Ed Walker
09-22-2008, 12:45 PM
After a few consecutive days of freediving from Big Pine to the Western Dry Rocks off KW with some of the Chumfest gang, everyone headed home Sunday. JAW and I were the only ones left and we woke up late, and pondered heading out again. We decided to hit a few spots here by the house, save some gas, and take it kinda easy.
First stop was in 50 feet where the water was blue, vis was top to bottom and there was zero current. Dropped a few chum bombs and we hopped in. JAW scored a big mutton, I managed a big black with a crushing shot to the tail and then a nice chin shot with the second shot gun. :D I also got a nice mutt and we picked a few other fish along the way. Very nice start to the day.
The Payback
Late in the day we ended up at one our favorite spots. One at which I have been getting worked repeatedly while dropping 1 pound live baits while rod and reel fishing. Even on straight 80 lb test with 125 leader we havent stopped many of the groupers there. Depth is 70 to 85 around the edges.
As we pull up there is a fishing boat anchored on it, I idled around a bit but there was no room for two the way he was set up so we went somewhere else for a while and when we came back he was gone. :thumbup:
Chummed it up with bombs, block chum, glass minnows and pilchards most of which went straight down due to the lack of current. We could make out the bottom from 80 feet up. First drop JAW comes up with a big black and says there are 10 more sitting below us. I make it down and have a 25 pounder that swims toward me and stares into my mask. Im leery of head on shots so I wait...and wait but when he finally turns he bolts, I shoot, and wiff. Looking down while on my ascent I see blacks and muttons everywhere. Soon we are one black short of our limit and JAW is being polite trying to let me get the last one so he pops several more huge muttons while pointing out the blacks. I miss again and the jewfish move in sending the blacks back toward the cave on the deeper side in 85 feet, out of my comfort range. Its starting to get late and the clear water is getting kinda dark. JAW calls me over to the "house", the cave of monster fish at the edge of the plateau that we always see huge fish. There is a 20 pound dog snapper, a 16 1/2 pound cubera (he took it), and a bunch of big blacks. I make a few drops and actually make the bottom and scan thru numerous legal blacks for the biggest one, then look out on the sand behind me to see the bull sharks circling like guardians of the house. I mention the situtation but an undetered Clark Kent makes another drop...
Superman returns
As Im watching from above JAW spends a long time way down there at the house. Finally I see him start up, then turn back and go back after a fish (this in 85 feet). I hear a shot and an ensuing wrestling match below. Realizing that he has been down a very long time on a breath and is still down there, I drop to around 40 feet or so to escort him up...if he ever comes up. What I see is insane. He is standing in the sand fighting with a big black and has at least 3 bull bull sharks all over him. Finally he shoves the fish back into the cave and goes up. Two sharks immediately dive into into the cave after it and we are out. I take his gun with the reel running off as he continues up for air. After a couple of breaths he says "I gotta get my tank!" and races for the boat which is a pretty good ways off. So here I am in low light, holding a gun with a mad pack up bull sharks at the end of it wondering WTF we are doing. In record time Superman swims by below me on scuba and goes straight to the cave. He digs his intact black out, the sharks back off and a 25 to 30 pound black (with a hook in its mouth) is in the boat with a severely bent shaft. By now its almost dark but we keep diving with sharks in view most of the time. JAW shoots another big mutton at the house and 3 big sharks follow it all the way up. Im done over there. We pick the column a bit and shoot a kingfish, 2 perms, yellow jacks, ceros ect.. and had to ignore all the blacks milling around below as we were limited out.
One more dive
Before we leave JAW dons his tank again and goes down into shark land in near darkness looking for the anchor and stainless chain I lost a week earlier. He is gone for a while then I see a lift bag come up, with my anchor and an additional one attached. The guy is a dive machine.
First stop was in 50 feet where the water was blue, vis was top to bottom and there was zero current. Dropped a few chum bombs and we hopped in. JAW scored a big mutton, I managed a big black with a crushing shot to the tail and then a nice chin shot with the second shot gun. :D I also got a nice mutt and we picked a few other fish along the way. Very nice start to the day.
The Payback
Late in the day we ended up at one our favorite spots. One at which I have been getting worked repeatedly while dropping 1 pound live baits while rod and reel fishing. Even on straight 80 lb test with 125 leader we havent stopped many of the groupers there. Depth is 70 to 85 around the edges.
As we pull up there is a fishing boat anchored on it, I idled around a bit but there was no room for two the way he was set up so we went somewhere else for a while and when we came back he was gone. :thumbup:
Chummed it up with bombs, block chum, glass minnows and pilchards most of which went straight down due to the lack of current. We could make out the bottom from 80 feet up. First drop JAW comes up with a big black and says there are 10 more sitting below us. I make it down and have a 25 pounder that swims toward me and stares into my mask. Im leery of head on shots so I wait...and wait but when he finally turns he bolts, I shoot, and wiff. Looking down while on my ascent I see blacks and muttons everywhere. Soon we are one black short of our limit and JAW is being polite trying to let me get the last one so he pops several more huge muttons while pointing out the blacks. I miss again and the jewfish move in sending the blacks back toward the cave on the deeper side in 85 feet, out of my comfort range. Its starting to get late and the clear water is getting kinda dark. JAW calls me over to the "house", the cave of monster fish at the edge of the plateau that we always see huge fish. There is a 20 pound dog snapper, a 16 1/2 pound cubera (he took it), and a bunch of big blacks. I make a few drops and actually make the bottom and scan thru numerous legal blacks for the biggest one, then look out on the sand behind me to see the bull sharks circling like guardians of the house. I mention the situtation but an undetered Clark Kent makes another drop...
Superman returns
As Im watching from above JAW spends a long time way down there at the house. Finally I see him start up, then turn back and go back after a fish (this in 85 feet). I hear a shot and an ensuing wrestling match below. Realizing that he has been down a very long time on a breath and is still down there, I drop to around 40 feet or so to escort him up...if he ever comes up. What I see is insane. He is standing in the sand fighting with a big black and has at least 3 bull bull sharks all over him. Finally he shoves the fish back into the cave and goes up. Two sharks immediately dive into into the cave after it and we are out. I take his gun with the reel running off as he continues up for air. After a couple of breaths he says "I gotta get my tank!" and races for the boat which is a pretty good ways off. So here I am in low light, holding a gun with a mad pack up bull sharks at the end of it wondering WTF we are doing. In record time Superman swims by below me on scuba and goes straight to the cave. He digs his intact black out, the sharks back off and a 25 to 30 pound black (with a hook in its mouth) is in the boat with a severely bent shaft. By now its almost dark but we keep diving with sharks in view most of the time. JAW shoots another big mutton at the house and 3 big sharks follow it all the way up. Im done over there. We pick the column a bit and shoot a kingfish, 2 perms, yellow jacks, ceros ect.. and had to ignore all the blacks milling around below as we were limited out.
One more dive
Before we leave JAW dons his tank again and goes down into shark land in near darkness looking for the anchor and stainless chain I lost a week earlier. He is gone for a while then I see a lift bag come up, with my anchor and an additional one attached. The guy is a dive machine.