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That’s A Lot Of Fish, Eh? By John Tolmie
I
got the call from Captain Dave, and he needed a first-mate to crew a group of Canadians for an off-shore spearfishing charter. Matt, Cary, Jeff, and Majdi had driven 800 kilometers (500 miles) from Ontario, and their friend, Oleksiy, a dive shop owner from Buffalo, had also made the trip. As the sun broke over the water, they arrived at Ninigret Landing Marina and loaded their gear on the boat. We headed off the coast of Block Island to dive the reefs at fifty-five feet of water. The Canadians wouldn't be using SCUBA to spear their fish. Today they would be freediving with only a mask, fins, and a snorkel. At the south end of the island, we found a pod of striped bass, and the divers got ready as I loaded their spearguns. We only sent two divers over the side as the boat traffic was heavy on a
busy Saturday. Simultaneously Cary and Majdi dove as I watched their long fins disappear beneath the turbulent surface. As first mate, my main goal is to keep the divers safe by keeping other boats away and waiting for them to surface. Cary broke the surface, and I could see his gun floating behind him. He had a nice striped bass that was giving him a fight! A few seconds later, Majdi popped up, and I could see he had a big bass as well. We motored over to Cary, and I brought his fish on board. I removed the spear-shaft, cut the right pectoral fin, and placed it in the cooler. Majdi swam to the boat, and I was stoked to see he landed his first forty-pounder of the year! While I dealt with Majdi's bass captain, Dave moved back into
position over the school of fish below. I loaded more spearguns, and we sent the next three divers over the side. Oleksiy, Jeff, and Matt disappeared into the deep for a breath-taking
