Los Pistoleros on Hunting Atractoscion Nobilis, By Joe Acevedo

Los Pistoleros on Hunting Atractoscion Nobilis
By Joe Acevedo .
　
　
Nearly every spear fisherman at one time or another, and certainly free divers in Southern California, look forward to early spring which signals the start of another crazy, frustrating or possibly epic time of the year. The coming of spring marks the return of a special coveted pelagic fish to the Southern California coastlines. This mysterious fish is best known as "The Ghost". I would like to share my thoughts and insights on what I believe are some productive techniques on hunting the most prized game fish in California, also known as the California White Sea Bass. These thoughts are compiled from a collective of spear fisherman that come from all walks of life, with one common bond - our obsession and love for hunting White Sea Bass. The following article is offered with the hope it will be a great way for the novice spear fisherman to improve his game.


Understanding your prey and their behavior
Discover and study the Basics. There are many great resources available to learn about the fish you hunt. Talk with the guys at Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute or PIER for the latest and accurate research and findings. These guys are at the frontline of research, and they are very open with sharing information about White Sea Bass (WSB). Although they can only offer you information on how these fish behave in an “artificial environment“, much of their facts and observations are still quite valuable for spear fishermen. As an example, asking what water temperature or light cycle is used to artificially induce a spawn, can correlate directly to what conditions you look for to maximize your chances of diving when the WSB are in spawn mode. Pay attention to the little stuff, these valuable nuggets and tidbits, once compiled and placed in your bag of tricks, really increase the likelihood of placing you in the right spot at the right time.


Think vertically. Depending on the time of the year, different depths have a direct effect on WSB. Early in the season the fish tend to be higher in the water column, spending much of their time between the surface to 15ft below. During mid-summer, when the fish are between spawning periods, you will most likely find the fish between 20-30’ deep in large schooling groups. Developing a keen sensitivity to seasonal time, water temperatures, and thermocline gradients will be prove invaluable when it comes to searching your "kit" of knowledge for where to hunt on a particular day.

　
　
　
　


Tides the ups and downs
. We dive like gypsy's searching up and down the coast. Dedicated spear fishermen search from as far south as San Quintin on the Pacific side of Baja up to Point Conception in California. One thing is clear and consistent, each kelp bed responds to tides and current differently. A kelp bed’s character changes, often drastically in size, health and density from year to year. To understand the long term characteristics of particular kelp bed, you need to take notes, extensive notes, and key in on what tide is working to produce fish activity at your favorite local bed.

Understanding the 4 Phases of the Spawn.
If you dive the same kelp bed throughout the year, you will begin to notice different WSB behavior's coinciding with different periods of the fish’s spawn cycle. These are natural cycles, and will repeat themselves in a given area without drastic changes, physically or environmentally.
•The First Phase is the pre-spawn feeding. This phenomenon happens around the time when the squid start to float. WSB will group in huge schools comprising of 20-50 fish at a time, and often the prepared and knowledgeable diver will be rewarded with the miraculous sight of a massive wall of fish running outside the kelp line.
•The Second phase is when you find the fish very high up in the water column. After gorging on squid or forage fish, the WSB will be full and bloated, sleeping on the surface, nearly oblivious to the fluid movements of an experienced stalking free diver.
•The Third phase
is when the fish occupy the mid-water column. Buzzing along at all depths, for the most part, these fish will take little notice to your presence.
•The Fourth phase is when you will find the larger females, aka 'tankers' swimming on the bottom, so close they lift silt and sediment with their tails ,in groups of 3-4, swimming up current in front of the main kelp. It is my belief this behavior is a result of the females releasing their eggs.


Equipment

Euro Guns. It is my opinion that in the right hands, the Euro gun is suitable for hunting WSB; however, since the “euro” is underpowered compared to the US Mid Handle, you are utilizing an instrument with more finite parameters to ensure a successful shot. It is not unusual to find yourself passing on many shots that you would have been confident to strike and land with a custom WSB gun. A light euro has the minimal weight and bulk advantage that will allow you to dive deeper and longer, utilizing less CO2, and generally, being more fluid in the water. The trade off of quickness vs shaft punch is of paramount importance when considering which spear gun style you want to use.


　
　
　
California Wood guns
. Southern California is the home of many premium custom gun builders. The So-Cal gun is represented by a stout 3-4 band gun 50”-63’’ long. This style of gun represents a big and powerful WSB gun and at times a pain in the ass to load and dive with. The magic happens when the moment comes to let your shaft fly on that big 50lb fish, you know with great confidence and without a doubt, that WSB in your sights is as good as dead. If Dirty Harry was a spearo, he'd have an enclosed track, multi-band, wood or wood stock hybrid gun, as he purred out the words "well, are you...punk!"

　
Stand Up Paddleboard, Stable Kayak or Canoe

This is probably the most important piece of equipment in the compendium of hunting gear. These on-the-water transport options have helped me find spots that produce throughout the year. Early in the year, "pre-spawn" ,I'll take my Paddleboard on the boat to launch as a recon craft and look for kelp that “looks right” ie kelp that’s loaded with fin bait in the sparse outside stringers and deep in the kelp rooms. Later in the year, when the WSB are beginning to spawn, I will actually see WSB on the surface from my Paddleboard. Standing high on a paddleboard sight-fishing is a lot of fun, and if you can stay calm enough the fish may even follow you ... it's happened to me twice. Along with the advantages of your early season recon, the paddleboard also affords you the chance to get away from your boat and the noisy anchor or your loud dive buddies, and just cover more ground until you see fish or find that certain kelp that just feels right.
　

Utility floats
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I dive with two utility floats; a trusty Riffe with a CO2 cartridge inflator, and a cheap Trident manual valve inflation float (the Diver Alert type). I carry the Trident on my person so that it is easily accessible and the CO2 float on my gun. In either an emergency situation or immediately when a fish ties up on or near the bottom, I switch them out and attach the Trident to the back of the gun and begin to locate my prize on the bottom. Once the fish is located, I attach the CO2 float to the slip tip and pull the rip cord. Often, this extra floatation alone will be enough to lift the fish to the surface. In other scenarios, it might require a simple dive under the fish and with two to three cuts through the kelp, the elevator will be on the way up. Another technique that is gaining favor is after attaching and deploying the CO2 float, you cut or detach the shooting line. The caveat being the fish is strung on the slip tip line between the shaft and tip.

　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
Hunting Your Prey

Approaching the kelp to me this is the single most important part of the hunt. I have heard several times kayak fisherman from the La Jolla Mafia (a group of kayak fisherman that fish WSB year round) relate stories of having 10-20 BIG fat spawning fish all on the surface, lazy, just chilling out, fining the surface. Along comes a boat of Free divers, anchoring 100-200 yards away and when the anchor hits the water, BOOM BOOM BOOM the beautiful fish are gone, just a memory now due to the loud alert of the anchor dropping or divers splashing. It's my sincere belief that after being pursued by divers for the past three decades, these fish have begun to adapt their behavior to our behavior. To further evolve this learned behavior, we, as a hunting collective, must find ways to improve our technique’s as the fish become wiser. When we approach the kelp, the emphasis should always be to enter the kelp in a quiet, calm, and relaxed manner. The added techniques of anchoring down current from where we intend to dive, will place fewer fish on alert that we are in the area, and tend not to spook the school or individual fish.

　
　
　
Approaching your prey
. There are several ways to take WSB, I won’t go into the sporting or ethical arguments here just cover the facts as I see them.

From the surface:. Even though this might look to the novice diver as an easy, certain shot, there are just too many things that can go wrong - bouncing up and down in the surface swell. As in rifle shots, downward spear gun angles can present several difficult angles and trajectory calculations to consider, especially with a fish swimming in an "S" pattern.

From below:. This is my favorite way to approach the fish because they cannot sense you from that direction. The only down side to this manner of closing the distance, is that the best shot angle doesn't always present itself, although the fish will usually be nicely silhouetted from surface light.

At Depth in mid-column:. This is by far the best way to take your shot with the fish offering you the biggest broadside target, and level sight picture angle.



Advanced Techniques

Keep your legs under water – minimize any splashing. I wear a 1.5lb ankle weights on each leg. The additional weight, with very soft carbon fins and a slow kick cadence enhances the fluid nature of moving through water. Above all, never make jerking movements which are certain to alert fish, and also results in difficulty getting relaxed during a dive session.

Quit Aiming. I know this sounds absurd, crazy, and some may scream "irresponsible"; however, the moment I stopped concentrating on aiming, I stopped missing fish. When the opportunity presents itself, and I decide to take a fish, I simply and casually never aim. During this surreal moment as time stands still and the shaft flies out of the gun, there is a Zen-like sense of everything coming together. The Flamenco Music community has a term of art for this indescribable condition of perfection, "acompas". When I think back about recent hunts, I cannot remember the moment the trigger was pulled, and the shaft released, it all happens contemporaneously with seeing the fish hit.

Avoid shooting the first fish you see.
I know this might sound crazy to some people, but after you have your first fish of the year this is definitely a good ethical hunting approach. A not-so-novel technique to consider trying is to allow the first few fish you see to casually swim away, as you make no aggressive or hostile moves or thoughts manifested by those long stares towards the fish. Your peacefulness will signal to that fish and its partners, that you are no more than a tourist in their world. The organic tension between you and the fish will become comfortable and they will then be much more likely to tolerate your presence. Often times, you will be rewarded by seeing bigger fish then the first fish you encountered.

　
　
　
　
　
Gathering Data and Keeping a Log.

We log everything which may have any correlation to finding and landing a fish, including each other’s catch’s. This is where it pays to be savvy and quite curious when your buddy sends you a text message with an image of a Pig WSB. This is no time to be bashful and timid, grill his ass until it has stripes on it! Get all the info you can out of him, such as, what time did you see the fish, how many were seen, what was the visibility like, which direction was the current running, what was the temp, etc., etc. As you compile information, be fastidious in adding this material to your Log/Tide book. At first glance, this data may appear like it makes no sense and is a huge waste of time, but trust me, at the end of the year when you add it all up, you will really understand it was worth the effort. Most importantly, you will be well on your way to understanding your quarry.


Random Thoughts and Observations.
WSB are not curious creatures, and will not swim in to check you out like a Dorado or Yellowtail. If we dive calmly they tolerate our presence, simple as that. When the water is clear we are at the advantage, and when the water is dirty we are in their world, and they can use their croaking and lateral lines to sense us.

Know what Signs are Meaningful,
A common mistake I've seen from many avid divers is not knowing what to look for. If you're “looking” or "listening", you're not doing it right. A good hunter must learn to feel when the fish are in. This skill is something one can only learn with time. For instance, if you don’t see bait in a kelp bed - don’t worry, it makes no difference whatsoever. Remember we are not talking about some hungry tuna constantly feeding; it's about focusing the idea about a lazy almost prehistoric type of fish. When we encounter these fish they're either having sex, about to have sex, or just finished having sex. Those that listen for croaking like the classic Buuuurp … Buuu.rrr…rrp are listing for the wrong thing, this series of sounds mean nothing. However every so often, if you're in the right zone, the fish will let you know they're in full Spawn by making a noise that you can't really hear - but you can feel the sonic sensation. Some knowledgeable divers say the sound is similar to chickens clucking, some an outboard motor idling. No matter which description of the sound you feel suits you, when you key into this sound vibration, you will know it's time to get ready for action.

Now that you have an excellent primer for understanding WSB behavior, I wish the reader the safest of dive sessions and great success in what you seek out of our great sport of Freediving. I want to thank my club members and Dive Mentor Maurizio Mangini for passing down their knowledge that I am sharing with you today.

                                                      VIVA LOS PISTOLEROS