Hotties in California: Riffe Team Trip

Same old story.
Big fish, hot ladies and good times.
I really do enjoy my vacation!
We had the Riffe Team in California this past week with Jay Riffe presiding over the daily design and hunting Forum. The opportunity to have some of the best divers in the world together to dive and use all the gear and put our thoughts on paper and into the new equipment is invaluable.
It is amazing to hear each of our varied tastes and techniques from around the world from five of the most travelled and experienced guys and girls and have everyone wanting the exact same equipment for the job.
Hearing and seeing the future of spearfishing equipment and putting it to use is something that I could only have dreamed of when I was still shooting Blue Tang and Slippery Dicks in the Caribbean with a three prong. Knowing that the Riffe Equipment that goes on the shelves is exactly what we want and the thought and patience it takes to design it is all worth it in the end.
DJ Struntz flew in from Costa Rica to document the week and as usual captured the striking photos that he is so well known for. www.djstruntzphoto.com
Mark Healey took some time off surfing 30ft waves to break the Croaker Curse and shoot a 45lb White SeaBass and some big Calico Bass at over 100 feet. He’s got some sick videos of 50+ ft Waves on the internet if you haven’t seen them and has had more tiger shark encounters than anyone I’ve ever met. Check it out: http://www.surfline.com/video/webiso…rfishing_22430
Kelsey Albert showed us all up by turning herself into the Hali-ho and shooting the hell out of the Halibut and landing a PB and potential WR for Halibut. Watch out for this one she has the mindset and the skills to be a contender for National Champ in the coming years.
Craig Clasen was his normal humble self quietly finding the biggest Bass each day and smiling each time he climbed out of the water knowing they were bigger than the ones I had. Dammit!!!
Jay Riffe shared his knowledge of each spot he has gathered over years of experience and networking through hundreds of spearos on the West Coast to put us on the best spots each day. With his guidance he led me to my first, second and third White Sea Bass within a few hours of each other on our first cold calm morning last Sunday.
All the White SeaBass I shot were stoned with a 120 Euro rigged with a 9/32 shaft with a Hawaiian Flopper.
The rest of the ones were stoned as well by the other guys with either the same 120 Euro or a 130 Euro with a mini icepick tip.
Those are big powerful fish but with the right techniques and patience in the water we were able to take 12-15ft shots and roll each of the ones we saw.
The Calicos on Catalina are some of the smartest I’ve seen so we were psyched to get our biggest ones there.
Kelsey used her Pole spear to land a good one at Bird Rock which is historically one of the areas that has the smartest ones in California.
Thanks to Beach City Scuba and the Sun Diver and Joel Olenik for getting us on the water and letting us do our thing. Can’t wait to do it again!
Pics courtesy of Rebecca Walker (Riffe cousin) and Richard Holbrook.
DJ’s photos will be in the Mags in a few months
The Riffe Life continues…