Posts by spearstuff

  • Spearfishing World forum fish records

    Went looking for some lobster holes today and found a big sculpin sitting at the bottom of a large rocky hole. I didn't bring my speargun with me, but I had my knife handy so I thought why not? Pulled out my new Riffe knife I won at a raffle and slowly crept over for the kill. Every time I got close enough he'd get up and swim 4ft away and then sit back down on the rocks. He moved around 3 or 4 times before I felt I was ready to use the knife. Swung strait at it's head, he bolted, and I hit him mid body. He wasn't going anywhere.


    After braining the fish I tried ripping out the gills, which unfortunately led me to getting pin pricked by one of it's spines. Poison went in and I felt the pain slowly grow. Glad it was only one finger that got hit, because it did hurt some. Went straight home after that to get hot water on my finger. Fun day. Got my first fish with a knife and my first time getting poisoned by a fish :)


    13.5 inches (~1.5lbs)



    Haven't posted this here yet, so here's my 26 lb California halibut


  • Speardiver Forum DVD

    Quote from tinu

    that means that if i buy a new gopro now, it automatically comes with the new lens already mounted ?
    one year is a good timing for such project. and who knows, you may get material for a double dvd.
    great chance to come up with something really special.


    No you have to buy an extra attachment that sells for around $100. Unless they've come out with a newly designed camera already.



    Well first thing that comes to mind is that there are a couple settings on the HD gopro camera. Will it be filmed in the 720 or 1080 resolution.


    Who is doing the final editing and where is the music coming from?


    And whoever gets the cameras needs to have a computer and video editing software new enough to handle the HD camera.


    Also make sure to get the right flat replacement lens. I've seen at least one that crops out the edges on certain settings.




    Last thing is that the hd gopro camera has a super wide angle lens. So that means whatever is filmed will look far away at normal ranges. Just be aware of that.

  • New member: Halibut report

    I don't think there's any reason to soak halibut meat. It's good as is.


    I tried cutting out the meat from the cheeks on my last halibut, but I cut to deep and sand from the mouth got all in the meat. Next time I'll try hosing out the mouth before filleting. I'm guessing the sand got in there when I washed up on shore. But you probably wouldn't have that problem as much up where you're diving with all the rocky shoreline.

  • Just one halibut

    Quote from Kyle c

    Those are awesome dude sell them or send one to me:thumbup:.


    I really need to come up with a red ink stamp before I give them away. Seems like every gyotaku artist stamps that on their prints to make them authentic looking.


    P.S. Stephan I found a good pot to use and just went ahead with boiling it on the grill instead, less hassle. But man I made the same mistake as my sheephead. I let it cook too long. Lost a few teeth. But should be interesting to see if I can put it back together, since it just breaks apart into 4 pieces.

  • Just one halibut

    Quote from LunkerBuster

    Nice. Thanks for the answer


    And sweet gyotaku. I am a big fan of fish printing. I'm just not all that good at it hahahaha


    Did you try using rubbing alcohol to get rid of the slime when cleaning the fish? And remember to dab the fish with a paper towel after brushing the ink on the fish? Those two steps made a big difference when I started learning how to make my prints.


    Here's a good reference video for printing fish. Although I'm no where near this level yet.


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InpLfs4rasw

  • Just one halibut

    Edit: I added the gyotaku picture in post #12 for anyone that's interested.



    That rock was an underwater boulder, but it was only 2-3 feet from the surface and depending on the waves. I didn't get any rips that time, but the fish was scraped up a little.


    I normally rip my wetsuit from getting washed up on those shallow underwater rocks. The water just sucks you up and over them. In the tumbles I usually rip my wetsuit with my gear (my stringer, spear tip, and even my lobster guage). Usually the holes are small. And I've been using Yazbeck wetsuit glue for the repairs.


    With Alex's help and some extra wetsuit material from an old suit I was able to repair this hole I got from a tumble earlier this year.





    It's not pretty, but it's water tight :thumbup:


  • Gun Porn!

    That's a real beauty!


    I'd love to add a gun like that to my collection. But I just wonder how much I'd cry when I put the first real scratch into that eye candy finish.

  • Just one halibut

    Thanks guys it was a nice find for sure :thumbup:




    Broken knee cap! That sound aweful and serious. How did that happen?


    By the way, the prints turned out great! I've done a couple seabass, a carp, and a calico bass in the past but this halibut is by far my favorite. I made 5 prints. First one didn't turn out, but the rest look great. Though I only really need one print so I'm wondering what to do with the rest of them. I'll try taking a picture of them tomorrow when the sun comes out. You can click on the one below to view it in full size if you want.



    The conditions were very nice Thursday morning. But by Saturday a new swell hit and it looks like we won't be having anything as nice for the next week and possibly longer. It's those windows of opportunity that happen briefly between the swells. I try to watch the swell reports a week ahead of time to see if any are on the way.


    And yep this one was caught after daylight sometime in the early morning. I tried hunting in the sunlight as the sun rose but I just didn't see any halibut. Would have been nice to find one in the day.


    Quote from Bluewater1

    Nice Door man! Iv'e got like 10 of them under my belt this summer and up until this point and none of them have been that big. my biggest one was 36inch so yeah i would say you have some luck on your side.


    10 halibut just this summer :@ This was the 5th halibut I shot and I've been looking for them since last year.


    Quote from The freediver

    What was the wieght on the fish? At least 30lbs no?


    I weighed it at the Jig Shop in Dana Point and they thought it had to be at least 30lbs too ;). The actual weight was 26lbs. I've heard that a 50lb halibut can have a 10 inch girth. I measured mine and it was around 3 inches high.


    Oh and the carcass is sitting in the backyard right now drying out. I'm thinking of boiling down the head to see what the jaws look like. But I need to buy an electric or propane stove so I can cook it outside. Last time I tried cooking down jaws in my house and it stunk for days <img src= " height="23" srcset="https://spearfishing.world/forum/images/smilies/emojione/1f606@2x.png 2x">

  • Just one halibut


    Shot some video and made a few gyotaku prints of this fish, but for now I'll just post up the story of the dive.


    Story~
    I didn't have anything I needed to do the following day so I checked online for the surf report, which read 2.5ft. I thought that was pretty low, maybe good enough to dive. Only one way to find out. So I put on my shoes and headed down to the beach sometime after midnight. Not a car or person in sight as I crossed the PCH, felt very eerie. Got down to the beach and sure enough the waves were barely crashing to the shore. I stayed long enough to be sure no big sets were mixed in between, then I quickly jogged home. Just thinking of diving for halibut in such calm water was getting me excited. Back at home I realized this was a perfect time to try out to a new halibut spot I've been hoping to check out for over a month now. Grabbed my gear and jumped in the car, ready for anything.


    I've never dove this spot before so I didn't know if it would hold fish or not. Wading into the ocean until I was waist deep I splashed into the water. A clear view to the bottom opened up as I swam past the waves. With this sight in front of me I knew it was going to be a very relaxing dive.


    After only a few minutes of searching around the sand I spotted the outline of a monster halibut face, partly covered in sand, sitting right behind a shallow underwater ledge! My heart started to race. This was a big one, maybe as big as my last halibut (a 35incher)! As I swam closer the swell rushed in and threw me back and over the ledge. Staring down to the halibut all I could see was clouds of sand mixing in the water. This could be bad I thought. What if that swell jarred the halibut enough to make it move? The seconds lasted forever waiting for the sand to settle. I started to worry and quickly swam back and forth looking for a clear gap in the sandy cloud, even though there was none. As the dust finally settled I saw what lay below. He was still here! Turning on my camera I went down to take him out with my trusty old JBL in hand.


    Inching downward, closer and closer, until I was practically grab him with my hands. It was now or never. A short pull of the trigger and all hell broke loose! The shaft flies right into its head, but it's not enough to hold the fish! The fish flops like mad as I push the shaft further in and try to yank the gun, shaft, and fish up to the surface. But in that same moment another swell hits the area and I tumbled up and over the rocky ledge with the fish. I had no idea what was up and what was down at this point. Still crashing over the rock the 'but puts in a monster thrust and yanks the gun out of my hand! Thoughts of loosing the fish flood into my head as I continue to tumble, a second goes by and my hand touches a familiar object, it's my gun! I grab it and somehow pull the fish in close. Finding my balance I finally manage to seize both ends of my spear and quickly swim away from the ledge.


    Somewhere in the fight I had sensed this fish was bigger than my last. But now looking down at him struggling below me it was my first chance to really check him out. Green bulging eyes, gaping maw with pointy sharp teeth, and a fat body wider than my own. There's something about holding such a large fish in the water that makes for a truly blissful experience. But another kick from the fish reminded me I had some unfinished business to attend to.


    Looking down at the face I noted the shaft was wedged securely below one of its eyes, even so I couldn't risk tying him up in the water with my spike stringer. So I headed back to shore as he continued to jolt. Ignoring the waves and crawling up the sand I made it to shore safely. By now I just wanted to lay down and relax for a few seconds, but seeing the shaft sticking out of the fish gave me that nagging feeling of incompleteness. Reaching over I pulled the protruding shaft out and in response the 'but violently flops around with renewed vigor, squirting blood everywhere. Looked like a cheesy movie the way the blood splattered over the halibut. The sight of it forced me to react. Grabbing my stringer I lined up the eye to the gill plate and pierced the skin. The fish went limp so fast it actually surprised me.


    I could have called it quits by then, but it was just such a nice night that I thought, "Who knows I might even find another big hali laying in the sand." But 2-3 hours of swimming later and nada. So I called it quits and took my halibut home.