The light you'll want will depend on your viz. We're working in 5-10 foot of viz (sometimes less) so a high-powered light with 8 C cell batteries is essential. UK or Princeton Tec make some. I use the UK Light Cannon HID.
If you're just looking in holes during the day, you might want something smaller that's easy to carry around, and that maybe you can just clip to a float or belt when it's not being used.
So this was a solo mission?
Daniel invited me, but gainful employment sucks sometimes.:rolleyes1:
Welcome! Do you have any pictures to share of your exploits? I am a freshwater aficianado here in the US.
whole hog, came out amazing,, im drying out the jaw bones
I've always wondered whether it was possible to do this with wrasses other than the Ca. sheephead, and if so, whether it was a common practice among fishermen.
Any pictures?
Confirmed- I'll be there the 18, 19, and 20 (Fri-Sun, full days), and the morning of the 21st.
I clean the fishing using rubbing alcohol and paper towels, and I also dry it using a space heater on high. The fins will flare without the pins once dry.
I use banner paper to save money, but thicker rice paper is the best for capturing detail and retaining wet strength. Also, you can see your progress as you press. With the banner paper you're in the dark until you lift.
I clean with alcohol afterwards too, good for getting rid of the calligraphy ink. Clean the cutting board every few minutes to avoid having black filets. Black filets are perfectly edible ( depending on the ink) but not as visually appealing.
I'm not the best, but here are a few of mine.
It's possible to exaggerate some features of the original fish, for better or for worse.
Big fish with curved surfaces are the toughest.
Much appreciated billy! Exactly the kind of info i needed. i will keep you updated on my exact plans. Looking forward to meeting some pr spearos and experiencing
the caribbean for the first time!
Puerto Rico people- wanna help me out?
I am going to be going to Puerto Rico in mid-late March with my family (my retired parents and my brother). The rest of them do not go near the water and think I am a lunatic, but they are essentially giving me free reign while we're there to go diving and fishing:
My experience is limited to the West Coast - Southern California, Norcal, Baja/Sea of Cortez - as well freshwater in Nevada, Arizona, and Utah, where I've done 2 tournaments. This will be my first endeavor in the Caribbean.
I'm principally a shore-based reef diver, and that will probably be dictating how I do this trip, unless I get on a boat.
My questions are:
-How easy is renting a car and driving to shore-based dive spots? Crime and getting the car broken into?
-My parents are mainly interested in hiking in the forests in the interior, so we will likely be staying at a hotel in the northeast. Is Fajardo (and places nearby) divable by shore? Is it easy to get on ferries with spearfishing gear to Culebra?
-I have read about reserves, but am unclear as to their locations.
-Realistically, I'm not looking to come in with guns blazing. I know every place has its overfishing problems, and I also need to try to take and eat within my means for my shore stay. So, presuming that I manage to dive and successfully catch some fish, are there restaurants that will cook people's catches for a fee?
-Are bull sharks an issue? I will put fish on the float as a precaution anyways.
-Are these the absolute latest edition of the regulations? http://www.caribbeanfmc.com/RE…-pr/Rgl6768--feb-2004.pdf
-Lastly, I've always been perfectly comfortable diving solo, but it never hurts to have a buddy.
More questions later probably!
Gracias a todos.
Alex Stover
You mean if there's no loose line that is set free by the line release? Sounds like it wouldn't work very well at all. For the shaft to travel well, the reel would have to be set on very low drag, and that would make the line come loose and flop around. Plus if you shot a big fish, the reel would immediately spool out a ton of line and potentially form a birds nest.
Having a different thickness/weight of shooting line affects the shot quality enough as it is, imagine having none of it.
If you are just looking for a simpler way to build the gun, why not just do a Heinrich release?
http://spearfishing.world/spea…einrich-line-release.html
You could also do a top line release like in this: http://neptonicsystems.com/Reverse-Mech.htm
I took the PFI course in 2008. I brought some really crappy Imersion/JBL green plastic blades that I was using temporarily. They didn't comment on them, except to say that very generally once people tried carbon they never went back to plastic. They let people try out their C4's and Omer Rekords.
3 hours on the water, just enough to enjoy oneself and not get too tired. For some reason I thought you guys were out at some ungodly hour, like past midnight. You used a GPS to get to the spot right? Would it be possible to find the spot at night without a GPS?
No GPS necessary in this particular case. We were really close to shore, so we could navigate using landmarks.
Here they're always in a hole which is damn convenient, when you have something to tickle them out like you said. California must've had a serious lobster decline to make such a stringent rule.
There are old timers who come in to dive meetings to beat their chests and talk about the glory days, and how the limit used to be as much as you could catch. Also how dive club entrance exams involved grabbing an 8 pound lobster and an abalone in the same breath. And as proof, they have some amazing photos that are unreal by today's standards. So yes, there's been a serious decline. Part of me blames such old timers who were so aggressive and arrogant in their harvesting (though in fairness some were probably feeding their families), but it's mostly probably to do with the huge increase in the human population here (and everywhere in the world for that matter), and as such, the associated poaching, commercial harvesting, etc.
Isn't it also cold as hell now? What kind of wetsuits are you using and are you warm enough? How long was the total dive?
The water was in the mid 50's, so not that bad. 5mm farmer john bottom and 7mm top for me, and I think Daniel and Davis had 5 mils all over. Total dive including paddling was from about 6:45 until 10.
Well out here I dive for bugs within 5-30ft range at night (usually on the shallower side), maybe if I had a boat I'd try the 40ft range. And if I had scuba spots I'd try it all the way to 100ft.
But if a great whites going to eat you it's fate. There's nothing you can do about it or prevent it. The animal's territory goes from Mexico all the way through California. And the hotspots are well known in California. If you avoid diving were there's been sightings the chances of getting killed is the same as getting hit by lightning IMO.
+1
I'd also add that if you look at all the attacks over the last 50 years, they tend to happen in situations where the shark attacks by mistake. For example, the triathlete in Solana Beach from a few years ago. He was swimming on the surface in really murky, deep water. Perfect situation for a great white to attack vertically, building speed from the depths, thinking it's a seal or sea lion, then back off after an investigative bite.
Nice bug. I am guessing he did not escape the boiling water.
Yesterday, I scooped and cut out the meat in the tail and head, so I can cook it for lobster tacos. The carapace and tail are currently in a bath of rubbing alcohol while I get the stuff to preserve it more permanently alongside my abalone shells and gyotaku. I still have the leg that broke off, but not the antenna section. Oh well, battle scars.
great videos , i subscribed to your youtube channel. and great bug. keep it going.
Thanks! Added back.
I think scuba divers lobster at night here. I'm sure some freedivers do it too but you don't hear about it. Another thing that's weird to us is that you can't use anything but your hands to catch them.
There are certainly a few, uncommon n'er-do-wells here that use the rubber on polespears to get them out (highly illegal) or to shoot them (even more illegal). I could name names from another board, but it's not worth the shitstorm it would create, plus it's not like I have evidence apart from my word. Suffice it to say though, MOST people are upstanding, honorable divers that only use their hands.
In all honesty, diving at night in California seems like totally not a big deal to me, since we are generally close to shore, and thus able to use the shoreline and breaker rocks to navigate and triangulate where familiar reefs are. The darkness is easy for me to get over mentally, since I fundamentally know I'm the apex predator out there. Chances of the man in the grey suit coming in to nab me are kinda remote.
In contrast, my impression is that you need a boat to get to most places to dive in Florida (correct me if I'm wrong), and you guys are also probably diving a bit deeper on average than we do, which would make the darkness more of a hindrance. The hole this guy was in was in less than 20 feet of (very turbulent) water.
That, plus the bull shark thing. Either way, I'm seriously planning to travel out to the Fla/Caribbean area sometime in the next two months, so I guess I'll find out.
Is bug diving (and night diving in general) just not something that's done a lot in Florida? Must be a good reason for it? Bull sharks?
HID and LED lights are awesome. Especially when you have to cut through murk in the water.
The gauge makes it really convenient. It's reversible for measuring 3.25" (California lobster) and 3" (Florida).
If I'm gonna to the legally-required trouble to pack the life jacket and put it in the boat, I figure I might as well wear it. It doesn't do much good sitting in a hold. And yes, it looks cool. 
another pic
