Flipper's Bitch
11-05-2007, 03:34 AM
I arrived on Izu Oshima (small island 2 hour jet ferry ride south of Tokyo) at about 2:30 PM Thursday, and my friend, Minagawa-san and I were able to get in the water close to our small business hotel. It was very rough water, but since there is no actual reef around the island we were able to get in and out without injury or lost gear. It got dark about 5 PM, so we were only in the water for less than a hour. The water around the island is all rock, seaweed, and black sand. The first fish that I saw was about an 8 kgs Taman (no joke!), but I couldn't not get close enough to get a shot with my pole spear. It turned out that Taman this size were more common than any other fish, but a majority of the Japanese spearfishers come here and the Taman apparently know just how close they can get to divers with a pole spear. If only I could have brought my speargun :(. The next fish that I saw was about a 7 kgs Bump-head parrotfish, which don't seem to fear divers much. It also turns out that these are the 2nd most common large fish here, but the locals will not eat them, so Minagawa-san asked me not shoot them.
On Friday, we got up early and made a long drive (40mins) to the southeastern side of the island. I saw many large Taman, but no matter what trick I tried, I couldn't get close enough with a pole spear. I also saw several giant Parrotfish (some over 10kgs), and I made several dives on them to see how close I could get. I probably could have shot half of them with my pole spear. The most difficult decision that I had to make, was not to shoot this monster bump-head that had to be between 40 to 50 lbs. I didn't even know they got that big. This damn fish didn't not fear me at all, and didn't even attempt to flee until I almost landed on top of him :wtf:. That would have made for an awesome fight on a pole spear, and if I had it to do again. I'm afraid I would taken the shot and just taken some pictures and tossed him in for the sharks, if no one would take him off my hands. The best fish I shot was a large painted sweetlip (about 3kgs). I shot a couple of small knifejaw, nice size goat fish, and small orange grouper, which is one of the favorite local fish. We have these grouper around here, but ours don't usually get quite as big (big in this case=couple pounds). We got out of the water about 1PM, but I wanted to dive some more, so Minagawa took me to another spot on the west side because the winds had changed, and he slept while I dove for another couple hours. I tried again to shoot some of the large Taman to no avail, but came out with several nice goatfish. Didn't see anything else worth shooting.
Saturday morning we got up and moved into the Hotel that was base for the tournament. I was quite surprised to learn that 40 Japanese had shown up for this tournament. The entire tournament was organized and run very professionally, which became very obvious at the opening ceremony. We all gathered and listened as all the safety rules and emergency procedures were explained and agreed upon by everyone by signing a liability statement. Then the timeline and spearfishing rules were discussed and last minute changes were announced. Because of pressure from the local dive shops, the tournament staff decide to make Taman off limits for the tournament (as it turned out, these local Taman have spies in the committee because I got close enough to shoot 2 of them during the tournament :banghead:). There was originally suppose to be 5 dive points available, which each diver would draw a numbers to decide starting points; however, due to construction at one point and rough seas at another 2, the tournament was restricted to 2 sites. This meant 20 divers at each location. Minagawa-san and I drew different locations, so we wished each other luck and climbed in to our respective buses that would take us to our starting points. When we arrived, our site manager, who oversees that all rules and time restrictions were followed, told us that we had 30 minutes to prepare. We all quickly geared up and stood at the waters edge waiting as he counted down the final seconds. Because of heavy currents at our location, it was suggested that everyone drift with the current and get out on the otherside and walk back around. This is what everyone, but myself and one other did. Us two decided to go against the current and take our chances in an area where we were told that there was little chance of finding fish. As it turned out, I found a small clump of rock formation at about 60 feet with a decent amount of fish. I shot, but lost one large orange grouper, and landed a smaller one. I also shot a small knife-jaw. I didn't think that either of these fish would be large enough to meet the minimum length requirements to qualify for tournament points. I also had a shot on a couple of small Jack (not sure what type), which made a couple passes easily within my range, that I didn't take because I mistakenly assumed that they were also too small (this would cost me one position in the rankings). I also passed up another small orange grouper, just before a fishermen came and started put up a net around my fish hole, and told me that I had to leave the area :pissed:. There was not enough time to find a new spot because all competitors had to have their fish out of the water by 3:45 or would be disqualified, so I headed back to the starting point and hung out hoping for a large Jack or Yellowtail Kingfish to come by, but had no luck. I climbed out of the water as the manager called out 3 minutes remaining. I was surprise to see that the many of the divers had not shot any fish at all. I didn't think that my two fish had any chance of placing, so I resigned myself that even though I hadn't done well in the tournament, I was going to enjoy the party and make some new friends.
The fish were taken back to the hotel and recorded by length and species. When we arrived, the other 20 divers were already there and most of their fish had been recorded and were lined up on a tarp. The largest fish was a yellowtail kingfish almost 1 meter long and just over 7 kgs. Everyone now knew who was the winner of the tournament, and he had only shot that one fish. As I predicted before the tournament, luck had won the tournament for this lucky diver, as no other diver had even seen a yellowtail.
The point system used for the tournament was done by species of fish, difficulty to capture, and each species had a minimun length required to qualify. Several species did not count for any points at all, such as parrotfish, taman, goatfish, surgeonfish, spadefish, and several others that I was not familiar with. This system was extremely well defined in the brochure that each participant received upon check in, but was by length in centimeters, which I was not familiar with at all. Prizes were only given for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place contestants.
Gear was cleaned, then we all showered, changed and had dinner. The closing ceremony commenced and they announced the top 8 ranking divers up to 4th place for recognition and my friend Minagawa had taken fourth place. This was very disappointing for him because he had been in 2nd place the last 2 years and he really wanted to take 1st this year. They then moved on to announce 3rd place, and I was completely surprised to learn that It was me :scratchhead:. Minagawa-san and I had 2 qualifying fish each and both had a knifejaw about the same size, and I had one of the largest orange grouper taken that day, but he had a very nice sized painted sweetlips....:o How could I have beaten him??? Apparently, the points for sweetlips are extremely low because they are so easy to shoot. Again, luck had won out! I was also told that I had just barely missed 2nd place, everyone laughed at me for not shooting the Jack or the small grouper. Oh well, I definately couldn't complain because I hadn't expected to win anything :p. For 3rd place, I received a Omer Bandit mask, and Omer rubber weight belt. 2nd place received a certificate for a pair of freediving fins, and 1st place received a hand-made pole spear (worth about 50,000 yen), a crystal trophy, and took home the beautiful Japan Cup, until next year. Speeches were made, and then we moved in to the rest of the prizes. A lottery system was used which had a slip of paper, one for each prize, and one paper for each remaining participant, staff and volunteers remaining that said "Zannen" which loosely translated, means "Too bad, loser :D" Each name was called to draw a paper. The top prize was a gift certificate for 40 or 50,000 yen (can't remember). Other prizes included an Omer 75cm speargun, Omer weight vest (which I won), several pole spears, masks, gloves, and miscellaneous free diving equipment. There was 32 prizes available, so 2/3 of everyone attending left with a prize.
The after party was great. All the fish were cut up and brought out in many forms, sashimi, broiled, fried, soup, and such. Everyone ate, drank and talked spearfishing until the early morning. Four hardcore drinkers were still at it at 7 AM, when I got up to leave for the ferry. (this has been too long, so the rest of the story in the next post :slap:)
On Friday, we got up early and made a long drive (40mins) to the southeastern side of the island. I saw many large Taman, but no matter what trick I tried, I couldn't get close enough with a pole spear. I also saw several giant Parrotfish (some over 10kgs), and I made several dives on them to see how close I could get. I probably could have shot half of them with my pole spear. The most difficult decision that I had to make, was not to shoot this monster bump-head that had to be between 40 to 50 lbs. I didn't even know they got that big. This damn fish didn't not fear me at all, and didn't even attempt to flee until I almost landed on top of him :wtf:. That would have made for an awesome fight on a pole spear, and if I had it to do again. I'm afraid I would taken the shot and just taken some pictures and tossed him in for the sharks, if no one would take him off my hands. The best fish I shot was a large painted sweetlip (about 3kgs). I shot a couple of small knifejaw, nice size goat fish, and small orange grouper, which is one of the favorite local fish. We have these grouper around here, but ours don't usually get quite as big (big in this case=couple pounds). We got out of the water about 1PM, but I wanted to dive some more, so Minagawa took me to another spot on the west side because the winds had changed, and he slept while I dove for another couple hours. I tried again to shoot some of the large Taman to no avail, but came out with several nice goatfish. Didn't see anything else worth shooting.
Saturday morning we got up and moved into the Hotel that was base for the tournament. I was quite surprised to learn that 40 Japanese had shown up for this tournament. The entire tournament was organized and run very professionally, which became very obvious at the opening ceremony. We all gathered and listened as all the safety rules and emergency procedures were explained and agreed upon by everyone by signing a liability statement. Then the timeline and spearfishing rules were discussed and last minute changes were announced. Because of pressure from the local dive shops, the tournament staff decide to make Taman off limits for the tournament (as it turned out, these local Taman have spies in the committee because I got close enough to shoot 2 of them during the tournament :banghead:). There was originally suppose to be 5 dive points available, which each diver would draw a numbers to decide starting points; however, due to construction at one point and rough seas at another 2, the tournament was restricted to 2 sites. This meant 20 divers at each location. Minagawa-san and I drew different locations, so we wished each other luck and climbed in to our respective buses that would take us to our starting points. When we arrived, our site manager, who oversees that all rules and time restrictions were followed, told us that we had 30 minutes to prepare. We all quickly geared up and stood at the waters edge waiting as he counted down the final seconds. Because of heavy currents at our location, it was suggested that everyone drift with the current and get out on the otherside and walk back around. This is what everyone, but myself and one other did. Us two decided to go against the current and take our chances in an area where we were told that there was little chance of finding fish. As it turned out, I found a small clump of rock formation at about 60 feet with a decent amount of fish. I shot, but lost one large orange grouper, and landed a smaller one. I also shot a small knife-jaw. I didn't think that either of these fish would be large enough to meet the minimum length requirements to qualify for tournament points. I also had a shot on a couple of small Jack (not sure what type), which made a couple passes easily within my range, that I didn't take because I mistakenly assumed that they were also too small (this would cost me one position in the rankings). I also passed up another small orange grouper, just before a fishermen came and started put up a net around my fish hole, and told me that I had to leave the area :pissed:. There was not enough time to find a new spot because all competitors had to have their fish out of the water by 3:45 or would be disqualified, so I headed back to the starting point and hung out hoping for a large Jack or Yellowtail Kingfish to come by, but had no luck. I climbed out of the water as the manager called out 3 minutes remaining. I was surprise to see that the many of the divers had not shot any fish at all. I didn't think that my two fish had any chance of placing, so I resigned myself that even though I hadn't done well in the tournament, I was going to enjoy the party and make some new friends.
The fish were taken back to the hotel and recorded by length and species. When we arrived, the other 20 divers were already there and most of their fish had been recorded and were lined up on a tarp. The largest fish was a yellowtail kingfish almost 1 meter long and just over 7 kgs. Everyone now knew who was the winner of the tournament, and he had only shot that one fish. As I predicted before the tournament, luck had won the tournament for this lucky diver, as no other diver had even seen a yellowtail.
The point system used for the tournament was done by species of fish, difficulty to capture, and each species had a minimun length required to qualify. Several species did not count for any points at all, such as parrotfish, taman, goatfish, surgeonfish, spadefish, and several others that I was not familiar with. This system was extremely well defined in the brochure that each participant received upon check in, but was by length in centimeters, which I was not familiar with at all. Prizes were only given for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place contestants.
Gear was cleaned, then we all showered, changed and had dinner. The closing ceremony commenced and they announced the top 8 ranking divers up to 4th place for recognition and my friend Minagawa had taken fourth place. This was very disappointing for him because he had been in 2nd place the last 2 years and he really wanted to take 1st this year. They then moved on to announce 3rd place, and I was completely surprised to learn that It was me :scratchhead:. Minagawa-san and I had 2 qualifying fish each and both had a knifejaw about the same size, and I had one of the largest orange grouper taken that day, but he had a very nice sized painted sweetlips....:o How could I have beaten him??? Apparently, the points for sweetlips are extremely low because they are so easy to shoot. Again, luck had won out! I was also told that I had just barely missed 2nd place, everyone laughed at me for not shooting the Jack or the small grouper. Oh well, I definately couldn't complain because I hadn't expected to win anything :p. For 3rd place, I received a Omer Bandit mask, and Omer rubber weight belt. 2nd place received a certificate for a pair of freediving fins, and 1st place received a hand-made pole spear (worth about 50,000 yen), a crystal trophy, and took home the beautiful Japan Cup, until next year. Speeches were made, and then we moved in to the rest of the prizes. A lottery system was used which had a slip of paper, one for each prize, and one paper for each remaining participant, staff and volunteers remaining that said "Zannen" which loosely translated, means "Too bad, loser :D" Each name was called to draw a paper. The top prize was a gift certificate for 40 or 50,000 yen (can't remember). Other prizes included an Omer 75cm speargun, Omer weight vest (which I won), several pole spears, masks, gloves, and miscellaneous free diving equipment. There was 32 prizes available, so 2/3 of everyone attending left with a prize.
The after party was great. All the fish were cut up and brought out in many forms, sashimi, broiled, fried, soup, and such. Everyone ate, drank and talked spearfishing until the early morning. Four hardcore drinkers were still at it at 7 AM, when I got up to leave for the ferry. (this has been too long, so the rest of the story in the next post :slap:)