Stillwater Cove 06/04/10: Solo Fish/Dive/Fish

Was hoping to meet Alameda/Geoff to dive and spear some fish for my first time ever at 9am but didn't manage to hookup...

I got on the water by 6 and caught and released 10 or so nice eating sized RockFish by 9am...was using a variety of baits (twin tail scampi/leadheads, metal jigs etc) all tipped with squid...caught a bunch on the blue leadhead that I got in the Shelter Cove goodie bag...that lure has good mojo!!!

Didn't keep any of these fish b/c I was hopeful I would spear some later!!

At about 10am when I hadn't heard from Geoff, I paddled over to this cool side beach to drop off my fishing gear and change into my dive stuff, then went and anchored the kayak and jumped in!!

Super cool exploring the kelp forest...

Only problem was I SUCK at spearfishing!!

I didn't hit anything!!

I had plenty of nice shots and I missed them all!!
 

It was still great to get used to my gun, gear and being in the water...got a few ideas on how to make my next trip less skunky!!  

After I got out I was blood thirsty and hungry so went and picked up my fishing gear, caught two RockFish for lunch and dinner then headed home...

Beautiful day to be alone on and in the water!!

Hopefully next time I can get some blood on my gun!!
  

Sincerely,

Jim

what happend to geoff! lol

way to get after um though , it took me a while too figure out the aiming on my gun , still always fun getting in the water

next time jim ! how was the viz?

what happend to geoff! lol

way to get after um though , it took me a while too figure out the aiming on my gun , still always fun getting in the water

next time jim ! how was the viz?

I don't know...he never wrote back to confirm or cancel...I waited until about 10 listening to ch 69 and fishing then just decided to go solo...

Vis was ok..I'm not sure if the area I was at is a "good" spot or not...didn't see a whole bunch of fish...the first one I saw was a hawg of a RockFish and it swam right by me and I pulled the trigger and...the safety was on!!
 

It was great to just spend time diving down, coming back up and working on relaxing/breath holding...

When I got back to the yak, I put my gun and weight belt up on the boat and then got in...take off all my stuff and start packing away all the crap...

Wait, where's the gun??

F#*K!! It must have fallen over when I was heaving myself in!!    

Put all my gear back on, jump back in, Ok it probably went over this side of the boat, first dive down...GOT IT!!
 

Next time you are going let me know and we will go slay them together!!
 
Sincerely,

Jim

Great report Jim glad you had a good time

Water looked great. Glad you had a good one

Jim:  You have progressed so admirably in your ocean yakfishing and now you're well on your way to mastering yakdiving if you choose to.  Well done!  What's really cool is that you're so good at sharing it all in these reports as well as with friends OTW.  Good for you for having a great solo trip when the cards dealt it - you deserve it.   

wow nice report jim! I too have been thinking about freediving and spearfishing! just need to hook up and learn from others! Also, i havnt learned how to keep the pressure away from building in my ears yet! That shit hurts my ears at just 12feet! good job tho bro and you'll get them next time! Its just like hunting but undernieth the water!

Thanks for the report Jim. I thought for sure that SWS had been fished out, but you proved me wrong. I'd be ready to dive SWS once I get my boogie board back from Bloodbath. See you on the water.

Vis was ok..I'm not sure if the area I was at is a "good" spot or not...didn't see a whole bunch of fish...the first one I saw was a hawg of a RockFish and it swam right by me and I pulled the trigger and...the safety was on!!
 

I've been there too with the safety issue--you setup the shot...try to remain calm as your pulse quickens...visualize the path of the projectile as it tears through your target. Then, feeling your lungs start to burn, you try to focus your bloodlust into smoothly pulling the trigger. Wait why won't go any further? Is it stuck? Ah, #%&$! 

Looks like it was an amazing solo trip. Thanks for the report and pics.

Ha ha ha ive also had that same trigger mishap!! lol sucks bud.

Nice report mano,Im  thinking  about  geting into spearing ,but im   a ways  off.Thanx  for  report,Gabe

Yeah Jim! You are a one man army on this day. I love it when I get to use all my toys.
Till next time!

Awesome, gonna have to try this with you this year.

Jim - Thanks for posting your great report!  A personal observation about the fishing at SWS is the lack of bomber size Blues and Olives compared to past year catches.  I've fished there 3x this year and caught decent size Kelp, Grass and Grophers (plus one keeper ling).  I am wondering what happened to big Blues and Olives that used to be plentiful there?

Jim:  You have progressed so admirably in your ocean yakfishing and now you're well on your way to mastering yakdiving if you choose to.  Well done!  What's really cool is that you're so good at sharing it all in these reports as well as with friends OTW.  Good for you for having a great solo trip when the cards dealt it - you deserve it.   

Thanks Eric. The support and encouragement of you, and everybody on NCKA, really means a lot to me.

I really appreciate it.

Sincerely,

Jim