Spearfishing from Mendocino to Baja. Summer 2011 video.

If you're like me, you should pretty much just change your name to Garfield because you hate Mondays that much (plus lasagna is delicious! :)). Anyway, I thought I'd do my best to spice up everyone's Monday with a new spearfishing video.

The winter storms have begun pounding the Central CA coast the last few weeks, and around here that means the ocean is pretty much closed to business until you can find a break in the weather... and sometimes those breaks don't fall on a weekend for weeks and weeks at a span. So like a squirrel in Autumn, I spent some time this past weekend hoarding away a taste of the warmer months to help me survive the long winter.

This video is a bit of a "season in review" with a bit of everything from the Mendocino coast to Isla Guadalupe in Baja, with Sonoma, Monterey, Big Sur, Santa Cruz island, and San Clemente island hunted in between. Shown in the video are lingcod to 24 pounds, vermilion rockfish to 5.5 pounds, white seabass to 43, cabrilla, yellowtail, halibut, and some chunky scallops and lobster.

I had a blast putting this one together and remembering all of the incredible things that the ocean has shared with me this past season. I hope you guys enjoy it.

The music is "Moon" by Little People and "By the Sea I Will Stay Forever" by the Mermen. Thanks to Kirby on the suggestion of the band Little People. I was really struggling to find the right song and I dig this band's sound.

Spearfishing the CA Coast from Mendocino to Guadalupe Island - YouTube

P.S. Unfortunately, my video clip archive is getting to be so extensive that just sorting through it has become a daunting task. Apologies to Bryan for excluding the footage of him hunting yellowfin tuna (which is sick even though none were landed), Joel for not including a clip of him blasting some nice lings, Jon C for the same, Adam for being unable to fit in the clips of him with a great flatty and us all cruising around at San Clemente laughing our asses off in gale force winds, Harold for excluding the clips of the incredible stringers he always ends up filling by the end of a good day of diving; as well as Nelson, John B, Geoff, Dad, and everyone else I've been lucky enough to dive with. Its not really a season in review without the people who were a part of that season, but I just couldn't find a way to make it all fit this time around.

Thanks for the positive responses, guys. Glad you liked it!

Quote from Sam

Gahh! Guess I'll have to find another Little People song to use in my next vid

Excellent video, makes me miss the cold murky waters up north even more. I love the yellowtail scratching themselves on the turtle too. It's always amazing to see what behaviors fish display when we take a break from hunting and just watch.

Sorry about swoopin' your song! When Kirby stopped by my place on his way south, we were chatting about spearfishing videos and I explained to him that I had a ton of good footage, but couldn't find the right song to go with it. He suggested I check out Little People. As soon as I listened to "Moon", my search for a song was over... Little did I know that you were the one that turned him on to the band in the first place! If I stumble across a really good dive vid song any time soon I'll send it your way.

The funny thing about the yellowtail rubbing against the turtle was that it was actually pretty tough to get good footage of because whenever we'd approach the turtle, all the yellowtail would get curious about us and swim away from the turtle to check us out. It was rough. :laughing:

I'll be driving through LA Dec21st on my way to San Diego for X-mas. I currently have plans to dive with a buddy in the Dana Point area if conditions allow it. Will you be down south around then? Maybe we could hook up for a dive.

Brett, I've got lots of mushroom video. I'm planning to put it all together into a compilation of all of the main edibles that CA has to offer... then again, maybe I'll make a "foraging for your foods" video of mushroom hunting, diving and cooking... I haven't yet decided, but I've got some video of epic 30 pound chanterelle patches, 20 pound hedgehog patches, my parents crawling around picking black trumpets, etc etc...

Quote from Sam

No worries about the song. I've kept Kirby from using it for quite a while, I knew it would end up in a dive video sooner or later. Besides, I've already made two vids with songs from that album :laughing:

I'll be around during the holiday; maybe we could get a clam dive in too?

Well sorry again about swiping it! I suspect that Kirby didn't expect me to look the band up that very same night and put a video together around a song of theirs in <48 hours after months of no vids from me... I was listening to more of that album (I bought it) and there are a ton of great songs on it. I'll have to check your youtube page before I make another video to make sure I'm not repeating one of your songs :).

I've pitch-forked for pismos before and the first time we did it we had easy limits, but then the 2nd and 3rd times we got skunked, so we lost interest. The vid Kirby posted a while back of you guys diving for them looked like a blast, though, so I'd definitely be down... lets figure it out as x-mas gets closer.