Posts by oto

Quote from Tin Man

I agree completely. What I meant was that I thought eliminating the commerical harvest would have more positive effect than a few months closure on rec harvest. And if anyone can convince me that these stocks are in need of more protection, I will wholeheartedly support it. I have two sons, and I want them to enjoy the same opportunities that I do. But the inshore grouper and snapper here are at levels that I have not seen in 15 years.

BUT. When recs have a closed season, and commerical guys get to keep red grouper that are SMALLER than the rec limit, then you have to ask WTF?

agreed, like I said, commercial is the problem, but the closure would apply to them too, correct? how would one go about completely shutting down the commercials?

Quote from seaweed

Around here you're lucky to get 1 grouper every 1-2 months. It is not a staple fish so we could care less about the closure.

In the gulf, grouper there are like snapper here. It is their staple fish.

Closing grouper to them is like closing muttons to us.

How would you feel if they closed mutton?

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the grouper in the gulf is already closed during spawning months, this is pertaining to atlantic grouper only. I see your point but your argument is invalid. plus, muttons to groupers is not a good comparison.

when was the last time you shot 5 15lb muttons in one trip? or 2?

Quote from Tin Man

I think it's less about the seasonal closures, and more about the numbers.

If you want to eat venison, you buy farm raised vension. There are no commercial deer hunters who get to take more than the normal 1 per day that the average guy can take.

If you want to eat duck, you buy farm raised duck. Nobody has a special license to shoot 100 wild mallards a day.

Same with buffalo, quail, or any other recreationally managed land species that I can think of. None are on the "brink of collapse" so far as I know.

When I was a kid in SW Louisiana 20 plus years ago, it was rare to catch a speckled trout over 3-4 lbs. They eliminated the commercial harvest, and now recreational guys travel from all over the state and country to fish those same waters for trophy sized specks.

Public resources belong to the public. Not a select few.

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I agree, the commercial fleet (both spear and h&l) are the problem. but can you regulate one sector and not the other? most people fighting these stricter limits or closures are commercials or "rec" guys who sell their grouper under the table. otherwise why would you need to make it worth it to go out get X amount of fish?

spearfishing is not a right, it is a priviledge. 1 20lb grouper is a lot of fish, if a closure and/or decreased limit improves the odds of getting one of those more often, I think it is a good thing!

Quote from pargo

I so rarely see legal sized grouper here that I don't feel it will affect me personally. I think if it helps the grouper increase in numbers so I can shoot them the rest of the year it's not such a bad thing. You guys who are more experienced with this please educate me if my thinking is bad.

I'm with you, if it will help the species, why not?

many of the guys argue that if they have to go out 15-20 miles or more per trip to get one grouper or no groupers, then it's not worth the expense, hence the financial motivation I was talking about earlier.

have you guys seen this thread on SB? what do you think? putting aside the old freedive vs scuba thing, would a grouper closure during spawning months be good or bad? depends on whose point of view, right?

most of the people opposing the closure seem to have a financial motive for doing so, at least that's what I can gather, and they all seem to be scuba speardivers...

http://spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=92102

Quote from pantoja

I read the thread in bubbleboard and was really tempted to say something , but didn't . fuck that jfjf and bubblemax. who cares. that actitude is the same that mede us get out of there. childish , stupid and moronic, that's how those guys are. so fuck them once more. the message is out there and hope nobody else gets screwed by those sons of bitches scamers.

that thread really degenerated, unbelievable.

Asesinos!

Save the Hogs! abajo el imperialismo!

this story sucks, I wonder where that Gabi Torres comes from...doesn't sound like a legit hebrew to me.

Quote from pargo

Were you thinking about GWS?

sometimes, when sitting at the bottom the vis was a little worse than on top, the thought crossed my mind, so I kept looking in every direction.
the guys said there have been a few gws sightings in the area.

Quote from hau

oto---nice report
What is it like diving in the kelp?

diving in the kelp was eerie, but I found it very relaxing. basically you got these trees coming up from 60' to the surface, I found myself doing pretty long dives despite the cold water and average vis.

diving with a float line and float does not work in the kelp, you have to use a reel, I had brought 2 guns, one with reel, one with float/line setup, I could only use the reel setup, otherwise you'll spend all day untangling the line from the kelp. the current was mild.

there are sea urchins all over the ocean floor, I had to be careful to pick my landing spots when diving to the bottom, they also have these starfish on steroids! some were probably 2 feet in diameter!

The Dana Point-San Clemente area is a beautiful place, nothing like LA yet only 45 mins away.

Dove today in Cali for the first time ever, 70 degree water, 25' vis, not bad at all for Cali standards, not much fish though, no YT or WSB, just got a couple of bass and a CA sheephead. Saw tons of lobsters but they are out of season. we were diving the kelp in 50-60'.

I dove in a 5mm top/3mm bottom, I was expecting low-mid 60s, but it was unusually warm for them, not for me! Interesting point about their style of diving, everyone wears lots of lead, for example, 16lbs with a 3mm, 18 lbs with a 5mm. they thought I was crazy when I only had 10lbs for my 5/3 combo. the thing is most of their diving in the kelp is in the top 25-30' of the column, they almost sink from the surface. anyways, I asked them, what if you had to make a dive to 60' for any reason?? weird.

It was a nice a experience, made some good connections. dove with Jeff, who told me he had met Gerald.

Quote from Dan

The blue fiberglass blades (#2) sale is pending.

please consider them sold :thumbsup2:

Quote from Toledo970

Where you at Oto??

I'm in long beach working, a friend of mine is putting together a little diving trip this monday.

Dan, I feel bad hogging up all the good deals. I'll just take the soft blue ones, let someone else get a good deal too on the other blades.

Quote from Dan

You have first dibs Oto. Anyone else interested please let me know.

thanks, you'll have payment in cash upon my return to FL. diving in CA this weekend, I will post a report!

dan,
i will take number 1 and 2!

thanks

I've seen his videos before, pretty cool, he is a good diver.

Quote from Toledo970

On the Mullins topic, have you guys seen some of his spearfishing vids? The guys deep spearfishing dives are 175-200 feet. BTW he also has some WR's in spearing.

those are mostly variable weight dives, still impressive though! I know he has made 100m, and he is good for 200+ in the pool with and without fins!

Quote from av001

yea i believe they call them "negative pressure dives" they are performed with empty lungs, they do stimulate the " ohh shitt:0 mode" which is your body's mammalian dive reflex fighting to keep you alive.

they should however be done with a spotter.
there is alot more info on this on the internet and other freediving sites. i guess everyone uses what works for them.

btw it has happened to me more than once that i see a big fish on my first dive, in which i have no air or reflex

then what you do is take the proper time to relax and breathe up so you can make your first dive a long one. all it takes is 5 minutes.

Quote from av001

good post oto. one thing i have tried and mullins also had commented about is putting your body in survival mode. on my first dive usually try to hold it a bit until i feel some contractions. this pretty much hits the switch. the shock really works. a little painful but it sets the tone for the rest of theday. i usually try to focus on relaxing and my heart rate and surface interval ventilations after that.

thanks Alan, I also read Mullins stuff a lot. he def says to make that first dive long and hard, give your body something to think about!

I'm fascinated by this stuff, I wish I had more time to devote to the sport!

Quote from pargo

I think diving, pressure and cold, activate the mammalian diving reflex which somehow makes the body conserve more oxygen. It could be a body mechanism that is not possible to control consciously, that only kicks under certain conditions. It's hard to achieve this state without depth in a relatively warm swimming pool.

you'd think so, not the case.

like toledo says above it can be achieved in a pool just as quickly, other wise how could we explain what a lot of the modern young top freedivers are doing. For example, sometimes at pool I take a few minutes before I start, and make my first swim a 100m swim, I can def feel the reflex kick during the swim, legs get heavy towards the end and you get that sensation that they might fail you even though I think I could go a little longer, break the surface, 2 or 3 recovery breaths and good to go. that is where the mental barrier kicks in...

many of the pros today, when in competition, they are doing a max attempt on their first dive! no warm ups, all they do is breathup and go to the max.

they believe that (and this is all from reading lots of info on deeperblue and other places) if the dive reflex kicks in during the dive, which is sure to happen if you do a long first dive, it is the best case scenario for survival. it will be more uncomfortable, but you'll black out later. when the so called reflex kicks in, it just makes the effort more confortable, but overall performance should not change.