Sea Sniper Mag Vol 2.2 by Sea Sniper

Vol 2.2 A Digital Publication

a digital publication 2.2

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Team Welcome to Vol 2.2 of the Sea Sniper Digital Magazine. We hope that you have had an exciting summer – we have had a pretty remarkable run here on the California coast. If you haven’t heard, there has been a Blue Fin Tuna run through California waters like no one has seen before. If you haven’t heard, it must mean that you don’t have a smart phone, the internet or any access to social media. In a way, you would be blessed….you would not have the sleepless nights, the non-productive days at work, the 4am alarm for another day that just won’t be “your day”. But alas, you probably have social media and the internet since you are reading this, so we might as well warn you….there is more BFT mania within these pages. It has been great to see old customers dusting off their blue water guns without a Mexico trip on the horizon. It has been great to get new customers that are so excited for the opportunity of a lifetime. It was truly amazing to see people leave their guns at home to sign up for a demo trip, just to try a Sea Sniper gun for the first time….and even more exciting to see more than one person come back to port with a cow tuna on their first shot ever with a SSP model. Enjoy the pages to come…soak it up….remember your own, or keep dreaming about the possibility. Whatever you do….pray for a repeat next year!!!

Editor in chief

Development and design

Team Sea Sniper

Photographers

Chris Chaput Bryan Johnson

Sea Sniper 1054 Terminal Way San Carlos, CA 94070 650.610.8773

Chris Chaput Alex Reynaud Dave Rice Dennis Haussler Dam Nguyen Ken Okutake Roy McDennon Austin Derry Justin Baker

Chris Chaput Bryan Johnson Alex Reynaud Rob Brodman Dam Nguyen Alex Reynaud Dave Rice JP Castro Austin Derry Clark McNulty

Yamamoto 39 After meticulous testing and design, we are proud to introduce our full line of wetsuits. Built from Yamamoto 39 rubber with our own ergonomic fit, these suits offer the most flexibility and warmth for any diving conditions. Designed by Amadeo Bachar, each camo pattern is unique for specific habitats, so the colors and patterns allow you to blend in perfectly with your surroundings.

Ergonomically designed elbow and knee panels allow for maximum flexibility and fit, while our polyurethane dot pattern helps to provide protection for the neoprene in these high contact areas.

Our scope logo loading pad is the finishing touch and provides the extra padding needed to reload all day with no worries.

3mm Blue Camo - $380.00 - Yellowďż˝in Skeleton Design by Amadeo Bachar - Yamamoto 39 - 2 Piece High Waist design - Scope Logo Loading Pad - Ergonomic Knee & Elbow Panels - Durable Polyurethane Reinforcemant Panels

5mm Green Camo - $460.00 - Yellowtail Skeleton Design by Amadeo Bachar - Yamamoto 39 - 2 Piece Farmer John design - Scope Logo Loading Pad - Ergonomic Knee & Elbow Panels - Durable Polyurethane Reinforcemant Panels

Blue Dream by austin derry

ne of the draws to freedive spearfishing is that

the opportunity of the unknown is always lurking. When you are dealing with the ocean, there is always a slight chance of encountering something truly magnificent . . . . something that defines a lifetime of pursuit of the unknown.

Blue Dream by austin derry

n a place like California, you have to get used to the cold dirty

water, small reef fish and a mere handful of larger fish such as White Sea Bass, Yellowtail and Halibut. A trophy fish is anywhere from 30 to 60 pounds, while a true monster of these fish rarely exceeds 70 pounds.

California is not known as a land of giants! Even some of the best divers around will only take a few real trophy fish in a lifetime and that is just how it is here. You either learn to deal with it or rack up a hefty travel budget flying somewhere with more opportunities at a true monster . . . .

Austin Derry Pacific Bluefin Tuna

pearing any Tuna in California is a true accomplishment and the

thought of a local giant Bluefin . . . . well, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like winning the spearfishing lottery. As unrealistic as it is, optimism keeps the ever lingering thought at the back of my mind on every drop into the abyss. That possibility that maybe, just maybe, instead of another Yellowtail, one of these legendary pelagics might materialize out of the abyss. However, with the decades long state record tuna coming in at 98 pounds and taken 100 miles offshore many years ago, it was a bit of a stretch by any imagination to expect to have a chance at fish like that.

Blue Dream

ast year’s unprecedented El-Nino summer season offered a few lucky

individuals the chance to capitalize on a once-in-a-lifetime local trophy as groups of bluefin well over the triple -digit mark decided they

would make a very rare appearance in our waters. These trespassers

in our typically predictable offshore scene are what all CA fishermen

dream of. With just a small number of large bluefin showing, even the tiniest chance was enough to drive me to spend all my free time trying

to get one for myself. I would spend the next summer dedicating more time, energy and money that I imagined was possible for a fish . . . especially in my typically predictable own backyard.

Day after day we chased these fish, always being a day late or a few miles short.

After countless early wake ups, thousands of miles traveled both on and

off the water and dozens of days spent hoping that “Maybe today would be different than the rest”, each attempt would prove to be nothing but one failed attempt after another.

Loading pounds and pounds of blue water gear in and out of the boat and my truck each trip . . . only to come home empty handed . . . pull up

social media . . . and see guys lucking into a “fish-of-a-lifetime” with such ease . . . the agony of defeat really began to set in.

Blue Dream

s early fall dawned, I had still not had my shot at one and I had

to accept that it probably just was not going to happen. I had missed my chance at what surely must be a once-in-a-lifetime event. I would have to spend the winter tyring not to think about it, if that was even possible.

What happendd a few months later would set in motion an unprecedencted

series of events. The spring of 2016 was something no fisherman alive had ever seen. It was though the entire mass of bluefin in the pacific decided

to head over to CA and post up shop. Unlike the fickle fish the year before, they decided they wanted to stay and play this time.

On a day like so many before in late June, the stars aligned, hell froze over

and out of the abyss materialized a school of â&#x20AC;&#x153;cowâ&#x20AC;? bluefin. Seconds later I stuck a 225 pound bluefin . . . just an hour or so from my home port!

The pure exhilaration of landing this fish right in my own backyard was the highlight of my spearfishing career and something I thought was surely a freak event. But, it was just the beginning! These bluefin decided to stick around.

Blue Dream

ith the knowledge from mistakes and lessons learned in the past,

I was able to keep on these fish consistently throughout their stay. Each day was truly something new as the fish were constantly

demonstrating new behaviors, requiring us to adapt to stay on them. Some days it was as obvious as hundreds of birds diving on football field size schools of fish churning the water into a foamy white pulp. Sometimes

we were jumping in on the slightest signs of fish rippling or “puddling” as they barely break the surface with their fins.

Other times we would drop down on 200 plus pound fish milling 60 to

80 feet under a paddy. At times it would be as subtle as seeing a single bird hovering only, then jumping in to see endless acres of tuna flowing 40 to 100 feet below. The sheer volume of fish to be had was

absurd! However, constant thought and planning was required to find

where and what they would be doing on any particular day. Every time you thought you had it figured out, they would do something different. It was a processes of adapting and trying new things.

As the fish and their behavior change all the time, a network of friends is another invaluable tool to stay up to date with critical information.

Even as I site here writing this in the midst of the insane bluefin action continuing, I can safely bet the next time I head out, they will be doing something I haven’t seen before.

ou always have to be alert for the signs . . . . No matter how subtle

Blue Dream

he summer of 2016 has been the most insane, ridiculous, off-the-

charts spearfishing anyone has ever seen and I am lucky enough to have been successful this year after so much trial and error from the past.

I don’t know when the fish will leave, no one really does for sure, even

as the water has cooled to the low seventies. But like we must adapt to find them, the fish have seemed to adapt as well. Could this be the new normal?

We don’t know . . . but one thing we can count on is that spearos will continue to drive themselves crazy in search of these monsters.

You can bet as long as they are here I’ll be out there with my friends

spending as much time possible trying to get back on them either with the gun or camera.

These bluefin are the fish dreams are made of . . . it’s truly a beautiful time to be alive as a California spearo. by Austin Derry

the end . . .

O R P

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w e N Re ar H andl e 16 0 2 s n g i s e D

Rear Handle

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Rear Handle

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Rear Handle

Rear Handle Build Details: Mahogany & Red Balau Pearl White 110cm - $749.00 130cm - $789.00 150cm - $889.00 9/32nd Spear 2 - 5/8th Bands

Detailed View of Black Mamba

Rear Handle Build Details: Mahogany & Red Balau Black Mamba 110cm - $749.00 130cm - $789.00 150cm - $889.00 9/32nd Spear 2 - 5/8th Bands

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Shafts Sea Sniper Shafts Build Details: 17-4 Stainless Steel Polished Flopper & Threaded Proprietary Recessed Shark Fin Design American (Square) Notch Sizes & Pricing: 9/32nd (7mm) - Flopper or Threaded $95.00 - Spear Lengths Available (inches): 42 (75cm), 48 (90cm) 56 (110cm), 63 (130cm) & 72 (150cm)

5/16th (8mm) - Threaded $105.00 - Spear Lengths Available (inches): 57, 60 & 65

11/32nd (9mm) - Threaded $105.00 - Spear Lengths Available (inches): 67 & 69

3/8th (10mm) - Threaded $115.00 - Spear Lengths Available (inches): 69 & 72

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