Bill McIntyre
09-08-2007, 12:53 AM
The yellowtail is shown below. Unless you have a high tolerance for mawkish bullshit, you may want to skip the small world portion, but here it is.
I went to Catalina today with regular anchor puller Daniel Gonzalez and new one Franck Labasse. Franck is the example of what an interconnected small world the diving community has become because of the internet.
Franck is French, and has lived in the states for about 11 years. Until recently he lived in New York and dove the NE coast, and recently he moved to Las Vegas.
A few years ago, I had the only contact I've ever had who gave me rides from Ventura to the Enchanted Isles, a Belgian named Francois Perrier. Of course I met him on the Freedivelist. Unfortunately, Francois moved back to Belgium, so I lost my ride. But more recently, Franck was reading the French magazine Apnea and saw an article by Francois on hunting white sea bass in So Cal, so he searched the net and finally found him in Brussels. They have exchanged emails about their experiences in the Med and elsewhere, and when Franck mentioned that he was going to spend a week in LA, Francois urged him to contact me.
So Franck sent me an email, and included photo of big striped bass that he took on the east coast to establish his bona fides. If Francois recommended him, that was good enough for me, even if they have never laid eyes on each other, so I invited him along.
When we met, he mentioned that on the east coast he had done some diving with Rene Potvin. Ding ding! About 10 years ago when Roger Yazbeck (Mr Picasso America) lived in Montreal, he and Rene flew out and dove Clemente with me, and Rene got a 35 pound yellowtail on his first day of diving California.
OK, that is all the small word shit, but I really am struck by how interconnected our community has become due to the internet. Years ago, your diving circle was limited to a small group of friends or a club, but now everyone knows someone who knows everyone else, and I love it.
So back the trip, such as it was.
The forecast had me worried since my back has been worse than usual, but we had a beautiful calm crossing to the Catalina East End. Since I'm a puss, I elected to be a good host and not get in Franck's way while he tried this new diving. He was carrying a 90cm Omer gun, which is apparently all you need for big stripers on the other coast, but I warned him that it might be a tad small out here. They tried three different spots on the East End without seeing anything but bonito, so at the fourth one I decided to suit up and show them how it was supposed to be done.
I grabbed my gun and jumped in, and then noticed that I had grabbed my 55" hybrid rather than the intended 57" magnum hybrid, but I was too lazy to get back in the boat, so I started swimming out. Since the other two guys had already been suited up, I was the last one in and passed Daniel swimming back to the boat in disgust, but I pressed on. After a while, I saw a pair of yellowtail swimming lazily at about 35 feet, probably just out of range of my gun. But hope springs eternal, and I took a hail mary that just tipped the fish as the shaft hit the end of the shooting line. I think I need one more wrap.
A few minutes later, I saw another fish that wasn't even close enough for a hail mary, so I decided maybe I should go back for the magnum after all. But on the way back to the boat, it occurred to me that I had brought along the ono gun today on a whim, so maybe that's what I should try if they wanted to play these hard-to-get games.
It had four new tight 5/8" bands, and by the time I got it cocked I was ready for a nap, but after a few minutes on the surface, decided I was able to dive after all. On that first dive, I saw a yellowtail, again at around 30 feet, that was easily in range, so I went ahead and missed it completely. I had not even shot that gun in a few years, so I was afraid that would happen.
After cocking and recovering again, I saw another one and actually managed to hit it. After I got it in hand and Chip Bisseled the hell out of it, cutting rather than tearing out both gills and braining it, I left the ono gun with Daniel and took the fish back to the boat, where I continued with Chip's directions in mind, cutting the gills out and gutting it. The only thing I didn't do was do that spoon thing along side the backbone- I need to get a spoon.
Franck got a great video with the Sony mounted on top of his gun. He dives down through a lot of bait which periodically swirls back around the lens, hangs there for an interminable amount of time (did he bring scuba?) until finally a yellowtail swims in front of the gun. He shoots, the shaft from that 90 cm gun falls way short, and the yellowtail doesn't seem to notice. I think Franck is in the market for a larger gun now.
OK, I'll shorten it up a bit. We did one more spot, both Daniel and Franck saw a few yellowtail, but didn't score. Daniel had taken a ton of yellowtail from my boat over the years, and we were remarking how we used to consider them as almost bycatch when hunting white sea bass, but he can't seem to connect this year, and its pissing him off.
I'd feel a lot worse for him if the bastard had not shot a 60 pound white sea bass earlier this year.
I tried to get by without taking a photo of the monster, but Franck insisted on one at the wash rack at the launch ramp, so here it is.
Not much in the way of fish, but still a hell of a lot of fun. Franck is a great diver and an enthusiastic guy who is fun to have on the boat, and I hope he can join us again.
I went to Catalina today with regular anchor puller Daniel Gonzalez and new one Franck Labasse. Franck is the example of what an interconnected small world the diving community has become because of the internet.
Franck is French, and has lived in the states for about 11 years. Until recently he lived in New York and dove the NE coast, and recently he moved to Las Vegas.
A few years ago, I had the only contact I've ever had who gave me rides from Ventura to the Enchanted Isles, a Belgian named Francois Perrier. Of course I met him on the Freedivelist. Unfortunately, Francois moved back to Belgium, so I lost my ride. But more recently, Franck was reading the French magazine Apnea and saw an article by Francois on hunting white sea bass in So Cal, so he searched the net and finally found him in Brussels. They have exchanged emails about their experiences in the Med and elsewhere, and when Franck mentioned that he was going to spend a week in LA, Francois urged him to contact me.
So Franck sent me an email, and included photo of big striped bass that he took on the east coast to establish his bona fides. If Francois recommended him, that was good enough for me, even if they have never laid eyes on each other, so I invited him along.
When we met, he mentioned that on the east coast he had done some diving with Rene Potvin. Ding ding! About 10 years ago when Roger Yazbeck (Mr Picasso America) lived in Montreal, he and Rene flew out and dove Clemente with me, and Rene got a 35 pound yellowtail on his first day of diving California.
OK, that is all the small word shit, but I really am struck by how interconnected our community has become due to the internet. Years ago, your diving circle was limited to a small group of friends or a club, but now everyone knows someone who knows everyone else, and I love it.
So back the trip, such as it was.
The forecast had me worried since my back has been worse than usual, but we had a beautiful calm crossing to the Catalina East End. Since I'm a puss, I elected to be a good host and not get in Franck's way while he tried this new diving. He was carrying a 90cm Omer gun, which is apparently all you need for big stripers on the other coast, but I warned him that it might be a tad small out here. They tried three different spots on the East End without seeing anything but bonito, so at the fourth one I decided to suit up and show them how it was supposed to be done.
I grabbed my gun and jumped in, and then noticed that I had grabbed my 55" hybrid rather than the intended 57" magnum hybrid, but I was too lazy to get back in the boat, so I started swimming out. Since the other two guys had already been suited up, I was the last one in and passed Daniel swimming back to the boat in disgust, but I pressed on. After a while, I saw a pair of yellowtail swimming lazily at about 35 feet, probably just out of range of my gun. But hope springs eternal, and I took a hail mary that just tipped the fish as the shaft hit the end of the shooting line. I think I need one more wrap.
A few minutes later, I saw another fish that wasn't even close enough for a hail mary, so I decided maybe I should go back for the magnum after all. But on the way back to the boat, it occurred to me that I had brought along the ono gun today on a whim, so maybe that's what I should try if they wanted to play these hard-to-get games.
It had four new tight 5/8" bands, and by the time I got it cocked I was ready for a nap, but after a few minutes on the surface, decided I was able to dive after all. On that first dive, I saw a yellowtail, again at around 30 feet, that was easily in range, so I went ahead and missed it completely. I had not even shot that gun in a few years, so I was afraid that would happen.
After cocking and recovering again, I saw another one and actually managed to hit it. After I got it in hand and Chip Bisseled the hell out of it, cutting rather than tearing out both gills and braining it, I left the ono gun with Daniel and took the fish back to the boat, where I continued with Chip's directions in mind, cutting the gills out and gutting it. The only thing I didn't do was do that spoon thing along side the backbone- I need to get a spoon.
Franck got a great video with the Sony mounted on top of his gun. He dives down through a lot of bait which periodically swirls back around the lens, hangs there for an interminable amount of time (did he bring scuba?) until finally a yellowtail swims in front of the gun. He shoots, the shaft from that 90 cm gun falls way short, and the yellowtail doesn't seem to notice. I think Franck is in the market for a larger gun now.
OK, I'll shorten it up a bit. We did one more spot, both Daniel and Franck saw a few yellowtail, but didn't score. Daniel had taken a ton of yellowtail from my boat over the years, and we were remarking how we used to consider them as almost bycatch when hunting white sea bass, but he can't seem to connect this year, and its pissing him off.
I'd feel a lot worse for him if the bastard had not shot a 60 pound white sea bass earlier this year.
I tried to get by without taking a photo of the monster, but Franck insisted on one at the wash rack at the launch ramp, so here it is.
Not much in the way of fish, but still a hell of a lot of fun. Franck is a great diver and an enthusiastic guy who is fun to have on the boat, and I hope he can join us again.