Posts by jaguigui

Hot damn those are nice.

Hey hamptonyj, just a heads-up. Most divers out here are very secretive about their spots and won't really broadcast it on the web. Also, check the size regulations for different reef fish online. Where are you staying? North shore right now is still murky from the past hurricane we had and the sets will most likely start to roll in. South side oahu is pretty dead but might have clearer and calmer water at that time. East side has fish but the waves and surge can be nuts. Westside is usually flatter and clearer but get ready to dive deep to take good fish. I'd take you diving but I'm leaving to CA tomorrow for good. Check out Hawaii Spearfishing and Freediving if you got Facebook to see if you can link up with anyone, the HSD forum is pretty dead right now.

Thanks dan. No, the part after the octopus with the snappers (to'au) was around 40'.

Haha. Thanks Harry. Those guys got some suckers.

Hi Oscar, I'm able to play it on my desktop. Are you using a mobile device?

Here's the link: http://youtu.be/zkdzT14nBYM

Let me know what you guys think.

I'm not the best editor, but hopefully it comes out ok.

Dive safe!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkdzT14nBYM

I took an FII course about 2 years ago and have not regretted spending $300 for it. It's up to the individual diver however to actually use the info they learned. I pushed my limits in that course only because I had my instructor directly over me and ascending with me when I got to 30' on the ascent. Even though I learned to dive deeper, I still rarely push myself to that limit. I don't enjoy being uncomfortable. Although gaining more depth and learning how to breathe properly was what I was hoping to get out of it, the best thing I learned from that course was the open water rescue scenario. We had to simulate blackouts and LMC's and take turns rescuing the diver.

It was valuable information for me as I had one of my buddies have an LMC on a deep dive in big island. I watched him on his ascent (didn't care less about the fish) and saw his manner kind of change, when his lips were blue, I went over to him to keep his airways out of the water and snapped him out of it. That's why I feel like at least for me, it was worth the money.

Right on Hau! Where's the report?!!

Thanks everyone. Marco, I'm not too sure, I've never ate it before or cleaned it. makelymyday I got it from Harry (greekdiver), he's the man to talk to on abellan guns in the US. Shoot him a pm.

Thanks Dan, here's the vid.

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Thanks guys! Joe, no lie, you wanted to be featured. Lol.

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

What's your name man? Small island, might be related. Lol!

Hafa adai! I'm from Guam too!

Just my experience is that the fish where I hunt are spooked easily. Usually for reef diving we have a floatline with a small reef anchor attached to a float we carry around when hunting. Once a fish pile or potential fish area is spotted. We drop the small anchor a little ways off and try to drop outside of the fish pile or in a crevice and just wait on the bottom. Having a floatline attached to our gun will spook the fish. I understand the safety implications and risks associated with using a reel and not using a float line, but just my experience and 2 cents.

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

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.

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.

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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Hi Carlos, awesome game! I've had a couple of bugs though with the diver sometimes drifting to one side when lining up on a fish. Other than that, it's so fun!