Mini-Season: Day One

Welcome to the Two-Day Florida Sport Season for Lobster, otherwise known as Mini-Season!

As you may have read in our previous articles on our Florida Diving Blog (http://FloridaDiving.blogspot.com), Mini-Season is the last Wednesday and Thursday of July here in Florida. The two day extravaganza allows sport divers the opportunity to pick up a few lobster for the official lobster season begins the first week of August.

Divers are limited to a total of 12 lobsters per day throughout Florida, with the exception of the Florida Keys, which limits divers to just 6 lobsters per day.

Since Mini-Season starts on Wednesday and Wednesday itself technically starts at Midnight Tuesday night, the waters off the coast of Florida were filled with boats and divers armed with lightsticks and flashlights last night. My buddies and I decided that night diving for Mini-Season was going to be a bit much work this year, so we opted to go out at 6am Wednesday morning instead.

As we were preparing to leave the dock, some of our midnight diving friends were pulling into the dock. Looking a little tired, they boasted 16 lobster with 4 divers. It's not limit, but it's a far cry better than I did last year during our midnight dive. We made our assessments of proposed depth and headed out of Port Everglades.

Part of our group wanted to dive shallow and two of us were holding out for deep water. We two deep fans opted to stay on the boat for the first dive and let the rest of our party of 8 splash in about 30 feet of water to start. At the end of their first dive, they had about a dozen bugs between them - not bad, but not great either. By the way, the term 'bugs' is diver slang for spiny lobsters because they're just so darn cute.

My dive buddy and fellow deep enthusiast, Pat, and I were all too happy to try our hand at the third reef. The reef itself is about 45 feet in the center with about 60 feet on the West side and 60 to 100 feet on the West side, depending on the area. We splashed in at about the center line and worked our way East. We were joined shortly thereafter by the second wave of divers and worked our way back and forth across the reef.

Pat and I came upon a nice ledge with 6 bugs beckoning us onward. All 6 were keepers - no eggs and no shorts. By the way, if the lobsters are females with eggs, you are not permitted to take them, and of course, the rest must measure up in size as well. We continually worked our way East and West across the reef as the current pushed us Northward. I picked up another lobster nearby and then it was slim pickings for awhile. There weren't many places for the bugs to hide in this particular section of reef, but our patience paid off as the edge of the reef became more defined.

Pat and I picked up 3 more bugs in one den (lobster hole) and then spotted another den a few yards away. Pat pushed his lobster snare in through one side of the hole to spook them out in my direction. When he did, a chubby little 2-foot nurse shark came scurrying out of the hole right past me. By this point, we were both running a little a low on air, so we decided to surface. Pat landed a total of 7 on this dive and I landed 6 - not a bad first dive.

Needless to say, the rest of the group was now convinced that deeper was the way to go. My long-time dive buddy, Randy Docks, spent a good 15 minutes wrestling a monster bug out of a deep crevice. It was so far back in the hole that he had to actually remove his gear to get far enough in to loop the lobster. Here's a photo of Randy with his prized lobster - the largest of the day from our boat.

For the record, Randy is by far the most successful lobsterman that I have had the pleasure with whom to dive. He and I have been on the same dive on the same reef where I didn't even see a bug and he limited out. Today, he was apparently going for quality over quantity. Nice Lobster, Randy!

Pat and I decided to stay deep for our second dive of the day, and again, we were rewarded. Pat picked up an additional 2 bugs and I landed 6 more bugs, a nice Danforth anchor, and a 20-inch mutton snapper as an added bonus.

My first dive ranged from 40 to 70 feet and my second dive was almost entirely at 70 feet. I achieved my limit of 12 bugs for the day and will be back out there tomorrow to see how well the lobster gods smile down upon us.

Our boat with 8 divers landed a total of 53 bugs; not a bad first day! We only saw a few shorts (lobsters too small to keep) and probably a dozen or so females with eggs. I was the only one on the boat to limit out and Randy took home the prize for the largest bug of the trip.

Best of all, the weather cooperated, seas fluctuated a bit, but never spiked over 2 feet; everyone came home safely, and nobody went home empty-handed.

Hollywood Black Grouper

19.5lbs / 32-inches Black Grouper
Shot in 50 feet of water off Hollywood Beach, FL

One of my regular dive buddies wanted to try out his new (1970s) Bertram 28, so we loaded it to the gills with 6 divers and ran South of Port Everglades inlet. Divers included Ann Scutti, Eric, Ted Tanglis, Chip Edmonds, Randy Docks, and me.

Chip had a secret spot loaded in his GPS and off we went. The current has been running South all week, so we jumped in the water just North of the spot. The bottom structure was varied and included a variety of sea life. The visibility was awful for our area clocking in at maybe 25 feet. Unfortunately, this was to be the best visibility we would have all day and dropped as low as 15 feet on our third drop.

The first wave of divers were Chip, Ted, and me. Chip picked up a few hogfish along the way for an upcoming barbecue, and Ted missed another hogfish. We weren't seeing as much as we had hoped, but continued drifting South with the current. We started our dive on the deep side of the reef and as time moved on, we came in a bit shallower to check out that section of the reef and also to lengthen our bottom time. As we were cruising along around 55 feet I saw the oddest thing - a four to five-foot pine tree standing straight up on the bottom.

Upon closer inspection, it actually appeared to be some type of marine plant, but it was as close to an underwater pine tree as you can imagine. There were pipefish and a variety of smaller fish living among the branches. As I swooped in to take a closer look, I noticed a small yellow jack at a cleaning station getting the parasites removed by small blue goby-type fish. As I finished looking over the curious 'tree', I moved in the direction of where the jack had been. He had already moved on; most likely spooked by the three dark figures loudly blowing bubbles and moving in his general direction.

As I passed over the cleaning station, I noticed a small cloud of dust, which is usually a tell-tale sign of hogfish. I started looking intently for the little critter. We were heading West toward the apex of the reef when I noticed a much larger cloud of dust. This was either a very large hogfish or perhaps a grouper. Needless to say, my radar was on full alert and I was scanning the bottom as far as the visibility would allow. Up ahead, I saw a small divot in the reef bottom complete with a few ledges. I let out a breath and sank silently toward the first ledge. It was a nice overhang, but wasn't even deep enough for a lobster.

I passed this overhang and kept moving onward. Immediately after the small overhang, there was a good-sized hole. As it came more into view, I could see a large squared tail poking out. GROUPER! There was so much particulate matter in the water that I first thought it was a red grouper. Either way, this one was certainly more than legal size. (Black Grouper @ 24" and Red Grouper @ 20" - Red Grouper in the Gulf @ 22"). I moved slowly passed in line with the hole, but could not see inside it. I checked the rear of the dorsal fin for any spots just to reconfirm that it wasn't a Nassau Grouper, which are protected here in Florida. Nassaus also have a slightly rounded tail so I was not surprised that there weren't any dots. I estimated about where the head should be and pulled the trigger on my Riffe C3XS.

The hole exploded with a huge cloud of dust. As the shaft of my speargun disappeared into the hole, I knew it had found its mark. I quickly ran my left hand through the bands and pushed the gun up to my shoulder to secure it and keep it out of the way. The gun is buoyant without the shaft and the butt of the gun conveniently floats upward and behind. In the same motion, I had grabbed the shock cord and started pulling moving toward the hole. I could no longer see the shaft, so I followed the line all the way to it. I could feel the grouper pushing deeper into the hole and trying to wedge himself into the rock.

Grouper use this tactic regularly whenever they feel threatened. This is why line fishermen have to react to a strike instantly; if they hesitate, the fish will run into a hole or under a ledge. The fish inflates its air bladder to puff itself up and barricade itself in the hole. As the fisherman yanks on the line, the line usually frays against the rocks and soon breaks. Even with a steel shaft, the fish will try the same course of action - usually bending the shaft among the rocks. As deep as this hole must have been with the shaft not even being visible, I knew I didn't have much time. I grabbed the spear firmly and started to pull. I could feel the fish puffing up and trying to wedge himself in, but I kept pulling. In short measure, the spear shaft started coming out, and the fish with it.

The cloud of dust was huge now and I couldn't see a thing. I ran my hand up the spear until it reached the fish. Doing this sets the Hawaiian flopper that has hopefully exited the other side of the fish. I felt it lock in place and started moving the fish out of the cloud so I could begin to work at securing my catch. I reached my left hand under the fish and into its gills. The gills are fairly spiny and if you get a gloved hand inside with a solid grip, you're unlikely to lose the fish if it shakes free of the spear. This is especially true if you also are holding the fish upside down simultaneously. With the fish securely in my left hand, I reached with my right to open my stringer. I dive with a medium metal stringer most frequently that is clipped off to my Dacor BCD on a D-ring at my waistline. I opened the stringer and slid it through the gill and out his mouth. In one motion, I closed the stringer - now the fish is truly secure.

Experience has taught me that with larger fish, it is best to get them actually on the stringer before you remove the shaft. One swipe of a grouper's powerful tail and he can free himself of just about any hold you might have on him, save a good gill grip. Once secure, I reached the spear tip, pulled it through just a bit to disengage the flopper and then slid it back from whence it came.

Many divers will finish up with the fish before reloading their guns, but again, experience has taught me that whenever you're wrestling with one fish, there are often others coming in for a closer look to see what is happening. Mutton snapper are notorious for this. I reached up my left shoulder with my right hand to where the bands were still holding the gun in place. I slid it down my arm and reloaded the shaft into the gun. I clicked on the safety and proceeded to reload the 3 22-inch bands.

As I finally looked up from my work, I noticed my two dive buddies just sitting there watching the whole thing unfold. They had already been scanning the surrounding area for curious fish; no luck this time. Chip looked at me with wide eyes and motioned his hands like applause.

Black grouper are a prized catch among spearfishermen. They are typically pretty skittish especially when it comes to divers. The bubbles we exhale are actually pretty noisy and tend to spook many fish species. Even sharks tend to shy away from divers because of the noise. Granted, when there's blood in the water or fish thrashing around, loud bubbles are hardly enough to keep a large bull shark at bay.

I reached down to the inside of my right calf and grabbed my knife. The grouper was yanking on the stringer trying to free himself. After several motions with the knife, the fight was over and three families would eat grouper tonight.

As we finished the dive, I picked up a nice Spanish mackerel and then Chip called the dive with 750 psi. We didn't want to max out our bottom time so we could do a decent second dive. Randy, Ann, and Eric were in next and each came up with a nice hogfish. This was Eric's first time in the water with a speargun, and a hogfish is a great first catch!

After the second wave returned to the boat, Chip, Ted, and I went in for our second dive. We covered a lot of ground, and Chip and Ted both got hogfish. Given the size of the fish I landed on my first dive, I was very selective about shooting on this dive. I occasionally pointed out fish to my two companions, but never pulled a trigger. As is often the case during summer in Florida, a quick summer storm materialized and our dive was cut short by three tugs on the flag line I was towing above me. This is a signal we use when the guy running the boat wants to recall the divers. We also use an engine signal - revving the engine three times in succession within earshot of the divers.

As the three of us surfaced, we could instantly see the storm - the sky was black and there was lightening in the distance. No arguments here; we all climbed aboard and we were headed into Port Everglades within minutes. We got rained on, but hey, it's a dive trip - you're going to get wet anyway. Regretfully, Randy, Ann, and Eric did not have an opportunity at a second dive. That just means they'll get the first round the next time we go out.

All in all, it was a nice day for diving. That's the great thing about Florida, even on the few days where the visibility isn't stellar or the weather picks up, we're still diving some of the nicest bottom in the ocean. I dived in the Bahamas and in Mexico, but there's something to be said about being able to dive during the day and sleep in your own bed the same night.

All the best,

--Branon

Spearboard Open 2007

My buddies and I plan every year to attend the Spearboard Open Spearfishing Tournament (SBO) in New Port Richey. It's a great tournament that draws spearos from around the country - not only for great prizes, but also for it's unique rules.

SBO rules allow divers to shoot fish anywhere within driving distance of the weigh-in point. We've had entries from Texas, Louisiana, and the Carolinas. The rule is that you can only shoot during daylight hours on Saturday and you have to be in line at the weigh-in point on Sunday morning without flying in your fish. The other catch is that participants can only enter fish that are legal to spear and are legal size in Florida. So, as much as the guys from the Carolinas would love to bring down some of their big permit and pompano, Florida law doesn't allow taking either species by spear, so they're not PERMITted in the tournament, if you'll pardon the pun.

One of my usual dive buddies, Randy Docks, and I enlisted a couple other buddies (Matt Doty, Joe, and Ann Scutti) and opted this year to dive in the Florida Keys. Last year, Randy and I chartered out to the Middle Grounds (75+ miles off the Gulf Coast near Tampa) and decided for something a bit closer to home.

We chartered with 'Dive In' located in Key Largo on the ocean at MM-97.5. If you fill the charter, Dawn Barber and her crew will take you just about anywhere you want to go. Otherwise, spearos are permitted as room allows on the boat and depending on which trip you take.

NOTE: The Florida Keys has very specific rules about where you can and cannot take fish by spear - make sure you know the rules before you go spearfishing on your own.

We opted to dive the Duane and the Bibb - a couple of artificial reefs (purposes sunken ships) famous for hot current, deep water, and great fish habitat. Our shallowest dive of the day was a freedive from the surface to pick up a trigger fish and the deepest dive of the day was around 136 feet - obviously pushing the limits of recreational diving. However, all of our divers have experience in deep water dives and better still, deep diving with spearguns.

Most of Florida this particular weekend was being thrashed with high seas. Tournament participants on both coasts were pounded with thunderstorms and heavy seas upwards to 8 feet. Not much fun when you're loaded with diving gear and sharp pointed objects. Many regular charter boats and die-hard spearos never left the dock, which made competition a bit lighter than normal.

However, the weather gods blessed the Florida Keys with unbelievable weather that weekend. We had average seas of 4 to 6... INCHES! Seas were nearly flat calm all day (see photos), plus the water was warm and visibility was pretty good given the storms we had been having in recent weeks.

I landed a nearly 20-pound black grouper (See photo in my profile), 1 nearly 8-pound hogfish, a decent mutton snapper and mangrove snapper, 2 trigger fish, and a small 6-pound yellow jack. My tournament total came to 46.92 - not great, but good enough to put me in a good position for the prize table.

Special thanks to Armor Products who donated the VERY cool gear bag that I picked up at the prize table. I had been looking for a new bag to replace my worn out backpack and this certainly did the trick. It's an oversized duffle with adjustable backpack straps. Perhaps the nicest feature beyond the durable mesh material that allows the bag to drain is that it is long enough to carry my freediving fins and still have room to spare. It also came with a full-width dry bag - very unusual size, but perfect for my miscellaneous dry stuff.

Randy came home with a nice black grouper and hogfish, Matt had an excellent hogfish, and Joe brought in a very nice yellow jack and a few snapper. Ann was our 'bubble watcher' as she was recovering from a recent surgery. However, it was great to have her on the boat making sure all of us stayed hydrated and organized. Thanks Ann!

We did a total of 4 dives each, most of which were at 100 feet or deeper. Of course, with deep dives, your bottom time is relatively short, so we were back on the dock gutting our catch right around 5pm. We made the drive back to my house, switched vehicles, and then headed up to New Port Richey. We stayed overnight with some friends and after a nice breakfast, took a leisurely drive up to the weigh-in.

While there weren't as many competitors this year as in years passed because of the weather, the numbers were still huge. The biggest fish categories were all exceptionally nice offerings and as usual, many of the divers donated their catch to the local food bank.

The price table was actually a walk-through tent this year with LOTS of booty including dozens of spearguns, gift certificates, dive gear, fish artwork, and much much more. Special thanks to the folks at Spearboard and Spearfishing Magazine for organizing another great event!

We hope you enjoy the photos half as much as we enjoyed bringing up those truly yummy fish.

All the best,

--Branon

Welcome to Florida Spearfishing!

Welcome to Florida Spearfishing, a blog written by divers with a passion for spearfishing.

Whether you're a blue water hunter, reef spearo, freediver or scuba diver, we'll have something here for you.

As your host, I'll make certain we keep you posted with various spearfishing happenings around the state, including various tournaments, club features, and regulation changes. I've lived and have been diving in Florida most of my life. I started diving at age 9 and earned my first certification at age 13. I'm now a certified Divemaster (PADI) and an avid spearfisherman.

My 'stick' of preference is a Riffe C3XS with a Riffe reel and a Hawaiian flopper shaft. My back-up gun is a stock Riffe C2XS with a rock tip. For blue water, I switch my C3XS to an icepick tip, breakaway kit, and a solid float and float line. I also have a small collection of vintage spear guns including an old Rene Cavallero and a Nemrod Falcon Mini.

I dive most frequently with friends on private boats including the 22 Biddison Center Console docked behind my Hollywood house called "No Teak" (named for a lack of teak brightwork on the boat, not against denigrating our favorite teak spear guns). We take "No Teak" out of the Port Everglades inlet and have a good buddy in Pompano and frequently dive out of the Lighthouse Point/Hillsborough inlet. We also dive with a variety of charter captains who cater to spearos.

If you're ever in the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood area and want to do some spearing, keep me in mind. I'm always looking for a good reason to play hookie.

And of course, if you have any questions or would like to post an article, please drop me a line at Branon@ScubAHH.com

Let's go spearfishing!

All the best,

--Branon