very nice report..you were using your homemade spear right? not the odor.
Hey Dan...why not amend the name of this thread to be just Polespears....encourage more contributions
I shot the mac sunday with the odor, I got a grouper thursday with my homemade.
I know unfortunately not all fish swim in lines as straight as macs, luckily though this one did. but thats why ill be contacting you about a gun soon and I wont have to worry about this.
P.S. my fins really proved themselves today in the strong currents - my friends couldnt keep up and I was towing the boogie board and the lobster bag(they had nothing).... I'll try to convince them to give you a call.
all of you are welcome to come up here and we'll head out, they're usually shallow (20ish) ive seen at least a half dozen on my last 2 trips out.
thankfully ive only ever had to deal with nurse sharks while spearfishing but have seen a bull snorkeling years ago. Today I kept running into a fat 7' nurse that always seemed to be waiting wherever I was heading.
Saw my first bonnethead on thursday! very cool even though it was only about 2-3 foot long
SO since this thread was originally about the ray odor I thought Id post a little update about mine. Although it is substantially slower than some others out there (including my home-made) I did manage to shoot a legal but fairly small spanish mackerel today. Talk about a tricky target, my first shot missed because I didn't lead him enough but he sped off and quickly doubled back (seems to be a typical response as long as the spear doesnt make contact). Anyway I took the second shot and led him just right and the tip hit just behind the gill plate a little bit low.
Every asshole with a boat was out today and the weather report I read last night was way off. "isolated t-storms" go as far as the eye can see in every direction... anyway I shot my first spanish mackerel today with the odor (HA and people say its slow) other than that no fish, but the macs were all over again I think I saw 7 total that I got within gun range but not polespear range. Biggest ones I saw today were around 20 inches. also saw one hog in the typical 12-14 inch range.
badass pictures, I think you would have lost your nose or at least need some serious cosmetic/funtional repairs.
im available for beach diving sunday if anyone plans on going out
practice practice practice! Ive gone from 1:30 breath holds in a pool to over 3 minutes just by practicing relaxing.
yeah I copied your board but I think I did a crappy job cuz everything is loose. Do you sell the big clips so that I could attach a gun to my line easily and detach it when Im done for the day? If you want PM me a list of what Id need with a price tag. Its slow at work so it may be a couple weeks especially if i go through with getting this boat.
... Although I strongly recommend you use a float line.
might I ask why? I dont think I could tie the floatline to my boogie board and feel confident in it and id hate to add another line to the mess im already hauling around.
Hey Mike, it wasn't a waste, you learned a lot of things. A pole spear is great when there's a lot of fish to choose from, in an area where other divers are also limited to the use of a pole spear. But here, if you want to makes sure you'll have fish to take home you'll need the best tools for the job, and even then some days you get nothing.
I'll give you a deal on a pursuit speargun if you're interested. I guarantee the gun is powerful and accurate.
Yeah that old "right tool for the right job" quote kept running through my mind, i felt inadequate haha. Are you referring to the gun I handled at your house or another one? Can it be outfitted with a reel or would I need to use a floatline?
So I thought today was going to be a great day, I was going out on my friends boat and going to let him borrow my odor and teach him a thing or two about spearfishing. 7:45am he calls me and tells me the trip has been scrubbed. I figure what the hell ive got the gear ill go do a solo beach dive at the closest beach. The water is perfect when I get there at about 8:30. Jump in and on my way out I spot a nice mutton in about 9 fsw just laying in the sand, I breathe up and dive down and about a millisecond before i let go it spooks. get out and find a ledge in about 12 fsw and start working north, I see an undersized mutton and a barely legal hog but never had a shot. I find a nice little ledge so I dive to see if anythings under it and right as im putting my face up to it to check way in the back a small nurse shark decides it's time to leave and darts out towards my face. Startled me but that was all. Continue working north until I find a nice cut that drops to about 25' at the bottom. I turn east to swim along it and below me is a 6' nurse swimming west - no big deal. I get to the end and decide to double back and dive to check along the edges/overhangs - nothing. As im starting my ascent to the surface I notice all the fish that were behind me are darting past me.... I think "great another shark" so I unload my polespear in case I have to poke the shark away. I turn and its a spanish mackeral thats damn near the size of my boogie board (32") swimming about 4 feet from me I load as quick as I can and he cruises right past. I surface and chase him thinking "wtf am I going to do if I shoot this thing I have a polespear with no floatline.... Eff it im willing to give it a try" unfortunately couldn't get close enough to it to get a shot off while still holding onto the spear - looking back probably a good thing. While in pursuit of the mac I had seen 2 big groupers cruising the bottom a short way off figured I'd swim around and see if I could locate them but to no avail. Head back to the beach frustrated thinking "damn I really wish I had a gun". its about 1130 I check the meter and my phone, friend says hes on his way so I await his arrival put more money in the meter and head back out with him now. figure we'd work our way back toward the same cut and see if anythings there, on the way we see a yellowfin grouper and 6 small macs. swim around all afternoon and were about to head in and a 3' king goes cruising by, he squeezes the trigger but the spear deflected off! old pos ab biller that could use some work. decided that this is just ridiculus and start in toward the beach; on the way see a hog that worked us until he finally took off outta sight. The one highlight was I found a nice red grouper on a really shallow reef and after he holed up i shot him and brained him and put him in my little net. Get to shore with at least one fish for dinner
check my mesh net and the bastard isnt in there!!!!!!!!! turns out the backside was open and he fell out somewhere:angry5: IT WAS JUST A REALLY FRUSTRATING DAY FOR ME TODAY! spent 7.5 hours in the water with nothing but pruned fingers to show for it!
P.S. sorry if i've wasted your time just had to vent and the g/f just goes "oh that sucks". grr she just doesn't get it
If I go through with it and get a gun, does anyone have any suggestions? my friends biller is an overpriced POS ive used a 120 mako and its gigantic but pretty nice for the money. anything else to look into?
boat trip got cancelled(happens every time this guy wants to take me out) looks like ill be a solo beach diver today.
how good/bad was the viz? any pics of the mutton?
no tomorrow ill be on a friends boat, normally I just beach dive.
I got lucky and am hitching a ride with some snorkelers from work, we'll be shallow south of hillsboro inlet. will be nice not to have to swim all the way out to hunting grounds.
yeah most hogs we get are between 13-15 I know we got a 19" in about 8 feet of water though
can honestly say ive never encountered an educated hog, ive spooked some before but that was just because I didnt see them (before my prescription mask) all the ones ive come across would swim a bit then turn sideways just in time to see 3 pounds of Odor flying at them
