First fish of 2012

Jan 1, 2012. Doc, Mo, Timo, Maritsa and I went out to play in the shallows so the boys could get a shot at some small snappers. We found a big school of what they call Silk Snappers here. They are a bit long in shape for a snapper and have a spot like a Mutton.
Shot a few hogfish and then moved to a spot where the dog snappers "come in to roost" in late afternoon. Like clockwork, they started showing up at about 3:30. But the waves were kind of big and it was stirring up the bottom making vis not so good. I got a couple and saw some nice ones.

Then Doc, who was swimming with Mo sees this nice amber jack coming in really close to check out his stringer. Doc didn't have a reel or floatline so he was real careful in choosing his shot. He waited.....and waited and finally got a point blank shot. The fish was stunned and Doc tried to brain it but jacks.....seems they have 9 lives sometimes....it came back to life and dragged him under 3 times. Mo was yelling, "hang on Doc"....haha.
What a day....raining as we launched the boat. Raining at our spot when we got out. And it POURED hard right when we were pulling the boat out of the water, getting me stuck in the mud a bit. It poured all night. What a start for the new Year. Good eating.

Hah. I never even really noticed the pink snorkel.
Doc isn't one to fret over style or appearances.
He makes his own guns. Kind of rough cut teak wood he gets. Uses a bent piece of steel as a shaft guide on top of the tip. Notched shafts. I got him a Rob Allen reel last Christmas. He mentioned that after getting dragged over the reef by the aj. He said, "shit....I forgot to bring it".
He uses a stiff ss wire and makes a loop that he ties a soft nylon shooting line through (tied, not crimped), meaning he has to untie the line to disconnect his shooting line from the gun. My next technological challenge is to get him to use a pigtail swivel and mono shooting line.
Honestly, he's been making his guns for so long, he's not even aware of what's out there tech wise. His nephew was the Riffe dealer here in Belize and GAVE Doc an Islander mid handle. He's never used it. haha. Prefers his own. He won't even consider shooting my Wong 55. Classic fellow. He knows how to hunt fish though.