Here goes the tale of another dive…
The sun hadn’t rised yet but the boat was already on the water, the body inside the wetsuit and the mind some 25 miles offshore, somewhere in Danae Reef imagining the shapes of Red Snappers, Rubberlips and Grouper’s, as the eyes glanced at the golden waves ahead…
It was quite a windy morning with a strong North wind, and dark clouds...Eolo was making us know we where uninvited guests in that realm...I find that this days are always somehow rewarding for those that don’t just stay home wondering if there were any good fish in those stormy waters...
Reaching the drop of the reef we could see the vibrant colored water, a sign that despite the terrible conditions the viz was in fact a vision of blue...
Its time for the same old ritual...has i slowly go through the gear i focus in my breathing and gently slow my heart rate...one last check at everything...Emiliano at my side signals...we are ready....
I’m the first to go down…gliding through hundreds of blue and yellow tinny little fish, moving like a single organism in complete synchrony…opening as I pass and closing immediately behind me…the bottom is some 23 meters below, and in this journey down I stop at 15 to check the surroundings…laying next to an enormous ledge is a Whitebarred rubberlip, a very good sized one, so I decide to try mi first fish of the day…the last 7 meters are made in complete silence flying in the blue and landing behind a good sized rock…the fish made a short run and paused again to see what was lurking behind the coral some 9 meters away from him…I stand firm, completely hidden, only showing my mask, and my gun…a few seconds later it starts to approach slowly and slowly…just a couple of meters more and…baaammm…the finger slides through the trigger and the spear almost instantly hits the target…the fish drops dead with a perfect hit right behind the eye…
Reaching the surface, I call for the boat and looking at the fish in my hands I feel that despite all this is in fact a good day…
A few immersions later in the same spot, it was time to quit the “aspetto” and check the caves down there…
…already in the bottom and approaching an entrance I sense some movement inside…I put my gun alongside my body as if it was part of it, and gently look inside…two Tiger Sandsharks and again a lovely Rubberlip...humm…quite a puzzle, normally they don’t pose a problem at all, laying sleepy on the bottom, we even pet them once in a while…but to spear a fish between them…that’s a different story…the gun comes from under the body and aligns with the target…I wait for the right moment…I shoot and once again the prey drops right where it was shot…the sharks stay where they were…and happy Dias comes finning to the surface with another nice Rubber…
Looking from above I see Emiliano going down far beyond the drop some 26 meters below…gun in front and finning…a few seconds more and he shoots…the spear it’s the fish and has it runs I can finally see…it’s a Doggy!!! Running up and keeping the pressure on the floatline Emi reaches the surface and says it’s a good shot, so I hold next to him…after a while of pulling and letting go he retrieves is first fish of the day, a nice Dogtooth Tuna!!!
Back to African Pompano, a seven meter catamaran, with two 100 CV four stroke Yamaha’s, we decide to hunt the wreck, in shallower waters…
The Danae was a cargo ship that sunken in the reef many years ago giving it his name…it lays scattered along the whole reef, some pieces here, some there, like a testimony of days far worse than this one…
The chosen spot for today would be the boiler rooms…
Once again I find myself laying in the bottom, sight behind my gun watching some sharks cruising around and waiting for those red shaped devils that dwell far in the blue behind the iron structures…as they approach I move gently to a better position preparing my strike…the shoal comes in and stops some 5 meters away…it’s the enough to take a long shot with my 150 carbon railgun, and I have taken fish a bit more far then those before with her…but a long shot its not a dead accurate shot and if I want to catch more than one from the shoal, they must be stone dead at each trigger pull…waiting is the name of the game… waiting and waiting…and has they come closer and closer I choose one and fire…dead on spot, its my first Mangrove Snapper of the day…
Its Emiliano’s time and he doesn’t disappoint, spearing a marvelous one…
Back to the Mangrove Snappers I change my strategy, and decide to hide inside a hole on the iron structure…the strategy pays off and another red devil comes to the boat…
One more go and a last fish gets taken from the shoal before they disappear into deeper waters, this time a long flat shot did the job…
Approaching the last set of boilers I see a massive brown shape turning behind them…I recognize the shape and instantly dive to position myself on the opposite side of the huge iron cylinders …I know if I follow her she will run away instantly, so I wait right there hopping the turns back for a look…it worked, she gently slides from behind the last boiler, 10 meters away…I can now see its whole body and its huge…she stop’s…I aim and its now or never…trigger squeezed and a good holding shot a bit behind the head…she explodes in a running fury as I swim up to hold her from entering the hole in the boilers…it’s a brute struggle but the spear itself ends up to prevent the grouper from entering completely inside…exhausted I run for the surface I yell for the boat…” A float and the smaller gun…fast!!!”…
Francisco, our skipper doesn’t disappoint and is fast delivering the items…Emiliano joins me and dives down for a second shot as I retrieve the line on the reel, clipping the Rob Allen Hippo Float on the bands to make pressure on the fish…16 meters down Emi signals and I realize that the shot is good …it’s a huge Malabar Grouper, the current IUSA world record is 41,4 kg and this one doesn’t look far from that so its up to me to finish her for it’s a potential record…
Down I go, 90 cm in hand…as I approach I can see the head partially inside…I aim a bit behind and above the eye and shoot…the fish trembles one last time as it dies…a few more dives to retrieve her from the bottom and its done…my last fish of the day…exhausted but very happy I delive her to the boat and has I rest for a while a smile glimmer´s in my face for this was really a great day…
The grouper was 4,2kg far from the world record, but still an awesome catch and definitely a personal best Malabar Grouper…
I hope you guys liked the reading has much as I enjoyed writing it, wishes of dream catches to you all,
Dias