More big Dogtooth Tuna hunts…

Brandon Wahlers was with me and Craig the first time we found the dogtooth in Indonesia and the first day on the spot I filmed him shooting a fish that I reckon was 180-200+lbs. He took a long shot and hit the fish in the right place but when it hit I could see the slip tip barely in the fish. At the time it would have easily been the new World Record and watching his buoys flying by at 50 feet was one of the coolest things I’ve seen diving.

Since our success in Indo there have been a number of divers that have found out about the spots and spend literally months on location shooting it up.  On good days they will shoot 4-6 or more Dogtooth of varying sizes and since there is only a good run of fish every week or sometimes every month, when they get on the school they hit them hard.  When I was diving there leading up to the years that I landed my 201lb one I can’t say that I was conservative by choice but I spent a few weeks or months each year diving the islands looking for spots and the fish and in 6 years of trips only landed a handful of Dogtooth.

As much as I love to shoot doggies it makes sense that if you shoot all the 100lb ones they will never grow to 150, and if you shoot all the 150lb ones they will never grow over 200lbs.  That said if you shoot every single one you see… you won’t be seeing that many of any size and the chance for a world record is gone completely.

Brandon has put the time in there and last year he got on the fish pretty good and sent me some pics of a monster one they had shot with him standing beside it. In true form he didn’t say how much it weighed and he wouldn’t tell us either how much it weighed to see if he could get us fired up about it. (Which it did of course) This is some of the pics he sent…

Both of these are great fish over 100lbs. All Dogtooth that are shot in water depths over 100ft, even if the fish is shallower than that, will have their air bladder expand and that is what gives them the really thick looking stomach like the bottom picture.  For more on Brandon Wahlers click this link

Unlike Yellowfins who won’t float, Most dogtooth will float up to the surface at the end of the fight and when you have them in boat you’re amazed that they are so solid. Only thing is 90% of the time as soon as you shoot them they puke up everything they have eaten and their stomachs are empty.   My  big one just recently had a Coronation Trout stuck in his throat so he wasn’t able to regurgitate everything and also the shaft popped his swim bladder so all the thickness you see in those pictures is stomach content which helps make the fish heavier.

The great thing about Doggies is that there are dozens of locales that you can see giant ones and each place you have a new challenge to figure out how to rig and put yourself in the right place to get a shot off then you have to battle them out of the rocks or keep them away from the sharks or put the brakes on them to keep them from taking all your gear.

Which brings in the most important part of anyones Dogtooth Set up:  the 2 Atmosphere Riffe Float.   Without a doubt for Dogtooth and big fish the last and most hard core part of your Float system to keep the fish from disappearing. In my set up for 200+ lb Doggies, yellowfin tuna, and big Marlin I always have two of these rigged. They blow up rock hard with an airtank and they are puncture resistant and will keep their floatation deeper than any float on the market.  On trips this is the #1 thing local divers ask me to leave with them and is definitely one of the most bad ass pieces of gear in recent years that is an essential in all true Bluewater Hunters gear bags.

Another monster Doggie  pic that got my heart racing was from Big Wave Surfer and dedicated Dogtooth Hunter Mark Healey.   The agreement was to exchange my Indonesia Spots for some of his in Fiji but I haven’t been able to hit his spots yet even though he has been back and shot some Dogs in the 200+ lb range to get me fired up about it and judging from this picture he got the best of the deal.  This spot is the first Dogtooth spot I ever found and still one of the best. Even the guys that know the area we dive don’t mess with this spot as it almost never produces and is about as dangerous as they come with currents and big waves.  I like it that way:)   Anyways here is what he has to say about the fish:

MARK HEALEY:   Did a blind drop to about 75ft in a crazy current. Sat on the bottom for a bit then six Doggies came in from deep water. This guy was the biggest in the pack and of course was in the back. I let the smaller ones swarm me (30-70lbs) and finally the big boy took interest and came in just as my tag line was pulling me off of the bottom, because my floats got stuck in a whirlpool on the surface (seriously). Had to shoot from the hip and ended up getting the patented “Marnie Balubar” gut shot. Next thing I saw were my to floats flying by at 90ft. They popped backup about five minutes and 250yds later with a fish on the end of the line. Apparently I hit him in the swim bladder and the slip tip toggled in his ribs. I’ve had much better shots tear out on big Doggies, so I was pretty surprised to land the thing. It was my lucky day.

I wish there were doggies everywhere in the world but for now I’ll be content to travel to the ends of the earth and put in the hard yards to find them.  Unlike most pelagic fish Dogtooth Tuna seem to be a resident fish that don’t migrate as much so they are subject to the threat of overfishing.  Dive safe and be selective, remember the only way to shoot a 100lb fish is to let an 80lb one swim by, the only way to shoot a 200 lb fish is to let a 150lb one swim by. A little conservation will go a long way.