Monterey spearfishing

John (guineapig), Ron and I went to Monterey spearfishing on Saturday.
Ocean was calm. Visibility was crap and clearer in some spots.
Here are some great videos we took of our trip. We started off from the Coastguard wharf.
We caught our usual stringer of rockfish. Ron took a video of a beautiful ling waiting for season opening. Not sure if he marked the spot on his GPS. Enjoy!
Fish'n'dive
(Alain)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2773146395065387643&hl=en

John (guineapig), Ron and I went to Monterey spearfishing on Saturday.
Ocean was calm. Visibility was crap and clearer in some spots.
Here are some great videos we took of our trip. We started off from the Coastguard wharf.
We caught our usual stringer of rockfish. Ron took a video of a beautiful ling waiting for season opening. Not sure if he marked the spot on his GPS. Enjoy!
Fish'n'dive
(Alain)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2773146395065387643&hl=en

thanks Alain, no i did not have my gps. always on days we find some fish: ) isnt tht how life is?

all i know is that it was underwater, 25-30 feet and on a reef.

: )

john

Cool videos.  I have a question for you diver types.  In the past I've heard you guys mention seeing alot of perch while diving.  Do you have any recommendations on a spot to try for them from a kayak?  I used to catch them from a boat in Oregon but haven't heard of anybody targeting them down here except from the shore.  I assume the standard grub would work as long as there aren't too many small rockfish around to eat it first.  Let me know what you think.

Thanks,

Paul

Cool videos.  I have a question for you diver types.  In the past I've heard you guys mention seeing alot of perch while diving.  Do you have any recommendations on a spot to try for them from a kayak?  I used to catch them from a boat in Oregon but haven't heard of anybody targeting them down here except from the shore.  I assume the standard grub would work as long as there aren't too many small rockfish around to eat it first.  Let me know what you think.

Thanks,

Paul

hi paul,

the places i see perch mostly are around washrocks and anywhere water flows really well. the dark colored ones are in calmer areas above reefs while the silvery ones are around fast moving currents and over sand.

i think the best area to avoid rf and get perch would be over sandy areas and with small grub lures. the rocky areas always have the darker rainbow perch but then the rf are near as well.

if you want to snorkel for them you could get your fill of perch in minutes pretty much anywhere along the monterey bay. there is that many of them. the rubberlip perch are so good for fish n chips too real meaty.

john

Yeah, there are tons of perch down there just too small a mouth to take our 2oz scampis, ect.  I saw lots at linda mar, santa cruz, monterey, fort bragg.  They're good beginners fare spearfishing because they're shallow - usually you can even shoot them from the surface.  The most fun I've had spearfishing was chasing perch around in narrow sand  channels near the shore on a particularly good vis day at fort bragg.  Being shallow I really got to enjoy the scenery while I was swimming around, plus it was my first weekend diving on the california coast.

Nice vids. Looks like someone parted the hair on that ling!

Nice vids. Looks like someone parted the hair on that ling!

i hope someone wasnt taking fun shots at this poor fellow guarding his young. even come april i would not shoot him. there myst be a million egs there that will give us more lings soon.

john

Good call, John. Sometimes it pays greater dividends to leave the recent spawners/spawners alone. Like you said, that poor fellow could contribute 1000 more lingcod to the system...making everyone happy.

Great videos guys! I really enjoyed the ling videos. That fish was aggressive! Very cool.

Thanks,
PK

Howdy ALl, I have always been a northern ab diver and finally getting into spearfishing more now. I was planning on heading down to Monterey and was wondering where a good place to dive from for some nice perch and lings. Would love some local info to make it a fun trip. Did get some nice abs last weekend and shot a nice cabazone.

Howdy ALl, I have always been a northern ab diver and finally getting into spearfishing more now. I was planning on heading down to Monterey and was wondering where a good place to dive from for some nice perch and lings. Would love some local info to make it a fun trip. Did get some nice abs last weekend and shot a nice cabazone.

i think for perch anywhere you can access like otters is good but for lings i think carmel is better. the lings we generally see in the monterey area are smaller or just under legal.

i think otters is a good start, check the vis, if its bad go forward to carmel river beach.

swell is weird this weekend so be careful.

john