quick and dirty

The crew was thin Saturday with Fred, Jordan, and Tom. We decided to get out early, dive hard, and come back at a decent hour. South East Catalina offered reasonable visibility and a fair shot at Bonito, Sheephead, Calico, and Lobster. The water was cool, but just the week before Captain spotted a few YT, so there was still hope. Jordan had achy breaky head, so diving was ill-advised. He chose to support the crew and come along anyways.

Tom was excited to try out his new Rob Allen. His first six seconds under water, he comes up with a beauty.

Fred made quick work of a good-sized sheephead. We then trekked off to the quarry in search for lobster. No luck. We wrapped up the day with a hard dive at a secret location reserved for FDH alone. Three calico and two lobster later we headed home.

The drive home was interesting. The entire sky was filled with smoke due to the wild fires out of Brea and Yorba Linda. What an unimaginable sight! We are thankful no harm came upon our family or friends in the area.

bugs - opening night

Three Freedive Hunters carried out tradition as we made it out at 12am opening day of lobster season - Tanner, Darren, and Tom. The conditions were fair+, and there were plenty of young, curious lobster creeping out from their holes. We all had several catches, but only the legal-sized made it in our bags.



The surge was strong, and we often found ourselves getting banged up against the rocks. It was a fun outing with sightings of Sculpin, horn sharks, sting rays, etc. The water is getting colder, but the lobster are out - let's go get 'em!

missing legs and will, our lobster made it home in the wee hours of morning.Size comparison...

- TJ

angle of the dangle

We had a bit of a rough start getting out... prop problems, but nothing our fearless Captain couldn't handle. Captain Frederic and First Mate Jordan.
We all dove long and hard at the Quarry, but no signs of YT. A few Calico met their maker, and Tom and Jordan got an early start on lobster hunting by scoping out the good spots. Jason S. brought all the weenies and condiments for a good grillin'. Fred worked up a nice fish/chicken noodle soup. A warm meal on the boat is always appreciated.

Captain Fred and Deck Hand Tom grilling some dogs under the warm sun.

Jordy enjoys his relish.
BBQ master, Jason Sneddon.

Young punk kids and their midday sleeping habits... This nap was much needed. We tried to get in all the rest we could for our evening dive. a nice day to dive... woulda been nice to actually get some game fish flopping around on the poop deck. We came home with Calico and Bonito. recording our miles, spending, and fish caught... our Captain does it all, he can even spear two Bonito with one shot! Yes, he did!

-TJ

local diver missing

Friday, September 12, 2008
Searchers still looking for free diver missing off Laguna Beach
Man who was spearfishing has been missing since Thursday evening.
By SALVADOR HERNANDEZ and KELLI HART
The Orange County Register


LAGUNA BEACH – Several agencies are continuing to search offshore waters this morning, looking for a free diver who went missing Thursday evening while spearfishing, authorities said.

Using fire boats, helicopters and a snorkel and dive team, officials began searching for the man at 6:20 p.m. Thursday, when he was first reported missing, said Ensign Stephanie Young, public affairs officer for the U.S. Coast Guard.

At 10:30 a.m. today, two boats, a helicopter and three divers were visible near the coast near Wesley Drive.

The man, who has not been identified by authorities, was spearfishing with three other men near Aliso Creek, Young said. The Laguna Beach Police Department contacted the Coast Guard, which launched a helicopter from its Los Angeles station and a 41-foot patrol boat from Long Beach.

Snorkel and dive teams from the Laguna Beach Lifeguards have also been sent out to sea to search for the man.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department is assisting in the search as well, sending a fire boat to try to find the man, said Lt. Ted Boyne of the Sheriff's Department.

Officials searched until 1 a.m. this morning, and began the search again at sunrise, Young said.

At 8:10 a.m., the Coast Guard suspended its search after "exhausting all of their models," she said.

Coast Guard officials take into account time, conditions and other factors to determine the survivability of the victim, she said. Search teams have not found signs of the missing man since the search began and the Coast Guard suspended its efforts.

If new information is found, the Coast Guard will resume searching.

As of 9:45 a.m., officials with the Laguna Beach Police, Laguna Beach Lifeguards and the Sheriff's Department were still searching the water.

More information to come.

Contact the writer: shernandez@ocregister.com or 949-454-7361

wet dream

It was April the 41st, being a quadruple leap year. I was driving in downtown Atlantis, my Barracuda was in the shop, so I was in a rented Stingray, and it was overheating.
So I pulled into a Shell station - they said I'd blown a seal. I said, "Fix the damn thing and leave my private life out of it, okay pal?"

While they were doing that I walked over to a place called the oyster bar -- a real dive, but I knew the owner, he used to play for the Dolphins. I said, "Hi, Gil!!!" You hafta yell, he's hard of herring.

Gil was also down on his luck. Fact is, he was barely keeping his head below water. I gullied up to the sandbar, he poured the usual - Rusty Snail, hold the grunion, shaken, not stirred. With a peanut butter and jellyfish sandwich on the side -- heavy on the mako. I slipped him a fin -- on porpoise. I was feeling good, I even dropped a sand dollar in the box for Jerry's Squids -- for the halibut.

Well, the place was crowded. We were packed in like sardines. They were all there to listen to the big band sounds of Tommy Dorsal --what sole. Tommy was rockin' the place with a very popular tuna -- "Salmon Chanted Evening." And the stage was surrounded by screaming groupers - probably there to see the bass player. One of them was this cute little yellowtail. And she's giving ME the eye, so I figure, this is my chance for a little fun - you know -- a piece of Pisces. But she said things I just couldn't fathom. She was too deep, and seemed to be under a lot of pressure.

Boy, could she drink. She drank like a... she drank A LOT... I said, "What's your sign?" She said, "Aquarium" I said, "GREAT!!! Let's get tanked!" I invited her up to my place for a little midnight bait. I said, "C'mon baby, it'll only take a few minnows." She threw me that same old line, "Not tonight -- I got a haddock." And she wasn't kiddin' either, 'cuz in came the biggest, meanest looking haddock I'd ever seen come down the pike. He was covered with mussels. He came over to me, he said, "Listen shrimp -- don't you come trolling around here."

What a crab! This guy was steamed -- I could see the anchor in his eyes. I turned to him, I said, "Abalone -- You're just being shellfish." Well, I knew it was going to be trouble, and so did Gil, 'cuz he was already on the phone to the cods. The haddock hits me with a sucker punch. I catch him with a left hook, he eels over- it was a fluke, but there he was, lying on the deck, flat as a mackerel, kelpless. I said, "Forget the cods, Gil, this guy's gonna need a sturgeon."

Well, the yellowtail was impressed with the way I landed her boyfriend. She came over to me, she said, "Hey big boy, you're really a game fish. What's your name?" I said, "Marlin." Well from then on, we had a whale of a time. I took her to dinner, I took her to dance, I bought her a bouquet of flounders, and then I went home with her. And what did I get for my trouble? A case of the clams.

labor day catch

Shore diving - a nice, little pocket between Laguna Beach and Crystal Cove. Though the viz was poor and the surge high, I set out anyway. I was diving around 30 feet, skimming the sandy bottom for halibut and found no sign of life. I ventured over to the nearby rocks, and the viz opened up to about seven feet. I saw a school of about 20 Calico on the side of a big rock - a sight I've never seen before. I snuck around the back to see if I could pick off a big one, but they were all too little. I kept diving... finally, a large sand bass made its way toward me, and I sat still and waited for it to turn. It finally did ever so slightly, right in front of my gun, and I fired. I gave it dimples - in and out right behind its mouth and through the gills. He was mad!
As soon as I pulled up my catch under water, two seals came to investigate. I headed back in, saw a nice-sized leopard shark, and called it a day.
A delicious eight-pound bass. It ain't YT, but it fed my family the next two days, and it sure was tasty.

- TJ

we got our fish anyway

After you guys dropping out like flies, we tried to leave to find out the channel was close until a Navy Ship at the ammunition pier departs. After waiting an hour we finally got permission by the harbor patrol to proceed through the channel. Just out of the harbor I tried to accelerate and found out the boat would not get on plane. No power....tried to troubleshoot it ourselves... for another hour then decided to put the boat back onto the trailer and take it to Maurer Marine to get it fixed. They claimed they found the problem (Gasket at the fuel filter), we launched again, went out, same problem. This was not a good day. We decided to proceed anyway at 8 Knots, it took 4 hrs to get to Catalina, arrived there at 18:00 to find murky water everrywhere... Definitively not a good day.

After trying little Farnsworth and Church rock and seeing nothing, as last resort we try the open water in front of the Seal Nursery beach - just on the line separating the clear water from the cloudy water, sending Link first to check things out. All of a sudden we see his gun floating so we jumped into our wet suits and quickly shot a YT each. By that time it was dark and Link shot another one just before getting out of the water. Saturday morning no sightings....

Report by: Captain Fred

spear extravaganza

We didn't take that many pictures because Jordan spent half the trip puking from a head cold. I guilted him into going. We also didn't get very many fish. I believe the count was three Bonito and one Sheephead. Tyson got a bonito, Jordan got a bonito and I got a bonito and the Sheephead. We had never seen so many sea lions before and were constantly being watched or harrassed by one. Tyson practically wouldn't leave the boat for fear of being raped by a Sea Lion. The seas were rough to and from the island and our fearless leader nearly didn't get us to the island as his orienteering was a little off and the captain and the first mate couldn't figure out how to get the GPS to work. The water was colder than expected but we still got some good scenery in the kelp on the backside.

Santa Barbara Island backside

The Prince and First Mate lunch break

Contraband

Cooling off

First Mate with camo face paint

Sheephead population control

Jason Shaka

Jordan underwater acrobatics

Captain spends over $400 on gas... ouch

Report by:
Jason Sneddon

Open Tourney

Anyone interested? We have some time to think about this, but FDH may want to represent...

http://www.picassoamerica.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=57&products_id=197

OS Kelp

Last weekend, the FDH crew headed out from North San Diego County in hopes for ghosts and yellows. Fred and Link went out with some friends while FDH scooped up Ryan and Doug, our favorite Fathomier, to join us on the Fishmaster. The two vessels launched simultaneously, and the race to the kelp was on!

A happy seaman
A rocket scientist joins us... Doug was able to show us a few pointers while tolerating our juvenile shenanigans...Both vessels united temporarily to discuss our findings, or lack thereof. While Jordan was inspecting one of JBL's latest guns, he slipped and scrambled, and finally ended up in the water fully clothed. He claims he did it on purpose to liven things up and garnish the morale, but we know better.
We all enjoyed watching an episode of Jordan vs. Ocean
Fred, Guy, and sons wishing they were amongst the seamen on our poop deck

A couple of young Calico went the way of the grave in style, and the local kelp paddies made for excellent hunting structure, but the visibility was so poor (even for WSB) that we ended the dive early and took up paddle boarding.

-TJ

The Day Tom Missed Out :(

I dont have much to say. The day was perfect minus my best mate Tom! SUCKS! You should have been there Tommy boy it was your day.

GWS?

Four crew members were off to West End Catalina in search for... this story is getting old - it seems we are always in search for White Sea Bass. Well, we were a little closer this time, so keep reading...
An unspoken truth: the first one in the water gets the biggest fish. Jordan started putting his suit on before we left the harbor, and when Jordan grabbed the wheel to drive, Tom secretly slid into his suit -the race to be first was on!
On our way out, we were treated with a large school of dolphin, so big it must have covered about 2 or 3 football fields! We slowed down and went right through the school. A lot of them started swimming alongside the boat and directly beneath us.

They were jumping and feeding and swimming about. It was a beautiful spectacle.

Here we are holding tight onto Jason's legs, so as to acquaint himself with our seawater, mammal friends.
Our first stop was backside of the West end. The conditions were less than poor - viz was no more than four feet and murky and the current and surge were strong. Jordan and Tom were silently uneasy, but dove for a good twenty minutes. Tom ran into a Calico that had just eaten about three anchovies, and was in no condition to escape - Tom capitalized! We headed back to the boat and begged Fred to take us to more friendly waters.

Second stop was on the front side. Conditions were slightly better, but still kelpy, 5 or so feet of viz, murky, and quite eerie. After about 25 minutes of diving, Tom was diving fairly close to shore in 30 ft deep water, when he ran into an unexpected predator. Tom was silently cruising through the kelp at 15 feet, hoping to run into a prized WSB, when he glanced left to find a large grey/white fish making its way through the kelp just three feet away. Tom lined up to take a shot thinking it was a White Sea Bass due to its similar color pattern. The body of the fish was unusually large in size, and Tom was beginning to think he'd land a new world record. He continued to turn and adjust to locate the head of the fish, but wasn't able to since it kept swimming steadily forward. Finally, the tail came into sight, and this was the shocker - it was not a flat and wide tail like he'd been hoping - it was a lot like a shark's tail instead. This took a couple of seconds to register... when it did, Tom just about soiled his wetsuit while swimming to the top with his gun pointed in the direction of the shark. Quickly, Tom located the boat and furiously scurried off, constantly scoping around him to ensure no sharks were following. Jordan made his way over to the boat where we thoroughly discussed the situation.

The consensus was that this was not a fish, but rather a shark. We identified it by process of elimination, and the decision was made that this was none other than a juvenile Great White ranging in length of 7-8 ft. Frederic continued dressing himself with wetsuit, belt, and gun and headed off to that exact spot, while Jordan, Jason, and Tom decided Fred needed some alone time in the water.

While the rest of us were gathering our thoughts and nerves, we let the boat drift with the current while Fred was drift diving and scaring all the sea bass out of the water with his preceded reputation as a WSB killer. He did have a sea bass sighting, but wasn't in position to fire.

We packed up and headed South East for one more stop. This was a fun dive with plenty of five plus pound Calico hiding in their holes. Jordan was in the zone and nailed a healthy Kelp Bass and an unlucky male Sheephead.
Jordan treated us to a nice meal of roasted weeny. You can see Fred in the background showing us youngsters the art of stealthy hunting.
The sun was shining, and the air was warmer than what we have been experiencing lately - it was a welcomed climate change in deed.
Happy hunters - we live to see another shark.

-TJ