Loss of a Friend

    Loss of Long Beach Neptune President Bill Kroll in the mid 90's



    Years before I met Bill I dove with a guy from Scuba Pro. We had a secret spot off
    the back of San Clemente Island that held big 40# mossback yellows in super clear H20.
    The yellows would swim up to us twenty feet down. We would try to do a leg up drop on them
    and as we leveled off they angled away.


    My buddy Mark and I soon figured out what we thought at the time was a great
    trick, we would let the big fish swim in and I would exhale through my snorkel
    and sink flat to 15' and pull the trigger. We both landed some big fish,
    but one day I dropped too deep, sucked down with a fleeing Mossback.
    By the time I dropped my wt belt the blue sky faded to gray but I did not black out.
    Back on the boat I told Mark I was done with our new trick.


    Fast forward to the 90s, Bill Kroll and I were diving with a friend at Little Gibraltar
    on Catalina Island. I chose to swim the dirty water edge as Bill swam off my right 30'
    and in 25 feet of H2o. A school of White Sea Bass swam under Bill and I watched him
    drop flat on them without lifting a leg. He did not get a shot and resurfaced.
    I swam over to him and he replied ''Hey, how about a little space here''.
    Back on the boat I said to him '' I saw you drop on the fish without lifting a fin.
    ''What fish'' replied Bill with a wink.
    Back in Long Beach Bill and I are carrying the cooler up the ramp.
    ''Hey Bill you can't dive big fish with a empty lung, I used to do it and I almost F'n drown buddy''.


    A day later on Sunday, Bill called me and invited me to go on his boat to
    our spot on Monday. I declined because I had a business apt in San Diego
    and had just come back from the islands.


    Bill went back to the very spot in the reef where we saw the WSB with a fellow policeman
    friend and drown in 25' to 30' of water.
    I had dove a lot with him, he had a 2 min bottom time and we had both dove
    75' together. I believe my good friend dove on the WSB with a empty lung
    as to not spook them and an extra 3lbs in his wt belt.


    Bill Kroll was a Christian, a great family man, a great waterman and diver.
    I miss him a lot.


    Please, don't over wt. and empty lung dives can kill you. No fish is worth it!
    Dive safe.
    All the best, Don Paul

    "Great mother ocean brought forth all life, it is my eternal home'' Don Berry from Blue Water Hunters.


    Spearfishing Store the freediving and spearfishing equipment specialists.

    Edited once, last by Don Paul ().

    Sorry for your loss as well Don, I just mentioned FRC diving or empty lung diving on another thread on here and even said it is not suggested for spearing but maybe shallow water, even that to me personally is not acceptable but have heard of some doing it. There is a big difference between freediving disciplines and spearfishing and we all must be reminded by each other of those differences when we talk about our love of spearing. Again I am sorry for your loss.

    Sorry for your lost friend Don. We are only a breath away from drowning as they say.... empty lungs dives are just plain dangerous.

    Thank you Don, that was well written and the advice is noted. Sorry about the loss of your friend.


    It's interesting how divers can come up with the same technique without instruction. I guess there aren't many options, you need to sink without making a splash and the only way to do it is reduce buoyancy fast, and the only way to do that is exhale. I figured out this trick very early on hunting bajonao (porgy) in Cuba, they were big and almost impossible to get within shooting range. As soon as you'd dive on them they'd take off. So I used this emptying the lungs method. Of course this was in very shallow water, maybe 20ft. In deep water you don't need to use it, I think the fish don't spook because of the greater distance. I've never done this lung emptying since, I don't remember having gotten in trouble. I always use a floatline and float, with this way of doing it after the shot you immediately have to let go of the gun and shoot for the surface. Was Bill Kroll using a reel? I'm not advocating this method, just trying to find out if there was another factor that contributed to Bill Kroll drowning.


    On a different but related note, I almost always exhale a little before I dive.

    Thanks for the condolences guys, I am 57 years old and I have dove hard and deep in blue water for 30 years.
    I have made mistakes along the way and I have lost my share of freediving buddys. I thank god I have never lost one on my boat. I only post this to share my personal experiences while spearfishing.


    I learned FRC from reading the Complete Goggler when I was a kid, and a copy of the old book had been read
    by Bill around the time he drown. Bill and myself weighted ourselves 3 to 5 lbs heavy when we dove shallow (20 to 25 feet). Bill was found lying in the sand with his unfired gun still in his hand. Our buddy spotted his float
    from the boat and went in to get him. Billy was a Catalina Island Sheriff, was very fit and was a deep diver.


    I and four friends set a metal matrix plaque on the reef, now known as Bill's High Spot.


    All the best, Don Paul

    "Great mother ocean brought forth all life, it is my eternal home'' Don Berry from Blue Water Hunters.


    Spearfishing Store the freediving and spearfishing equipment specialists.

    Edited 3 times, last by Don Paul ().

    Quote from Dan

    If the gun was unfired then the reel question is a moot point. Just trying to understand.. Don, when you used this method did you just sink or chase the fish too?


    Mossback is the slang name for local Big and Smart Yellowtail at 40 plus pounds.They won't come within twenty feet if you even think the word chase.:D


    Our White Sea Bass are in the croaker family and can hear very well, just having your sinus squeal will produce
    a big Boom Boom as they leave you in the dust.
    When I used this method I would just sink without moving anything except my trigger finger, but what almost
    drown me was me thinking....just need to get a little closer as the fish drop away into deep water.


    I do charge fish sometimes on a straight down shot on tuna and wahoo only as a last option.


    Cheers, Don

    "Great mother ocean brought forth all life, it is my eternal home'' Don Berry from Blue Water Hunters.


    Spearfishing Store the freediving and spearfishing equipment specialists.

    I thought I would resurrect this thread now that we have a couple Calif divers that may not know the story.
    In my life I've tried to learn from the deadly mistakes and misjudgments of my friends.
    The ceramic armor plate is B-4-C and the letters took 48hrs to burn into the 18'' square plate by EDM process.
    They say: Bil kroll Hi Spot
    In the memory of a great friend
    Who dives every time we do



    Sincerely Don Paul

    very sorry for the loss Don, im sure there are a lot of oldschool and newer cali guys that felt it in a big way


    the plaque is really great.
    -and its got some nice coralline growth, thats good juju

    Scupper Pro Gives You Wings!

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