Friends part I

Cameron and Brad Thornbrough. Brad and I met in Australia and have been diving together ever since. He is great with the camera and can hold his breath longer then should be humanly possible and isn't afraid to ask for 3 weeks off of work. (something most of my friends curse me for even trying to get them to do). He spends heaps of time in the Bahamas shooting 50 lb Groupers with a Hawaiian Sling from his stand up paddle board to the amazement of the locals and hot college girls on spring break. He's down for any crazy trip I can think up and will hold fast even when the big sharks are circling behind me to come have a taste. He did most of the filming and all the editing for the WET DREAMS dvd. IF and when we ever finish the second one it will be his fault.

Cameron and Brad Thornbrough. This was one of our first days diving together in Australia. We were diving on a small island off the coast of New South Wales and these were our first Yellowtail Kingfish and my first Mulloway.

Craig with a solid trio of Dogtooth Tuna in Indonesia. This area was pretty far off the map and about a two hour run from anything. I think we only went out on this big boat once and lucked out with a good day of Doggies. The one laying on the deck was kind of wild looking. A bit darker then the rest with a jet black eye. Don't see too many like that. Craig smashed the one on the right with a rail gun and the other with his big cannon. We could have shot a few more this day but were waiting for the big ones.

Brian Head beat Craig and I this afternoon in our end of the day pole spear tournament. There was a 40 ft murk layer and below it were so many fish it was ridiculous. We decided to have a pole spear tourney, biggest fish wins only one entry per person allowed. First dive Craig comes back to the surface with only half of a pole spear. He smashed a big cobia and it wrecked his gear immediately. Next dive I have a pile of big AJ's come to me but can't get the shot I need and return empty handed. Brian heads down and shoots this one and he wrestles it through the murk to the surface to claim a sweet victory. In 350 feet of water this is not an easy feat especially without a float line and up in the Oil Rig.

My Cousin Blake and I again with some deep Gulf Wreck African Pompano and a monster Permit. Blake whipped up on me this day as usual and shot Cuberas, Africans, Muttons and everything else that swam past. He doesn't get out as much as he used to but he has always been a deeper diver than me and can shoot with the best of them. We shared our first dives together as kids in the Caymans with our little three prong pole spear and I'm sure our kids will do the same when the time comes.

Two weeks prior to this picture Robbie and I were cleaning a monster Dogtooth Tuna in the middle of the street on Poppies II on Bali Indonesia. There was a crowd of about 100 Balinese friends, neighbors and passersby all around us with plastic bags taking hunks of fish. They have come to expect at least one big feed a week out of us so we try not to disappoint. This group of Norwegian girls came up and were straight in there checking out the whole operation and we all ended up being friends and diving together in Bali and Australia. Just goes to show you never know when you are going to meet new people and fresh fish never fails to bring a community together.

Craig holding a chair for god knows what reason, Andre from Bali, and Robbie of Adreno Spearfishing in Australia. This is the night I shot my 201 lb Dogtooth and we were having a big night to say the least

Cameron and Simon Latta. This is pre-dive in Port Macquarie rivermouth. The day before on the way home from diving Brad and I had hit a Kangaroo that committed suicide bolting out of the bush on some backroads. The dirt track the next day on the way to diving didn't make it much better on the car. Here we are trying to get pull the front panel out from under where the kanga crushed it in. True to form we dove in the ripping current and 4 foot vis and Simon landed a nice Jewfish(Mulloway). He is one of my original Aussie buddies I started diving there with.

Mark Healey. These pics are from our last trip to Micronesia. I had promised everyone good opportunities at Dogtooth and with everyone diving over 100 feet every day it didn't take long to make it happen. Heals lost his 130 Riffe Euro the first day because he shot one in the 150 lb range with only a reel at about 95 feet. That fish is probably still heading for Japan with his rig in tow. Healey is an unreal diver and waterman. He makes his living surfing and the fact that he can free dive to more than a 150 feet (while hunting!!!) goes to show that the guys that are surfing these 60 foot waves on TV and in the Magazines are legit. He is as humble as they come though and all of us wish we had his life. He travels the world surfing and spearfishing and does stunts for TV shows and movies all the time. He's an incredible diver and a hunter. Check out some of his videos on SURFLINE or Youtube to see why he is one of the best Big Wave surfers in the world.

The first day I met Robbie Lewis within 5 minutes he asked me if I wanted to go to an 80's party one of his friends was having in Brisbane for her 21st Birthday. Needless to say I jumped on the opportunity and I think the pictures from that night are probably still up on his fridge or floating around the internet. Scary stuff. We've done quite a few trips together and between him and Brad I think they compete to make the rest of us laugh so hard that we can't even dive. For his wedding we all went to Fiji and dove and raised hell for a few weeks with all our friends and the morning of the ceremony we all ran out and he smashed a nice Mackerel just offshore of the hotel. He now tuns Adreno Spearfishing in Australia which is by far the best outfitted Spearfishing Store I've ever seen. It is ridiculous how much gear they have there. This Dogtooth is one we landed in Indo a few years back. He has video of it up on the website www.spearfishing.com.au

Launching the boat on North Stradbroke Island. We are so spoiled in the US with our boat ramps and inlets. Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, etc almost always launch straight into the surf and then have to punch out through the sets. It is an experience for sure.

Off Canaveral with my cousin Blake Gaylord and Brad Thornbrough. This was right when we'd returned from a trip to Australia and were diving good so we went to some really deep spots (100+ ft) off Cape Canaveral. We all ended up with some great fish and I lost a 50+lb Gag Grouper that broke my shaft off in more than 120 ft of water. I'm still bummed I lost that one.

Chris Gardinal and his East Coast Cubera. I think this was the first time they had ever come diving with us on our boat. He and Sasa Bratic hit the wreck and were amazed in the 10 ft vis that there were so many grouper swimming all over the place. It took them a few dives to realize that it was in fact 10-18 lb Mangrove Snappers and not groupers. When he pulled the trigger on the Cubera we all thought it was a big grouper. The fish tore off and on our way to the next spot we happened upon this 60+lb Cubera floating on the surface.

Derek Pinella and his Saint Pete Open winning Black Grouper from a few years back. Derek and I met through some fellow Spearo's and ended up rooming together in Tampa diving, Wakeboarding, and generally enjoying life. Derek is one of those guys who can be out of the water for 8 months and then get on the boat and hit 70 feet all day long and shoot with the best of them all day long.

Mike Lohman and a special lady friend. Lohman is quick to join any trip to the Bahamas and can usually be found with Brad Thornbrough getting in to some sort of trouble in South Florida or Central America. He's holding a type of crab we find in the Caribbean that is amazing to eat. In the Caymans when we were kids this was one of the best finds crawling across the reef. Nice cig. You stay classy.

Central America 200+lb Yellowfin Tuna and Jason Norcross poised to smash another one. He is looking over at the pod of Dolphins and Tunas and we are trying our best to get in front of them and get a shot off. It isn't your typical diving but one of the best ways to shoot big tunas.

One of my favorite Pictures I've ever taken. This is GR Tarr coming up from a dive and he's looking down towards a group of about 10 big Bull Sharks that had been chasing us around all day. At any time there were 2-15 hammerheads, 5-20 Bull Sharks, Tigers, Dusky and Reef Sharks coming around us. We landed 9 Wahoo this day and 6 Blackfin Tuna but lost triple that to the sharks. Gotta love diving in those conditions. I love this pic because his attention is completed focused on something that is much much more dangerous out of the picture and he is ignoring the 8 ft hammerhead that most people would be bugging out on.

This was out off Miami of all places. We were taking it easy fishing out wide and more than anything enjoying the scenery on the boat and came across a school of Tunas. This was about 2 minutes before we had him sliced into sashimi and enjoyed by all.

Ed Walker. Ed is a charter boat captain and probably the best sight fishing tarpon Captain on the West Coast of Florida. I fished a season with him over there and we were #1 for the DNA sampling program that is tracking the different groups of tarpon throughout Florida. He is a great fisherman and a smart diver incorporating both techniques to become better at the other. If you want to dive out of Tarpon Springs, sight fish for Cobia on the flats or throw a fly at them, Snook fish, freedive for cobia, grouper, snapper or run way out to the middle grounds he has it covered. He has a 23 ft Bay boat and a 32ft Yellowfin and spend two months in the Keys each year running charters down there as well. His latest passion he is soon to master is daytime Swordfishing and no doubt his 1 per day average so far will quickly improve. www.lighttacklecharters.com

Trevor Smith and Blake Gaylord. This is a few days before one of the Hatteras Tournaments. The three of us grew up together fishing and hunting and catching anything and everything that we could get our hands on. He now has his PHD in Entemology and can tell you anything and everything there is to know about every living thing in Florida. I wish I knew half as much about one subject as he does about Florida Flora and Fauna. Common sense would dictate, but without Trevor, how the hell would we ever know there is a very good possibility of being attacked by a rat or rattlesnake when you're shoulder deep underground. The scary part is he was actually trying to catch beetles and was not inebriated when the rat got a hold of him.

Jason Norcross and Brad Thornbrough with a stud of a Yellowfin in Central America. This was the first trip the three of us did together and it was mayhem from the start. There was an earthquake. All their gear was stolen, and we had some huge nights out in the country at some local rodeos that quickly escalated into full blown discos in the middle of nowhere. Incredible waves. Scorpions in the bed. All night beach parties. Beautiful girls and big fish that would never let us get quite close enough. We did manage half a dozen or so monster tunas but the 300 lb ones were still elusive.

Brandon (Rook) Wahlers. This is on our first trip to Mexico together. We had helacious conditions most of the time but shot Tuna Wahoo Billfish and every thing else that swam by. I think he was about 19 or twenty at the time and I wish then that we had known what we were getting ourselves into being friends with him. Every day he might as well have been shot out of a cannon. I've see him talk his way out of Jail with the mexican police and hit on 67 year old women. I've filmed him getting sucked down in whirlpools in Indonesia and take twenty five foot shots and smash Yellowfin Tuna that never had a chance. Although it sounds like total BS half of the time he is one of the best story tellers no matter if it is high school girls or 350 lb Tunas he has a good one to cover it. There is no doubt he is one of the best spearfisherman of our time and after meeting Craig and I and seeing our 6 months of work a year schedule, transferred colleges and is now a Merchant Marine Officer sailing the world and diving all the best spots in the world keeping us all jealous for years to come.

Craig Clasen. Went to college together and started diving together about 6 years ago. Since then we have had so many mind blowing trips I can't ever keep track. He is the strongest diver I know in terms of sheer brute strength and ability in the water. He works harder than anyone I know to stay in shape and think further into gear and fine tuning his arsenal for diving the Oil Rigs. He is so focused and driven and successful yet the most humble Southern Gentleman you'll ever meet. An incredible guy and diver. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't have to work so hard to shoot good fish. He makes it look too easy.