Late last week--with my summer break drawing to a close-- I found out that my last remaining piece of homework I had wouldn't be due until the 27th. With flat seas up and down the coast and a friend willing to go, I would be able to cap off summer break with diving. :thumbsup2:
Despite the tantalizing prospects they can have, weekends with stellar conditions can be rather torturous in deciding where to dive. Pick the wrong spot-- for whatever reason-- and you've just wasted a precious opportunity. I had a hunch on a good area I had dived the week prior, only this time I had the the chance to explore it more in depth.
Not wanting to waste any dive time, we were coastal by 7am, lake-like conditions there to welcome us. After checking out conditions as best we could, we were paddling by 8am, en route to a new area.
First stop had neither great vis (3 feet), nor great fish (greenlings, a few blacks, black and yellows), so we turned around and headed a different direction. The vis improved at the following spot, and there were better fish and structure, but nothing worth staying for.
Heading to an area where I found nice lings before, with blue water (seeming to clear up as we went along) tempting us, we couldn't wait to jump in. After swimming around for over an hour, however, I was finding bland substrate and few fish, save for perch and greenlings.
I reevaluated and began to systematically dive in geometric grids and patterns, occasionally glancing up in attempt to get my general bearings with landmarks. Finally, my efforts paid off and I recognized a familiar ledge, and then I few more with distinct and optimal features. I moved the kayak over to the nearest kelp stalk, rolled up my sleeves, and went to work.
With the shallow depths, I was able to make drop after drop with long bottom times, every dive an adventure-- the possibilities each ledge held were as endless as the ledges themselves. Ignoring rockfish, I picked up a decent limit of cabs to 22".
A beautiful, undercut ledge. Can you spot the fish?
How about now? :rolleyes1:
The resemblence that cabs have to amphibians never ceases to amaze me. "Ribbit, ribbit"
Spearfishing by Rick - YouTube
(My footage and cabs, but my friend's camera, editing, and youtube channel. Big thanks to him for posting it up. :toast2: )
At one point, my friend said he had just missed a large cab at the edge of a hole. I dived down to check things out. I wasn't quite sure which hole he was referring to, but there was a doozie of a cave nearby, so I took a quick glance in. It was where two perpendicular ledges joined to form a vast, tapering cave system, complete with corners and cracks for fish to tuck into. Chuck claimed this was the hole, but the cab was gone. All that was evident of fish were a black and yellow, a couple perch, and a small black. :boring1:
By now, the sun was getting lower in the sky, the afternoon winding to a close. My buddy had already filled his sum of rockfish. With consideration for the ever formidable task of cleaning fish and gear after a long day of diving, we were both getting ready to wrap up. I decided that I still wanted a ling to cap off my stringer, and that I would take the next one I saw.
Gradually moving back to the kayak, I came across the cave once more. This time I decided to crawl all the way in (not really, just far enough to see around the corners... sometimes I find myself in the most awkward of positions while hole hunting). 
The ling was sitting way back in the farthest reach of the cave. Remarkably, the bottom of the cave dropped/sloped off towards the back, so the first thing I saw was the ling's green chin. I backed my way out and surfaced to prepare for a shot.
I made my drop and wedged my way into the hole as far as I comfortably could. The ling had backed up a little bit, but with slight repositioning to get the right angle, I took the shot. By no means was it optimal placement (what can you do when all you see is chin? :rolleyes1: ), but I knew it to be a solid, holding shot. Surprisingly, the ling never moved... it was completely stoned with a shot through the lower jaw up into the head. Go figure. :laughing:
I threw the gun back behind me, out of the hole, and extracted my prize. I first estimated it to be between 15 and 20 pounds, on the basis of length (36"). Staggering, however, was just how fat this fish was. Everything about it, from the head, to the belly, to the tail. This fish was very well fed (with the smallest, partially digested ling ever in its stomach... 4-5 inches), as its liver was HUGE. :@
A short ascent to the surface.
Sheer, unadulterated stoke.
22.37 pounds, and 19.5 pounds gutted, to give you an idea of how much was yielded. Fillets for days. :cool2:
Simply an ideal way to cap off a satisfying summer of diving that will be engraved in my mind forever. 
