Posts by Don Paul

  • New Member in Georgia

    Quote from papa de pepe

    I'm about 30 miles by boat (45 mins in truck) from Jekyll Island. I noticed you're in California; has Jekyll's reputation spread to the Left Coast?


    I skin dove there as a kid......but didn't live in the big houses.;) My dad and his brother were skippers on a Navy commissioned mega yacht in the golden years before the great depression.


    Cheers, Don Paul

  • New Member in Georgia


    Welcome Mate, how far are you from Jekyll Island ?


    Cheers, Don Paul

  • Legends Nite 2/26/2011


    Terry is a amazing guy, in the air, and under the sea, can't wait to see my old friend.:thumbup:


    Cheers, Don

  • Another half baked speargun design

    Quote from Adrian

    Regardless of the functionality/practicality or lack of it I still think it is great to see people trying to improve inventions. Imagination is a powerful tool. Thank you for sharing Dan, first time watching it.


    I agree, and I was making a weak attempt at humor;), much of what we think of as new was around in the 50's.
    That said, I have never seen this unique design before, and when I first saw it went... wow that's cool.


    Cheers, Don

  • Legends Nite 2/26/2011

    Quote from ascendv6

    This event is going to be incredible. So many people have put forth so much effort. The art work is incredible. The historic guns will be amazing. Here the speakers will be a once in a life time opportunity. And there is free beer.


    How is the North Pole ....:Aye ? Is there a face book link ?


    Cheers, Don

  • Women's World Record Striped Marlin ,Colleen Gallagher

    I pasted this from the IBSRC


    The date is July 15,2010. I was diving with my two friends, Matt Davidson of Blue Tuna Spearfishing and Max Mirinov, a fellow spearfisherman and photographer. We were on the dive boat, Pez Sapo with our Captain Nono. We were diving at Ceralvo Island, Baja Mexico. We were with Palapas Ventana Dive resort in La Ventana Mexico. The time was shortly after noon, the weather was sunny and calm, 100 degrees temp outside and the water temp was a warm 79 degrees.
    Matt and Max and I had made repetitive dives for Wahoo, but even with multiple sightings, they stayed just out of reach. We were all using Andre 144, 3 band spearguns, 57". My Andre Euro144 was connected to a breakaway to a 75 foot Riffe float line that was clipped to a Rob Allen 11 litre hard float. We were all using flashers, tossing them out in front of ourselves by about 10 ft and allowing them to slowly drift down to 20 ft, flickering off the sunlight as they descended, then we would dive down to retrieve them.
    On this particular dive, this was my last day of diving and the guys were frustrated so they got back in the boat. I made another dive and I was only 20 ft from the boat. Right then, as I was just maybe 10 feet below the surface,just at 15 feet in came the largest pelagic I had ever seen, a Striped Marlin. My Andre 144 was comfortably poised in my arm to shoot, and I was amazed at how close it was, no more than 10-15 feet from the tip of my gun. I placed a perfect downward shot right at the spine just behind the gill plate. The slip tip buried deep into the meat of the spine, never toggled out of the body and the Marlin initially was stunned. It was long enough time for Matt and Max who were looking over the edge of the boat at all the commotion, to have the clear conscious to recognize the enormity of it all and toss me a second Riffe float with a bungee and I clipped it onto the back of my Rob Allen float, then Max passed me an unloaded Andre 144 mid handle 3 band speargun with 50 ft float line that I clipped to the Riffe float.
    These two men kept the boat right next to me and kept me focused on what I had to do. This was my Marlin, and they knew I had to do this on my own. The Marlin rallied and pulled the first buoy down as it dragged me forward in the water. The Marlin never turned or jumped or made any attempt at me, just propelled itself forward till it finally started to tire. I moved from the back of the Riffe float, pulled myself and my 2nd speargun that was clipped to the Riffe float forward to the first buoy, the Rob Allen which was now back on the surface. I clipped it to the Rob Allen, and now started to pull in this enormous fish.
    I closed the gap between myself and the Marlin, and clipping the float line off, bringing it in little by little. When it was just 20 ft below me, I looked down at this enormous animal and yelled to Matt, " I can't do this" He yelled back, "Yes you can and go do it!"
    I loaded the Andre 144 mid handle, took a breath and dove down next to the Marlin and placed a second shot right at the gills, the blood started to pour out and as I ascended to the surface, it now had two shafts in it and it was twitching. I yelled to Matt to give me a third gun, and he passed me an unloaded 144 Euro Andre 3 band gun with a 50 ft float line, that I quickly loaded and then I took a breathe, made a short descent to a little over 20 ft down into the ocean,and placed the third shot in the head of the Marlin. It was over, it was motionless.
    I then pulled the Marlin up to the surface, all by myself, getting tangled and untangled in the three float lines, two buoys and presented the 126lb marlin to the Boat Captain with three shafts pierced in its body.
    It was an incredible experience for me.
    I brought the Marlin by boat onto the beach at Palapas Ventana and it weighed in on a certified IUSA scale at 126 lbs and 109" in length.

  • Legends Nite 2/26/2011

    Outstanding work Amadeo, I can see Jack Prodanovich's twinkling blue eyes looking out from his hand crafted mask along with Wally Pott's skilled hands tooling the slip tip.


    Cheers, Don

  • Inflatable Float vs Lifeguard can float

    Quote from JimCuda

    I use a lifeguard float in Rhode Island because it was the only float that would reliably hold up a dive flag. The boaters there are ridiculous.


    On the other hand, I regret not having a good inflatable float because I just flew 24 hours to visit my family on Guam and had to scrounge for a float from Mako's loaner program.


    With regards to the video, I think they foam-fill those tuna floats so they don't crush at depth. I could be wrong as I'm not a bluewater guy (yet). I'd await Don Paul's take on it.


    I just copied Terry Maas's floats back back in 1982 but my first float had 2 lb foam instead of 7lb. On my first trip to New Caledonia I shot a big Dog Tooth Tuna outside the reef. The life guard can with two lb foam went screaming past me behind my 100' vinyl drag line never to surface again. The worst part was I was diving with a French Champion who busted my balls about it for two days because I didn't head shoot the fish.
    Back in Cali after the trip, I built three LG cans with the correct 7 lb foam Terry had told me to use.
    I don't know if you Florida guys ever have billfish or big AJ's on beach dives? if so go with the 7lb foam and a 1.5 wt in the bottom if you fling a flag.
    I'll see if I can find my images of crushed floats by big fish.


    Cheers, Don

  • No Bannas

    Back in the days of the transatlantic crossings by wooden sailing ships many hazards would befall the captains, crew and passengers. Disease, pirates, shipwrecks, storms, etc., claimed the lives of a good percentage of the captains, crew and passengers attempting the dangerous voyage. Needless to say, a transatlantic crossing in the 17th and 18th centuries was a very risky endeavor. Often the vessels would stop along the way in tropical islands to gather provisions such as food and water. There the passengers and crew would often purchase wooden crates of bananas from the locals and bring them aboard the ship. These crates would have all manner of critters in them such as bugs, spiders, vermin and snakes.
    These critters would make their way into the bilges of the ships, multiply, and then find their way into the captain's quarters. The captains circulated the rumor that bananas were bad luck in an attempt to keep the critters off the ship and out of their cabin. The crew and
    passengers were more than eager to follow suit because of the inherent risk of the crossing. So, if the captain announced prior to the voyage that bananas were bad luck and not allowed aboard the vessel, everyone complied. You must remember that these were the days of burning witches and the like, so superstitions were taken very seriously.


    Than from the South Pacific waterman...
    While spending time in Hawaii fishing I spoke with some "native" Hawaiians who clued me in to the origins of Bananas and bad luck. Back before fiberglass and powered boats the Hawaiian men would go out in dugout canoes and fish for weeks at a time. They would always take Bananas. Well it happens that the Bananas would rot about the same time they would get to far out to really catch any fish. So they associated bananas as bad luck.
    I eat my bananas before the dive trip and guys know not to bring them on my boat.
    All I can say if your having a skunk day, search the cabin and throw them in the drink..... watch how fast the game fish come on board....believe it or not, but at least you will get your crew fired up.
    Cheers, Don Paul