Posted on 09/11/2006 10:23:04 PM PDT by stainlessbanner
MIAMI (Reuters) - A Florida diver shot a large grouper with a spear gun then apparently drowned when the fish sped into a hole, entangling the man in the line attached to the spear, investigators said on Monday.
The 42-year-old man, whose name was withheld, was free-diving in about 25 feet (7.5 metres) of water off the lower Florida Keys on Saturday and speared a Goliath Grouper, Monroe County Sheriff's Detective Mark Coleman said.
"It looks like the fish wrapped the line attached to the spear around the victim's wrist. The fish then went into a hole in a coral rock, effectively pinning the man to the bottom of the ocean," Coleman said in a news release.
Police divers found the speared fish tightly wedged into the hole, with the man's body still tangled in the line, a sheriff's spokeswoman said.
Goliath Grouper are the largest members of the sea bass family and can weigh hundreds of pounds.
What did you think... your on the menu?
I was just learning to dive and I had not seen anything bigger than me in the Pacific Ocean. Worst thing I'd witnessed was a school of cuda cruisin' by ... all teeth. And yea, it did occur to me as I retrieved my mouthpiece that I might be swallowable by that big dude. They open their mouths very wide every so often, I suppose to rush extra water over their gills ... but man that is one gapping maw!
Sounds fair to me.
Exactly!
The original concept of "sport" was a contest where there was some mortal risk involved,such as jousting or hunting of potential man-eaters with just a bow and arrow.
Hence Hemingway's quote "there are only three sports, Motor racing, bull fighting and mountaineering - everything else is just a game".
They've got the same belly.
As the saying goes, "When you need a knife, you REALLY need a knife."
You know how they say you start looking like your pet after a while?
Crikey!!!
I hate to correct you, but the name was not changed out of political correctness. It was changed because Muslims kept swimming down with explosive belts and blowing themselves up along with the fish. It was damaging the coral and putting a dent in the population numbers. The name change was a Democratic Party plan to appease Muslim fisherman who only wanted to rid themselves of the Zionist monopoly of the reefs.
Well put.
goliath grouper vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umHPAO1V_tg
The good news is that they both beat anorexia.
My husband and son spearfish by free diving quite often. Here are the rules:
Spearing
Spearing is defined as "the catching or taking of a fish by bowhunting, gigging, spearfishing, or any device used to capture a fish by piercing its body. Spearing does not include the catching or taking of a fish by a hook with hook and line gear or by snagging (snatch hooking)". The use of powerheads, bangsticks, and rebreathers remains prohibited. The following is a list of species which are prohibited for harvest by spearing. Any other species not listed which are managed by the Commission, and those not managed by the Commission are allowed to be harvested by spearing:
Billfish (all species), Bonefish, Nassau Grouper, Pompano, Spotted Eagle Ray, Tarpon, Spotted Seatrout, African Pompano, Sturgeon, Goliath Grouper, Red Drum, Permit , Manta Ray, Snook, Weakfish, Tripletail, Sharks, Blue Crab, Stone Crab, Lobster. Also: Families of ornamental reef fish (surgeonfish, trumpetfish, angelfish, butterflyfish, porcupinefish, cornetfish, squirrelfish, trunkfish, damselfish, parrotfish, pipefish, seahorse, puffers, triggerfish except gray and ocean)
You May NOT Spearfish (excluding bowhunting and gigging):
-- Effective July 1, 2001, Spearfishing of marine and freshwater species in freshwater is prohibited. Possesion of a spear gun in or on freshwater is also prohibited.
-- Within 100 yards of a public swimming beach, any commercial or public fishing pier, or any part of a bridge from which public fishing is allowed.
-- Within 100 feet of any part of a jetty that is above the surface of the sea--except for the last 500 yards of a jetty that extends more than 1,500 yards from the shoreline.
-- In Collier County and in Monroe County from Long Key north to the Dade County line.
-- For any fish for which spearing is expressly prohibited by law.
-- In any body of water under the jurisdiction of the Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Recreation and Parks. (Possession of spearfishing equipment is prohibited in these areas, unless it is unloaded and properly stored.) Fishermen who catch and/or sell fish harvested by spearing are subject to the same rules and limitations that other fishermen in the state are required to follow.
http://www.floridasportsman.com/regs/
September 11, 2006 - the day the fish fought back.
I am pretty surew that it is illegal to catch them also.
In the case of this guy, he still should of had time to cut his line. Maybe he had no knife which illustrates why it is important to always carry a knife strapped to the leg.
The BEST spearfishing is in the kelp beds just off of Malibu. I used to go out there almost daily. You had to be there at daybreak because that when the sea was calm. Sometimes not even then. By noon, there was too much turbulence to see anything. On a typical day, I would spear about a dozen of a variety of fish including rockfish, perch, calico bass, etc..
Holy Mackerel!!!
When people write stuff like this, I feel sad.
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