Posts by ladvr

  • Norcal harvesting...

    How do you get your shrooms so clean? Do you freeze them? Nice fish and you look cold. Palos Verdes was in the mid 50's this morning after the wind blew all week. Congrats!


    Mike

  • ‘Orange Death’ takes down twins.

    I just finished giving my MT0 (aka orange death) a few modifications. Added an extra band, rigged a new JBL 3” slip tip and most notably I gave the gun the ultimate camo job. Blends in perfectly with the surroundings. Garibaldi orange. It also helps me see the gun in some of the crap vis I like to dive. Not sure what the fish think of it but I like it. The original black paint was not working for me. Anyhow, I went out this morning to take it for a test drive and see if I could score some fillets for a church function this weekend. I dove one of my micro spots. The visibility was spotty to 10-15 feet max. Some spots the bottom five feet were clean and some spots it was zero vis. I took these twins about a half mile apart in 18- 25 feet of water. Nice quality fish. Plump and worm free. There were some smaller fish inside that I passed on. Overall it was really kind of dead. A few calico, cabazon ,some 6-8 lb opaleye ($$$$) and a few small sheepies. Maybe some bigger fish will roll in after these storms pass. Water is warm. Probably 58-60 degrees.


    Dive safe,
    Mike

  • My biggest fish of the decade!


    I like the MT0. Great off the shelf, dirty water gun. I've only used it a few times.


    Halibut is versatile. Grilled, baked or fried. Its all good. If I eat it raw I freeze it for a few days.


    Mike

  • February Surf N Turf, So Cal style….

    Quote from fuzz

    :laughing3:


    I'm pretty sure Don meant "here are a couple pics that Brandon took.". ;)


    Since graduating from CMA(merchant marines), Brando has done a few fun jobs - one of was this trip down to Guadalupe. The story was in the last issue of HSD. :)


    I guess one mans idea of "fun" is another mans nightmare. I think I saw those pics on SB a while back with an 80+lb YT.

  • February Surf N Turf, So Cal style….

    Quote from Dan

    Mike, you're obviously talking about beach diving here. But to understand correctly, you drove to different entry points and made your decision to dive based on what you saw from land? Can different location have that much of a variation in water conditions? What's the distance between your first point and the point you chose to dive from?


    Yes. Shore diving. I checked about an 8 mile stretch of coast. The conditions can vary greatly due to swell direction and tidal swing. During the winter we are looking for spots protected from the northwest swell. Parts of Malibu and PV have protection as long as the swell is not large enough to wrap around and stir things up. Some spots are sand bottom and some are rock and some are mixed. They all react different to the large tidal swings. The sand spots will have poor visibility. You never really know what to expect. A large swell is building in tonight and tomorrow that will shut down most of the shore diving.


    Mike

  • February Surf N Turf, So Cal style….

    I am not sure it gets any better. I was fortunate enough to get the call (thanks Mike) to go out shrooming on Thursday. Spent an outstanding day with a great spearo learning the ways of the Chanterelles. The experience was a cross between paddy hopping and scallop diving. With a little bit of halibut hunting mixed in. We drove around looking for chanterelle paddies with many coming up empty. Eventually , I started seeing some color popping through the leaf litter. Like spotting the jaw of a halibut or the smile of a scallop. My mentor was quit impressed with my catch. The shroom equivalent of a 40lb flatty. Beginners luck I guess. Anyhow, got home and was totally worked. I had a few divers lined up for a Friday morning dive. I canceled due to marginal conditions. The water was looking a little like chocolate on Thursday afternoon.


    Friday morning. I really wanted to get some scallops to go with my mushrooms. I new conditions were poor but how much vis do you need to get scallops? 2-3feet? I checked a few spots and they all looked poor. I pulled into the over look and immediately spotted a gray whale about 100 feet outside the kelp. Pretty cool. I only saw it surface once more before I split. I was just about to give up on the dive but decided to check one more spot. It looked doable. I suited up and headed out. The conditions were not great. Maybe 5-10feet. This rock pile is in about 20-25 feet of water. I could not believe it had not been picked clean during bug season. I pulled two off this spot. Several nice goats came in for a look. Wish I had a polespear. I kicked over to the next spot. Passing several 6-8lb opaleye, many huge calico and some random cuda. Got one more scallop and called it a day.


    I am looking forward to turning these items into a nice Surf and Turf dinner for Valentines day. We usually go out to dinner due to my lack of culinary skills. Please feel free to pass along any menu ideas.



    Mike

  • Riffe Hawaiian

    Quote from fuzz

    Ya, do it... that strategy has worked out GREAT for me so far... :laughing3:




    Riffes are good guns in that they're dependable and solidly constructed. That being said, aren't all your mid-handles modified Mike? I seem to recall that you had wing kits of different types on most if not all of them. The mid-handle range has a relatively small stock for the recommended band/shaft configurations. Whereas guns like the Riffe standard series are nice right out of the box, the mid-handles often take a bit of tweaking or underpowering to get them to shoot right.


    Yeah. exactly. I added mass to my mid handle guns and powered them down. Keep in mind that I am a lowly shore diver and most of my shots are no more then 10ft off the muzzle. Two 5/8th bands .Sometimes a third 9/16 band. Less is more I guess. I've only bought one new riffe. I tend to buy them from people who have given up on the gun or think a different gun is going to get them more fish. I am also a big advocate of target shooting as a means of problem solving.

  • Riffe Hawaiian

    Buy it. Try it. Sell it if it is not for you. I have 8 riffes in my quiver. NEVER had an issue ever with the guns. My buddy uses the Hawaiian for inshore wsb and does well.


    Mike