Jan Vafis
| Hi Daryl,
Here's a photo of my first fish taken with my Wong 55" speargun. The photo was taken by Brandi Easter. She was divemaster on the trip. Brandi and I have been on a few trips together and we have become good friends.
I did everything right to get this fish. I dove down and spotted the fish at about 25'. It was going away and I strummed my bands. It turned around and gave me a broadside shot. I stoned it, pulled it up quickly to keep it from going under a ledge (before I realized it was stoned), and I successfully fended off a bull seal by poking him in the nose with the butt of my speargun before I brained the fish. Nobody was diving with me and nobody helped me.
The fish was taken at Yellowtail Alley at San Benitos on our way to Alijos Rocks. Yellowtail Alley was one of my husband's favorite places to hunt for yellowtail and white sea bass. Last year I scattered some of my husband's ashes at Lunker Rock at Yellowtail Alley. George's spirit was definitely with me.
I hunted for about 20 hours over a period of three days at Alijos Rocks. I took shots at wahoo, but I grossly misjudged how far they were away (and how big they were!). Most of the divers were having the same problem.
We saw numerous huge tuna, but none were taken. Huge wahoo and yellowtail were spotted on every dive and many were taken. Last year I went to Alijos Rocks, but there were no fish. It was crystal clear, but void of pelagic fish. It was much different this year.
The current was ripping so our dives consisted of heading upstream and being dropped off, hunting while drifting in the current, being picked up, and being dropped off again. I must have loaded and unloaded my speargun 40 or 50 times over the course of three days. I took off the longest band, moved the rest down and put on the next band size for more power. At first I struggled with the newest band, but then I got the hang of it. The cheater tab is tremendously helpful. Had the trip been a little longer, I think I could have ended up being able to load the speargun with the three original bands you sent.
I also got a lot of practice at stringing my speargun when I would miss a wahoo shot.
I have loved hunting with my very special speargun and I'm super happy that I finally speared a fish. The speargun is so comfortable to dive with and so easy to maintain and rig. I couldn't be happier.
Steve Werlin was on the trip. His Wong speargun ("Big Blue") is a work of art. He got some very decent fish.
One guy named Alex took a 57 lb wahoo with a Wong 55". Very impressive . . .
Thanks, Daryl.
Jan
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