Florida Spearfishing

24-Inch Red Grouper - Hollywood, FL

2008-11-16T08:12:00.000-08:00

Unable to find another last minute diver, my buddy, Ty, and I decided to do a little anchor diving. It was the first decent wave weekend day in quite awhile, and we wanted to make the most of it. We left the dock around 9am and made our way to our first dive site. Unfortunately, there were several dive boats trolling across the wreck, so we opted for a shallower dive elsewhere.

We anchored up near the Hollywood Outfall, which is located just North of Hollywood Boulevard right off the beach. Just in case you're not familiar, an 'outfall' is a nice way of saying sewer pollution disbursement pipe. There used to be dozens of these up and down the Florida coast pumping millions of gallons of near-raw sewage waste into the ocean every day. Most of the municipalities have since shut them down, but there are several that are still active including the City of Hallandale Beach and one up near Pompano and Boca, but I don't specifically know who operates it.

If you've never been diving on one of these sites, it is certainly an eye-opener. Having accidentally come across the Hallandale Outfall Pipe some years ago, I would never dive one of these active sites on purposes. Picture a large round pipe with a plume of thick smoke pouring out into the water, except that instead of smoke, it's dark, stinky sewage. The reef life around it is usually dead, but the fish life is usually pretty abundant with some of the largest Bermuda Chubs I've ever seen in my life swimming in schools through the plume of effluent. YUCK! Needless to say, I immediately started swimming upstream.

Installing one of these now would NEVER make it past the EPA, let alone the reef protection groups, etc. Unfortunately, neither of us had an underwater camera or I'd be happy to post photos. The pipe is a HUGE steel pipe, some of which are larger than 3 feet across. However, it is weighed down to the sea bed by way of a matte of interlocked concrete blocks. They make almost a road bed along the bottom. The sad part is that they laid these blocks across whatever happened to be in the way - including coral heads and rock formations.

In the years since, some of the steel rods that hold the blocks together have rusted through, usually where there is a lot of stress on them such as a lump created by laying over a coral formation. This creates small perforations in the matte that create a crevice, which allows fish to swim in and out at will. In some of these sections, there are caverns that are several feet wide, a foot or more high and dozens of feet long - perfect habitat for a variety of reef fish who gather in these areas now.

The Hollywood Outfall Pipe, now inactive, has simply become part of the habitat. On this particular day, most of the fish life was gathered on the North side of the structure, perhaps to be on the lee side of the North-flowing current. I saw a nice dog snapper slip into one of these crevices, so I lined myself up and waited. Within a few minutes, it emerged again and found itself on the end of my spearshaft. I repeated the process twice more. Three snapper on the stringer; not a bad dive. I also saw a very large yellow jack and a just-over-legal king mackerel, but both were out of range. Ty picked up two lobsters hiding amongst the matte.

I had promised Ty to show him a spot that two of my other buddies and I had found a few months earlier. On that trip, we landed 11 lobster and several fish on one dive. After a little trial and error, we located the area and dropped in together. Ty dives with a scooter, so he tends to cover a lot more ground than I do, even with my Omer Millennium Longfins. I prefer to take it slow, cover less ground, but take more time to see everything I can. On this trip, it paid off.

I was on the bottom for all of about 45 seconds after following the anchor rode down to the bottom. Grouper will frequently move toward an anchor when it hits the bottom; perhaps to check out the commotion or the poof of inevitable sand. We had anchored in a sandy spot right next to the reef line. Rather than follow the reef line, however, I saw a small outcropping over the top of the edge. I swam toward it and spooked a grouper. He shot off across the reef light a lightning bolt. I kicked hard to try to catch him, but knew that if he kept up the pace, I'd never get close.

His first burst of energy subsided and he paused just long enough for me to take a long-range gill shot, which hit its mark. A perfect shot, he had little opportunity to escape as the flopper on the Hawaiian Shaft I was using on my Riffe C3XS had opened on the other side. He thrashed toward a coral head, which I thought meant a bent shaft for certain. Instead, he turned a somersault and I was able to grab him before any damage was done. Ty showed up behind me just as I was locking the red grouper onto my stringer. I did a little happy dance to which Ty rolled his eyes and kept cruising.

I continued scouring the reef looking for more fish. My wife had sent me on a mission as our freezer was nearly empty. Too many bad weather days left me no previous opportunity to replenish our seafood supply. I was a little disoriented because the clouds kept going in and out obscuring the sunlight. However, the first lobster I found were sitting in a small cave that I had found on that previous dive trip. You can see video of the cave - full of lobster - here on my YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG7oIK2q4LQ

As soon as I saw the sponge, I instantly had my bearings and knew where to find more fish and lobster. I picked up a total of 6 lobster, the 24-inch grouper, and 2 nice Spanish Mackerel before getting a little chilly and deciding to head back to the boat. God had shown us abundance today, and I thank him as I made the 100-yard swim back to the boat, compass in hand. The scenery had been amazing, the seas calm, the water a little cloudy, but perfect for spearfishing. If the water is too clear, the fish see you well before you either see them or before you could get in shooting range. Most importantly, both divers returned safely to the boat without incident.

All in all, another great day diving in paradise.

Hail Mary Grouper - Key West

2008-05-18T08:19:00.000-07:00

My buddies, Randy Docks, Ann Scutti, and Matt Doty, and I were all set to compete in the 2008 Spearboard Open Spearfishing Tournament. We had what we thought was a rock solid charter booked out of Key West going to the Marquesas with Captain Daniel Zier on the 'Second Nature' charter boat out of Garrison's Bight on Key West. Originally, the trip plan was to arrive in Key West Friday night, sleep on the boat while motoring overnight to the Marquesas, with the diving starting at dawn on Saturday. According to 'Capt'n Dan' (using my best Forrest Gump character voice) he would be putting us on big fish all day, and in fact, would be 'pushing black grouper out of the way so you can shoot the bigger ones.' A sales pitch of course, but his website photos seemed to back up the claim. Turns out that many of the 'spearfishing' photos on his website are actually from commercial line fishing days with the occasional shot of him with some fish he shot personally freediving.

Unfortunately, he didn't live up to the hype. In fact, the boat and it's crew were ill-equipped and untrained to accommodate divers. No dive platform, a plastic ladder thrown over the side of the very tall gunwales, and a mate that was not trained in helping divers either get geared up, get back on the boat, or stow their gear without causing potential damage. We ended up assisting each other most of the time getting the tanks into the boat, among other things. In fact, the mate was on the flybridge chatting with the captain a couple times when we were getting ready to dive.

The dive platform was obvious upon our arrival, but at 6am the day of the tournament, our choices were pretty limited. The Marquesas trip we paid for turned into a multi-dive outing always within sight of land of Key West. To add insult to injury, the captain and mate did some freediving during our surface intervals on a shallow spot that was nearby the spots we dived. The water had great visibility and oddly enough, the captain bagged a 10-pound mutton snapper, a 20-pound black grouper, some hogfish, and a couple nice triggerfish; interesting, since I didn't even see a mutton snapper all day.

Advice: if you have the opportunity to charter with Captain Dan Zier on 'Second Nature' in Key West... Skip the Trip.

Dive 1:
90-115 feet of Water, Hard Bottom
Expected: Huge snapper and grouper
Viz - 15-20 feet (if you're lucky, looked like diving in watered-down milk)
Fish Seen: 2 HUGE African Pompano (can't shoot 'em), 1 Goliath Grouper, lots of little yellow tail snapper, 1 small yellow jack
Fish Boated: NONE (NONE?!?)

Dive 2:
80-95 feet of water, Wreck: Cayman Salvager then Reef nearby
Viz: 20-30 feet on the wreck, 15-20 on the reef
Expected: Huge amberjack, huge grouper, huge mutton snapper, maybe big hogfish
Fish Seen: 1 legal black on the wreck that was too spooky to get close to, 1 decent yellow jack, few small hogfish, a couple mackeral (not on the tournament list)
Fish Boated: 1 decent yellow jack (see photo)

Dive 3:
45-75 feet of water, reef ledge
Viz: 10-20 feet depending on depth
Expected: Huge grouper, huge snapper, huge hogfish, ANYTHING!?!
Fish Seen: Several black grouper, spooky lane snapper and schoolmaster, smallish hogfish, several mackerel
Fish Boated: 1 black grouper (see top photo), 2 legal hogfish

Dive 4: (Repeat of 3rd location)
45-60 feet of water, reef ledge
Viz: 10-15 feet and declining
Expected: Grouper
Fish Seen: Several black grouper, spooky lane snapper and schoolmaster, smallish hogfish, several mackerel, 30lbs Nassau Grouper, 1 Triggerfish
Fish Boated: Nice Trigger Fish (see photo below), 1 small snapper

If we had been diving out of our home ports of Pompano Beach or Fort Lauderdale, this would have been a decent day if we had done two dives instead of four. However, having paid for a Marquesas trip and having received a near-shore Key West trip, we were all extremely disappointed. So much so that none of us took our fish up to New Port Richey for the tournament weigh-in.

About the grouper:
Matt and I were covering some very interesting coral formations around 50-60 feet, criss-crossing across what I would call 'mushroom forest'. There were lots of holes and even tunnels for fish to traverse. The black grouper came out of a hole and shot across the reef. I followed it around and over several coral heads and took the 'Hail Mary' shot on the far end of my speargun's range. I thought a body shot might actually stick at that distance, and it did. The fish swam, with shaft in place, under one coral head and through another. So, the one big fish of the trip came at the expense of a hardened steel Riffe shaft, which was thoroughly bent in the process. Nice fish!

Note to readers:
While you certainly shouldn't believe everything people tell you or even show you on website photos, you should have a certain level of expectation when booking a professional charter. First and foremost, the captain and crew should be EXPERIENCED with divers and be properly equipped to handle them. As many charters as we've booked between us, it never dawned on us to ask the captain if his boat had a dive platform and swim ladder. You just assume (bad idea) that anyone who is chartering divers will have these two essential items. Of course, none of the four of us will make that mistake again. Also, please note that all divers on this trip have advanced training and Nitrox certifications. Never dive beyond your skill or training level, don't push your personal limits, and of course, plan your dive and dive your plan!

On a positive note (finally, I know), the seas were calm, the weather was nice, the water was warm, and all divers returned to the boat safely after each dive. While we were all tired from the driving and the full day of diving, we were all prepared (mentally, physically, and with regard to skills/training) to do this trip.

The highlight of the trip for me was seeing a 30-pound Nassau Grouper for the first time. I've seen lots of 3-5 pounders, but never one this massive. The two African Pompano on the first dive were also amazing. They swam straight up to me within a minute or so of hitting the bottom. As they swam away, I snapped the bands on my speargun and they turned around and came back for a second look. Both times, they were within 10 feet of me. Very cool!

Pensacola - Freediving Chevron Towers for Cobia

2008-04-28T07:57:00.000-07:00

While on the boat after our dive of the Oriskany, we noticed several large weed patches floating a few hundred yards away from the wreck. We kept an eye on the flow and Captain Dalton of Due South Custom Charters means what he says about a 'Custom' charter. He knew we were here to do some spearfishing and thought some dolphin (mahi mahi, not Flipper) might be cruising the weedline. We motored over gingerly and Armando sighted some blue and green torpedoes in the water.

For the record, freediving after scuba diving is NOT advisable as the nitrogen bubbles dissolved in your bloodstream during scuba diving can collect as you descend in freediving and then expand into embolisms in your blood upon a rapid ascent in freediving. None of our divers swam more than 10 feet below the surface during our post-scuba freedives. For the most part, we were simply snorkeling at the surface.

I slid into the water with my freediving gear and speargun and made my way over to the first weed patty. There two juvenile amberjack cruising just under the weeds, but no dolphin. I kicked over to the next patty and was absolutely stunned to see a school of approximately 100-200 juvenile or 'peanut' dolphin. They were perhaps one of the most beautiful sights I've seen underwater in quite a long time. I yelled to the boat that we had 'schoolies' and Ann joined me in the water a few minutes later.

We both floated in awe as the entire school surrounded us and generally stayed right around us for about 15 minutes as the boat checked out the next patty over. There were rumors of cobia, but none to be seen... YET. Armando handed me his video camera and I shot some footage of the dolphin. Link Forthcoming. Each of the divers on the Colusa IV made their way into the water and over to watch the dolphin before we made our way to the the next dive site.

Just a few miles from the Oriskany are two towers, formerly Chevron petroleum platforms. The oil company cut the platforms off the legs and left them in place, the shallowest approximately 70 feet from the surface. Both are in approximately 135 feet of water. As we were locating the wreck, Dr. Jay and I made our way to the tuna tower on Captain Dalton's boat to look for a buoy marker temporarily left behind by another captain.

While trying to spot the marker, I sighted three black and white masses near the surface - COBIA! We were hoping to see some cobia on this trip as their annual migration in the area is apparently coming to a close for this year. We had heard reports of fish over 70 pounds and were just hoping to see one or two on our trip. Armando and I suited up and dropped over the side in a splashless entry so as not to spook the fish. Dr. Jay stayed on the tower to direct us to the fish. Captain Dalton maneuvered the boat to keep them in sight and to keep us pointed in the right direction.

I powered past Armando just under the surface to gain some ground on the cobia. When I cleared my snorkel of water, I didn't see anything but deep blue sea. I looked to the boat for guidance and Dr. Jay and Captain Dalton pointed us toward the fish. Within a half dozen kicks I swam up to a huge school of large barracuda, all gathered around the buoy marker we were seeking. Within the school of barracuda was a dark gray mass with white sides swimming among them. I swam toward the fish with my outstretched Riffe C3XS complete with Carbon Reel for freediving, but the fish kept its distance.

Strategically, I paused and put my head down in a passive posture. Within seconds, the cobia had turned and was swimming directly at me. At first glance cobia look a bit like a shark or a large Remora in the water. They have a head similar to a catfish - flat, round, and bony. I knew a face shot would be iffy at best, so I patiently waited for the cobia to turn. As the fish closed in well within range, it slowly turned broadside. I ceased the moment and placed a perfect shot in the gills.

Cobia are a very soft meaty fish and a body shot will typically tear through thus losing the fish. A gill shot is the most secure shot to make on a cobia aside perhaps from skewering it through the eyes or into the mouth. My shot found its mark and the fish drifted off toward the bottom. I pulled the fish smoothly toward me so as not to invite the barracuda in for a free lunch. The shaft had gone approximately half-way through the fish and the Hawaiian flopper tip opened exactly as it should. I grabbed the shaft and slid my hand down to pin the fish between my hand and the flopper. The fish didn't thrash at all until I pulled it's head out of the water so the boat could see I was ready for pick up.

The Captain yelled to me to keep the fish in the water to attract the other cobia, but unfortunately, they did not make an appearance. Captain Dalton edged the boat toward me and I handed the fish into the boat. The cobia measured approximately 38 inches. Minimum size on a cobia is 33 inches, so this was no trophy by fishing standards, but it was the highlight of the trip for me. This was the first cobia I've ever seen in the water and certainly my first large fish while freediving in the Gulf. Absolutely Perfect!

We located the buoy again and Clay-Doh's boat tied up to it. We rafted up behind them and Captain Dalton ran a tag line from his boat to the descent line. Our divers geared up again and made the plunge onto the Chevron Towers. The towers were well-crusted with corals, sponges, and teaming with sea life. Good-sized amberjack, a huge school of spadefish, and plenty of barracuda were guarding the site. I descended through the middle of the deeper tower all the way to the sand. On the bottom, I was greeted by red snapper the size of large grouper. There were plenty of fish on the wreck, but having just shot the cobia, I was very selective and didn't even pull the trigger on this dive. In fact, none of our divers boated fish, but we enjoyed swimming among the beams and legs of the tower and watching the schools of spadefish, red snapper, and amberjack circle the structure.

I did return to the boat with a Penn 114-H fishing reel on a broken Senator rod that was laying on the bottom just off the deep tower. It hadn't been on the bottom very long and will make a great deep sea reel for my next line fishing trip.

Special Thanks to Captain Dalton Kennedy of Due South Custom Charters (850-565-7247)for a truly customized dive charter for me and our team onboard Colusa IV!

Pensacola - Diving the Oriskany

2008-04-28T07:22:00.000-07:00

Scuba Diving and Spearfishing on the Oriskany
Image courtesy of MyFWC.com

'The Mighty O' as she is called, is the largest artificial reef in the world. Formerly a US Navy Aircraft Carrier, the Oriskany was sunk 22.5 nautical miles Southeast of Pensacola Pass in May of 2006. The ship is 157 feet wide and approximately 800 feet long. The top of the ship is at about 68 feet with the top of the gun platform at 95 feet, the bridge at 106 feet and the flight deck at 135 feet. She sits in approximately 212 feet of water. Of course, reaching the flight deck actually exceeds recreational diving limits.

Our friends at Team Chunky Love invited us up for a weekend of Gulf Coast diving and we jumped at the chance. Randy Docks, Ann Scutti, Armando 'The Mad Cuban', Dr. Jay, and I reached the Oriskany courtesy of Captain Dalton Kennedy of Due South Custom Charters (850-565-7247). The trip out took just over an hour, but the sun was bright and the comfy bean bag chairs that Captain Dalton provided made the time fly by. Clay-Doh and other members of the team arrived about a half-hour behind us on Clay's catamaran.

We reached the ship and there were already several boats tied to the wreck. Some Tech Divers had already descended to dive the propeller area, which spooked the grouper up to the flight deck. As we descended to the flight deck, amberjack, red snapper, and grouper were everywhere. Unaccustomed to grouper that allow you to actually swim toward them here on the right coast of Florida, Randy, Ann, and I were all a little taken aback. Unfortunately, my pause would cost me a nice gag as my shot grazed the top of its head. Fortunately, Randy put a well-placed shot in the fish and boated it - a 26-inch gag. Ann also landed a very nice 29-inch gag. Armando lost another grouper and an amberjack, which Dr. Jay caught on film. Once the spearing began, the fish became a bit wary and I couldn't get another decent shot and I returned to the boat empty-handed.

Photo Courtesy of Armando of Team Chunky Love

We were all amazed at the sheer numbers of red snapper cruising on and around the wreck. Snapper season in Federal waters doesn't begin until June, so even though the temptation was HUGE, we didn't shoot any red snapper. The Federal red snapper season will also be cut short this year as a conservation measure and will end in August not to reopen until June of 2009. However, red snapper season in Florida state waters opened on April 15th and will continue through October 31st.

The sea life on the Oriskany is absolutely amazing. Large barracuda, swarms of amberjack, scamp, grouper, and numerous species of snapper all make their homes here. There are also plenty of photo opportunities, including a resident octopus in one of the pipe structures on the ship.

Special Thanks to Captain Dalton for a perfect trip to the Oriskany!

Hollywood Black Grouper & Yellow Tail

2008-04-13T14:33:00.000-07:00

Randy Docks with Black Grouper
My buddies, Randy Docks, David Docks, Ann Scutti, and I decided to try some deep diving today since lobster season is gone for another season. The seas were a whopping 6 to 12..... inches... and the weather man was correct for a change. We scooted South out of Port Everglades past the Dania Pier and decided to drop in for a look around. We ended up a bit deeper than 80 feet, but it was well worth the dive.

Our bottom time wasn't that impressive, but Randy skewered (literally, no pun intended) a 34-inch Black Grouper, that promptly cut his 400-pound monofilament shock cord and swam off. Luckily, Randy was able to track and subdue the catch as well as retrieve the spear shaft.

Just a short distance away, I picked up an 18.5-inch Yellow Tail Snapper. This was actually my first yellow tail as most of the fish we get close enough to are usually just at the legal mark. I'm too lazy to clean small fish, so I tend to let them swim on by. However, this one looked like it would be a nice meal or two. For the record, the Grouper in the photo is Randy's, I just borrowed it for a photo opportunity. :)

Our second dive was just burning off what was left of our first tank on some patch reefs off Dania Beach. Ann picked up a few nice hogfish, and we saw the largest Black Margate I have ever seen. He had to be 10 pounds or larger - nice fish! I'm not a big Margate fan so he's still out there.

Ann and I did a third dive on the Donal McCallister and the grouping of wrecks around it. There was no current whatsoever - What A Treat! We were able to hit all of the wrecks in the group and then go back to the McC to enjoy watching the monster Goliath Grouper who was hanging out inside the pilot house.

All in all, it was another fantastic day of diving here in South Florida!

Spotted Eagle Ray Kills Keys Tourist

2008-03-21T07:19:00.000-07:00

**Reprinted from the Miami Herald** We don't usually add non-diving related stories, but I'm sure a lot of folks will want clarification about this one. This was NOT a diving death and the woman was NOT stung by the eagle ray. The eagle ray happened to jump out of the water while the boat was going by and it happened to run into her and knock her head against the boat. Obviously, this was a freak accident that no one could have either predicted or prevented.

MARATHON
Eagle ray's leap into boat kills tourist in Keys
A Michigan tourist died Thursday when a ray flew out of the water, knocking her head against the side of the boat.
Posted on Fri, Mar. 21, 2008
BY CAMMY CLARK
cclark@MiamiHerald.com

MARATHON -- A morning fishing outing ended in tragedy Thursday for a family of Michigan tourists when a 75-pound spotted eagle ray leaped into their boat and caused the death of a 55-year-old woman.

Judy Kay Zagorski, 55, of Pigeon, Mich., who was fishing with her sister and parents, died Thursday morning of apparent blunt force trauma.

The exact cause won't be known until her autopsy is performed Friday.

Officials of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission say they can't remember a similar accident in the Keys happening in at least 20 years.

''It's so unusual, so rare, so bizarre,'' FWC spokesman Jorge Pino said. ``We see them jump out of the water all the time, but [have] never seen them impact a human being or cause a death.

``She was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.''

Spotted eagle rays are capable of leaping completely out of the water when pursued or trying to shake off scavenger fish that attach themselves to the ray.

This ray, which died from being out of the water too long, had a remora -- known as a suckerfish -- attached to its fin.

The rays swim gracefully through the water via the undulation of the pectoral fins.

NORMAL TO JUMP

''They naturally jump out of the water, like porpoises do,'' Dube said. ``It's natural to them and quite spectacular to watch.''

Investigators said Zagorski had injuries to her face and head. They did not find evidence she was pierced by the ray's toxic barb.

''To lose a child just leaves the parents numb,'' said neighbor Marcia Corcoran, who knew the family from their annual visits to Marathon. ``I can hardly believe it myself.''

The Michigan family left the dock of their pink rented house on Fifth Avenue Ocean in Marathon just before 10 a.m. They were traveling on a rented 25-foot fishing boat to the deeper waters of the Atlantic Ocean via the Key Colony Beach Channel near Vaca Cut.

The boat was traveling about 25 miles an hour when the ray jumped into the air and on board. The ray struck both sisters, who were sitting in front of the console.

Zagorski's sister suffered a bad bruise, and she was treated and released from Fishermen's Hospital.

Investigators say the force of the ray likely caused Zagorski to hit her head, possibly on a metal rail on the side of the boat.

''There was a lot of blood on the boat,'' FWC spokesperson Bobby Dube said.

CPR was performed while Zagorski's father drove the boat to a dock just a block from their vacation rental. Neighbor Jim Corcoran called 911 and said rescue emergency personnel arrived within minutes.

But it was too late.

Zagorski, wearing a bathing suit and her wedding ring, was already dead.

Her husband, Steve, had died in 2005 at age 53.

At the time of the accident, a third sister was on a plane to join the family, unaware of what had happened.

Corcoran said the spotted eagle ray was so big it took up about half of the front of the boat.

It's not the first time a ray has caused injury in South Florida. In October 2006, a spotted eagle ray stung a Broward County man, piercing his chest with its toxic barb.

IMPALED

The 30-pound stingray leapt into James Bertakis' boat while he was near Lighthouse Point with his granddaughter and one of her friends. The foot-long barb stuck into Bertakis' chest and entered his heart chamber.

Bertakis, now 83, has made an almost full recovery, according to son Jim Bertakis. After several weeks in intensive care followed by in-patient rehabilitation, the elder Bertakis is ''90 percent'' better, his son said. He even has been back on the water in his 16-foot boat.

''Dad's doing great. I just saw him three days ago,'' Jim Bertakis said Thursday from Michigan. ``It's a miracle he survived. We smile every time we see him.''

Miami Herald staff writer Evan S. Benn contributed to this report. Photo by DETECTIVE MARK COLEMAN/MONROE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE.

Mini-Season: Day One

2007-07-25T15:56:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Two-Day Florida Sport Season for Lobster, otherwise known as Mini-Season!

As you may have read in our previous articles on our Florida Diving Blog (http://FloridaDiving.blogspot.com), Mini-Season is the last Wednesday and Thursday of July here in Florida. The two day extravaganza allows sport divers the opportunity to pick up a few lobster for the official lobster season begins the first week of August.

Divers are limited to a total of 12 lobsters per day throughout Florida, with the exception of the Florida Keys, which limits divers to just 6 lobsters per day.

Since Mini-Season starts on Wednesday and Wednesday itself technically starts at Midnight Tuesday night, the waters off the coast of Florida were filled with boats and divers armed with lightsticks and flashlights last night. My buddies and I decided that night diving for Mini-Season was going to be a bit much work this year, so we opted to go out at 6am Wednesday morning instead.

As we were preparing to leave the dock, some of our midnight diving friends were pulling into the dock. Looking a little tired, they boasted 16 lobster with 4 divers. It's not limit, but it's a far cry better than I did last year during our midnight dive. We made our assessments of proposed depth and headed out of Port Everglades.

Part of our group wanted to dive shallow and two of us were holding out for deep water. We two deep fans opted to stay on the boat for the first dive and let the rest of our party of 8 splash in about 30 feet of water to start. At the end of their first dive, they had about a dozen bugs between them - not bad, but not great either. By the way, the term 'bugs' is diver slang for spiny lobsters because they're just so darn cute.

My dive buddy and fellow deep enthusiast, Pat, and I were all too happy to try our hand at the third reef. The reef itself is about 45 feet in the center with about 60 feet on the West side and 60 to 100 feet on the West side, depending on the area. We splashed in at about the center line and worked our way East. We were joined shortly thereafter by the second wave of divers and worked our way back and forth across the reef.

Pat and I came upon a nice ledge with 6 bugs beckoning us onward. All 6 were keepers - no eggs and no shorts. By the way, if the lobsters are females with eggs, you are not permitted to take them, and of course, the rest must measure up in size as well. We continually worked our way East and West across the reef as the current pushed us Northward. I picked up another lobster nearby and then it was slim pickings for awhile. There weren't many places for the bugs to hide in this particular section of reef, but our patience paid off as the edge of the reef became more defined.

Pat and I picked up 3 more bugs in one den (lobster hole) and then spotted another den a few yards away. Pat pushed his lobster snare in through one side of the hole to spook them out in my direction. When he did, a chubby little 2-foot nurse shark came scurrying out of the hole right past me. By this point, we were both running a little a low on air, so we decided to surface. Pat landed a total of 7 on this dive and I landed 6 - not a bad first dive.

Needless to say, the rest of the group was now convinced that deeper was the way to go. My long-time dive buddy, Randy Docks, spent a good 15 minutes wrestling a monster bug out of a deep crevice. It was so far back in the hole that he had to actually remove his gear to get far enough in to loop the lobster. Here's a photo of Randy with his prized lobster - the largest of the day from our boat.

For the record, Randy is by far the most successful lobsterman that I have had the pleasure with whom to dive. He and I have been on the same dive on the same reef where I didn't even see a bug and he limited out. Today, he was apparently going for quality over quantity. Nice Lobster, Randy!

Pat and I decided to stay deep for our second dive of the day, and again, we were rewarded. Pat picked up an additional 2 bugs and I landed 6 more bugs, a nice Danforth anchor, and a 20-inch mutton snapper as an added bonus.

My first dive ranged from 40 to 70 feet and my second dive was almost entirely at 70 feet. I achieved my limit of 12 bugs for the day and will be back out there tomorrow to see how well the lobster gods smile down upon us.

Our boat with 8 divers landed a total of 53 bugs; not a bad first day! We only saw a few shorts (lobsters too small to keep) and probably a dozen or so females with eggs. I was the only one on the boat to limit out and Randy took home the prize for the largest bug of the trip.

Best of all, the weather cooperated, seas fluctuated a bit, but never spiked over 2 feet; everyone came home safely, and nobody went home empty-handed.

Hollywood Black Grouper

2007-06-30T19:04:00.000-07:00

19.5lbs / 32-inches Black Grouper
Shot in 50 feet of water off Hollywood Beach, FL

One of my regular dive buddies wanted to try out his new (1970s) Bertram 28, so we loaded it to the gills with 6 divers and ran South of Port Everglades inlet. Divers included Ann Scutti, Eric, Ted Tanglis, Chip Edmonds, Randy Docks, and me.

Chip had a secret spot loaded in his GPS and off we went. The current has been running South all week, so we jumped in the water just North of the spot. The bottom structure was varied and included a variety of sea life. The visibility was awful for our area clocking in at maybe 25 feet. Unfortunately, this was to be the best visibility we would have all day and dropped as low as 15 feet on our third drop.

The first wave of divers were Chip, Ted, and me. Chip picked up a few hogfish along the way for an upcoming barbecue, and Ted missed another hogfish. We weren't seeing as much as we had hoped, but continued drifting South with the current. We started our dive on the deep side of the reef and as time moved on, we came in a bit shallower to check out that section of the reef and also to lengthen our bottom time. As we were cruising along around 55 feet I saw the oddest thing - a four to five-foot pine tree standing straight up on the bottom.

Upon closer inspection, it actually appeared to be some type of marine plant, but it was as close to an underwater pine tree as you can imagine. There were pipefish and a variety of smaller fish living among the branches. As I swooped in to take a closer look, I noticed a small yellow jack at a cleaning station getting the parasites removed by small blue goby-type fish. As I finished looking over the curious 'tree', I moved in the direction of where the jack had been. He had already moved on; most likely spooked by the three dark figures loudly blowing bubbles and moving in his general direction.

As I passed over the cleaning station, I noticed a small cloud of dust, which is usually a tell-tale sign of hogfish. I started looking intently for the little critter. We were heading West toward the apex of the reef when I noticed a much larger cloud of dust. This was either a very large hogfish or perhaps a grouper. Needless to say, my radar was on full alert and I was scanning the bottom as far as the visibility would allow. Up ahead, I saw a small divot in the reef bottom complete with a few ledges. I let out a breath and sank silently toward the first ledge. It was a nice overhang, but wasn't even deep enough for a lobster.

I passed this overhang and kept moving onward. Immediately after the small overhang, there was a good-sized hole. As it came more into view, I could see a large squared tail poking out. GROUPER! There was so much particulate matter in the water that I first thought it was a red grouper. Either way, this one was certainly more than legal size. (Black Grouper @ 24" and Red Grouper @ 20" - Red Grouper in the Gulf @ 22"). I moved slowly passed in line with the hole, but could not see inside it. I checked the rear of the dorsal fin for any spots just to reconfirm that it wasn't a Nassau Grouper, which are protected here in Florida. Nassaus also have a slightly rounded tail so I was not surprised that there weren't any dots. I estimated about where the head should be and pulled the trigger on my Riffe C3XS.

The hole exploded with a huge cloud of dust. As the shaft of my speargun disappeared into the hole, I knew it had found its mark. I quickly ran my left hand through the bands and pushed the gun up to my shoulder to secure it and keep it out of the way. The gun is buoyant without the shaft and the butt of the gun conveniently floats upward and behind. In the same motion, I had grabbed the shock cord and started pulling moving toward the hole. I could no longer see the shaft, so I followed the line all the way to it. I could feel the grouper pushing deeper into the hole and trying to wedge himself into the rock.

Grouper use this tactic regularly whenever they feel threatened. This is why line fishermen have to react to a strike instantly; if they hesitate, the fish will run into a hole or under a ledge. The fish inflates its air bladder to puff itself up and barricade itself in the hole. As the fisherman yanks on the line, the line usually frays against the rocks and soon breaks. Even with a steel shaft, the fish will try the same course of action - usually bending the shaft among the rocks. As deep as this hole must have been with the shaft not even being visible, I knew I didn't have much time. I grabbed the spear firmly and started to pull. I could feel the fish puffing up and trying to wedge himself in, but I kept pulling. In short measure, the spear shaft started coming out, and the fish with it.

The cloud of dust was huge now and I couldn't see a thing. I ran my hand up the spear until it reached the fish. Doing this sets the Hawaiian flopper that has hopefully exited the other side of the fish. I felt it lock in place and started moving the fish out of the cloud so I could begin to work at securing my catch. I reached my left hand under the fish and into its gills. The gills are fairly spiny and if you get a gloved hand inside with a solid grip, you're unlikely to lose the fish if it shakes free of the spear. This is especially true if you also are holding the fish upside down simultaneously. With the fish securely in my left hand, I reached with my right to open my stringer. I dive with a medium metal stringer most frequently that is clipped off to my Dacor BCD on a D-ring at my waistline. I opened the stringer and slid it through the gill and out his mouth. In one motion, I closed the stringer - now the fish is truly secure.

Experience has taught me that with larger fish, it is best to get them actually on the stringer before you remove the shaft. One swipe of a grouper's powerful tail and he can free himself of just about any hold you might have on him, save a good gill grip. Once secure, I reached the spear tip, pulled it through just a bit to disengage the flopper and then slid it back from whence it came.

Many divers will finish up with the fish before reloading their guns, but again, experience has taught me that whenever you're wrestling with one fish, there are often others coming in for a closer look to see what is happening. Mutton snapper are notorious for this. I reached up my left shoulder with my right hand to where the bands were still holding the gun in place. I slid it down my arm and reloaded the shaft into the gun. I clicked on the safety and proceeded to reload the 3 22-inch bands.

As I finally looked up from my work, I noticed my two dive buddies just sitting there watching the whole thing unfold. They had already been scanning the surrounding area for curious fish; no luck this time. Chip looked at me with wide eyes and motioned his hands like applause.

Black grouper are a prized catch among spearfishermen. They are typically pretty skittish especially when it comes to divers. The bubbles we exhale are actually pretty noisy and tend to spook many fish species. Even sharks tend to shy away from divers because of the noise. Granted, when there's blood in the water or fish thrashing around, loud bubbles are hardly enough to keep a large bull shark at bay.

I reached down to the inside of my right calf and grabbed my knife. The grouper was yanking on the stringer trying to free himself. After several motions with the knife, the fight was over and three families would eat grouper tonight.

As we finished the dive, I picked up a nice Spanish mackerel and then Chip called the dive with 750 psi. We didn't want to max out our bottom time so we could do a decent second dive. Randy, Ann, and Eric were in next and each came up with a nice hogfish. This was Eric's first time in the water with a speargun, and a hogfish is a great first catch!

After the second wave returned to the boat, Chip, Ted, and I went in for our second dive. We covered a lot of ground, and Chip and Ted both got hogfish. Given the size of the fish I landed on my first dive, I was very selective about shooting on this dive. I occasionally pointed out fish to my two companions, but never pulled a trigger. As is often the case during summer in Florida, a quick summer storm materialized and our dive was cut short by three tugs on the flag line I was towing above me. This is a signal we use when the guy running the boat wants to recall the divers. We also use an engine signal - revving the engine three times in succession within earshot of the divers.

As the three of us surfaced, we could instantly see the storm - the sky was black and there was lightening in the distance. No arguments here; we all climbed aboard and we were headed into Port Everglades within minutes. We got rained on, but hey, it's a dive trip - you're going to get wet anyway. Regretfully, Randy, Ann, and Eric did not have an opportunity at a second dive. That just means they'll get the first round the next time we go out.

All in all, it was a nice day for diving. That's the great thing about Florida, even on the few days where the visibility isn't stellar or the weather picks up, we're still diving some of the nicest bottom in the ocean. I dived in the Bahamas and in Mexico, but there's something to be said about being able to dive during the day and sleep in your own bed the same night.

All the best,

--Branon

Spearboard Open 2007

2007-06-27T13:53:00.000-07:00

My buddies and I plan every year to attend the Spearboard Open Spearfishing Tournament (SBO) in New Port Richey. It's a great tournament that draws spearos from around the country - not only for great prizes, but also for it's unique rules.

SBO rules allow divers to shoot fish anywhere within driving distance of the weigh-in point. We've had entries from Texas, Louisiana, and the Carolinas. The rule is that you can only shoot during daylight hours on Saturday and you have to be in line at the weigh-in point on Sunday morning without flying in your fish. The other catch is that participants can only enter fish that are legal to spear and are legal size in Florida. So, as much as the guys from the Carolinas would love to bring down some of their big permit and pompano, Florida law doesn't allow taking either species by spear, so they're not PERMITted in the tournament, if you'll pardon the pun.

One of my usual dive buddies, Randy Docks, and I enlisted a couple other buddies (Matt Doty, Joe, and Ann Scutti) and opted this year to dive in the Florida Keys. Last year, Randy and I chartered out to the Middle Grounds (75+ miles off the Gulf Coast near Tampa) and decided for something a bit closer to home.

We chartered with 'Dive In' located in Key Largo on the ocean at MM-97.5. If you fill the charter, Dawn Barber and her crew will take you just about anywhere you want to go. Otherwise, spearos are permitted as room allows on the boat and depending on which trip you take.

NOTE: The Florida Keys has very specific rules about where you can and cannot take fish by spear - make sure you know the rules before you go spearfishing on your own.

We opted to dive the Duane and the Bibb - a couple of artificial reefs (purposes sunken ships) famous for hot current, deep water, and great fish habitat. Our shallowest dive of the day was a freedive from the surface to pick up a trigger fish and the deepest dive of the day was around 136 feet - obviously pushing the limits of recreational diving. However, all of our divers have experience in deep water dives and better still, deep diving with spearguns.

Most of Florida this particular weekend was being thrashed with high seas. Tournament participants on both coasts were pounded with thunderstorms and heavy seas upwards to 8 feet. Not much fun when you're loaded with diving gear and sharp pointed objects. Many regular charter boats and die-hard spearos never left the dock, which made competition a bit lighter than normal.

However, the weather gods blessed the Florida Keys with unbelievable weather that weekend. We had average seas of 4 to 6... INCHES! Seas were nearly flat calm all day (see photos), plus the water was warm and visibility was pretty good given the storms we had been having in recent weeks.

I landed a nearly 20-pound black grouper (See photo in my profile), 1 nearly 8-pound hogfish, a decent mutton snapper and mangrove snapper, 2 trigger fish, and a small 6-pound yellow jack. My tournament total came to 46.92 - not great, but good enough to put me in a good position for the prize table.

Special thanks to Armor Products who donated the VERY cool gear bag that I picked up at the prize table. I had been looking for a new bag to replace my worn out backpack and this certainly did the trick. It's an oversized duffle with adjustable backpack straps. Perhaps the nicest feature beyond the durable mesh material that allows the bag to drain is that it is long enough to carry my freediving fins and still have room to spare. It also came with a full-width dry bag - very unusual size, but perfect for my miscellaneous dry stuff.

Randy came home with a nice black grouper and hogfish, Matt had an excellent hogfish, and Joe brought in a very nice yellow jack and a few snapper. Ann was our 'bubble watcher' as she was recovering from a recent surgery. However, it was great to have her on the boat making sure all of us stayed hydrated and organized. Thanks Ann!

We did a total of 4 dives each, most of which were at 100 feet or deeper. Of course, with deep dives, your bottom time is relatively short, so we were back on the dock gutting our catch right around 5pm. We made the drive back to my house, switched vehicles, and then headed up to New Port Richey. We stayed overnight with some friends and after a nice breakfast, took a leisurely drive up to the weigh-in.

While there weren't as many competitors this year as in years passed because of the weather, the numbers were still huge. The biggest fish categories were all exceptionally nice offerings and as usual, many of the divers donated their catch to the local food bank.

The price table was actually a walk-through tent this year with LOTS of booty including dozens of spearguns, gift certificates, dive gear, fish artwork, and much much more. Special thanks to the folks at Spearboard and Spearfishing Magazine for organizing another great event!

We hope you enjoy the photos half as much as we enjoyed bringing up those truly yummy fish.

All the best,

--Branon

Welcome to Florida Spearfishing!

2007-06-27T13:21:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Florida Spearfishing, a blog written by divers with a passion for spearfishing.

Whether you're a blue water hunter, reef spearo, freediver or scuba diver, we'll have something here for you.

As your host, I'll make certain we keep you posted with various spearfishing happenings around the state, including various tournaments, club features, and regulation changes. I've lived and have been diving in Florida most of my life. I started diving at age 9 and earned my first certification at age 13. I'm now a certified Divemaster (PADI) and an avid spearfisherman.

My 'stick' of preference is a Riffe C3XS with a Riffe reel and a Hawaiian flopper shaft. My back-up gun is a stock Riffe C2XS with a rock tip. For blue water, I switch my C3XS to an icepick tip, breakaway kit, and a solid float and float line. I also have a small collection of vintage spear guns including an old Rene Cavallero and a Nemrod Falcon Mini.

I dive most frequently with friends on private boats including the 22 Biddison Center Console docked behind my Hollywood house called "No Teak" (named for a lack of teak brightwork on the boat, not against denigrating our favorite teak spear guns). We take "No Teak" out of the Port Everglades inlet and have a good buddy in Pompano and frequently dive out of the Lighthouse Point/Hillsborough inlet. We also dive with a variety of charter captains who cater to spearos.

If you're ever in the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood area and want to do some spearing, keep me in mind. I'm always looking for a good reason to play hookie.

And of course, if you have any questions or would like to post an article, please drop me a line at Branon@ScubAHH.com

Let's go spearfishing!

All the best,

--Branon