Last day on the water Healey and I bailed and stayed with rumors of the surf being up and a big night on the town. Alcohol and diving don’t mix so we let GR and Craig and DJ head back up to the good wall and the Moose knuckle. First couple of dives in GR had a 100+lb Tuna in his sights but it wouldn’t come in close enough so he instead shafted a 30 lb one that was closer. Only a half day and the seas were back up as well as the...

Craig Big Doggie Last two days has been a bit of a blur. Lonefin’s last day was yesterday so it was his call to go to the deep reef and hope that the “hoovers” would let some of the fish come higher than 100 ft so he could get a few shots off.  The visibility wasn’t as good as it has been in the past with only 160-180 ft vis.  We had to stop ourselves from complaining and snap back in to reality. First stop was one of the deep...

Omilu Took the long ride again with flat seas finally (less than 4 ft that is) and went back to where we had seen the doggies the day before. This is one of the spots we know we aren’t going to get very many fish but if and when we do they’ll be good ones. We did two groups of three and drifted the edge of the drop in 40-150 ft of water and I stayed in the shallows to check on all the ulua holes.  DJ and I found some really...

“I did not scream like a little girl.  You had better take that off of there.” Craig after finally reading the blog and seeing the part about the shark befriending his hand     “Yeah my legs really started to burn on my way back up when I got even with the reef at about 90 feet” Day 8: Mark Healey coming up from the deepest dive any of us have ever done     “I was a candidate for the Air Force...

Into the Abyss After being stuck on land for the weekend to supposedly “recover” and rest and instead feeling like we’ve been run over by the Mongolian hoard, we started diving again Monday. With DJ here we wanted to get some choice shots so we started out running long and hit another deep reef way off the map that is far enough out we wouldn’t feel bad shooting the Reef Fish that the locals might otherwise...

Shore entry woes. Craig and I trying to time it so we don't eat Rocks The last couple of days has been off the wall with all kinds of crazy things happening and the crew expanding to include DJ Struntz.  Straight off the plane he was thrown in the fire and we haven’t stopped since. Friday was our last day of diving for the weekend so we could get some R&R but of course that turned in two straight days of partying, beach...

End of the fourth day and we are getting a bit ragged. Today was 8 ft seas all day and we ran 30 miles to a new reef to give it a go. Rough as hell. Kudos to our boat driver Scott for keeping track of everyone and riding it out all day it was not fun in the boat. In the water it was interesting as always with plenty of cheeky little sharks thinking we were part of the menu.. Craig landed a nice GT and we shot some giant Parrot fish, Red...

Another First Red Snapper Ciguatera special Long day today. Can feel ourselves wearing down from the long days and jet lag and not giving ourselves a break. Of course that doesn’t mean much until we’re off the water.   Three watches today read over 100 ft and counting… More doggies today and some Uku and Red Bass to spice it up. Stopped on some FAD (Fish aggregate devices) which were  in a few thousand feet of water that...

Lone Fin on the FAD Started the day early and were on the spot by the time the sun came up. I was first in the water and lo an behold the promiseland and you can see the bottom in 160 ft of water. Unbelivable. We mucked around for a bit and within an hour found the high spot and Healey and I got in with only the camera.  At 90 feet we had 6 dogtooth circling us and Heals got some good video of them as a big Napolean Wrasse came in as...

Luckily for me GR, Craig, Troy and MArk all got here a day before i did and worked out some of the kinks. We had to deal with finding enough place for everyone to sleep and now it looks like a halfway house with everyone on the floor of the place and about 20 guns strewn about every available inch of space left. Mark started strong by getting his backpack ripped off losing his laptop, underwater camera and all his money. I followed by...

The adventure begins well before we leave…. Craig Clasen called me a few months back and said simply… ”We need another Indo…” My response was so beyond my MO that I think it initially pissed him off more than it surprised him. ‘I can’t man, I need to work, I need to study for this test, I don’t have enough money, etc etc.’ Well it took all of 2 minutes of hearing the tone in his voice to know that he needed the...

Yesterday I was moved to tears by the most incredible fish i have ever seen in my life. Diving in Indonesia is one of the most frustrating and difficult projects I have ever embarked on and without an amazing amount of patience, stamina and skill there is no way that you can be successful in a diving environment such as this. Starting the day we jumped in to a mere 4 knots of current and drifted for 4 hours landed two Dogtooth tuna 40...

Trying to get people to come diving with you can be hard enough,  but trying to get them come back for a second time can be even harder.   When you add angry Kangaroos, Great White Sharks, boats that don’t float and cars that should be sunk it can be next to impossible.  So went my buddy Brad Thornbrough and I’s trip to the East Coast of Australia this year and despite these minor annoyances we managed to have the time of our lives...

Always share your fish with the locals With four days to go and only one shaft on my 110Euro left, I thought hard about releasing the shaft on the 125 lb Dogtooth Tuna that was approaching from the depths.  Was the 75 ft piece of line I scavenged off the beach going to hold?  Would the two gas can floats keep him from taking me over the drop?  How is it possible that I own thousands of dollars of equipment from the best companies in...