Catfish Hunter
08-15-2007, 02:34 PM
After returning from a California vacation on Thursday, I didn’t expect to be able to make a spearfishing trip to Beaver or Bull Shoals Lake in Arkansas this weekend. But, after mowing the yard and checking on my elderly parents, I decided I could manage a quick trip to Beaver Lake Saturday morning and be back home in the afternoon. While in California, I got a nice WSB using my Wong CFM with a 9/32nd shaft. So, I purchased a 9/32nd shaft for my Striper gun and was anxious to try it out locally.
I arose early Saturday and drove to the Beaver lake dam area and started looking for places to dive. Without my boat, I needed to find a place to freedive from shore. There are only a few spots in this area that are accessible and good for Striper hunting. Beaver Lake, with its clear water, is a paradise for divers and dive shops from Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas bring students here for their open water certification. Saturdays and Sundays are very busy.
After finding an unoccupied spot, I suited up and swam out into the lake . On my first dive to 41 feet, a very large Striper swam by and I fired my speargun. The large tail sounded and I was yanked off the bottom. Line was burning off my reel and then…it stopped. As I pulled up the shaft, I noticed the slip-tip was still attached. Since the shaft didn’t completely go through, it simply pulled out! This point had a small O-ring to hold the tip in place and it apparently offered enough resistance to prevent the tip from coming off. I took off the O-ring and pulled the spectra back into the band. I continued to hunt this same area for an hour, but didn’t see any sign of this fish or others. I decided to move to another spot.
I swam about 100 yards to the west. By this time, my dives were of longer duration and I was reaching deeper depths. Swimming further from the shore, I dove next to top of a large Oak tree and made a good landing on the bottom at 50 feet. The timber was thicker here and I was thinking how the conditions are quite similar to the Kelp diving I was doing a few days earlier in California. I heard a Striper nearby and then saw it appear at the edge of my visibility. No doubt, it sensed my presence and came in for a closer look. As I extended my gun, it turned to leave so I fired. This fish wasn’t as large as the first one, but it was taking line in a hurry. By the time I reached the surface, it had pulled about 100 feet off the reel. I was worried about the slip-tip holding, but there was nothing I could do but hang on. After several good runs, I begin to pull in line. When I got to the shooting line I could see, the fish and the shot placement. It was in the back of the head and the slip-tip was not visible. I pulled this fish on up to the surface and dispatched it with my snake dagger.
This Striper was a beautiful fish and it provided a good ride. I was quite pleased to make the hour drive and shoot two quality fish within a few hours. I really enjoyed diving in Southern California and being able to shoot a nice White Sea Bass. On the other hand, spearing large Striped Bass in Beaver Lake is pretty hard to beat!
Les
I arose early Saturday and drove to the Beaver lake dam area and started looking for places to dive. Without my boat, I needed to find a place to freedive from shore. There are only a few spots in this area that are accessible and good for Striper hunting. Beaver Lake, with its clear water, is a paradise for divers and dive shops from Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas bring students here for their open water certification. Saturdays and Sundays are very busy.
After finding an unoccupied spot, I suited up and swam out into the lake . On my first dive to 41 feet, a very large Striper swam by and I fired my speargun. The large tail sounded and I was yanked off the bottom. Line was burning off my reel and then…it stopped. As I pulled up the shaft, I noticed the slip-tip was still attached. Since the shaft didn’t completely go through, it simply pulled out! This point had a small O-ring to hold the tip in place and it apparently offered enough resistance to prevent the tip from coming off. I took off the O-ring and pulled the spectra back into the band. I continued to hunt this same area for an hour, but didn’t see any sign of this fish or others. I decided to move to another spot.
I swam about 100 yards to the west. By this time, my dives were of longer duration and I was reaching deeper depths. Swimming further from the shore, I dove next to top of a large Oak tree and made a good landing on the bottom at 50 feet. The timber was thicker here and I was thinking how the conditions are quite similar to the Kelp diving I was doing a few days earlier in California. I heard a Striper nearby and then saw it appear at the edge of my visibility. No doubt, it sensed my presence and came in for a closer look. As I extended my gun, it turned to leave so I fired. This fish wasn’t as large as the first one, but it was taking line in a hurry. By the time I reached the surface, it had pulled about 100 feet off the reel. I was worried about the slip-tip holding, but there was nothing I could do but hang on. After several good runs, I begin to pull in line. When I got to the shooting line I could see, the fish and the shot placement. It was in the back of the head and the slip-tip was not visible. I pulled this fish on up to the surface and dispatched it with my snake dagger.
This Striper was a beautiful fish and it provided a good ride. I was quite pleased to make the hour drive and shoot two quality fish within a few hours. I really enjoyed diving in Southern California and being able to shoot a nice White Sea Bass. On the other hand, spearing large Striped Bass in Beaver Lake is pretty hard to beat!
Les