This is art.
I give credit where it is due and this is a creative interpretation of what can happen in a parallel universe where pigs can fly and purple unicorns frolic under gumdrop trees.
It is a happy place and I’m glad that someone has put it out there and made people think a bit.
However, I am embarrassed at the number of people who take this as a photo, of a live hogfish, striking a white jig near the surface with perfect lighting and an eye that looks like it is focused on the horizon, or the light at the end of the tunnel.

This was a contracted piece of work which I cannot show on here as the artist has asked me to remove it. I meant no offense to the work but it was taken so I apologize. The shot was taken at the request of a paying client and should be treated as such and not as an editorial piece or a how to…

Photoshop is an amazing thing, if you are looking to make the cover of any Fishing Magazine in the recent years you have got to be adept at it and some of the “photographers” who are some of the most well known of late are experts at creating “Art”.

It is a combination of setting up a shot, thinking outside of the box, perfecting angles, light, settings on your camera and snapping a few pictures until you get it right.

There is a place for this art and I respect the guys that go out on the boat, get in the water when they have a fish hooked and take the time to get a good photo, take it home and spend the time on photoshop to turn it into a work of art.
It drives me absolutely crazy though when people see these “images” and believe it is a shot of a fish in the wild or a “school” of fish that just happened to all look exactly alike, with a perfect background, and an overunder(above and below the surface photo) that is a perfect defined line.

Any thing is possible but for those of you viewing the images, look at it for what it is, art.

To those photographers out there. Keep it real. To put yourself in that situation to get a shot of a freeswimming fish deserves the utmost respect from the rest of us.

To the photo artists, there is a niche for you, keep it up, you have the a unique talent that is a product of technological evolution that gives us the chance to alter reality and create nearly any scene we can imagine.

For those of you who still believe in the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy… those white jigs are the best bait for catching hogfish on rod and reel, shoot me an email I’ll pay gas for every day we go out on the boat that you can catch one on an artificial and clean the boat as well.

blueh2oboy@gmail.com

Keep the hate mail coming.

Here’s a Cubera I “caught” yesterday.
Strangely enough he looks exactly like the one I shot… Hmmmmmmm
Sellout

60lb Cubera with very very similar markings to the one in the other picture. Why push it, amazing photo by Nolan Sadorf, don't need to embellish it any more.

This is the spearfishing trip of New Caledonia Blue Water Hunter Team

Location : OUVEA ISLAND or IAAI MOTU  ( in the large of New Caledonia East Cost)

Date : end of April to beginning of May 2012

Team mate :  Nicolas PEREZ, EDWARD Harrault and Guillaume BRUNEAU.

The weather was good, little wind, no rain, little swell while 4 days. the water was clear ( may be 25 – 30 m of visibility),

the water is starting to get cool but it’s still bearable with a slight wetsuit ( 3 mm). we dived with big RIFFE speargun ( Blue water and Baja).

there was a lot of shark… but we were lucky for some caught.

Well, as the photos show it, the trip was rich in fishes and good fight with DOGTOOTH TUNA.

just have a look and enjoy.

"STELLA MARIS BOAT CREW"

Edward 's DOGTHOOT ( 32 Kgs = 71 Lbs)

Guillaume's DOGHTOOT ( 26 Kgs = 58 Lbs)

Guillaume's LONGNOSE EMPEROR

Nicolas ' DOGTHOOT ( 10 Kgs = 23 Lbs)

Edward 's Spanish Mackerel ( 15.4 Kgs = 34 Lbs)

Guillaume's DOGHTOOT ( 13 Kgs = 29 Lbs)

http://www.spearboard.com/member.php?u=41823

http://www.youtube.com/user/guiguibruneau182/videos

http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1173287200

BY N.C.B.W.Hunter

It is the only time I have, in my entire life, averted my aim from a fish because he was too big. I instead shot a 40 lb one and horsed him to the surface. If it was now, with my sponsorships and total disregard for GR’s equipment, I’d have shot it and dealt with it later.
That fish will haunt me.

Sebastian shows us how its done. There are many more big ones down there book with him and he’ll make ti happen. That big boy is still there.

The most recent email train about this I got was from the current WR holder for Yellowfin Tuna and some of his friends had some great quotes for it. Feel free to add your own.

“I said shoot the WRASSE!”

“I told you that guy was a crack shot”

and the one that I am sick of hearing for the 100th time,

“What a pain in the ass”

World Record Colorado Snapper Sebastian Melani

Colorado Snapper Punta Mita Mexico

Hola Cam, check the photo of this Colorado Snapper I shot today, its a new world record! It weighed 34.6 lbs on my certified scale and the current record was 28lbs, I sending all the paperwork to register the record tomorrow, just wanted to share this with you.

Here we call them “Listoncillos” , small teeth and normally a 15 pounder will be a great fish, however this one looked like a cubera when I saw it underwater. I have everything on video with the Gopro2 , is awesome, will edited and pass it over. Ohh man love shooting snappers!! Gracias amigo,

Cbass

A wise man once told me, if they are endangered, it must mean they taste good. So, how did he taste is my question?

From Ryan:

I caught this luderick on Sunday at Swansea NSW

My Luderick has been confirmed as a Xanthic Luderick by the Australian Museum and NSW Fisheries.

It is the most northerly caught Xanthic Luderick and 1 of only 3 caught in Australia.

Fish i caught at swansea nsw Australia on sunday

My Luderick has been confirmed as a Xanthic Luderick by the Australian Museum and NSW Fisheries.

The Australian Museum is going to add it to their collection as it is the most northerly caught Xanthic Luderick and 1 of only 3 caught in Australia.

Listed Below is links to the 2 other catches

http://australianmuseum.net.au/image/Xanthic-Luderick/

http://australianmuseum.net.au/image/Xanthic-Luderick-from-Currarong/ — at Spear & Fish Downunder.

Regards
Ryan Baker

AJ and Sharreiff

Mark

Steele Slaughter

(May 4 – 6)

It’s good to see so many people on the water after a rainy start to grouper season. While the viz inshore was a little milky and a tad bit murky, the viz at the reef was clear for the most part and on Sunday was as perfect as can be. I was able to dive Saturday with Aj Hally and also got reports from Steel Rockett who basically killed every fish in the gulf, Nelson Morales, Danny Grames and Mark Jachelski to name a few.

Here is their stories after a great weekend in their own words !

First up is Steel Rockett who went on a trip to the Gulf Sunday with his father the great George Rockett .

Sharrieff: Hey Steel good job out there, tell about your Gulf trip this weekend !!

Steele Rockett: Well about 60 ft with 4 to 5 ft vis and bulls everywhere. After all u was at the gunbor and as stupid as It is I freedove it as well, shot a cobe off the back of a bull and it turned around and grabbed it and almost drowned my ass even though I had a reel. It was crazy, went tanking after the current got too much and shot some nice hogs and some 5, 6 lb mangroves on the first dive.

The second one I shot a vibe as soon as I got down with my metal tech in my left arm and as it took off I caught a cubera with my Magnum in my right arm, ha you shouldve seen the bulls, if you could that was but I just kicked em off and fixed up the guns and ended up shootin some more decent fish. The last dive I went down with my riffe polespear and Wong magnum, first time truly using the polespear too. I went down and whacked an average sized mangrove with it and went off using it without the Wong and ended up shooting 3 hogs and 4 mangroves, one hog was over 5 lbs so it wasn’t bad.
That’s pretty much it it should’ve been better out there.

Aj Hally

On Saturday May 5, 2012 I got to dive with Aj Hally this weekend and let’s just say this kid has my upmost respect not only towards him as a person but the way he dives. We went out to the reef off of American Shoals and must have dove about 8 different spots ranging in depths from 20 feet all the way to 65 feet. I saved all the deep stuff for him and watched him from the top in awe as he was like a human with gills. I managed to shoot a few 4-5 lbs mangroves that Aj had pointed out and watched him slay two fat groupers and a beautiful mutton with his Wong 55 Hybrid. The water was pretty clear at the reef for the most part but on our last dive it got a little murky, it was also a little chilly as you got deeper but overall it was nice. We ended up with a cooler made up of 3 black grouper, 3 mangroves, 2 muttons, and a yellow jack, not bad for a day out on the water. On a side note the whole working as a team aspect of diving is lost in the younger generation. People make it a competition which kind of takes the fun out of just getting out there and slaying. With Aj I experienced not just team work but seen a person who was willing to give up a shot on big fish so his friend could shoot it. You don’t see that stuff no more and it really meant a lot to me, he is a team person and will put other people before himself, He isn’t cocky he doesn’t act like he is the best diver in the keys, he is more humble and friendly and just makes others feel good about themselves. To know you’re a hell of a diver and that people look up to you, but to remain humble and not get full of yourself makes me respect this kid even more. Take notes from AJ people !!!

* Also getting out there this weekend was Mark Jachelski with his buddy Lee Zangrillo here is his story in his own words about his dive

Mark Jachelski:

First we hit up the reef edge at 90ft and only scored one grouper and hog off of it so we decided to go to a wreck in 110ft. Thats where the 25lb black and 13lb cubera were shot. The viz wasn’t that bad. I’d say about 30ft in both areas. Plenty of yellowtail at the reef edge. The wreck held a school of about 100 small amberjack (I’d say 5-10lbs). There was a school of cubera there but we could only pick off one before they took shelter in the wreck. Also, seen a nice pack of permit there aswell.

* Danny Grames as well kept me up to date on his diving adventure from Friday

“I went diving today off islamorada started off in 60ft only shot 2 mutton and a hog went into 45ft and shot 2 black and 2 red grouper, visibility got way better from tuesday its like 55 ft vis now”
Good job Danny and thanks for the update !

* Also Nelson Morales with his buddy Richard Rodriguez dove off of Key West, Fl inshore in murky waters managing to shoot 4 nice sized Hogs, 4 Mangroves including one fatty, and a Red Grouper awesome job you guys an keep me updated. Richard and Nelson are part of the younger generation of up and coming divers ready to make a name for themselves in the florida keys.

Final Words –

Im glad the weather got to lay down enough for everyone to have a chance at slaying some fish this last weekend. It means a lot to me that everyone is taking time out there day and giving me reports and pics on their dives. Let’s keep it going and show the world that diving the Florida Keys is true beauty in itself and that we should take some time out and really appreciate our surroundings. Remember diving isn’t just a hobby but a way of life, lets be respectful of others and partner up while doing it! Stay safe on the waters this week , much love and respect to all !!

Sharrieff Vicnent

25-knot winds… Who cares?

Woke up early this morning ready to kill some more fish with my friends James Simcic, Tyler Roussin and our out-of-town friend Mark, who hasn’t speared out of the Keys much. Checked Sombrero lighthouse conditions online in the morning and saw it was blowing 23-26 knots and decided to go out anyway.

We were stoked to get out there and shoot some more fish after yesterday. Got the boat loaded up with gear, guns, chum, gas and ice and headed due south to find some decent visibility. After a rough ride out we were on the edge of the reef with 3-5ft waves and bad visibility all around us. We managed to find a patch of some decent blue/green water in 100ft of water. Anchored up and started chumming to bring up some life. In a couple of minutes we had some spadefish, jacks, yellowtail and barracudas in our chum slick so Tyler and I slipped in the water to check it out.

Black gagging

Not much was happening at first so James and Mark decided to go down on tanks to check out the bottom. Marks biggest black grouper before today was right around legal size so our goal for the day was to get him a nice black grouper. After 10 minutes of being on the bottom, James and Mark both came up with 30-35lb blacks and had big smiles on their faces. They said there were more that size too that they could have shot, but they already had their limit.

After freediving for 30 minutes or so Tyler and I managed to shoot two AJs around 30lbs each. I also shot a Kingfish around 30lbs that took out 100ft of my reel line and got swarmed by Barracudas and they bit right through my mono and lost my shaft. We saw numerous blacks from 15-40lbs swim up off the bottom to 60-70ft to eat our chum and bolt back to the bottom. I managed to slide down to around 60ft and got a shot on a 15lb black and we all decided to call it a day.

-Jeremy Foell

“Saw a White Shark and a Tiger today, and had a Bull and a Sandbar come inr… The White was amazing….”

Cameron: ‘Whaaaaaaaat!?!?! Where?’

“18miles due east of Mayport Jetties.”

C: Fark. How big?

“12-15ft, only 2nd one I have ever been that close to. They are so wide!”

C: Holyshit

“I dropped right down on it, thought it was a huge jewfish, from the width, then as it got closer could see it was swimming like a shark, got a little closer saw the tail… Got scared and curious… Got closer and on the same level it turned, saw the nose and the eye and the pec fins. They are so different from other sharks, always so calm whenever you see them…”

C: And then you went to the surface? Can I post that on Spearblog?

“I started to then realized I was being a pussy, swam the barge out, but for some reason… didn’t get any grouper, vis was like 20′ in there but a lot better offshore, the sharks are in the cooler dirty water, but so are the grouper….”

So there you have it. To get grouper in Florida, you now have to deal with not only the Bulls, Sandbar, Tigers, Hammerheads, and Jewfish… Great Whites are here to stay and have the appetite for more grouper than you and I can ever eat.

Every year guys get a few pictures of one or two out here and with the closures on killing sharks throughout the world you are only going to see more. We’ve been lucky enough so far not to have any Great White attacks on the East Coast of the USA for a long long time but with the frequency of encounters in the past few years….

First Day of Grouper Season’

Bad weather and rough seas was NOT the way Grouper Season was supposed to start! Most people weren’t even thinking about hitting the water this day, hell I only found a few including my self lol !

Staying more near shore off of Big Pine Key decided to try my luck finding a Grouper at the coral heads off of Little Palm. It was raining, the water was murky but once you dove a few feet you could make out the coral head underneath, despite the bad weather conditions and NO boats in site I still managed to shoot a nice Gag who while my friend Jared Mickelson shot a red and a nice black !

Jared Mickelson with a nice red and a big black to start off grouper season

Black on Black on Black

Jeremy Foell from Marathon, FL with his buddies James, Nathan, and Tyler upped the ante and went all the way to the reef in these extreme conditions. While most people would chicken out in winds blowing 25 knots in 3 – 5 seas it was all the more reason for them to get out there and handle business like a boss! Jeremy “stoned” a fat mutton and picked up a nice black diving in 65 feet of water ! Not only did we’re they successful but they managed to all slay and come home with cooler full of Grouper and mutton!! Not a bad way to start of Grouper season!

Jeremy Foell with a nice Lower Keys pair. Grouper and mutton on opening day

To be honest nobody really dove yesterday, that weather got the best of a lot of people, what a bummer I talked to a few people and they had plans of getting out there this weekend once all this weather lays down . But you gotta give props to Jeremy and his friends for getting out there and being one of the only people besides us on that water yesterday, the weather was NO joke !
Sharreiff

Solid day anywhere. Jeremy Foell and his guys mixed grouper bag with SpearCrazy