mike22
04-10-2008, 11:40 AM
So, my buddy Kevin and I decided to get in a quick dive on Sunday evening. We headed out into the bay around 5:00pm. Tried a few spots out towards the mouth of the bay where the water is generally a little clearer, but the current was strong. We moved inside the bay to get away from the current, but the trade off is much worse visibility. We hit a spot that was around 30' deep, vis was about 10'-15'. It was funny because I told Kevin that I was going to take my 110cm cause the vis sucked. We talked about it for a minute, and he talked me into taking the longer 130cm just in case that big fish swam by. Into the water we went. Up and down a few times, saw a few gray snappers, but not much. I dropped down in the middle of quite a few big pieces of coral and a small grey caught my attention. I watched him for a little bit and then decided to take him. He must have sensed something was up, so away he went. I had a bit of breath left, so I just hung out on the bottom. Low and behold, out of the dirty water something big swims in. I immediately recognize the disticint verticle stripes of a cubera snapper. He sees me and turns around, but doesn't bolt. I give chase, but he is slowly disappearing into the bad vis. I extend my 130cm aimrite venom and pick a spot where I believe he should be. I am just about to pull the trigger when the fish comes back towards me. I'm not swimming at this point and he is pretty close. I swing the gun and have a good shot aimed at mid body. The fish looks pretty calm so I rotate my wrist and aim the gun for the sweet spot. I pull the trigger and :BoomSmilie_anim:, not even a twitch of the tail. I don't even have to unsheath my knife. Flop the fish into the boat and he weighs in at 31lbs. While cuberas are not the most difficult fish to stalk, they are my favorite fish to shoot because they are a rare encounter. Thanks to Kevin (who I've decided is my good luck charm) for convincing me to take the bigger gun.