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SpearBlog 2006

Written by: Bob Diaz
Category: SpearBlog 2006
Sat8Jul2006

July 8, 2006

Information
Bob Diaz | SpearBlog 2006 | July 08, 2006 | Print

Winds: 5-15 East
Seas: 3-5 feet
Surf Temp: 81 F
Viz: 5-10 feet
Today we headed out to the offshore patch reefs. It was a rough ride, and unfortunately the water didn't clear up for us at all. We dove in depths from 25-32 feet and we were able find some fish to shoot, but it wasn't an easy task. When we finally found them, we had to dive pretty much all the way to the bottom, just to find them. Then you had to take advantage and shoot what you saw or could chase in one breath. There wasn't any following the biggest one from the surface today!

The seas weren't much help today either. There were times the waves were easily in the 2-4 foot range. All that bobbing around along with the dirty water made for a couple of bouts with vertigo. Luckily, nothing we couldn't shake off. At least we got to go out and shoot some fish. Like I always say, no matter how bad it gets, it's still better than being at work!

Written by: Bob Diaz
Category: SpearBlog 2006
Mon17Jul2006

July 15-16, 2006

Information
Bob Diaz | SpearBlog 2006 | July 17, 2006 | Print

Winds: 10-20 East
Seas: 3-5 feet
Surf Temp: 84 F
Viz: 5-10 feet
Saturday was not too much fun. The seas were extra sloppy and the viz was not what I would like to see, even on the worst days. It didn't stop us from shooting our fill of mangroves, but it wasn't without it's effort. One of the spots we hit was only about 18-20 feet deep and we couldn't see the bottom much less the fish. We've gotten used to shooting in the low viz but its still difficult to do. You have to pick out the best of what you see on each drop and decide then and there if you're going to take it or take a pass and see what comes up on the next dive.

We had better luck on Sunday. Even though the weather was still disagreeable, the viz was much better at the spots we hit this day. These spots are a good 10 miles away from Saturday's spot, but luckily the clean water moved in a little closer to shore and we were able to dive in about 25 feet with a fairly clean view of the bottom. It sure makes it easier to hit them if you can see them first!

Written by: Bob Diaz
Category: SpearBlog 2006
Mon24Jul2006

July 22-23, 2006

Information
Bob Diaz | SpearBlog 2006 | July 24, 2006 | Print

Winds: 5-20 South
Seas: 3-5 feet
Surf Temp: 83 F
Viz: 5-10 feet
The weather pattern was almost identical to last weekend! Saturday was turbulent and dirty with winds picking up the seas to a steady 3-5 feet on Saturday. But Sunday was even cleaner than last week. Not only that, but the winds laid down and the seas were flat. Even my son was able to hang with us in the water for most of the day without taking in any water through his snorkel. All in all, Sunday was a beautiful day of both diving and spearfishing. We were able to not only bag our limit on the mangoes, but on Hogfish too! We haven't had an opportunity to do that much lately. It's nice when you just get to enjoy the scenery and shoot stuff!

Written by: Bob Diaz
Category: SpearBlog 2006
Fri28Jul2006

July 26-27, 2006 - Lobster Mini Season

Information
Bob Diaz | SpearBlog 2006 | July 28, 2006 | Print

Winds: 15-20 SouthWest
Seas: 5-6 feet
Surf Temp: 84 F
Viz: 20-25 feet
This year's mini season was a little different for us since we went down to the keys to find our bugs. We usually stay close to home to go bug hunting for these two days, but the last couple of years had been a little more than disappointing so we decided to shake it up a little. We did end up bagging our limit, but with the limit in Monroe county being half of the Dade limit, it sure didn't add up to much!

We didn't worry about it too much though... it was still a couple of very nice days of diving. Best of all, I took the days off whereas I usually do the dawn patrol diving and head off to work later in the afternoon on both days. This was definitely a nice change of pace :).

with the exception of one near incident with about a 34 cabin cruiser, it was fairly uneventful. People really need to pay special attention when they are driving their large yachts on days where a particularly large number of people are known to be in the water. I am no Captain Jack Sparrow, but even I know I can't go at high speeds when heading into the sun in the early morning. The sun itself in addition to the glare off the water pretty much blind you to anything in the water or near the waterline. If I hadn't actually driven the boat directly at him and cut the distance between him and my divers, I don't know if he would have veered or slowed down in time. I especially love it when they get upset with me until they realize that I have a diver down flag and people in the water. The respectable ones, sure do get red in the face, but that definitely isn't all of the boaters on the water.

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SpearViews

Bob Diaz - Monday, 26 July 2010 15:11

This year at The Blue Wild I was fortunate enough to meet Mike Hickey. I know of Mike from his appearances on Speargun Hunter on the Outdoor Channel with Sheri Daye. Mike was orginally a guest on the show and in later seasons participated as an underwater videographer. Mike is the USA distributor for FreeDivers ( FreeDivers USA ) spearfishing equipment. I came across his booth and after a great conversation about spearfishing, we started discussing the rising cost of spearshafts specifically....

SpearViews

Bob Diaz - Monday, 07 June 2010 08:53

This past weekend, I finally got to go to The Blue Wild dive expo. After 3 years of everybody telling me about it and not being around to get to go to it, the stars finally aligned and I was able to check it out. Unfortunately, it meant missing out on 5-10mph winds and less than 1' seas inside the reef, but there were other reasons I couldn't get out this weekend, so I figured I would take advantage to check it out and possibly win something from the raffle to boot (I won't keep you in...

SpearViews

Bob Diaz - Saturday, 28 September 2013 18:22

The summer had been busier than I would have liked this year and I honestly hadn't had as many opportunities to post much less given much thought to writing a new SpearView, but after having time to really reconsider, I realized that I had actually had multiple opportunities to try out new equipment this year (not all of it successfully). Further to that point, when I took the PFI Freediver course back in March I had decided to invest in a new mask and ended up deciding on the Omer Zero Cubed...

SpearViews

Bob Diaz - Thursday, 20 April 2017 01:50

This review is actually long overdue as I've had this mask for well over a year now and I honestly don't know why I hadn't done it before now. After trying multiple masks over several years (and several hundred dollars), some were good (Mystic, Star, Nano), and some were bad (Zero Cubed). Before this, I had actually decided upon the Cressi Nano as "the one". I thoroughly enjoyed the fit and volume of the Nano, but there were a couple of VERY minor issues with the fit. I'm convinced that the...

SpearViews

Bob Diaz - Saturday, 30 January 2010 08:16

Throughout my relatively short history in spearfishing (as of this writing), I have only used a few different spearguns. Now obviously, my opinion in this matter is not one of extreme trial and error. Mostly it consists of recommendations made to me by those I spearfish with along with some of my own common sense. In the beginning (early 1990's), I used one of my brother-in-law's extra guns. Specifically, a 38" Arbalette. Now this gun had already seen finer days by the time I started using it....

SpearViews

Bob Diaz - Saturday, 30 January 2010 08:18

I finally bit the bullet and decided to sell my No-Ka-Oi. It had gotten next to no use in the time I had owned it and it seemed a shame to have it just sit there so I Ebay'd it. With the funds from that sale, I invested in a gun that is a little more multi-purpose (at least that is how I convinced myself to get it :). I was extremely torn among 3 choices. I was considering the Euro 120, 120x and 130. After a couple of weeks of deliberation and a lot of flip-flopping, I decided on the Euro 120....

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SpearBlog 2009

Bob Diaz - Sunday, 10 May 2009 01:00

Seas: 1-3 feet (rollers) Winds: 5-10 SSE Temp: 78 F Viz: 30-35 feet We got in late Friday night and did a little unloading and setup for our first full weekend before hitting the sack around 3am. I was up early anyway and started cleaning up and laying out some of the items that we stored all winter in the RV's storage compartments. My brother-in-law rolled in to the campground around 8:30a or so and we began laying out the astro turf (so nobody complains about how hard or rocky the ground is)...

SpearBlog 2009

Bob Diaz - Monday, 10 August 2009 01:00

Seas: 2-4 feet Winds: 10-20 SSE Temp: 84 F Viz: 3-50 feet We decided to get in the water for some bugs on opening day since we didn't do mini season last week (actually it was the 2nd year in a row that we don't do it). Little did we know what we were in for that opening day. We headed out early to try and beat some of the spot squatters that wait for day break on the water (because you're not allowed to night dive for lobsters in the keys). We were a little surprised by the lack of boats that...

SpearBlog 2009

Bob Diaz - Thursday, 09 July 2009 01:00

Seas: 1-2 feet Winds: 5-10 SSW Temp: 85 F Viz: 10 feet Today we headed out with the whole family (families) in tow because the seas have been so calm. We headed out around 10a with a plan to be back close to home in time for high slack tide. Our goal was to hit some offshore spots for snapper and hopefully head back closer to home for some hogfish and hopefully grouper. Unfortunately, I am sure we are all familiar with the best laid plans of mice and men and what happens to them. Anyway, we...

SpearBlog 2008

Bob Diaz - Monday, 26 May 2008 01:10

Winds: 5-10 SSE Seas: 1-2 feet Surf Temp: +/- 82F Viz: 20-25 feet The first full weekend of diving for the summer finally arrived and I was raring to go. We still had a little setup to do, but not enough to keep us from catching high tide. Unfortunately, while we were ready, the tide was not. The full moon (or waning full moon) was still wreaking havoc with the tide and its duration. We arrived at what we thought was the right time for the high tide only to end up swimming for an extra hour...

SpearBlog 2010

Bob Diaz - Tuesday, 10 August 2010 09:58

Seas: 1-2 feet Winds: 5-10 E/SE Viz: 35 feet Temp: 85 F So I head down a day early this weekend to take advantage of the opening day of lobster season (August 6 for those that don't know). The forecast called for 1-2' seas all weekend so we were hoping for some smooth sailing and clean water. Since the craze is usually so out of hand in the keys, our plan was to be on the water before sunrise so we could be on our first spot by the time there was enough light to see. The forecast didn't...

SpearBlog 2012

Bob Diaz - Wednesday, 01 August 2012 09:23

Seas: 1-3' Winds: 10-15 SSE Viz: 20-35' Temp: 86F (82F Thermocline @ 40') Well, it's been one of those years. The times we have calm seas, we get no viz. The times we have viz, the seas are rough or the fish are nowhere to be found. Saturday morning, with the entire family on board, we decided to head out West without hesitation hoping we could find more of some of the snappers we had found a few weeks ago (even though that wasn't even all that much). We had hit a few spots back then that had...