Micronesia: The beginning…

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 trip as badly as I would as soon as I finished this test.

First: time frame.

When and for how long..
We decided on a three week window that didn’t exactly coincide with the moons I would usually want but it was all we could manage and we moved on to the next step.

What do we want to hunt?
Dogtooth Tuna, huge ones, Marlin, Yellowfin Tuna, Bluefins, Giant Trevally,
We built the list of usuals and narrowed it down and as usual it fell to Dogtooth tuna.
By far our favorite, most challenging, toughest, and rewarding fish that a Spearfisherman can pursue.
I always claim that a 100 lb Dogtooth tied tail to tail with a 200 lb Yellowfin Tuna will drown the YFT every time. Later this week I’ll take a good picture of their tail and show you just where they get their power but suffice to say they are incredible to hunt.

Where?
This is the hard part… I looked at my notes and surfed the internet and decided on three different areas that had great potential. Indonesia fell out because the time of year was off we figured the vis and currents would probably piss us off more than anything.
We want clear water
We want somewhere we feel hasn’t reached its full potential
We want somewhere we don’t have to worry about diptheria and Malaria and tetnis and all the other nasties.
We want something new.
We decided on an area of Micronesia that I’d found working about ten years ago that I had only been able to dive twice and had been blown away by the potential. When we were diving at the time our bluewater skills and knowledge of how to work an area properly were still in their infancy.

‘Craig this spot is the one in the world that I feel I’ve only scratched the surface. The sharks are off the chart with 10-50 Bronze Whalers enjoying feeding frenzies on half the fish and and way more BIG Tiger sharks than I’ve ever seen anywhere in the world. But there are Marlin, Good Dogtooth Tuna, Mahi Mahi, Wahoo, Big Trevally, Uku, Groupers, Napolean Wrasse the size of a car and water so clear you get sea sick in the blue because there is no point of reference.’
‘and we can hunt these cool as hell little mountain deer if we get really bored and need to be humbled by some little furry beasts’

“Sounds perfect. Lets do it.”

Dates set my first call was to Troy Williams, aka Lone Fin who is based in the center of Micronesia. “I’m in.” Before I had even finished the first sentence I could hear the wheels turning and the preparations stepped up with a man on the inside. Troy started coordinating and coming up with ideas and networking. Within a week we had 2 boats on two different islands and free places to stay on exotic shores with no bustling traffic, Starbucks, Alarm Clocks or need for clothing much more than a pair of boardshorts.

With the boat set and plan in motion I made one more call to complete the crew.
Knowing his penchant for antagonizing Tiger Sharks on the North shore and the fact that I still think he is going to try and shoot me this week to get me back for snaking him on a 280 lb Yellowfin Tuna a few years back, including Mark Healey in the mix will definitely keep it interesting.

LAst minute add on was GR Tarr who had relieved himself of work woes and decided to come on the 3 week adventure….

I might have to step up my game to keep up with that crew.