The first day of competition, game fish day, started just like stripper day finished – had a nice size stripper pull off on stripper day and an easy 10 lb. + drum pull off on game fish day. Probably the biggest drum I’d seen all week. From 8:00 am until noon it looked like luck had changed a little bit and I landed 2 drum a little over 10 lbs. each and my partner Wes Stewart had outdone that. Then it looked like luck was really going to change when I settled to the rocky bottom at 30 ft and a 15 lb. or better stripper came right straight in but then turned and went right straight out. I was thinking “oh no, back to my earlier luck!” But then luck changed once more, and the same fish turned dead broadside right at the edge of my visibility. So, I let it fly and luck changed yet again. I saw the white dot where the shaft went through about an inch below the fish’s dorsal fin. Horrible shot! I expected not to even feel a tug; surely the fish would tear off before it hit the end of my shooting line. But I was wrong, and my float line took out like a rocket. I let it go and started up. At about 10 ft as I was still going up, I met my overblown float going down. Now I was at the mercy of my float doing its job. I got to the surface and very shortly after my float reappeared. When I got to my float and grabbed my float line, I was disappointed but not surprised to find there was no tension at all and the fish had surely torn off. I started bringing the line in and suddenly it took out again. Down went the float. The fish made 8 or 10 more runs and did take the float down one more time. On several of the runs I was able to get the fish close enough to see it. During all the commotion I had tried to get Don Heskett, our boat handler, to get over to me with my spare gun. But the fish would make its most violent run when the boat got close. I knew with the poor shot and those violent runs that the risk of losing the fish was high, so I opted to flag the boat away and finesse the fish in without shooting it again. After 20 minutes that plan worked, and I was able to land the fish. Fish weighed in as largest stripper of the tournament at 33.5 lbs. My estimate of 15 lbs. was slightly off. A HUGE thanks to Mike McGuire and all of his terrific crew. It was a Fabulous event with the spearfishing
coming in second to seeing all the great competitors and friends.
