Vid Added-Jumped in to save a Ling (nonyak)

Had yesterday off work so made a plan to go out with my good friend Martin on his beautiful Sailboat with my Aussie dive buddy Andrew.

Plan was for Martin to drop us off at the kelp beds and we would clip the banks board to the kelp, dive, slay massive amounts of monster fish and call him on the VHF when we were ready to be picked up.

Well...the visibility gods were against us cuz the red tide that has been in and around Monterey for awhile now had moved south and our first spot was a total bust. 

Back on the Sailboat we decided to head a little further south to see if we could get cleaner water.

Water looked better at the next spot, but it really wasn't  and the surge was STRONG here since it was a very exposed point and a very long period swell.

After almost getting pummeled into a big washrock I checked in with Andrew and we both decided this was stupid and that it was time to get back on the boat and have a beer.

As we were swimming back to the board though I saw a nice looking patch of kelp and decided to do one more drop....when I hit 30 feet I fell right into a big school of blue rockfish. 

Called Andrew over and spent the next half hour or so popping a half limit of chunky blues in the murk between 30 and 40 feet (could have easily taken 10 but didn't need that many), and then swam back to the board, called Martin and got back on the boat.

Spent the next hour or so drinking beer, having lunch, sailing, dragging a plug for any wayward bonito and chilling.

Got to hear some of Andrew's stories from his job as a police officer in Australia...pretty crazy stuff!!

Then we decided to try for some Lings and after catching a bunch of sand dabs we started getting over the reefs and picking up some rockies.

Then Martin reeled up a small blue with a big old BRIGHT blue hitchhiker Ling clamped on to it...right when it got by the swim step the line broke!!

The Ling was laying belly up with its throat full of rocky and slowly sinking away...

I knew there was no time to get the net or gaff before it woke up, and I was right there, so I jumped in and grabbed the Ling and bear hugged it and got my hand in its gills and came up triumphant!!

Didn't even lose my sunglasses that I had on! 

Before I could get back on board Andrew reeled up another hitchhiker Ling! 

After both fish were squared away I got back on and took a quick hotwater shower  and put on some dry clothes courtesy of Martin and Andrew.

Now with plenty of fish for our families we headed back to shore and I even made it home on time before Ana had to go out for dinner and drinks with her classmates.

I chopped the head and collars off the Ling I dove in and saved to cook up for dinner tonight for my buddies Robert and Jim Okumoto. Andrew also gave me one of his Ling filets and that combined with the 5 blues I shot will be more than enough for a great meal 

Really fun day with great friends, and even though the conditions didn't let us do the epic diving and slaying we had hoped for I am really glad and grateful that I got to go on such a cool adventure!!

Here's a few pics.

 

Sincerely,

Jim

beast mode for jumping in and bear hugging that ling. Would have been cool to capture that on video like Jason diving in for his rod lol

good job jim and crew 

Savage and Crazy! only you would do such thing

Jim, I think you need to be writing a book. Some of the stories you have are as good as some of the stories from Carlos Eyles. You have talent brother...in and out of the sea!

GREAT Story and adventure. I am sure your friend from Australia has to be thinking Americans are crazy mo fo's now... LOL   

Thats fantastic!!!  I love the thought of you jumping in after the fish as it sinks

No fish left behind! (except for some lucky blues)

nice job Jim! I was wondering how your trip would play out with he darn red tide. Glad to hear it was not only a win, but a good adventure too!

 

So what were you wearing exactly when you jumped in besides your sunglasses?

Did you shove your hand in its gills without gloves?

Too bad you didn't get that on vid

So what were you wearing exactly when you jumped in besides your sunglasses?

Did you shove your hand in its gills without gloves?

To bad you didn't get that on vid

sometimes these kinds of reports make me think that Jim does't wear a wetsuit, instead his skin is neoprene.

Awesome Jim.  How nice to have a hot shower on board. 

You just couldn't chill out on the sailboat you just had to jump back in and get that ling.  See - you do better IN the water than OUT   Maybe you should write a best seller about diving antics with you as the main and only character.

Jim, your subject is misleading. I thought you jumped in to save a Ling from drowning. 
Nice size fish with you as always. 

Thanks guys!

So what were you wearing exactly when you jumped in besides your sunglasses?

Did you shove your hand in its gills without gloves?

Too bad you didn't get that on vid

I was wearing boardshorts, a tank top and a Red Triangle Sweatshirt....and yes, I grabbed the Ling by the gills with no gloves and have the cuts to prove it. 

Yeah, too bad vid and pics weren't taken! 

Had my two good friends Robert and Jim Okumoto over for Taco Tuesday last night. We ate the blue Ling head as an app, and then had Ling and RF tacos and cold beers. 

They brought over presents for my daughters and a 36 pack of beer for me. 

Always great hanging out with these two guys that introduced me to diving for abalone and fish here in NorCal...

Some of you guys have hung out with them with me, and some of you have seen them at the Albion Open hanging with some members of the Shu Nation...

Robert is a cancer survivor, and Jim is a survivor of many gnarly diving and non diving related injuries.

Jim was a STUD diver/spearo in his younger days and has taken more than 100 ten inch abalone.

Here are a few pics from last night and of Jim with a big Ling back in the day...and what happened to his foot on a shoredive a few years ago....

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Animal!

Ana must be out of town.

Agreed. When I saw it, I thought Jim jumped in to save the lingcod from choking on the rockfish, to let it swim peacefully back to the ocean bottom.

Nope!   

Yes, he saved it from the painfully choking death and invited it home for dinner