refugio solo free dive 4/29

hit refugio with my wife and kid. i paddled out to the kelp and reef and found the water to be dark, very low vis, murky, and good size swells pushing through .  it was the worst vis i have ever seen there. i swam around in the kelp getting tangled and frustrated then finally decided to move on. i paddle into the beach to check on the wife and she told me that there was a group of gray whales swimming less than 50 yards from me just outside the kelp heading north to Alaska for the summer. i wish i had seen them in the water.

i had a good streak of taking home a decent amount of fish. not wanting to lose my no skunk streak. so i decided to walk down the beach and just swim out from shore. i swam out through the pounding surf getting tossed about. i started diving down with max vis being around 3 feet in some areas . the vis was ending before the tip of my gun. i dove around pretty much ready to give up with the terrible vis. i dove down a couple more times then noticed a head swim up and brace in the surge of a swell. i had my gun pointing straight forward and the fish was 3 feet to my left. i had to tuck the gun under myself, turn left, and shoot with the gun under my bell squeezing the trigger next to my crotch.

bam i got one

i pulled the line in to reveal a giant rubber lip perch. i just decided to head in and be grateful i got something with the crappy conditions. i swam right to shore. when i got to a point that i was able to stand and take my fins off about waist deep, two older ladies onshore see me with fish on spear shaft, and gun in hand walking out of the surf and point and start taking pictures.


i was very excited it was another type of perch to check off my list. i have shot striped, rainbow, black, and now a rubber lip! now just have barred and red tip. as far as i know those are the only other two found here(if not please tell me what else). i have a spot i have seen some of the ones i need to check off my perch list i will have to visit soon.

the fish was a decent sized one for a perch

serious perch assassin you are 

Damn nice shot for bad conditions


Sent from my iPod touch because my computer is crap

Damn good shooten tex!

thanks all i could see was the head  so i aimed for that but i was a bit off due to the swell

hey, cool report! I still need to learn to cook perch so its good ...

i found that getting it breaded with beer batter or panko and then getting it super crispy is key

Cool report, I enjoyed it, Thanks for sharing!!

That is pretty nice placment for such a snap shot.

Like it...shooting from the hip....whales...getting tossed around...and than posing...

Nice at avoiding the skunk.

As for perch species there are Wall eyed perch, and zebra, though that may be another name for the black. But the wall eyed get like 8 or 9" max. and usually run 3-4. when I start catching them in the surf, i move some where else they are good to avoid a skunk and thats about it.