This section of the website is dedicated to our spearfishing outings, so we can share our experiences and adventures with the rest of the world! We all know spearfishing can be a very exciting sport and challenge us to achieve goals as we grow, but in the end we always respect what has been bestowed upon us. It is our responsibility to help preserve what we still have so that we may continue to enjoy it in the future, along with the new generation! So here is a look in the life of a spearo!

Enter the Divers:

Another day another adventure or so they say! This latest excursion brings us to the lovely Florida Keys which is conveniently just a few hours away :). Eric invited us down to stay the night at his place down by Long Key to avoid the early trip in the morning. We were welcomed by the smell of fried fish and familiar faces, along with a few fishy stories! We had a big turnout with 5 spearos crashing for the night and so we decided to make a bit of a competition amongst each other. We had two boats and so we split into teams, Marque was on my side while Eric went with his brother and friend. The contest would start in the early AM and throughout the day, and winner takes home bragging rights!
So after a few drinks and bellies full of fresh permit, we hit the hay. Morning came around rather quickly, and so the race was on! We all made dashes to the bathroom and kitchen to prepare for what was to be a nice day on the water. Marque and myself would be last to get on the water since we had to launch our boat at the marina, but no worries. Finally we made it out and quite honestly the day could not be any better! With the boat on plane it felt as if we were riding on air, sea was glass and vis seemed to be worthy of it’s Caribbean backdrop. Needless to say we were very excited and full of anticipation to enter the shimmering blue playing field.
We were short handed so we opted to anchor at some nice spots we had marked a few months ago, clearly we knew this would be a handicap for our lil competition. So we made our debut splash, and were quickly within 20 meters of a school of decent permit! We loaded our guns without a moment to waste… but surely enough the school was well out of range. We began our patrol on the structure and had to work hard to scope out a few note worthy fish, one was a nice red grouper and mango snapper! We then decided to move out to the deeper reef line and see if we could muster something up. Next spot was 70-75fsw and was teeming with life from the moment we jumped in. Current was rather strong but we could manage. Trigger fish entered the scene, they were very cautious and entertained by our flashers. We nabbed a couple and decided to leave the rest be in chase of more prized game. We spot a very nice black grouper, that retreats to the safety of a pickup sized coral head. Marque makes his drop and checks the head for any openings, and all of a sudden *click* his Andre Euro goes off and a cloud of sand erupts! He leaves the gun and makes way to the surface to breath, I made sure to spot him and make sure he is ok. He then looks at me in disgust with a face that I have seen before….. I missed!
Well let us at least get your gun back and see if we can still find the grouper, I mentioned in a low key voice. Needing a breath up Marque was now my safety, as I made the drop I notice something flashing from a cave near the back of the rock….. and the face of a black grouper came into view. I didn’t hesitate and took my shot! Stoned him!! Alright I wasted no time and went to grab the fish… noticed that flashy object from earlier on top of his eye… what was it?? As I grabbed him I noticed.. what?! This is Marque’s shaft and the flopper never made it through the skull!! As I tried to lift the fish out the hole Marque’s gun started to move, and so I grabbed my knife and cut his line. I came up with the fish along two impaled shafts and Marque’s gun then shot up with me, it all played out perfectly somehow!!
I was very gassed and Marque did an excellent job of spotting me. We were very excited as the fish turned out to be quite a nice specimen! After a quick celebration we returned to scouting the area, and so found a school of nice mango snappers. It was once again Marque’s dive and this time nails a nice 20″ mangrove at the bottom, and makes his ascent. He pops up to shoot me a high five…. we look back down to see the status of the fish…. only to see a large barrel with fins swimming vertically at us…. a bull shark!! It wasted no time and chomped down on the shaft with the fish as if it were a kabob :O!!
We were startled since it happened so quickly but the shark spit out the shaft since he could not swallow it along with the fish! I dropped with my gun pointed in his direction.. it backed off briefly and descended back down. I look at Marque and tell him we need to work our way back to the boat, also to lift that fish out the water while doing so to avoid leaving a blood trail. He then asks me if the shark is still following us…. I look back and about 15 meters away are now two bull sharks shadowing us back to the boat… So yes my dear Marcosis we have official escorts helping us back to the boat haha!! Finally we make it back with a tenderized snapper and our limbs in check! This time around the tax collector did not capitalize and we the spearos won the battle!!
Now the day was quickly fading and our cooler was looking much healthier, full of a decent days work. We gathered our gear and headed back to the mainland, spirits lifted and an experience to boot! Finally make it back to Eric’s dock and saw they were already settled in from their trip out. Soo the moment of reckoning was due and bragging rights were on the line. We lifted our cooler and saw a few sweat drops start to make their way down our opponents temples…. we had them nervous! We open our coolers and realize we have a long days worth of cleaning fish still ahead O_o. The winners due to a massive permit was Team Midnight Dreams although the fish of the day went to the infamous Marcosis…. go figure haha! Also lets not forget about our handicap… we had no boat captain!! So it was a tie 😉

Well the day seemed to look like it was going to be on our side, so myself and two of my best mates decided to get out on the water. My dive buddies for the day was Marco Marroquin and Eric Rodriguez…. along with yours truly. We were fortunate enough to have Eric’s girlfriend “Wendy” along to captain the boat for us. The boat was hooked up and we were off to the marina, not before stopping to grab some snacks and ice ;). Winds were subtle, sky was blue, and spirits were high… its days like this we look forward to!
We made it to the marina and launched the boat. On our way out to the grounds we wanted to stop at one of our shallow spots, the vis did not help and we had to move on. Eric pointed the way and we made it to one of his favorite wrecks in 45-50fsw. Geared up and jumped right in, I was welcomed by a surge of bubbles along with a freeze of water shooting into my suit :O. No worries though, off to the wreck! Visibility was much improved and we were able to see top to bottom. Eric decided to use his carbon pole spear rather than his gun for the added challenge and convenience of not having to reload. I hung towards the end of the wreck and noticed a large school of massive yellow jacks enter the scene!! These specimens were all 15lbs+ and seemed very well fed. I made my first drop but was quickly identified and the school jumped across the wreck, I made my way to the surface casually to breathe up. They eventually made their way back and this time I dropped from behind the wreck and swam over the deck…. looked straight down and had a clear shot! Hit him right on the cheek plate, no Komodo this time!! I grabbed my line to keep the fish from entering the wreck but it was too strong, although to my luck he swam back out. I noticed my line did not follow…. yet the shaft was in the fish slowly sliding out, and it did! My crimp broke off!!!! I lost the fish and the school became spooky >:(. Marque followed up and stayed behind while I re-rigged my gun. By the time I returned the school was more relaxed, so I made my second drop. Nearly identical to the one before, took aim and *boom* stoned the first yellow jack of the day!! Marque took aim at another and let the steel fly *boom*! This one was larger than mine and he didn’t quite stone it, the fish rapidly made its way inside the wreck and all we could here was the sound of metal banging.
Eric makes his way over with a stringer full of snappers and asked what the commotion is about, until he sees the school bursting out of the wreck! Marque simply tells him… “follow my float line and tell me what you think.” We had to follow one buddy up one buddy down rules and spot each other at all times, since freediving into a wreck can be very dangerous. The fish was tangled inside the ribs of the ship and struggling to free itself, the shaft seemed to look reminiscent of a pretzel. We unclipped the shooting line from the gun and Eric took aim with his polespear and recovered the fish!! The rest of the trip we had the school inside the wreck and followed the same process as Marque’s fish… it was very taxing and very strategic. Eric even took one with his pole spear!!!! By the end of the day we were greeted by several sharks including one bull carrying three cobias with him…. to bad we all had yellow jacks on our shafts :(.
All in all we had a great time in the water and most importantly followed proper safety. Now with a cooler full of fish and our energy supplies running on low we made our way back to the docks. A feeling set in over us, a feeling that can only be described a euphoria. A sense of accomplishment, a primitive instinct born again, a comradery amongst friends… this is what we live for :).