Antigua spearfishing reports

Quote from hank

Nice mutton. How'd you see it in that murky water? They disappear like ghosts when the vis is bad. Good bottom times.

I'm sitting at home with 25 knot winds blowing outside. Naturally the wind is going to die down tomorrow. haha

Just made out the barest of shadows as it swam away, if it wasn't so fat would have never seen it hahahhahahaha.. swam in the direction it went and as soon as I saw the shadow I fired, hit the spine thankfully as the shaft didn’t go all the way through, need my bigger gun for fatties like that [emoji6] got it on video, if you can see in that murk that is.

Quote from Oscar

Like Hank said - That is a sweet Mutton. Well done. Those big tarpon scare the shit out of me in murky water.

What speargun did you use that didn't push the shaft through mom at close range?

Good luck TODAY on Hoo's.

The speargun I was using is a gladiator of a gun, Koah custom 120 euro... but two bands doesn't always cut it with a big mutton snappers spine. Wasn't the first time that a two band has failed on me to penetrate the spine on that species, specifically in that size gun(110-120)... that's why if there is a chance of big mutton around I go with a bigger two band or preferably a three band gun. But water was so dirty and I didn't go for snapper, so I took the euro.
Wahoo hunt is tomorrow, I hope my damaged fins hold up

So just to keep up with this thread, I went out Monday 16.03.15 with my sailboat looking for wahoo, even though the fishermen told me nothing was happening out there, yeah I know :crazy:... It was first break in weather for weeks and just had to try! Sailed out in much rougher conditions than was predicted, made for great sail but tough diving, swallowed a lot of saltwater that day :nono:. On the first drift a nice fat 40-50lb yellowfin started hoovering my chum at about 70-80, every time i even thought about diving down it would ghost on me, i tried for the bugger for over a hour but no joy Did eventually see a squad of 20lb wahoo but they were not feeding and just buzzed by from far out. So I got nada, but it did show me that yellowfin tuna were around so i decided to try to get on my buddies power boat that coming Saturday on his regular fishing trip, and try the Atlantic FADS 40-50 miles offshore.
Had a great day Saturday 21.03.15! Swam with a whale species that i could not identify, cool :thumbsup2: . Hooked up some sweet dolphin fish, and then the boys allowed me into the water... current was ripping so strong I could not swim against it so just had to do drifts, this doesnt make the hook boys happy as they dont want to pull in lines and come get me to reset my drifts :rolleyes1: Anyway their action was quite so they reluctantly accommodated my diving. First drift I saw a fat yellowfin, I knew it was there before i saw it as all the small rainbow runners that were swarming my chum suddenly had some place else to be fast!! hahaahahahahah. I dove down, but it wasnt eating and just kept going deeper as I tried to stalk it, gone :(.
Next drift I drifted right onto the FAD, and thats where the tuna were! Was tracking a 50 ish on my dive when this cheeky 23 lb'er decided to come up and eat chum close to me, I made a snap choice that one in the hand is better than than two in the bush and readjusted my stalk, got a great shot on it, and fought it on my Ermes Sub Blue Water Leonardo 93 reel. That little f@#%* kicked my ass at the surface and had me laughing, loved every second! It was made more rewarding by the fact that I had been wanting to shoot a small tuna for years! The little ones behave like they are on crack, and rarely has the opportunity presented itself for me to tick off the list a small fast moving f@#$er, when the opportunity has presented in the past wahoo or bigger game has been around, and no way i am risking a shot on a 20 lb fish when a 40 lb fish may present itself ;). But that was my day on Saturday, to be honest I was more thrilled than if I had shot a 100lb tuna, seriously :@ :confused1: :crazy: :laughing:.

Quote from Oscar

Well done George - a real beauty! :thumbsup2:

Thanks Oscar, but mostly thanks for not saying pink in any of your sentences [emoji4]

Quote from Oscar

I need to go find a post from two days ago and delete a comment then

Don't you dare! You make me laugh pretty hard every time you come up with a creative way to get a pink jab in [emoji1]

Man that sucks Hank! Sorry bruddah [emoji20]

If you are not a legal resident of Antigua that has gone through getting a commercial fishing license, AND then crawled through glass to get your spearfishing license you won't be spearfishing with gun or pole [emoji22] . Fisheries are VERY anti spearfishing in Antigua, I am trying to get some legislation considered for a change for visitors, but that will take time. Short answer is NO, and if you try to bring your polespear in and customs recognizes what it is, it will be seized.

Diesel that's not true at all, the laws are designed to stop anyone spearfishing. That situation was brought about in 1999 by the then and now still head of the spearfishing association. That's why there was a ban for 15 years, keep informed or face a permanent ban soon.
The laws on fishing as a whole came about by locals asking for regulations in fact, not even a fisheries incentive, much less a push to curb illegal poaching or foreign fishermen. Sad the lack of interest by local fishermen in their own fisheries situation and politics.