Norcal diving - Mendocino

    Bit of an old report, but what the hell... :)




    Saturday


    The TritonX dive tournament was held the weekend of Sep 18th/19th. It's a great event that the Freedive Shop hosts every year and I was excited to be a part of it.


    After a brief registration, madness ensued as well over 100 divers scattered from the Caspar campground staging area. Driving up the coast a few miles, my dive partner Nelson & I launched our kayaks and prepared to dive our hearts out.


    Dive conditions were excellent, with vis averaging between 30-40ft! We dove hard all day... checking over a dozen different reefs/pinnacles, paddling over 6 miles, & fighting a brutal and unexpected South wind back to our launch spot. Though happy with my catch, I just could not find a lingcod to make the tournament minimum 30". In any Norcal tourney, lings are the anchor, so this concerned me quite a bit.


    As divers trickled back to Caspar, several large lings made their way to the weigh-in tables. My chances for a strong placing seemed to fade, but I was confident that strategy would prevail and my fish selection would keep me near the top. With a bit of luck, my ling-less stringer managed a 2nd place showing! Though Nelson dove well and shot some nice fish, his stringer was just out of the running.


    Nelson's catch of the day:


    A few of my better fish for the day:





    Sunday


    On Sunday, we woke up & took a look at the ocean. Gloomy rainy weather sapped our motivation to suit up, so Nelson, Carter, & I made our way to a greasy spoon cafe in Fort Bragg for brunch. Around noon, the sun broke through the clouds and a gorgeous day emerged. We headed back to Caspar & had a relaxing dive in the cove. With more than enough fish the day before, I grabbed my abs & took a bit of video.


    This is my first attempt at compiling a video so it's a bit rough... but had fun doing it. Learned a lot & look forward to getting better. :D



    Here's a little glimpse into what goes on under the surface:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqUmzMmsqvo&fmt=22


    Video from one of the other divers (Carter):
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Pbpcqbd0aU&fmt=22



    *If you double-click to open in youtube, then change to 720... looks a lot better.

    Congratz on 2nd place.


    If this is your first attempt at video, wow, I'd like to see what's coming. Nice pics too.


    All my spearfishing experience being in the Caribbean I find your fish, abs, bottom structure, and underwater vegetation surreal. I didn't expect there to be so much fish life. A fish making an appearance in both videos that you didn't shoot reminds me of our lizard fish. It can get to good size here but I don't shoot because I got cig from one once.

    Quote from Dan

    If this is your first attempt at video, wow, I'd like to see what's coming. Nice pics too.


    All my spearfishing experience being in the Caribbean I find your fish, abs, bottom structure, and underwater vegetation surreal. I didn't expect there to be so much fish life. A fish making an appearance in both videos that you didn't shoot reminds me of our lizard fish. It can get to good size here but I don't shoot because I got cig from one once.



    It's definitely a learning experience.
    I just bought a new macbook pro for video-editting... and even though it's supposed to be dummy-proof, it isn't fuzz-proof. :rolleyes1:


    Luckily, the learning curve is very low and I now know what not to do. :laughing3:







    Not sure if I'm thinking about the same kind of lizard fish, but here's a pic I snapped of our Hawaii lizardfish:

    Quote from Chris lupin

    Great video! I already saw Carter's version, but I think this is the first time I have ever seen the same dive shot with two different camera's and different edits. The different angles are really cool. Thanks for posting.


    He lives close to me, but we never bothered to put the two sequences together.
    I'll probably still try later to splice the two to see how it looks from a compiling standpoint.


    After diving so hard the day before, I had no desire or need to shoot any more fish... but I had to shoot one... in the interest of cinematography. ;)

    damn son...those are some testicle shrivelling temps :@


    i dig the vids a lot.. I too hate lizard fish, as they have taxed soo many fish from the end of my fishing line..GRRRR


    you guys really earn your fish in a totally different way than we do...hunting is hunting, but to tolerate those temps is serious soldier diving

    i like to spear fish

    Nice Fuzz....but now I have to go get my Starbuck's mud rehearted:D and when I get home I'm going to build a big fire in the fire place just to get over the thought of cold water up there. If it ever stops raining down here I'll get wet again. I only grabbed two legal bugs on amateur night, but Dan's 5 mil suit was as warm as seared Ahi .:thumbsup2:


    That clip reminds me of the Blair Witch Project.... I can't stand the suspense...I keep thinking any second.......
    a Big White Shark nose is ready to enter the frame and make me piss my jeans.


    Is that place anywhere near the Pebble Beach area ?


    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.


    Pebble Beach (assuming you're referencing the rich snobby golf course one) is over 5hrs in other direction. ;)



    GWS did enter my mind Saturday... as I was diving on remote deeper pinnacles with nothing more than a single strand of kelp as a marker... :crazy:


    But I figure, what the heck. If I'm gonna go out, I'd like to go out in style fighting a GWS to the bitter end. :cool2:


    You are definitely :crazy:. Were you diving with the camera mounted on your head? Were you using the standard head mount you can buy from GoPro or a modified version?

    I thought the video was great. Amazing how many sea urchins and star fish in that spot. Cudos for braving those temperatures and the GWs.

    Quote from Chris lupin

    You are definitely :crazy:. Were you diving with the camera mounted on your head? Were you using the standard head mount you can buy from GoPro or a modified version?


    Standard head mount. :)

    What happens if you break some of those sea urchins? Have you ever tried it?


    I am amazed how so little people chum if they're fishing near shore. When I learned to do it the results changed dramatically.

    Marco Melis

    A bad day fishing is ALWAYS better than a good day at work.

    Quote from Marco

    What happens if you break some of those sea urchins? Have you ever tried it?


    I am amazed how so little people chum if they're fishing near shore. When I learned to do it the results changed dramatically.



    Lots of the smaller fish move in on it. Squid or abalone guts would work better for larger fish. Realistically, not worth the trouble... fish here are not challenging to shoot. :)

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