on Sat 9-22 for a polespear contest. Let me know if you want details

Art,

where's up north? Let me know where you guys are gonna be. I might be able to make something happen.

Use the metal bladed fins and score some extra retrosub points:smthumbup:

Art,

where's up north? Let me know where you guys are gonna be. I might be able to make something happen.

It's a polespear meet only. And aren't you on the retrosub email list? All the details are on it.

Basically its 5 fish must be all different species. And 1 ab that you take by hand. Your ab iron will be ziptied to your board/float.

Let me know if that's your cup of tea.

Where? And I did talk to Mario about being a member, but I don't get any e-mails or anything...

I think your email addy hard bounced out. Send a new subscription email. And pm me your phone number I'll call you with the details.

I got it. For some reason, my old aol e-mail was in there. I took care of it and found the details. Thanks Art.

If you're coming give me names. We're trying to plan here. :omg: And we may have food.

So the 3rd Retrosub competition was held on 9-22-07 and we had 14 competitors.

Reef campground in Sonoma was a nice spot as the parking lot was close to the dive entry. Vis was bad inside with about 2-4' vis but on the outside it opened up to 10-12'. Surge was ok but a couple of sleeper waves would occasionally wash in and wipe out people. Water was cold! 50-52F was the report. And the general weather was bad, with a constant drizzle.

We dove from about 10:30 to ~1:30. The results were really good and impressive for such an easily accessible spot. The rules were: 5 fish each of a different species was allowed. Polespears only. And 1 abalone that had to be taken by hand. Ab irons were forbidden. The largest aggregate weight of that mess was the goal.

Dan Rujan won the whole shebang with a good stringer of 5 decent fish and a nice ab. Mario finished 2nd with 4 very nice fish and a good ab. I finished third, just barely squeaking by Chris Chaput (who got cocky and lost a fish right at the exit), with 4 good fish and a small ab.

Dan now has the honor of holding the prestigious Retrosub cup which he gets to add too. He also won a beautiful framed set of color rockfish prints from Amadeo Bachar. The prints were absolutely beautiful and another example of Amadeo's great work.

Mario won the big fish with a huge 4#-4oz Black Rockfish. That black was the biggest black I've ever seen. He beat out my 4#-2oz red. Chris came in third with the previously largest black I've ever seen. Unfortunately no lings or cabs were found.

Mario won the first inaugural big fish perpetual trophy (donated by Mike Grummel). He graciously ceded another beautiful Amadeo print to me. This was a black and white quillback rockfish print. The detail on it is incredible, with the scales absolutely stunning. See the attachment for what this print looks like.

Sam had the big ab with a monster 9-9/16" ab and Joe Jackson had another nice one at 9".

Sam won an awesome Amadeo long sleeve t-shirt for the huge ab.

And not but not least Ian Korf won the boobie prize. A $100 gift certificate for a Sea Sniper gun. Chris was kind enough to realize the poor soul that couldn't feed himself with a pole spear would need all the help with one of the most technologically advanced guns on the market.

All in all an very good contest and a lot of fun. Oh yeah beer, chowder, uni, corn bread and rolls were enjoyed by all.

A big thank you goes out to Mario for doing a lot of the organizing and planning; Amadeo and Chris for their gracious donations of prizes. And Joe Jackson and Mike Grummel for the beautiful trophies. Though why neither of those isn't currently on my mantle is a true travesty and shame.

Thanks for coming everyone and I'll see you next time,

Arthur Li

PS apparently the hot polespear to own is a Korfsub carbon fiber. 3 of the top 4 finishers used it and it was good for a 1-2-3 finish in the big fish comp. Maybe if we ask him nicely he'll make another run of them. I want an 8'+ for a pelagic.

Nice report Art. Amadeo's prints are just awesome. I just stare at his Abalone Lifecycle print. It's hard to describe but he seems to have captured the essence of the ab. It's as if I can feel the texture of the mantle and the growth on the shell.

Man, Amadeo's artwork is awesome. That rockfish print is amazing.

So, uh, how do you pull an ab barehanded? Just go faster?

You can knock off an ab with a sudden swift blow. Before they suck down they are pretty loose. If you miss though you'll never get them off.

Oh I should also point out that all these fish were shot with polespears that were 6' and under. I used one that was 5', Mario was like 5'-6", Chris's was 6'.

Man, Amadeo's artwork is awesome. That rockfish print is amazing.

So, uh, how do you pull an ab barehanded? Just go faster?

And it's watercolor.

You can use the heel of your palm and knock them off. If you're patient, you can tear off some kelp, wave it in front of them and as they get relaxed and interested in the kelp (mantles start to raise up to get the kelp), then you knock them with the heel of your palm.