Posts by akcoastie

Quote from Dan

:laughing:

I thought that for those situations it's the coast guard? FWC is for the enforcement of laws regarding fishing no?

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I was under the understanding that the FWC takes care of state waterborne LE in Florida. Up here it's the State Troopers. CG will take care of alot of LE stuff but many times, if we don't witness it there is nothing we can do. If someone is breaking a state law then we can only detain them anyway and give them to the local or state LE authorities. If it's outside of state waters, then yes, CG would be the main point of contact. Keep in mind that local rules and cooperation may be different in Florida. It would be worth talking to the different authorities to find out what they suggest for who you should contact for what.

My location says Pensacola but I won't be down there for a few more weeks.

I am a Coastie that works in SAR. If you call 911 then the dispatch has to call the command center who then dispatches the assets. Call the Sector Miami number to get the emergency contact number that calls directly into the command center to get the quickest response in an emergency. Google gave me this number for the main contact to Sector Miami, (786) 777-0169.

As far as LE stuff, CG will not take care of misdemeanors and state laws unless witnessed by the CG members. Not sure what the state guys do but I would find out what the emergency FWC number is in that area and keep that handy as well. 911 is usually a local land based dispatch and will probably have to contact the FWC separately which slows down response time. Let me know if you need further help.

Quote from Marco

We use 7 mm shafts as "Sharkshields".

That works great so long as you can see them. I am looking at a shield for the ones I don't see. I'm not scared to poke a shark in the nose with the tip of the spear. What got me thinking about this is the story of the spearfisher who just got bit in Miami a few weeks ago. He had no idea the shark was there. I dunno, it's alot of money but with my first kid coming into the world soon I am getting alot more cautious about some of the risks I am taking.

For the select few of those that own a shark shield, have you ever put it through it's paces? Seems to be a lot of back and forth on whether is really works or not. Just wondering if any of you have switched it on when sharks are near to see what happens or tried them on some sharks that were feeding. I see alot of posts from people that say it gives them a warm and fuzzy but I haven't found a post where anyone actually tried it out to see if it worked.

Quote from attan

we get the fish ourself we dont send another specie to take it.

This type of hunting is not for me but your above post isn't exactly true. We use other fish for chum and bait. Granted we aren't sending a herring into snatch a grouper for us but we are using another animal for the hunt.

Quote from Don Paul

Ha, I was throwing this out for Dan. The temps are dipping into the 30's down in Miami today.;)
How long have you been in the North Country? Did you go to OTS in New London?
Cheers, Don

Not OTS, OCS. Officer Candidate School. Been up in AK for just over 2 years. I have been all over in the Pacific in the military. Alaska is the latest adventure.

Quote from Don Paul

Fork lenght x girth+ 200# (for winter coat allowance)= Big Ass Fishstealin BoFo:D
I bet you wish ya had that fur coat right about now.
Don

That was middle summer. Haven't been out there middle of winter. They must weigh 200 more pounds!

Here is a better pic that shows what it really looks like. There are 3 waterfalls that you can fish at. It looks shallow but the bottom drops down to about 40ft at the bottom and top pool near the actual falls.

Quote from papaa

:)20 ft is good to start.How did you feel?Its not a race to go deep.did you see anything you wanted to shoot and BBQ.?

Well, 20 feet has been a challenge because I have either been fighting a class 3 rapid current (not my pic but where I used to fish. The pic looks worse than it is) or diving in murk that didn't clear up till 40ft (found out by scuba diving). I am out of shape right now but 3+ minute breath holds were easy for me when I was 20 and surfing everyday.

I have only freedived alone to about 20ft. I am curious about what depth the odds of SWB increase dramatically. From what I have been reading, most SWBs seem to happen once you pass the 70+ foot mark. Is this generally the rule?

Pensacola. Off to flight school.

Quote from Dan

Cool pics, thanks. What month of the year are the ones with the bear? BTW it's cold here now in Miami, it was 2°C this morning.

The bear pic was July 4th week. We are out of town for my brother's wedding but supposedly they had an ice storm last week that dropped 3 inches of ice over everything in our town. I'll happily take the 2 degrees.

Oh yeah, the sealions are pretty big too. Never had a problem with them when I have been in the water but some friends have had them steal their catch.

And a few more. You guys may have sharks down there but we have bears. This one stole all the fish I had caught the last two days. He snuck up behind me later when I was packing up at the cabin we were staying at. After I cleaned the poop out of my pants I went inside and snapped a few pics.

And some more with halibut.

Quote from Dan

Welcome. Lets see some pics of Alaskan spearfishing.

No pics of spearfishing because I was either by myself or we always seemed to forget the camera. Couple of pics of us shrimping, crabbing, and fly fishing.

Quote from sdeisen

welcome, feel free to post pictures of your catch,, unfortunatly youre the sole member of the pacific northwest section

Well won't be up here much longer. Getting stationed in Florida soon so I'll be leaving the cold weather behind.

Seems like it. I am really digging some of the gun builds I have seen on here. Cool stuff.

Hi there. Newbie here. Just started spearfishing this summer for salmon in Alaska and I am already hooked. Best fish so far was about a 20lb Sockeye. Moving to Florida soon and can't wait to do some warm diving.