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SpearBlog 2013

Written by: Bob Diaz
Category: SpearBlog 2013
Tue21May2013

May 18, 2013 - My Grouper Opening (and work related disasters)

Information
Bob Diaz | SpearBlog 2013 | May 20, 2013 | Print
grouper, #41
Seas:
2-4'		 Winds:
10-20 ESE		 Viz:
20-45'		 Temp:
78F

It was a little upsetting for me to realize as I sat down to compose this week's blog that I hadn't even gotten around to composing my usual "Foreward" blog at the beginning of this year. It was even sadder for me to think that it was because I hadn't been in the water since December 26. So in efforts to combat my sadness and keep up my word count on my blogs (like anyone else is counting - or even reading) this one turned out a little long (which is particularly odd since I only got to dive one day... but more on that in my excessively wordy blog). Enjoy!

So I wasn't able to dive for the official opening of Atlantic & Gulf grouper on May 1 (or any time thereabouts), so I was hoping for something good on this, my opening day. We all wake up early on Saturday morning and after helping to put in a friend's boat to make sure everyone had a means to dive (we couldn't all fit in one boat now, could we?) we pile into the Angler to head out to #69 (insert sexual pun here...). My brother-in-law had arrived on Thursday so he had an extra day to shoot before the rest of us got there and he had told me he left a grouper at this spot so we hoped it would still be there today.

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Written by: Bob Diaz
Category: SpearBlog 2013
Wed29May2013

May 25-27, 2013 - Memorial Day-Wind and Seas, sure... but fish were in the boat

Information
Bob Diaz | SpearBlog 2013 | May 29, 2013 | Print
memorial day
Seas:
1-3(am)
3-5(pm)		 Winds:
10-20 ENE (am)
20-25 ENE (pm)		 Viz:
30-50'		 Temp:
81F

This week's forecast was calling for a fairly typical Memorial Day weekend, rainy and windy. But what were the chances that those charlatan voodoo witch doctors (more commonly known as meteorologists) would get it right this week? I've lost count of the number of times the meteorological evangelists promised wonderfully light winds and calm seas only for me to make the hike and arrive to find weather conditions that only the cast and crew of "Deadliest Catch" would consider to be good. Typically, we're calling into question which dime store bubble gum machine their credentials were purchased from, but this time they nailed it (of course they did, the forecast was crap).

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Written by: Bob Diaz
Category: SpearBlog 2013
Thu13Jun2013

June 8-9, 2013 - Really, you shot her there?!?!

Information
Bob Diaz | SpearBlog 2013 | June 12, 2013 | Print
grouper, #41
Seas:
2-4'		 Winds:
10-20 ESE		 Viz:
45-50'		 Temp:
81F

 So we head down this weekend without too much in the expectation department since it had been raining with 20-40 mph winds almost incessantly the entire week. While at work on Thursday, I take a quick glance at the forecast to see there was still a small craft advisory in effect and a call for 2-4' seas on Sat increasing to 3-5 on Sunday. Heading home from work Friday in what seemed like my umpteenth torrential downpour this week, I'm not too encouraged as the rain was supposed to have subsided by today in the aftermath of Andrea, our first tropical storm in the region of the now a 7 day old hurricane season. Pummeled all week by record rainfall and high winds, it seemed like the only thing the weather was going to be good for was drinking (ok, it doesn't sound that bad when I phrase it that way)...

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Written by: Bob Diaz
Category: SpearBlog 2013
Fri28Jun2013

June 22-23, 2013 - A grouper of my very own (actually, two)

Information
Bob Diaz | SpearBlog 2013 | June 28, 2013 | Print
grouper
Seas:
1-3'		 Winds:
10-15 ESE		 Viz:
45'+		 Temp:
82F

In spite of the lack of a blog for last week, it was actually a good hunting weekend as we found big mangroves on the patch reefs for the first time this Summer. In fact, I shot what was probably one of my biggest mangroves yet, weighing in that 6-7lb class. I didn't think it merited a blog though, since I got it on a make up shot because my brother in law had missed it and we wanted to make sure it didn't hightail it out of the staghorn before we had a chance to boat it. Nonetheless, a great catch. That coupled with the awesome 28lb black the team brought in the week before has really made for some happy fisherman on our boats. We're not even that jealous of our friends that have made 2 trips to Cay Sal in as many weeks. But I longed for a big catch of my very own.

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Bob Diaz - Thursday, 11 February 2010 20:57

Believe it or not my latest addition to my spearguns is not one for shooting fish (well at least not shooting to kill them). But it hopefully will help others watch online what I love to do underwater. I have made a camera mount for my Riffe Euro guns. This mount will fit on any Euro that has the reel inserts (basically all of them). It was terribly simple to make. The only fairly tricky part was putting together the actual mount screw for the camera tripod mount itself.

SpearViews

Bob Diaz - Wednesday, 21 December 2011 15:51

I realized recently that I had overlooked the fact that I had purchased and used some new SpearGear at the beginning of the Summer of 2011 and hadn't gotten around to posting about it (here or in SpearGear). This article is going to be one that definitely crosses over between SpearViews and SpearGear because of the fact that I do own it but I definitely think it's worthy of a review as well. In the end, SpearViews won the coin toss deciding where I would put the article (especially after I...

SpearViews

Bob Diaz - Sunday, 10 March 2013 12:57

Back in March of 2010 I enrolled in and completed the FII Level One freediving course . I was extremely happy with the course content and the outcome (check out the SpearView ). Unfortunately for me, I'm not a professional freediver, so as with many people, life gets in the way and complicated which in turn keeps you from building a true regimen that reinforces all the good behavior learned in the course. Needless to say, I forgot some of the basics, fell back into many of my old bad habits...

SpearViews

Bob Diaz - Saturday, 30 January 2010 08:18

I finally bit the bullet and decided to sell my No-Ka-Oi. It had gotten next to no use in the time I had owned it and it seemed a shame to have it just sit there so I Ebay'd it. With the funds from that sale, I invested in a gun that is a little more multi-purpose (at least that is how I convinced myself to get it :). I was extremely torn among 3 choices. I was considering the Euro 120, 120x and 130. After a couple of weeks of deliberation and a lot of flip-flopping, I decided on the Euro 120....

SpearViews

Bob Diaz - Monday, 26 July 2010 15:11

This year at The Blue Wild I was fortunate enough to meet Mike Hickey. I know of Mike from his appearances on Speargun Hunter on the Outdoor Channel with Sheri Daye. Mike was orginally a guest on the show and in later seasons participated as an underwater videographer. Mike is the USA distributor for FreeDivers ( FreeDivers USA ) spearfishing equipment. I came across his booth and after a great conversation about spearfishing, we started discussing the rising cost of spearshafts specifically....

SpearViews

Bob Diaz - Saturday, 30 January 2010 08:23

It didn't take me long to finish rigging up the 120 with a new reel and 2.2mm dyneema line. Unfortunately as of now (Apr 2009), I haven't had an opportunity to get into the blue water to put this new toy through its paces. I am definitely jones'ing to give it a try! I am also working on making my own flashers for use in blue water. I have been watching these being used on a few spearfishing shows and their reasoning seems sound for their success. They didn't seem too hard to make, so I decided...

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SpearBlog 2009

Bob Diaz - Thursday, 09 July 2009 01:00

Seas: 1-2 feet Winds: 5-10 SSW Temp: 85 F Viz: 10 feet Today we headed out with the whole family (families) in tow because the seas have been so calm. We headed out around 10a with a plan to be back close to home in time for high slack tide. Our goal was to hit some offshore spots for snapper and hopefully head back closer to home for some hogfish and hopefully grouper. Unfortunately, I am sure we are all familiar with the best laid plans of mice and men and what happens to them. Anyway, we...

SpearBlog 2015

Bob Diaz - Friday, 03 April 2015 13:01

For the past 20+ years my family and I have been heading down to Marathon during the Summer months for the purposes of spearfishing and family weekends. Over the past 15+ years since owning my web site, these Summers have offered me the opportunity to load up my site with blogs and pictures that have entertained me (and hopefully some of you) tremendously along the way. I have looked forward to my Summer escapades chasing mahi, snapper, grouper, hogfish and facing sharks and goliaths every...

SpearBlog 2017

- Monday, 31 December 1979 19:00

Wind Seas Viz Temp E-SE 18-24mph 4-6' 5-15' 79F The excitement for grouper opening started a few weeks ago when my brother in law and I started discussing our plans. There was talk of scouting on Sunday and taking Monday through Wednesday off to maximize our time on the water. We would connect with our friends Lazaro and Chris and we were hopeful that we would have a good opening like last year. As usual, we talked timing, accommodations and weather forecasts. After talking about it for about...

SpearBlog 2007

Bob Diaz - Saturday, 12 May 2007 01:22

Winds: 5-10 south Seas: less than 1 foot Surf Temp: 78F Viz: 25 feet As far as the above water weather, it would have been hard to do much better than this weekend. The winds were next to non-existent and we experienced seas of less than a foot up to 7 miles out and could see it was flat as far as the eye could see. It definitely made for a quick trip out to any of our spots offshore. The only real issue was the haze from the brush fires in the Everglades that made the entire sky look like we...

SpearBlog 2011

Bob Diaz - Monday, 30 May 2011 17:06

Seas: 3-5 feet Winds: 20-25 S/SE Viz: 20 feet Temp: 81 F The forecast for the long weekend was promising, at least for Saturday. S-SE winds at 5-10 knots with seas 1' inside the reef and only 1-3' outside the reef, phehomenal. The outlook wasn't as great for Sunday and Monday, but we hoped one good day would be enough and besides, we usually get the hell outta Dodge early on holidays to beat the traffic so Monday didn't even really count, so we were hopeful as we pulled in Friday night and I...

SpearBlog 2011

Bob Diaz - Tuesday, 23 August 2011 14:03

Seas: 1-3 feet (Sat-Thu) 2-4 feet (Fri-Sat) Winds: 5-10 S/SW 10-15 S/SW Viz: 5-20 feet 40 feet Temp: 85 F jellyfish jellyfish squish squish squish oh if i were to be granted just one wish that currents were weak and water was warm so you and your friends to florida wouldn't swarm You snuck up on me the one time I wasn't looking slam dunk on my head like a fried egg was cooking jellyfish jellyfish, squish squish squish jellyfish jellyfish, you son of a $%&@* ! As you may have guessed from the...