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Schools Are Back In Session By: John Tolmie Underwater Photos: Peter Correale
Freediving the briny waters off the coast of Connecticut and Rhode Island during the month of May is a challenging endeavor. The ocean is still cold and it’s a shocker when you jump in. Unlike my warm blooded body, the fish we are off to hunt are adapted to the cool salty water and are in a frenzied state ready to feed on the bountiful bait found in our nutrient rich waters. Massive schools of striped bass have traveled hundreds of miles and when they arrive they congregate along our reefs. Today these fat sleek scaly submarines would be our quarry. On a bright cold and crisp morning in late May we head south to the belly of Block Island in hopes of landing on a school of plump stripers. Three other divers and I have secured a trip with the New England’s premier captain aboard Spear-It Charters. Captain Dave Hochman has been freediving and spearfishing
the waters off the coasts of Connecticut and Rhode Island for over 35 years. There isn’t a reef, a wreck or a rock that Dave hasn’t touched in his years exploring the underwater world. This is the reason I charter with Dave. He’s also become a great friend and mentor over the years. He’s always training me at how I can better rig my gear and contributing pointers on how to better hunt each specific species of fish in his gruff yet jovial manner. “OK boys Get ready… yesterday there were huge schools of big scup on this reef.” Captain Dave shouts over the drone of the
motor, “And keep a lookout for schools of thirty pound bass. They were buzzing us yesterday in pods of three to four fish.” Dave is great at painting a picture of what to expect when we drop to the seaweed covered bottom. Right underneath us at fifty feet of water sits a rocky reef and the fish finder tells us that there are big fish circling its precipice. The tide is moving causing a substantial current coming from the east. The Captain cruises into the current to get us ahead of the reef. We will need time to get in the water, recheck our guns and do a breatheup. If timed just right we can dive down and land on the structure,
