Sheeps and Olives

Met up with Porky to get him some water therapy and hopefully get first blood on his new PIF prize Jk Cuda14 Illuminati.

Were treated to excellent conditions with stellar 25-30+ foot viz and minimal surge. 

First stop was one of my favorite reefs with a crack where you can frequently find Lings, cabs and the occasional sheephead.

First approach on the crack and there was a nice 21.5 inch female sheep just outside the far left end..I popped her and brought her up to the surface and threw her on Porky's yak! First blood!! 

Then spent time exploring the depths of the crack with my dive light hoping to find a Ling for Porky to shoot..saw another female sheep in there but no Lings...

But there was a decent cab on the far right side so moved the marker float line right next to it so Porky could spend time getting his ears used to diving again and hopefully get down to the 30 foot deep crack to take the cab.

I explored around a little deeper and a decent 26 inch ling swam right up to me so I shot him in the face. 

When I came back over by Porky he showed me the cab on his stringer! Nice meaty 18 incher...great job buddy!!

Moved spots over to a hole I have marked where I shot a nice Male sheep earlier this year...the hole is down around 40 feet but the reef about comes up to less than 20 and often has nice blues and olives schooling around up high...

I check my hole but it was empty so started exploring around...Porky and I each shot some decent olives and then I circled back around to check my hole one more time...a nice fat 23 inch female sheep was there now so I took her.   

Porky was feeling a little tired by this point so he said he was gonna chill and eat some food...I headed out to another, deeper, area hoping to find a verm or  a big Ling lurking...

This spot had stellar viz and structure but after not finding what I wanted down deep I settled for target practice on some big fat olives (up to 19 inches) that were lurking up high in the kelp.

 

On the way back in, met up with StinkyPete and this buddy, and then back on shore with the 831 tackle bros, Meathunter Tim and Adam.

Excellent day on the water with a great friend!

Here are some pics and a little vid.



 

Sincerely,

Jim

Had a great time! Thanks for showing me your crack Cool spot, cant wait to get out again! The Sheep sashimi was GREAT!

Glad you got the Porkster out!! Wonderful job as usual!!

awesome pics and report
thanks Jim

Thanks guys!

Had a great time! Thanks for showing me your crack Cool spot, cant wait to get out again! The Sheep sashimi was GREAT!

Was great diving with you again dude...and super stoked that we were able to finally get you some sheep sashimi!!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Nicely done gentlemen!

Sorry if this is a silly question. Were you free diving?

Sorry if this is a silly question. Were you free diving?

Not a silly question!

Yes, free diving. You can use SCUBA for spearfishing, and I am certified, but haven't used a tank in many years...mostly cuz I'm too lazy and cheap...and freediving is a lot simpler...just hold your breath and dive down.

 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

I'm amazed how deep you were going and for how long.I tried diving for the first time this past weekend. We went out sat and mon. I could barely get down before my head was killing me. Meanwhile my buddy was swimming around getting his abalone no problem. In fact my head is still killing me and my ears are still ringing.
  I really had a blast swimming in the ocean. Do you have any tips I can practice at home? I really want to get back out there. Any help really appreciated.

   Thanks, 
         Nick

I'm amazed how deep you were going and for how long.I tried diving for the first time this past weekend. We went out sat and mon. I could barely get down before my head was killing me. Meanwhile my buddy was swimming around getting his abalone no problem. In fact my head is still killing me and my ears are still ringing.
  I really had a blast swimming in the ocean. Do you have any tips I can practice at home? I really want to get back out there. Any help really appreciated.

   Thanks, 
         Nick

Practice equalizing your ears as often as you can...I think it loosens up the different little tubes in stuff in your ears so that when you do diving they are ready to go...

Was it your sinuses or your ears that were hurting?

You really shouldn't descend any further if it hurts at all...not worth a ruptured ear drum or a blown sinus....I have pushed it with sinus congestion before and the result was a lot of ruptured capillaries in my sinuses, which resulted in a  lot of blood followed by nasty sinus infection...better not to push it and pull out the rod and reel until you are better...

Feel free to shoot me a PM if you want to discuss further...

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Nice shopping shooting Jim    Thanks for the report, pictures, and video.

Nice haul thanks for sharing was that down south somewhere or up north here?

Nice haul thanks for sharing was that down south somewhere or up north here?

Thanks!

Here in Monterey!

 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Damn you make it look so easy.

Amazing haul!  My 11 year old son and I are just cutting our teeth at free diving/spearfishing. Spent many a dive in Otter and Coral. Love that area. SWS is a bit advanced for us beyond the rocks, but we got a nice Olive and Legal Ling inside.

Great viz for this time of the year and you guys killed it!