RPT: Spot Hopping and Nice Ling

My buddy Pat Wallace just got a new boat and offered to take me out to dive off it. I rarely dive from boats so I wanted to take advantage of how much ground we would cover. We ended up going from Monterey to Southern Carmel and dove the whole way home. We dove a few familiar spots and a few new spots based on some way points we had collected.  Having yakked to most of these general spots at some point or another really made hitting them by boat a pleasure because you're not paddling for miles at a time and you can take some of the gear off and drink water between dives.

Vis was sub par but still certainly huntable. It seemed to open up off the surface to at least 15-20'. We had a few spots of green cloudy 30' vis which was nice but many of the spots were surprisingly lack luster as for fish size or assortment. There were plenty of the usual suspects, but not many remarkable fish. Pat is an excellent diver and even he was coming up short handed for impressive fish. After being on the water from 7a-130p, we were tired and hungry. Literally, swimming back to the boat after the last spot we decided to hit, I thought it would be fun to make one final drop right near the boat. I couldn't see the bottom because it was too far below me, but I just wanted to give it a shot. Got to the bottom and found lots of holes to look into. At this point I was almost accustomed to not seeing anything in great looking vacant ling houses... Nearing the end of my breath hold, almost ready to give up and head to the surface, I spotted a big ling head deep in a small hole. I decided to push my breath hold limit as Pat was above me (and could help if I needed it - points for buddy diving!), so I took the shot right in it's noggin'. It was surprisingly hard to get out of the hole and took me a few more seconds to make sure the ling didn't come off in case the floppers didn't deploy fully. I finally got it out and immediately grabbed it's throat because I saw that the shaft didn't go all the way through that thick head! Dang... I was ready to drop the fish and hold the float line because I was really wanting some O2 but decided to just keep pushing and trying to keep my mind steady. It's amazing to me how much extra time we actually under water when you are just calm and relaxed. A trick I learned in Catalina while going after WSB was that my breath holds were easily 20 seconds longer if I tried not to make any noise, kicked gently, moved slowly and relaxed - probably a no brainer, but it finally clicked for me. I try to keep this in mind now and it helps!

The ling head was unusually large for its 32.5" body, so when I shot it in the hole I had really hoped to finally join the "big" ling club but alas, at least it was a good catch none-the-less. I think my shark juju has trumped any ling juju. I'd much prefer it the other way around. Lots of meat on those slugs! Head, cheek, collar, belly and fillets. Was able to gift some coworkers a few fillets and collars. Can't wait to try some new recipes! Unfortunately, I flooded two older gen gopros because I thhought it was the rear of the case leaking when it was actually the front lens. So I haven't been taking footage while diving and we don't have the funds for a newer gopro right now (it's all going to diapers!). Anyone out there have a gopro collecting dust??   

Great Report Buddy
 

Sweet! There's almost always something under the boat   

You'll get that hawg soon 

Too bad those motor boat fish don't count towards DOTY

Sweet! There's almost always something under the boat   

You'll get that hawg soon 

Too bad those motor boat fish don't count towards DOTY

I knowwwww.... Since conditions weren't ideal last weekend, I figured why not get out to the better vis via boat and enjoy the water. I hate to admit it, but diving from the boat was just slightly less fun because I knew if I found something epic, it wouldn't count for DoTY! It's also the reason why I was extremely selective about pulling the trigger. But I tried to be cognizant about enjoying every moment above and below the water because it was a blast and the company was top notch. I'd definitely do it again but I have a feeling that since my days of diving are limited with a baby, I'll likely be shore or yak diving 95% of the time!

Great Report Buddy
 

Thanks Johnny! P.S. we got to sneak in the back entrance at your job last week with Bella. Saw where all the magic happens haha. Made me hope I'd bump into you.

I expect you to be well!! =P