Grouper too! I've had Jack crevalle before...I thought they were tasty! But them Florida spearo's are spoiled!!!! I'd bet they'd choke on a Whitebass or a Rockbass!!!

Saltwater fish DO taste much better IMHO...But hey...I'll take what I can get!

Have a safe trip home!

 

[dotey]

well i am going out spearing Monday and Tuesday its going to be nice so ill shoot some carp for ya Bgill LOL i hope to get you in the water soon

 

[dotey]

so i was watching CSI tonight and they had a secene and the guy died of SWB kindda weird

 

[Tony Babowicz]

Nice pictures Scott. So sorry the vis was so bad on thursday. Some things are out of my hands. Of course the vis has improved since you guys left, but unfortunatly, so has the current.
Jeremy, I mean wreckrunner, you need to come down here when you get the chance and dive with us. Freediving has taken over my life. I've only been scuba once since I saw you last year. Take care Chris and Scott, I enjoyed it.
Tony

 

[cdavis]

Nice grouper! For where you were, that is an EXTREMELY nice grouper, congratulations!

Connor