09/21/08 La Santa Fe - Some after storms effects

Pantoja, Alan and myself did a short trip today from 9am to around noon. We only hit one spot but managed to score some fish. Alan saw a nice cubera and took a shot at it nicking it in the head. He later told me about it and after about three dives searching for it I located it. For some reason for the first time in a long time I brought along an extra shaft rigged with mono. Sure enough this 13lb cubera bent my shaft and I wasn't able to get it quite straight enough on the boat to work in the enclosed track. I rigged the spare shaft and bent it too on this 22lb? cuda.

Fish taken.
1 cubera
1 barracuda
1 trigger
3 mangroves

We went south of Haulover to some artificial stuff in the 40'-50' range. Vertical viz was such that you could just make out the darker shadow of the structure and so we could locate it from the surface. Lots of white particulate in the hazy water. Horizontal viz at the bottom was around 40'. Not much of a current and lots of jelly fish. Overall very doable which was a nice surprise from what we expected leaving the inlet.

On some of the artificial structure I noticed the effects of the recent storms. While previously the bottom part was completely buried in the sand now there were many bowl shaped depressions under it and in some spots you could see straight across to the other side. Looks like some good fish habitat, I found the cubera sitting at the bottom of one such depression.

Thanks, I did get my fill on this trip.

In this particular spot cudas are almost always found the same way, sitting inside the structure. This structure is very open and if shot while inside the cuda is almost guaranteed to cut the mono as you will shoot it through the structure and it will take off out of the structure running the mono through the metal. My solution to this is approach the cuda very slowly causing it to move out of the structure and then shoot it. The trick is not to cause it to move away fast or out of range. This is possible in this place as the cuda seem reluctant to leave their spot and do so slowly most of the time. This method makes more sense to me then to try for a stone shot while it's inside. Cuda in general are easy to get within shooting range.

Once I get it to move outside the structure and shoot it it's almost certain to go back in, but it's not going in to stay, just to run through it. This is where I have to horse it away. The cudas initial run, even the size of the one in the pic, will pull you through the water never mind being able to go up for air. Letting go of the float line is not an option, you need to steer it away from going back in. This can be draining because you're at the end of your breath hold when it happens. A couple of fish like that can wear me out for the rest of the day

If you're able to keep it in open water chances are good you will not bend the shaft. The cuda doesn't thrash around, I say this because some fish can bend the shaft just by thrashing in open water. The cuda makes hard straight runs so if it's an angled shot there's not too much sideways pressure on the shaft even if you put pressure on the line.

Today I don't really know what happened right after the shot as it was too fast but it was not a perfect set up and I couldn't keep it out. I then let it have some line and it pulled all the mono through. When the gun hit the structure I was expecting it to get stuck but it pivoted around. At that point it was beyond my control. I was happy when the feeling of the float line let me know that it didn't wrap the mono around a post and headed into open water. Luck I guess and the cuda already had its initial run which is the strongest. The shaft was bent at about 10" from the tip and the 400lb mono had some cuts and scrapes.

I like to do this because I try to execute everything perfectly which is challenging, the fight is good, and the cuda is a good food fish.

Well thanks again. The cube is nice no doubt, but nothing to be jealous about. I didn't even fondle it after I got my hands on it now if it was at least 25 pounder it would be a different story. They are beautiful fish.

I have a question for you guys; at 13lb how many of you would take a frontal shot on it at 7'? I had a chance to do it but decided not to and almost lost the fish because of it. Ended up shooting it lower than I wanted to.

Oh Jim, I'm LOL and feeling sorry for you at the same time.

Since we see enough of these jellyfish I wanted to find out the name to distinguish it from the more dangerous Portuguese man of war. They are called common or Moon Jellyfish, scientific name Aurelia aurita. The ones we saw were about 1' to 1.5' in diameter. There was a lot of them but I've seen them denser on other occasions. Are they called moon because of their shape or because they tend to congregate on full moons which was yesterday?

Quote

Common Jellyfish (also called Moon Jellyfish), Aurelia aurita, which do not sting humans. The threadlike tentacles around the edge of the bell can sting, and may occasionally catch small swimming animals for food, but their stings - like minute harpoons fired by springs - are not powerful enough to pierce our thick skin.

Another source.

Quote

The moon jellyfish is very common in the oceans of the Earth. The sting of this jellyfish can cause irritation in human beings, but it is not nearly as serious as some other jellyfish stings. It catches food by stinging it with nematocysts on its tentacles, then uses its four mouth arms to grab the food and digest it.

Are these the ones that took a liking to you Jim? I did see yesterday the effects of the sting on Alan's face from the previous dive. I'm wondering how painful it is as I've never been stung by them. May be a good occasion to wear a hood.

My wife just cooked some cuda and it was pretty good so I took a pic. Sauteed in butter until doradito then added some tomato paste and seasoning with a side of rice.

I think about it all the time but I can't bring myself to shoot a fish for chum.