Gotta take the bad with the good??

Got the greenlight from wife and work to go diving Sunday with Nathan Sharkbait who was home from college visiting his family.

Also met up with Eric from ReefReaper Spearfishing and his buddy Tony.

ReefReaper is a new sponsor this year for DOTY, and I have been really impressed with the quality of the gear he makes, and he has been very friendly online.

Went by his camp Friday night with Ana and the girls to meet him and his GF and his son. Super nice folks and was a pleasure to meet him in person. 

Sunday morning came and we all met at SWS parking lot. Had been crazy windy and rough, but forecast called for a decent window on Sunday AM.

Lot of kayak anglers at beach, and got to meet some other folks who I have previously just known via social media. 

Paddled out to clear looking water and a decent rolling swell, but not too bad.

Was really fun joking and talking with Nathan, and getting to point out landmarks etc to Eric and Tony.

First spot had great viz, but not a lot of fish...I ended up taking one decent Ling from a crack I know.

By that time Tony and Nathan were puking  , so they headed back in to more sheltered waters.

I wanted to try an area where I have had some luck before so Eric and I headed over and anchored up...

I do a drop down to 40 feet and am poking around under some boulders and lift my head and see a BIG Ling swimming right at me....

Time slows down...

Heart stops...

Ling turns sideways and gives me a broadside shot...

I aim and fire...

And miss. MISS! Totally frikking MISS!!!! 

Shaft goes right under her chin and she bolts into the boulders.

I have seen and speared quite a few lings from 36-40 inches and my conservative estimate is that she was between 36 and 38 inches...

Definitely the nicest one I have had a shot at in a few years....

Spent a good chunk of time exploring the area hoping to find her again, but no luck, and by now Eric's ear is acting up and he is on yak resting, so I swim back and we paddle back into the cove.

Find Nathan who is loading up on fish for his family and dive with him for a bit and then try one more spot...

I blast an olive and another Ling to make sure it was user error and not the gun that caused me to miss the big ling...gun is perfect, just me that sucks. 

By now Nathan has an RCG Limit and one smurf Ling and I have my two lings (26 and 29 inches) so we head in.

Eric takes some cool pics of us as we land, we chill and joke for a bit and then he and Tony take off.

Bunch of local yak anglers (SaltyNutz and Addicted to Fishing crews) are there and get to chill with them and talk fish and have a few beers before I pack up and roll home.

The vision of that big ling will haunt me until I get her or another one of that size...but I guess it's always good to get reminded not to take any shot, or fish (or anything in life!) for granted.

Here's a few pics and a quick vid...



 

Sincerely,

Jim

holy crap shes a fat one too.  sucks to miss, especially for a celebrity such as BigJim

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holy crap shes a fat one too.  sucks to miss, especially for a celebrity such as BigJim

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Yep, figure if I'm gonna share my "successes' I should share my failures as well...

 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Sounds like an awesome day anyway.  Keeps the desire focused. 

That's a cool shot Jim paddled into the cove shirtless.

I think we all miss the big ones like that, a few weeks ago i froze up with a 40 inch + ling in a similar situation, waited a few seconds to long aiming and she was gone right as i got the prefect shot lined up. Sounds like a fun day at least. 

That's a cool shot Jim paddled into the cove shirtless.

Does the bottom half of a wet suit count as a PFD?

That's a cool shot Jim paddled into the cove shirtless.

Does the bottom half of a wet suit count as a PFD?

No, but my beer belly does.

 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Thanks for the video as always. Great to see what's happening down there under water (can only guess from topside).

Sorry about that big ling miss, but good to see that Big Jim is fallible after all! 

even the bad day sounds pretty good!

At least you didn't spear her before she got away. I hate injuring a fish and not knowing if it will live.  They are hearty beasts though.

At least you didn't spear her before she got away. I hate injuring a fish and not knowing if it will live.  They are hearty beasts though.

Yep.

She escaped 100% unscathed due to my complete suckiness. 

Gonna eat me up inside until I can get back there and try and find her again....

 

Hell yeah. You should have seen the size of the one I didn't shoot last week!!! .. Just finished getting my ling on my stringer and almost got kissed in the face by a bigger one. Pulled the trigger but didn't pull the bands back.

Pulled the trigger but didn't pull the bands back.

 

Big Dummy.

 

 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

nice report and thanks for sharing Big Jim there's always some many failer stories to go with the successful stories.

Only big jim shoots a pair of lings and posts it as his failed mission lol.... tu salud jim.

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