I like the thought of a personal EKG machine...... Keep me informed..... TIA
It was flat calm that day back in 1982 of the Clearwater Beach, FL. coast line..... My girlfriend and I got in the 16' Bonita bowrider and made the short hop to the tri-angle reef about 2.5 miles or so, 35', straight off the beach- spearguns in hand- we were looking for supper!
Hooked up and we were off...... cocked the seahornet (all 3 bands) and went in search of black Grouper.... We ran a simple grid pattern looking under each and every ledge, rock tire and culvert pipe (60" or so, 6-8' in length) for, oooohhh, ssssaaaayyyy 10 minutes or so..... then we came across one lone culvert pipe.....
Me at one end and she at the other..... we looked into it together at opposite ends and low and behold.... a Golith Grouper (aka., Jewfish) some 400ish lbs!!!! I looked back up over the culvert pipe and my lady and I locked into a "holy chit" stare..... The fish was resting nicely so I motioned a back to the top signal...... At the surface I instructed my girlfriend to get the boat (50 or so feet away) and bring it over to where I was waiting directly above the great fish...... When she returned with the boat I said hang tight, i'm goin' fishin'......
The visibility was real good and I knew exactly where he was..... When I got there, he was rocking side to side breathing through massive gill plates.... the biggest i've ever seen in my life- say 2.5'+ across.....
I raised the seahornet and let him have right between the eyes......... It slowly began to roll to one side as if stunned and was my heart racing...... The spear gun had no tether line so he was free to go at any time...... I raced back to the surface and asked for the anchor line, said hold on if it starts to pull like a fish (lol) and back down I went.....
When I got back to the fish he was sitting sideways in the culvert still stunned and in I went face to face with that thing with a spear sticking straight out of it's head.... Now at this point I must say the fish and I took up every inch of the pipe..... That said, I proceeded to stick my hand w/ the anchor line through the gill plate from the back through the open mouth and started to tie a simple over hand knot (a big mistake).... Well, at that very moment, he came to and I was half way down the fishes body length between him and the culvert..... I grabbed the anchor line tied to his mouth and he took off with me basicly slapping along side out of the pipe into open H2O for about 15'..... going at a 400lb fishes speed and at that very moment I remembered my girl holding the rope from the boat....... I let go and headed for the surface forgeting all the rules of diving.... I went up 10' and watched the line go tought-------- and the knot slips- and the great Golith Grouper swims off happy as I guess he could be.......
Some time went by, 2 months or so.......
I have a very good friend that is a spearfisherman as well..... Cought up with him after a local dive on a reef about 2 miles away by Duniden, FL.... These are his words exactly.... "I saw something freeky off Duniden today, a 400 or so lb Grouper with an antenna..... He took one look at me and went ripping the other way as fast as he possibly could."
He was sighted many times after that for 2 years or so......
WOLF
"It's the pretty women that make us buy the beer... and It's the ugly ones that make us drink it."
