Day 1 A.D. - Free Spear It

Today I had a few pieces of my Lindt Chili Chocolate bar.  It was really, really good.  For my lunch at work I brought in one of my vacuum bags of fried fluke - and it was really, really good.  I also baked a new bread boule in the toaster over at work - and it was really, really good.  Can you tell that I am enjoying myself today?  I feel like I haven't strayed too far from the Survivor Diet.  It's just nice to eat fluke the way I love it the most.  Better yet, I'm going to make a fluke sandwich tonight when I get home with a little lemon and cocktail sauce.  Can you say 'The Best Sandwich Ever?'

 

I drove home from work today and it was so nice and still outside.  I got home and no one was there to greet me so at 6pm I decided to take a drive up to the ocean and go for a swim.  Now for me, this means spearfishing.  I geared up and was in the water by 6:10.  I was hoping that the visibility had improved from last week.  I took a test dive in about 12 feet of water and it looked a little better.  Not great by any stretch of the imagination but if there were fish there, I might have a shot.

 

I moved out a little deeper into about 25 feet of water and tried to relax so that I could maximize my breath hold.  On my second dive, I dropped in on a rocky bottom holding blackfish and stripers.  Quietly, I laid on the bottom and waited patiently.  A few smaller bass swam by along with some large blackfish.  Blackfish are not in season right now so I had to pass on them.  Out of the corner of my eye a pretty large striped bass started approaching from left to right.  I slowly tracked this fish with my spear until it was in my sights.  I took the shot and it was PERFECT!  Right in back of the gills at the level of the spine.  Success.  And on my second dive.

 

It took some time to get this fish strung up on my float and I was excited to get back underwater to look for a really big one next.  There have been reports of fish up in the 50 pound range in this area lately so I was hoping to have shot at my personal best.  On my next dive, I went down about 20 feet and it was murky.  I had lost the rocky bottom as the current moved me a substantial distance from where I had shot that first fish.  As much as I kicked, I could not make any progress against this current pushing me south.  I tried to dive down a couple more times but the water was not getting any cleaner.  With my catch secured, I decided to call it a day and head for shore.  One quick fish - and done. 

 

 

 

 

As it turned out, the swim back to shore was not an easy one at all.  Not only was the current moving south but it was pushing out as well.  When I finally made it back, I was about a half a mile from where I had started.  Diving from the beach can be very frustrating at times - not to mention dangerous.  I decided to gather up all of my equipment and fish and leave them on the beach where I was.  Then, I walked back to my dive bag about a half mile and got in my truck to drive and pick up my stuff.  I couldn't believe how far I had actually drifted and I was grateful that the current didn't take me out to sea because that would have been another story all together.

 

Anyway - I got my first nice bass of the season while freediving and spearfishing and it felt great.  I would much rather dive from a boat but there are some roadblocks associated with that as well.  I'll try this a few more times while the big bass are still here in good numbers.