Verm Cherry Pop! (Vid Added)

I met my buddy Andrew at a Freedive class last year and have been enjoying diving with him since then.

He is a police officer from Australia and is over here for a year with his wife and son and has been ticking off a bunch of the NorCal fish (Ling, cab, sheep, blue, black, olive etc) but has been looking for a Verm without any luck...

I showed him a bunch of YouTube vids and UW pics so he would be ready when he came across one underwater...

Two weeks ago we went to a spot where I got a nice Verm earlier in the year...

http://doty.norcalkayakanglers.com/catches/2136

I found one and shot it and called him over to look in the same area...after a long time he got tired and wanted to move in shallower...I took one more drop and found another one.  I came up and could see the look of disgust on his face. 

http://doty.norcalkayakanglers.com/catches/2340

I was kinda feeling bad for him, but then remembered that he has traveled the world diving and just recently shot a monster YellowFin Tuna in Panama...then I didn't feel bad for him anymore. 

Yesterday we both had time so decided to try another spot where I have seen nice verms shot...my good buddy Kris (livealohakris) also came down to play in the ocean with us.

Not a super fishy day, but I shot a small verm (17.5 inches) and once again called Andrew over to look to see if there were any others around...

Awhile went by and we weren't having any luck so we both left that area and kept exploring...

A little while later I looked up to see where he was and spotted the red band on his snorkel...and something else red on his back...could it be?!? YES! He had a big old verm strung up on his weight belt!! 

Swam over and gave him a high five, and saw the fish and it was a beauty!! Fat and stocky and taped out to 21 inches!

He told me had seen a smaller one and then this one came into view and he took his time and stoned it.

So stoked for him!!

We explored for another few hours, I found a nice 34.75 inch Ling and took her and then we started the long swim back to the jump in/out spot.

Kris got up first and I passed the DiveKaddy up to him and then I climbed up...turn around to see Andrew climbing up and he has a fat 21 inch cab flopping around on his spear...he spotted it from the surface while swimming back in. 

Hiked out and had a few celebratory beers and took some pics before heading home.

I ended up with the best Ling, Andrew had the best Verm, and Kris was the best looking. 

I almost felt bad for Kris that he didn't get any nice fish, but then I remembered what a stud diver and spearo he is and how he just got back from 3 weeks in Kauai with his new wife and then I didn't feel bad for him anymore. 

Excellent day with great friends and am beyond stoked for Andrew on his first Verm!!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Few more pics...love the look on Andrew's son Samson's face!!

Will work on vid soon.

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Looks like an awesome day out there! Great haul- nice work! (Jim, I almost PM'd you Saturday, wish I had!)

Nice Verm Andrew!  See you on the water

Nice Verms  . Thanks for the great report and pictures Jim.

All those photos are great- but the last one of your friend's kid is the bomb! Did anyone tell him his turn is coming soon?

All those photos are great- but the last one of your friend's kid is the bomb! Did anyone tell him his turn is coming soon?

LOL! Yeah he's a super cool kid...he came out with Andrew and his wife for our Pay It Forward event and helped us pull raffle tickets too. 

Here's a quick edit of the footage from my red and ling, and some pics of the ling meat and some decent otoliths from the biggest blue and some teeny tiny otoliths from the ling. 



 

Sincerely,

Jim

Man you shouldn't post all those fillet photos around lunch time- now I'm suddenly starving for some fresh seafood!

Thanks for sharing always like hearing your stories.


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What a great day to spear and a nice bounty of fish! Loved the vid!

Had another dry weekend (damn only myself to blame) so rolled this vid at work! Jim you're completely spoiling us as well as raising the bar in documenting all phases. Most importantly motivating us all to jump in more often! Thx as always!