The Legend of Blue Eye 7-16-11

he still must be too busy slicing and bagging meat too give the gory details...

DUDE!!

That things a HAWG!!!   

Why am I not surprised Rick!!??!!

You da MAN bro!!!
 

Congrats buddy....super impressive and I am STOKED for you!!

Stay away from my ling holes though....seriously.
 
 
Sincerely,

Jim

Damn... Unbelievable

he still must be too busy slicing and bagging meat too give the gory details...

You would be correct, sir. LOL

Thanks, guys! I'm almost done with gear clean-up. Just have to clean the ling blood off my wetsuit and I'll write something up. haha

Prologue:

"RICK," Geoff (Alameda) shouted from the massive kelp bed that engulfed Monterey Bay off of Pacific Grove.

A faint breeze began to come off the bay as the hard, afternoon sun beat down upon the land and sea, the oily, brown giant kelp glistening as the gentle swells stirred it. A white heron stood atop the thick undersea forest, like an owl atop a tree in the woodlands, peering into the water, ready to pick off it's next victim. A low pitch grunt carried across the water, the culprits being the many harbor seals that lay precariously perched upon the tops of the granite wash rocks. Nearby, a crowded cove was alive with the joyous sounds of children playing, as well as a wedding, where one man, dressed in a red tuxedo (Andy    ) sat staring at the flat water, wishing he had a wetsuit on such a fine day. Luckily for him, his NCKA bros had decided band together and come to his aid.

I quickly paddled over to Geoff and greeted him as the kayak slowed to a stop. Upon being asked how I did, I replied, "Ehh, it was alright. I shot a little ling...."

"I have one on the stringer, too. There's one down in this hole that's playing hide and seek with me.... WTFHAAHOANVAONFOAEBNGOFNFHAHAHFHAHHANONBAVNEHAHAHA!!!"

Geoff stood stammering through his snorkel as he saw the giant ling head emerge from the hatch. And so ended the legend of blue eye....

Part I:

Martin (Yakuza) picked me up at my house a little after 8:30. After a brief introduction and loading of gear, we were off on our way to Monterey, where Martin hoped to try diving out for the first time in Central CA.

Immediately after getting on to 1, we noticed the flat, calm waters of Monterey Bay, void of any wind or swell. Promising.

We soon found ourselves at Lover's Cove. Rather than dealing with the potential crowded parking and beach goers, we continued on to Otter, the only car in the small lot. We decided that we would dive here. We made a quick run up to Coral Street to tell Brent (Porky) our plans, and then went back to Otter. Geoff arrived soon there after.

Brent had brought his yak (sweet ride, very stable, tracked well, and plenty of storage space) but wanted to dive shallow, having potential ear problems and this being his first dive in a while. I opted to take the yak out for the hell of it. We made our way out to some shallow hunting grounds (8-15 feet) where we set up shop.

Martin looked very comfortable and relaxed in the water despite this being his first dive. His open water swimming background likely contributed to this. Nice, Martin!   

After swimming around for a while looking for lings, I gradually went back to the yak to check in with Geoff, Martin, and Brent.

Suddenly, something grabbed my arm.

Startled and somewhat confused, I turned to see Geoff laughing underwater. I said to myself, "I'll show you not to mess with me, Geoff. Just you wait till I shoot a 17.5# ling later  "   

Having the yak at hand, I decided to make the most of it and check out my 3 honey holes further out. I have about 3-4 go-to spots out of Otter, one being a huge pinnacle (20-60), a couple smaller ones (15-30), and then a beautiful reef system (20-30).

I quickly realized that finding mine pinnacles without GPS would be damn-near impossible due to the endless kelp (not that I usually have a GPS anyways  ), so I opted to check out my reef system. I estimated where it would be, and turned out to be right on the spot when I tied off. 

Visibility was a hazy 12-15 (think dark and green). I did a couple recon dives to make sure, and noticed the huge boulders and tiny, schooling blues. Thoughts of lingcod ran through my mind. After a few dives, I found a nice undercut boulder. I shined my light in, revealing only a small black perch. "No big deal," I thought, and moved counter-clockwise around the rock to the next hole. Again the hole was illuminated, only this time revealing the blue-tinted pupil of a lingcod.

"Cool," I thought, "definitely legal. Doesn't look like a monster, though." I was somewhat disconcerted, however, as the hole was a tight squeeze, the ling was somewhat elevated on a rock within the hole, and the shooting angle was awkward. I quickly moved to the next hole to see if I could get a better shot. I found it.

The crack was about 8-9 inches wide, and only about 15 wide. I was able to get my gun in though, after maneuvering it around a couple rocks on the outside. The ling was facing me, bigger than I had originally though. I usually don't like this kind of shot, as the shaft goes into the stomach/fillets and is a b**** to get out. I took it anyways.

THWACK! A flurry of particles was stirred up in the cave, and my shaft went wild. "Shit," I thought, "that things not gonna want to come out of it's hole. Shoulda stoned it." It was about time to head up, so I did. Breathing up on the surface, I contemplated how I was going to extract it. I made a dive down to check it out.

10 feet from the bottom, my shaft started to come into view. To my horror, it was laying out side of the hole. "WTF?" I thought. But at 5 feet relief over came me as the ling, camouflaged on the bottom came into view as well, the shaft through its face. The ling had come shooting out of its hole and had wrapped up in kelp/shooting line, making a huge tangle. I was surprised by the large size of the ling.

The first thing that came to mind was white sea bass hunting. I had read many times that wsb often tied up in kelp after being shot, and that one was supposed to remove the hole stalk and deal with the mess at the surface. Not having my knife on me, I simply bit through the kelp and ascended, taking my prize with me.

It took a good ten minutes before I was able to remove the shaft, as the shot had gone through the cheek, through the gills, and into the stomach cavity. Upon removing it, I quickly stowed the ling inside the hatch of the yak. Mine.

I was stoked, as my hollering and whooping made clear. I half-heartedly dove around some more, and scrounged up a small blue and a holed-up cab (17").

The game I saw was amazing, the kind you wish you'd see on the day of a dive meet or tournament. I saw some big opaleye swimming around, a female sheephead in a cave (still have some of that 12 pounder in my freezer, also texture isn't great), a big olive who faded out of vis before I could take a shot (maybe with a 90cm?), and of all things, a treefish (would have shot it, but it was at a funny angle in a hole). I then headed back in, where Brent/Martin were waiting on shore (they left their keys in the yak, sorry guys  )

The ling taped out at just shy of 37", and on my spring scale weighed in at 16 pounds, but was later found out to actually be just shy of 18 pounds (16 to 17.5? must've dropped my spring scale one too many times    ) Shot with a 75cm Hammerhead Evolution.

Funny thing was that after I shot my sheephead in Carmel a few weeks back, I said my next goal would be a double-digit ling, and 2 dive trips later I bag an 18 pound ling. Next up: Carmel Calicos

Maybe I should say my next target/goal is white sea bass and see what happens 2 dive trips later.......... 

Nice job Rick! And the kid can Write too.

Excellent write-up Rick!!

Congrats again buddy!!
 
Sincerely,

Jim

Great fish!!! Chewed through the kelp? WTF!! I show these pics to my wife and she's blown away. How old were you when you started diving Rick? I ask cause I have a 7yr old who is dying to go ab diving w/ me.

Anthony

Great fish!!! Chewed through the kelp? WTF!! I show these pics to my wife and she's blown away. How old were you when you started diving Rick? I ask cause I have a 7yr old who is dying to go ab diving w/ me.

Anthony

I started diving about a year ago.

That's very cool that your 7-year-old wants to go diving with you. As long as they're comfortable in the water, they should have a blast. I know of one guy who takes his 7-8 year-old ab diving/spearing in the shallows and the kid really enjoys it.

Rick, so happy for you.  You found a sport you love at such an early age and now you are kicking ass.  Thanks for the cool report and hope to be diving with you someday.  That is if you don't mind diving around newbies.     That's a hell of a ling cod you got there. 

Rey

Sometimes ya just gotta bow to your superiors, Your diving skills and your writing are tops, Congrats, , Oh yeah, it's me whos bowing.....

Georgeous fish

Awesome Rick!!!

Super stoked for you - my first ling (also first double digit one) came from there too! 

You just went up 6 notches on the bad ass savage scale for biting through the kelp.  I hate you in all the most jealous ways.  Way to go kid

Not having my knife on me, I simply bit through the kelp and ascended, taking my prize with me.

That's gotta be a sig line. WTG Rick!

rick im sure in a few years we will be reading your spearing reports that take place in exotic places around the world , keep at it man cuz your going places! impressive fish man!