Close encounters of the BULL SHARK kind!

    Tue Dec 30 2008 - Worked 1/2 day today. Jim & Spicer are up for a quick dip off Miami with me.


    First stop 1.30 pm - there are a few fish around and spicer and I each bag a nice hog. Back on the boat Jim is nursing a red ear and obviously in pain after he’s tagged by a man-o-war minutes after entering the water on his first dive.


    moved on to second spot anchored up & I hop in first – do a couple of exploratory dives – there is fish here! Schools of grunt, m.snapper, hog & grouper! Next, I see Jim back in the water (took like an hour to recover from his sting and he's still in pain.:notworthy1:) He dives down to look in a hole. As I am watching him a 6’ bull shark cruises right behind my oblivious amigo on the bottom, 10’ behind his fins – damn he a thick beast! I meet Jim at the surface and give him the news – “nice” he says and swims off to a distant coral head unphased. :cool2:
    Ok, I swim over to Spicer to let him know “watch your back – there’s a big bull in the water.” 15 min later I see Spicer who says “shit! that thing is huge!” Spicer looks like he’s not wanting to venture too far from the boat. I second the motion.
    As I swim around the coral head we are anchored at I spot the bull cruising below. I decide to check him out. As I dive down on him he is already slipping into the shadows 40’ away and a school of jacks is swimming between us. I succumb to temptation and tag one with a spear through the nose. As I start pulling the thrashing jack to me, guess what, :shark1:
    :0 T'was as if someone fired a torpedo at me! I'm looking down a huge head of teeth is hurling straight at me! I drop the line and get my gun butt between us - In this game of chicken – I had no steering-wheel!
    Damn, he closes to 8’ before he does a 90 with one powerful whip of the tail! And he’s gone – not too far I’m sure. OK, so should I pull the jack back in to me or tow it to the boat at a distance? I’m back pedaling to the boat before I even answer the question in my mind. That was a rush! But I am calm. The thing is I dropped the line when he charged and he did not go for it – he kept coming straight at me! Hmm. Weird. My fish is still on the spear. I scan my periphery – shark not in sight – I pull the jack to me and out the water as I go back to the boat and score a 3 pointer as I near it. I think I’ll get out and reflect on my life. Wow what a rush! But the water is clear and warm and there’s fish to be had. Let’s just leave the stringer on the boat this time. I'm back in!
    Next, I spot a nice mangrove and I dive on him. He dodges through some coral and I follow. Line up, shoot. Nice shot, but he’s still thrashing about. I pull him in quick and over head out the water. Backpedal to the boat suspicious but not quite paranoid. Made it, no shark in sight. I think I’ll get out and reflect on my life again – what a rush! the water is clear and warm and there’s fish to be had. I’m back in.
    I dive down to investigate a school of mangroves and spot a school master peeping out of a hole. Slipery suckers, I’m yet to shoot one. I take the shot past the snappers and stone him! Sweet! I dive down and pull him out and I see the big bull cruising calmly by, about 40’ away. Back pedal to the boat again, with my school master out the water and one eye on the shark as he fades into the shadows again.
    Yup, enough excitement for one day!:sharky: Sun’s going down and we’re loosing light. We have a nice haul – 7 hogs, 2 jacks, 1 m-snapper, and a school master. That’s enough for a fish and chip banquet tonight. Up anchor! :)

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] Autocross Junkie

    Edited 5 times, last by TurboRon ().

    Good story. Bulls traditional I've found to not have the best eyesight. I'm glad you did not loose a fish to him. I'm assuming an "m-snapper" is a mangrove as opposed to a mutton or mahogany, no?

    Yes mangrove. Good point, forgot about the other "M's." :)


    Thanks - I'm just glad I did not loose any body parts to him! :shark4:


    But point taken, I'd hate to let a big bull get used to stealing from spearos. :nono:

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] Autocross Junkie

    That was a nice story with a good ending:D
    Yea, the adrenalin is fun:)
    I know what you mean by just having a gun butt to defend yourself with. That is why my guns look naked without a kill spike. Not that a kill spike will stop a charging bull, just that the spike is better than nothing. Especially if I have enough time to get a ppd slipped onto the ppd. :)
    Again, great story.
    Gracias!

    SPEARFISHING and RECREATIONAL FISHING NEEDS THE NRA
    Spearfishing Store

    Edited once, last by hau ().

    Those Man-o-wars really kick your ass. I got hit in the ear and had to hide on the boat for an hour just to be able to dive. I experienced all sorts of crazy feelings, shortness of breath, increased heart rate, and anxiety. Turns out that the Man-o-wars have a neurotoxin that can have all sorts of adverse effects. My ear hurt like crazy and was swollen all afternoon.


    I never saw the bull shark though.

    Ron, Kick ass report! :thumbsup5: Glad you had fun. Consider carrying these powerheads in the future http://spearfishing.world/divi…rhead-and-belt-pouch.html Aside from the comfy false sense of security they'll give you you'll probably also have enough time and presence of mind to use them in a situation similar to what you described.


    Jim, I know exactly what you're talking about. I got a bad hit from a man of war once, I think I went into shock. I was running back and forth like a mad man on the rock studded shoreline looking for a place to hide out of the sun. I ended up laying in down a tidal pool only a foot deep to seek the shade in it's borders. I had shakes that didn't subside for an hour and a half. Since then I don't wear shorty wetsuits. Although I must I admit I'm due for a refresher experience, this whole summer I dove in swimming trunks.

    Sounds like a great adventure guys.


    I believe vinegar keeps the unactivated stingcells from stinging you further and ammonia neutralizes the toxin.

    Davie Peguero

    Rolo,
    I might caution you about requesting a golden shower here on this forum. Way to many here might consider that request as a living will and proceed regardless.:laughing3:


    Just kidding.:D

    I definitely tried the urine thing, don't worry, it was my own :0. I've looked up the jellyfish and found very conflicting responses on relief. There seems to be a split between vinegar/urine either helping or not. It turns out the Manowar isn't a regular jellyfish and the treatments are the same.


    I can say that the urine had a short and immediate soothing effect that lasted 1 minute. I have heard also that the warmth of it helps, so I just warmed my ear in the sun.


    I wish I had a photo of my ear, it was fat.

    Quote from JimCuda


    I never saw the bull shark though.


    See, that's what gives me the chills. That shark passed right behind you man! It was like standing in front the shark tank at sea world! except with no glass! :D


    He looks so majestic and peaceful when he's just effortlessly cruising by :)


    Quote from pargo

    Ron, Kick ass report! :thumbsup5: Glad you had fun. Consider carrying these powerheads in the future http://spearfishing.world/divi…rhead-and-belt-pouch.html Aside from the comfy false sense of security they'll give you you'll probably also have enough time and presence of mind to use them in a situation similar to what you described.


    Thanks Pargo, I’ll check it out. But considering my shaft was in the jack at the time, and I would estimate it took place in a matter of less than 10 seconds ( I was still pulling the line in to me) I don’t think I would have been able to use it anyway, right? :confused1:


    Rolo – I did offer him the golden shower – but he declined. I almost proceeded anyway thinking that he might be delirious ...


    I guess I’m lucky that I’ve never been stung by a man-o-war. On the last dive, however, I had on full suit and hood and jelly zapped me on the lip! That's right on the freakin lip! Threw me back a couple feet!:imok:

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] Autocross Junkie

    Edited 6 times, last by TurboRon ().

    Ah yes, the old shark spike! so you probably want to use a spike the size of a spear shaft to get the PH to fit on it, ey? did you use an old shaft or did you find something similar?

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] Autocross Junkie

    Keys - I was not there. I'm just trying to look at the subtle diferences between a lot of groupers. many look so similar except for little things. I was theorizing that it could be a yellowmouth because I could not easily distinguish either the squares or the black borders on tail and fins like this black:





    makes it tough to tell esp moving fish underwater - and I might be lettin some legal yellow mouths or scamps slide thinking they are short blacks!


    here's another pic comparing a scamp top to yellowmouth (bottom)




    alternately he looks close to the yellow mouth in this pic:

    Damnit Pargo this is serious business ... where is Seaweed when I need him! :(

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] Autocross Junkie

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