Weather has been bad, but got a new gun

Filed under Spearfishing Gear, Spearfishing Reports by on July 24, 2010 at 11:41 am {no comments}

custom-wood-separgun Well, Brian is visiting and he brought my new gun. The water and wind have totally sucked pretty much all month. I got out a couple days in the middle of the month but it has now been windy for like 2 weeks straight. Not like 15 knots windy, where you can still go but it’s just kind of uncomfortable. It’s been more like 20-25 knots, sometimes up to 30 knots every freaking day. Then this past weekend we were going to be hit by a tropical storm, the day the storm was supposed to hit was the nicest day almost all month, of course I had no plans to go out, because what type of idiot would go out on his boat when a TROPICAL STORM is about to hit.

So mostly the conditions during Brian’s visit have sucked. We got out to the reef for a little bit the first afternoon he was here, and braved the seas and crap vis for bit. We left at like 3 in the afternoon as soon as his flight got here, because hey tomorrow there is supposed to be tropical storm so get out while we could. Brian shot a nice trigger and a couple snappers before the wind drove me in. We tried going to Cotrell and backcountry stuff today and that was like milk, less then 8 feet of vis.

I guess on the upside Brian brought my new gun and it is a beast. Is it too much gun for the Keys? Maybe sometimes. It shoots the same size shaft as my 130cm rabitech and overall is only an inch or two bigger but boy does it look bigger. It’s teak, with an enclosed track and is currently loaded with 5/16 KJ shaft from Florida Freedivers. I want to scale the shaft down to the 7.5mm the same size I shoot now, but haven’t gotten the shaft yet. I am going to try shooting it a bit with the heavier shaft and see how that plays out. I was worried at first how it feels in the water because it looked so much bigger then my rabitech. This was extra worrisome because I had Brian make the gun substantially longer then the original version, and if it was too long now , I would have really felt like a real dickhead. Frankly, once it’s in the water aiming it doesn’t seem any different. Sure its harder to drag from behind you then the rail gun, but the smaller version of this gun was hard to drag through the water as well.

I have only practiced shooting the gun a couple times and both times it hit exactly what I was aiming for. I found this pretty interesting because generally when I use a different gun I can’t hit the broad side of a barn with it for awhile. This gun, I just picked it up and plugged two fish. One was a small chub was at about the max distance the gun could shoot with a single wrap. I think this gun is going to kick ass on the bar when this weather clears up. I think that this gun is going to be awesome for wahoo, or any day when the vis is 50+ feet. It might kind of suck for the shallows and dirty water though. But I can bring my rabitech for that.

Which means, oh no, I am going to be one of those people who brings two guns. I understand why people want to bring two guns and that’s fine in a big boat. But on my boat that can kind of be a problem. You figure 4 guys, now you have 8 guns laying around all over. Kind of gets out of control. I actually dove with a guy one time who brought like 3 or 4 guns, it seemed like kind of over kill. Right now I just bring my rabitech with two shafts, one with a single wrap, one with a double and use which ever is better for the situation. Now am going to have to bring two guns, maybe. Or maybe I will just use this big wood gun all the time, regardless of the situation like I do now with my rabitech.

Summer Video

Filed under Spearfishing Video by on July 16, 2010 at 2:54 am {3 comments}

Some clips from this spring and summer of 2010. Click “Read Rest of Entry” to view the video. All the video clips where shot within a short distance of Key West and in relatively shallow water. It takes a long time for me to get together enough clips to put something up, Catherine shoots the video mostly and she can’t always go because of work or weather. I think I am going to test out a gun cam, when I get my new gun next week. There are a lot of things I wish I had got on video but have missed out on.
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Black Grouper

Filed under Spearfishing Photos, Spearfishing Reports by on July 12, 2010 at 12:25 am {one comment}

groupers-jetty-017 Been awhile since I have been able to get out on the water – got out the last couple days and had some good luck. First I went out the day before yesterday with Andy, Catherine, and Eddy on Andy’s boat. Mike and Dan also joined us, also known as ghost and the darkness. We headed out to a spot where the mangroves were spawning. The fish were there but after we shot a couple the big ones took off. Water was chalky but you could make out the bottom in 45 feet.

After a bit we moved to the 18 spot which is one of my favorite spots. I call it that because that is how it’s listed on Andy’s gps. On mine I think its listed as “big rocks”. The water was chalkier, but Andy and I jumped in and headed down. I got down near the bottom and was slowly drawing a bead on a big mangrove, when out of the corner of my eye I saw I small jewfish which I thought was a grouper for a second. Then I looked to the left and saw a decent grouper so I changed course. Then from under a ledge a big grouper came out. I used part of the ledge to block his view while I got closer and then nailed him, dead center. I saw the shaft shoot fully out his other side so it didn’t look like he would tear out but then he took off into a cave so far that almost all my shooting line went into the hole. I surfaced and immediately called to Andy to put on a scuba tank and help me get him. Andy had shot a nice yellow jack and was dealing with that. The Darkness had shot another yellow jack but was feeding it to one of the few sharks that live in the area. Andy grabbed the tank and got the fish.  The cave it had gone in had an exit and the fish was just down there on the other side of the rock, so basically the tank wasn’t necessary . I had got worked up by the sharks and the size of the fish.  I felt stupid but screw it the fish is on the boat and not shark food so it was a win anyway. The fish was 30#, 27# gutted.

We drifted around there for a bit and others dove but the sharks got more fired up so we moved. The next area was shallower craggy bottom. I drove for awhile while everyone else shot fish and Cat shot photos. I got so hot I had to jump in after awhile. I shot a nice trigger. Then Eddy shot a nice back with a Hawaiian sling but it took off with his shaft. Luckily, Ghost found it in a rock some distance away. We shot a couple red grouper and some other stuff, and the water kept getting dirtier so we moved.

groupers-jetty-159 Then on the way in we hit kingfish shoals. I personally think kingfish shoals sucks mostly but I was actually excited today because cat had never dove there so I thought it would be cool to go there. It can be good for little hogfish and it’s close so I guess if you just want to go get dinner it’s good for that. When we got there, there was like 3 other boats spear fishing in that same little area. The area already is pretty weak but now with boat loads of kids with spear guns swimming around forget it. Cat was burning up in her wetsuit and then she jumped in and the water was 89 degrees. She got sick of it and quit.  Andy and Darkness swam around for like an hour to shoot two barely legal hogfish. It was insane, then we headed in.

The next day Eddy, Andy and I went out, and we headed to the gulf. We stopped at the jetty in the northwest channel and dove in. Vis was good for that area and it was top to bottom. The life on the jetty was amazing. Mangroves everywhere, and bait was so thick in some places you could not see. Huge eagle rays cruised by, along with schools of tarpon, schools of blue runners, the occasional shark, sting rays, dozens of barracuda and jewfish. Eddy and Andy crushed the mangroves. Pretty much all there was there to shoot was mangroves. Occasionally you would see a sheepshead or a little mutton, but mangroves everywhere. All that life and no camera.

Then we went west and the vis sucked.  12 feet of vis tops in most places maybe 15 and a ripping westbound current. We picked up a fish here and there but it was mostly slim pickings. Then towards the end of the day, Andy and Eddy shot 3 hogfish that were 5 to 6 pounds each. That’s pretty big for hogfish in the Keys and then we headed in.

The next day Cat and I went to the jetty with her camera for an hour or so, I drove while she dove. The vis was still good but none of the real big stuff was there, no eagle rays, no huge turtles, there was some bait but not like the day before. I have to make myself bring the camera every time.