O'ahu dive and spearing report

So had a last second dive out on the westside of o'ahu today. Needed to get a dive in before the winds picked up this weekend 15-30mph. Didn't take into account it was a full moon, which means ripping current.

Anyways, jumped in with my dive buddy chase at almost 4pm, late start. We were both eager to shoot some fish since I've been dry for about 2 weeks. We headed out to the ledge and tried unsuccessfully to bring in the mu's (bigeye emperor) those guys will test your limits. Started to head in after not seeing anything out at the ledge. We were about to call it a dive when we found a fish pile in 20' if water by the surge zone.

I dropped down and took aim on a small red uhu (parrotfish), told myself wait it out and see what else comes in. Saw a pananu (star eyed parrotfish, best tasting of the parrotfish) come in. I was using my pathos laser open pro carbon and modified
it to use 2 9/16" bands and a 6.75mm shaft so I can target smaller game without blasting my shaft in reef like my abellan. The pathos was dead accurate and the new hammerhead sharkfin shaft seemed like a good balance with the thinner bands. Kick was minimal, shaft went where I pointed on instinct.

Same spot about 5 minutes later, I took a drop just to see what comes in, then a kumu (white saddle goatfish, endemic to hawaii) come right in front of my shaft, took an easy shot and spined it, this is going to be steamed Chinese style with hot peanut oil this weekend .

Final drop of the day, was hiding behind a coral head, nothing came in so I peered above and saw this blue whiptail uhu come in. A little out of range, so I had to make a lunging shot to secure it. Going to probably stuff this the Hawaii way with lup cheong, mayo, Portuguese sausage, and onions for a party tomorrow.

Dive safe guys!

Went out with 3 of the boys a couple days ago for a shore dive. The area we went usually has fish but it's quite a walk to get to the place. I brought the abellan out cuz I knew the place held some mu's. Unfortunately, they didn't wanna come to play.

Current and surf picked up when we were diving for about an hour. Couldn't breathe up too well and eventually got sick out there. That was a beeyotch. Anyways, managed to pick up a knife jaw, which is a little rare to find in Oahu, and a to'au (black tail snapper). At least came home with some fish to sash and fry. Happy diving!

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Thanks guys! Yeah I was freaking out thinking it was enenue, rudderfish, which is normally passed up when shore diving cuz it brings in the sharks.

Yeah, it's not really scientific or studied, but we noticed spearing rudderfish at the beginning of a dive usually attracts the sharks, we think because of their really stinky guts. Usually the ones that harass us are tigers and Galapagos sharks. The white tips usually don't bother us.

Oh no not oceanic white tips, just the reef white tips. They usually are more scared of divers than we are of them.

God it feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I finally caught my first legit Mu or big eye emperor. Divers out here in Hawaii and in the pacific target these fish for its awesome table fare and the challenge of shooting it. Mu tend to play with your heart and emotions as they just sit out of range of most of the reef guns. They usually travel in packs and are very wary, usually with the smaller mu being the recon team and the big boys watching from afar. Successful divers, not me lol, usually have to have extreme bottom time to call these guys in for a shot. Anyways heres's the report.

So we headed out with Joe and Moises on his zodi on the east side of Oahu to check out some spots they scouted the past couple of weeks. These guys are my usual weekend dive crew and I felt bad for not joining them for about a month due to family being in town. Anyways, I was feeling pretty shitty that morning from the "festivities" the night before. I was slightly seasick and hung over for most of the dive. We stopped at the first spot in the shallows around 20-25' with none of us seeing any huge fish besides the 3 tako (octopus) that I picked up.

Moved to another spot where joe stoned this huge awa (milkfish) with me and Mo messing around trying to dive bomb mu's, we were unsuccessful. Lol. I picked up a couple more tako and was pretty happy with my catch so far considering I was seasick and puking the whole time. Joe and I saw a school of mu and tried unsuccessfully to call them in when I saw a Galapagos shark and gave Joe the shark signal. He headed back to the zodi and I followed. Mo was sticking around the mu school and told me to go try again while he moves the zodi.

I usually bring my abellan denton 120 using it's max range setup with 2 400%stretch 16mm bands and a 7.5mm shaft. I switched it to a lighter setup so I can target other fish without burying my shaft (1 16mm @350%, 1 14mm @375% stretch and a 7mm pathos shaft).

I saw the mu school from the surface and found a crack in the reef to hide. I made my way to a vantage point and just put my head down and waited. I slowly lifted my head to see the school coming in and saw the biggest one come in. I was running out of air and lined up on it. I ended up shooting it right in the stone zone but the shaft didn't penetrate all the way, it was the weirdest sight to see the mu just spazzing out doing backflips then going to a crack to die in. My heart was racing as I've lost mu before due to ripping off. I was at the surface frantically trying to re-rig my gun when I saw the entire school literally under me not caring about me at the surface but just staring at their dead brother! I was at a crossroads, leave the dead mu and try to dive bomb another one in the school or go and secure the mu I already shot. I opted for the latter as I didn't want to risk it and possibly risking the mu waking up and disappearing. Plus, I didn't want to be overly ambitious and jinx myself. So I loaded the 16mm band on the rest tab, went and descended slowly to the mu and placed a solid shot in its face. I was soo stoked to finally get my first legit sized mu!

Dive safe guys.

Justin

Joe's Awa