Posts by Rustyflopper

Your absolutely right about t ride out . The ride back going with the swells is fun. The sides where the tubes used to be are a V shaped hard chambers now.

Finally finished this project. Discarded RIB hull with stitch and glue 6 mm okume air chambers. Deck and sides are air chambers with raised transome for long shaft 14 hp. Exercise mat makes for comfortable entry and exit. Can fill inside with water and engine is above water line allowing water to flow out when under way. Extremely stable in full throttle turns . Handled 3-5 seas but beat my old bones to death. Speed is much more than I anticipated and gets airborne in big chop.

I really like the way it turned out but wish I could have found a 12 ft hull. Total cost of materials were under $500.

Hit 70 this year, wear rubber pants and breath thru a tube 4-5 days a week 6-8 hrs a day. Collect stipend from SS and sell a few fish and lobsters for $ to buy more supplies.
Funny how simple physical tasks out of water are so painful but suspended in water is pain free. The real work starts pulling my kayak out of the water and cleaning fish. After selling catch it's off to the recliner with a 'painkiller', 2 shots rum,3 tal spoons cream de coconut, 1 oz orange juice, fill the rest of the mug with pineapple juice, stir, grind nutmeg over top and add ice. Nectar of the gods!
Pretty much limited to 60 ft but most productive fishing depths for me range 20-40 ft. Yes, I dive alone and prefer it that way for fishing ( my work ), I don't advocate my preference to the young ones I often recreational fish with on week ends.
Biggest regret is my trigger finger is bending over to the right,

Note for other 'old' guys; your ass is your worst enemy, the longer you stay off it the longer you will be active!

Triple by pass in 2000 - prostatectomy 2002, radiation 2004, threw all meds away( developed reaction) , simplified my life and moved to this Island. Today everything is 'todo buena'.

Unusual to see another spearo from Wyoming. Welcome! Never thought I would find another place I would love more than Wyoming. Never thought I would enjoy something more than Elk, Muledeer, and Antelope hunting. Never thought I would enjoy something more than building custom guns and knives and reloading and shooting.
What I have learned is never to say never even at 70 years of age.
Still have family in wyo. but I just can't bring myself to leave this Island long enough to go back and visit. Wyoming thought me about hunting, the fascination is how similar fish are to big game hunting.
Obviously you have discovered the same!

I'm hard on gloves but have found a seamless glove like MaxiFlex 34-844 are great gloves. Enough protection without the bulk. I can get tangles out of anchor lines and float lines wearing these. Pull a lot of 'locked up' lobsters out of holes.
The Salvimar dyneema were too bulky for me so I gave them away. Seamless gloves will stretch in the fingers to fit my narly old fingers. The best part is only $3.80 a pair. I use mine 4-5 times a week and they hold up great. The nitrile coating does not get 'gummy' in salt water, dry easily, and I already say they are inexpensive.

Ouch Don, I was born 2 years before 'rollers' ! Truth is I will probably buy one and stick it on the end of one of Dan's carbon tubes. Been really liking these barrels they have held up better than I thought. Following these forums is costing me 'fish money'. A couple of 4 lb lobsters and a couple of 5 lb Sama should cover expenses. Gotta love Island life!

I'm an old fart still open to new ideas but 'tempered' by Murphey's Law. Simplicity is hard to compete against, i.e. , the snorkle!

Let sleeping dogs lie.

You might go to knife building supplies site and look for for epoxy die. We used to use it in white and black,not sure if other colors are now available. The die does not effect the epoxy strength and is easy to work with. Hope this applies to your question.

I was waiting for this. Mangrove snappers here look a bit different.

Lock you wrist and elbow.

This stuff is really 'crap'. Stinks up the beaches, destroys visibility, clogs up fishing lines, seeds block water pumps in outboard motors, and gets so thick it is hard to surface thru when diving. This is the third time we've been 'swamped' by this stuff this year. Hank I feel your pain!

I'm kicking around a dead cat! Wished I would have read this thread before I got these pockets. I initially had same size problems as Dan but next size up and 4 mil socks solved that problem. Next I have medium stiff carbon blades that fit these pockets but I cut back the pocket rails till I hit the 'sweet spot' at 5" from the toe. But here is the big problem and I'm surprised no one mentioned it, the heel tabs!
They constantly grab your lines and when they 'grab' they actually pull the line down into your heel as you try to shake it free. It got to the point of loosing my temper every dive. Float lines, fish bag and flag lines, and particularly shooting lines when fighting fish. I'm fishing 5 to 6 days, 6 hrs a day and am tough on equipment, I almost had a 'Dan moment' and was ready to cut them up. I did cut the tabs off and dremeled the edges smooth--------- end of problem! In my opinion I don't believe this heel design is safe for spearfishing.
It's all good now, liking the fins in strong currents and comfortable for long hours BUT definitely not recommend anyone go through the experience.

Not much of a historian but I gotta admit those early explores really had a flare for style ! wonder what those tribes thought when they saw that coming.

Regs. say must be a 100 ft from coast and no spearing from piers in PR.

Maybe sponge spicules, minute glass like needles. I run into them sometimes scraping a hull. Goes away after couple days. If get nauseous might see a Doc.

Manual line release.

My bad! I apologize. Thought it was as a current post. Let me make it up to you. Take a day trip to Culebra and We'll go out to the reefs off Culebrita.

You may want to be careful posting pics of mutton snappers as the season here in PR is closed. April 1 till May 31

I use wife's old Costco bags. I put a 1 gal clear frozen water jug in each bag and will last all day in the sun. True the capacity is not as great as the custom fish bags but A 15 lb dog snapper and a few 6lb lobsters will fit in the bag.
I use them because I have to conserve space on my kayak. The frozen water jugs keep fresh water off my lobsters and will stay alive all day till market. Also if I get stuck overnight on one of the islands I have fresh water. I know that sounds a little extreme but I've rolled the kayak a few times in the surf and once climbing aboard. So far my 2.5 Suzuki is easy to clear water from carb and I carry a spare plug.
Monday I managed to get over 40lbs of snapper, hinds, and trigger fish in one bag.
Here's the down side. They get full of small punctures and fish slime gets into the lining. I will soak with bleach water but the life of the bag is only about one month ( 5 days a week use ). Then again it' a $6 bag !