(FoodPornAdded) One Month Later....

Went out on December 19th with my buddy Andrew from Australia who I met at my FII class...we found a spot with a bunch of small coppers, and one big Ling...

I shot the Ling and thought the shaft and flopper were secure but she escaped and we couldn't find her again...

Went back out yesterday with a new friend Rob (Sir Rob IV on here) and despite the conditions being better than they had been it was still ROUGH, and despite our best efforts and spot hopping in the churned up water and strong surge we just weren't finding anything really exciting. 

Was able to pluck a decent scallop with my bare hands though, so that was a nice bonus. 

The lack of fish, the amount of vomit coming out of Rob  , and the fact that I had to be home early made me decide we would do a hail mary try at the spot where I lost the nice Ling in December....

Dropped my marker weight on the spot and dove down and looked in the same hole...and there was a big old Ling head with a scar right above her eye...same fish no doubt!! 

Lined up the shot (the way she was sitting in the small hole the best shot was right where I shot her last time) and put the shaft of my Pathos 75 right in the same spot above her eye.

Shoved the spear as far through her as I could and reached in made SURE she was secure before surfacing to catch my breath.

Told Rob I had shot a big Ling and he dropped down and looked and confirmed that she was FAT. 

Luckily she was only down at 31 feet deep because it took me probably about 10 drops before I could get her out...

Initial attempts to get her out of the hole where I shot her failed, so I found a back door, was able to reach my shaft and pulled it completely through until she was strung on shooting line (totally secure).

I was still unable to get her out, so found a boulder that was loose and pulled it away to get better access. 

Then I was able to rip her gills out, get my hand in her throat, undo shooting line from bungie, pull shaft out and bring her and shaft up to the surface to get her on stringer on yak.

 

Taped out to 35 inches and she was super meaty and had a BIG belly that turned out to have some roe AND a whole 22+ inch Monkeyface.

 

Stoked that I got a second chance on this fish and that my December shot did not hurt her...my best guess is that shaft went through skull, missed brain and gills and flopper didn't deploy and she escaped relatively unharmed and eventually returned to same hole. 

Was a great way to end a challenging dive day!!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Meat pic.

Beautiful filets!!

 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Impressive!  Cool that you found the same fish a month later. 

Impressive!  Cool that you found the same fish a month later. 

+1   

How'd the MFE taste?

How'd the MFE taste?

Didn't pass the sniff test.

 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

That was my Q too!
Epic Jim!

How'd the MFE taste?

Didn't pass the sniff test.

 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

It wouldn't have even MADE it to the sniff test ... the visual inspection is questionable in & of itself. 

Yea "Only 31 ft." u say it like that's shallow or something, u the man!     That's awesome you were able to get her this time!!!!

Awesome fish and even better story. And now I feel a little better about what I considered a complete "cluster f*#%" of a ling hunt up near Albion a couple months ago. Big Jim, I thought you not only stoned every ling, but extracted them on the same breadth; now I know you are occasionally human like the rest of us! My ling, I shot through a very small opening, then it bolted way back under this big rock. I had shot it when I was already running out of air (first mistake) so had no reserve to mess around trying to get it out from another angle. Let go of my gun, shot to surface, breathed up for a while then went back down. I'm sure I exceeded your ten drops trying to get that mutha out. But it had gone so far back plus pulling the shooting line into a wedge that I couldn't get it, though from another small opening I could see it. Finally I decided if I got my daughter's gun, I shoot it from the new hole, cut my shooting line, and pull it out. Only problem was my daughter had already swam to shore. I swam in, got her gun, and headed back. Only then did I notice her spear tip must have unscrewed on her way in. Had to go back, get a spare spear tip and then go back for Ms. Ling. Finally I did shoot her again, cut the line, and pulled her out, all this with probably at least 10 or more drops. Ended up leaving my original shaft under there as it didn't come out with the fish and I was freakin spent by then. But we ate well that night! Does that classify as a complete cluster f#%* or what?

Awesome fish and even better story. And now I feel a little better about what I considered a complete "cluster f*#%" of a ling hunt up near Albion a couple months ago. Big Jim, I thought you not only stoned every ling, but extracted them on the same breadth; now I know you are occasionally human like the rest of us! My ling, I shot through a very small opening, then it bolted way back under this big rock. I had shot it when I was already running out of air (first mistake) so had no reserve to mess around trying to get it out from another angle. Let go of my gun, shot to surface, breathed up for a while then went back down. I'm sure I exceeded your ten drops trying to get that mutha out. But it had gone so far back plus pulling the shooting line into a wedge that I couldn't get it, though from another small opening I could see it. Finally I decided if I got my daughter's gun, I shoot it from the new hole, cut my shooting line, and pull it out. Only problem was my daughter had already swam to shore. I swam in, got her gun, and headed back. Only then did I notice her spear tip must have unscrewed on her way in. Had to go back, get a spare spear tip and then go back for Ms. Ling. Finally I did shoot her again, cut the line, and pulled her out, all this with probably at least 10 or more drops. Ended up leaving my original shaft under there as it didn't come out with the fish and I was freakin spent by then. But we ate well that night! Does that classify as a complete cluster f#%* or what?

 

Awesome!!!

You got the fish and that's what counts!! 

Dude, I wish I stoned very fish and every retrieval was picture perfect!! 

It's the ones that make you work for it that make you appreciate when things go smoothly!! 

This one took me awhile but I was happy/proud that I was able to stay calm and focused and get the fish and all my gear back....

I was particularly proud of my last drop when I executed the classic move of "unclipping the line from the bungie with one hand while holding her throat with the other, and then pulling the shooting line free from the boulder cluster, and coming up triumphantly with fish in one hand and spear in other"....course I knew that I had ripped all her gills out and she was pretty much dead...otherwise I probably would have put a second shot into her first.

 

And, yeah, 10 drops might have been a conservative guess....

 

Sincerely,

Jim

At least you didn't have to wait 10 months again like with the sheephead. 

Still way better conditions than up in Mendo.  Went out today and thought I was in Shelter Cove looking for trophy abs. 

That's a pig of a ling congrats bro!

How'd the MFE taste?

Didn't pass the sniff test.

 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

....and you say that you didn't learn anything in high school 

Awesome fish and even better story. And now I feel a little better about what I considered a complete "cluster f*#%" of a ling hunt up near Albion a couple months ago. Big Jim, I thought you not only stoned every ling, but extracted them on the same breadth; now I know you are occasionally human like the rest of us! My ling, I shot through a very small opening, then it bolted way back under this big rock. I had shot it when I was already running out of air (first mistake) so had no reserve to mess around trying to get it out from another angle. Let go of my gun, shot to surface, breathed up for a while then went back down. I'm sure I exceeded your ten drops trying to get that mutha out. But it had gone so far back plus pulling the shooting line into a wedge that I couldn't get it, though from another small opening I could see it. Finally I decided if I got my daughter's gun, I shoot it from the new hole, cut my shooting line, and pull it out. Only problem was my daughter had already swam to shore. I swam in, got her gun, and headed back. Only then did I notice her spear tip must have unscrewed on her way in. Had to go back, get a spare spear tip and then go back for Ms. Ling. Finally I did shoot her again, cut the line, and pulled her out, all this with probably at least 10 or more drops. Ended up leaving my original shaft under there as it didn't come out with the fish and I was freakin spent by then. But we ate well that night! Does that classify as a complete cluster f#%* or what?

Holy Cluster Fuck BatMan!

Way to persevere 

I'll try and remember that one when things go awry.

Some crazy cool spearo stuff there!

Used the carcass/head/collars/belly meat to make a killer soup last night....so good!!!

 

 

Sincerely,

Jim