| Tassos Argyros | |
| Hi Daryl,
I was down in NC last weekend. We went spear fishing on frying pan shoals. It was my first time there. On the second day of the trip, I was the first one to dive on the tower. As I descended down to about 30 ft. I saw two large fish below. They looked like two big gag groupers. I slowly kick twice in there direction and the started to move off. I froze and saw that one of them was about to swim under some metal structure. As soon as his head was out of site, I made my move toward the opposite side were the fish would come out. As soon as he cleared the structure, I squeezed off the shot. The shaft rocketed forward and found it's mark. The fish immediately took off and wrapped itself around a couple pieces of structure. I followed it as fast as I could. I caught a glimpse of the fish before I surfaced and realized that it was a Cubera. As I broke the surface I screamed to the boat for my nor'easter. Luckily, my buddy Dave was near by and quickly dropped down and shot it again with his 60" Wong. A Cubera was definitely on my list of fish that I wanted to shoot, but I was surprised to find one. Fortunately I had the 55" magnum that you made for me a couple years ago. It allowed me to make a longer shot than I normally take. As skittish as these fish were, it definitely made a difference. Thanks for making great spearguns, Tassos P.S. Let me know the next time that you are on the east coast. Hi Daryl, Here is the story of the cobia and some pictures. We we're fishing a new shallow wreck. There was about 12ft of vis. I made about a half dozen dives and shot a nice tog. It took off out of site and then I felt the line go limp. although I hate to lose fish off the shaft, this time I was hoping that that is what happened. But as I began pulling in the line, my fears we're confirmed. The mono had chafed and broke. I dropped back down and did not see my shaft anywhere. I swam back to the boat, disappointed that my day was probably over. I got back to the boat and one of my buddy's had a spear pole that I decided to use. I made a few drops and shot a tog. On the fourth or fifth dive, the bottom came into view and there it was my shaft shining in the light. I swam back to the boat and my buddy tied it on with a fisherman's not because I did not have a crimp with me. I was back in action. I made couple more uneventful drops and on the next drop, I was on my way down at bout and at about 10ft. I looked over and the saw a big brown head coming up toward me. I turned the gun and waited the fish turned closed within five feet and turned. As soon as it turned, I pulled the trigger and nailed it on the very back part of the gill plate. The fish swam off out of site, not knowing that my Nor'easter, loaded with only two bands had just sent the shaft completely through it's thick body. The fight was on, and this fish was not hurt at all. I must have just missed the bone. I have learned the hard way about putting two much pressure on fish. The next thing that I thought of was the fisherman's knot. At first, I just held on the line and swam with the fish. After a few minutes I decided to try and drop down on him and stab him with my knife. Bad idea, as soon as the fish saw me it rocketed to the top of the water and I immediately released the line. I surfaced and was near the boat. I screamed to my buddy Cobia on. As long as your knot holds, we'll be eating good! I swam with the fish and eventually tried to drop down and stab him again. Bad idea again! This time the fish circled around me and took off. Luckily, I anticipated his move and as he wrapped the lined around me, I threw it over my head. I decided to put pressure on him from the surface and wait until he tired some more. Eventually, he did and I had my buddy drop down on him a finish him off with his new aim rite venom. We were all really excited. Before the trip, we had discussed the possibility of running into one, but we were not really expecting it because we are on the outer reaches of their range. Sorry this was so long. If I get of choice of colors on the hat, I'd like the black with white symbol on it. By the way, my list of fish that I want to shoot is way longer than yours. They took some pictures at the marina were I had it weighed and I had the gun in the picture, but they were blurry. I'll see if I can get a copy of them. Thanks, Tassos Argyros |  
|
  | |
  | |
::
,
,
