| Darren Impson | |
| Daryl,
I�m not sure if I ever emailed you this amazing story about your gun, but if not, I�m sure you will get a kick out of it. The following is a true story, believe it or not!! I have been an avid fisherman all of my life. I grew up freshwater bass fishing and flyfishing for trout in the Northeast. When I moved to Tampa, FL, in 2003 I quickly fell in love with saltwater fishing (inshore) and bought a flats boat. I went on a couple of offshore trips with some buddies, and of course, I sold my inshore boat and bought an offshore one. It didn�t take long to also get hooked on diving and spearfishing. At first I borrowed a friend�s spare Riffe, but my wife got wind that I needed my own gun and she started doing some research for my 30th birthday gift. My wife is the most thoughtful person I know and she believes in only purchasing the best things (of course). Her extensive research led her to you. After conversing with you via email, she bought the MG Special for my birthday gift. Needless to say I was ecstatic with this special gift! It was so beautiful that I hung it on my wall in our living room with some fish mounts. The first time I used it we were about 28 miles offshore of Tampa, scuba diving on an 8� ledge for Grouper and Hogfish in 85 feet of water. The first shot that I took was on a big Gag Grouper about 25 pounds. I hit him a little too far back and missed his head/spine. He took off under the ledge and I went scrambling after him. I grabbed him to try to subdue him. Meanwhile, not knowing I had let go of the gun, I was trying to get the spear through the entrance hole. The spear was on a line so I wasn�t too concerned about the gun at that point. Once I pulled the spear through, the fish started to go crazy. Somehow I let go of the spear and grabbed the fish with my other hand to get him on my stringer. After doing this I turned around to grab my spear and gun, but they were nowhere to be found. I looked up and all I saw were bubbles. Visibility was pretty bad and I scoured the area for my gun. Nothing. I decided to float back to the top, thinking the gun floated straight up. Nothing. When I got to the surface, I looked all around and still nothing. I got back in the boat and we circled around the spot, starting with small circles and eventually getting bigger. We looked for hours, but still no gun. A bad storm was coming our way and the swells started getting bigger. Bad lightning was approaching and my wife and her friend were with us on the boat. I knew that we needed to start heading back. I was beyond heartbroken. So that was it, my first and last time using my special gift. I felt so bad. If I had only put the band through my arm like I have done so many times with my friend�s gun. Weeks went by. I was about to order another one from you, when I received a call from a friend who is an avid spearfisherman. A while back I had told him what gun my wife had given me for my birthday gift. He told me that was the Porsche of guns- beautiful, accurate and powerful in one package. Anyway, he asked me if I had lost my gun. I thought this was rather odd as I did not tell him of my horrible trip. I thought maybe he had heard it from another friend. Of course I said �yes�. He asked me if it was a 55� gun. I said �yes�. He said that someone posted a �missing gun� add on spearboard.com and he knew the guy. I immediately looked at the posting and contacted the person who posted it. I described my gun and told him the story. It was my gun! This is where the story gets bizarre. 3 weeks had gone by since I lost my gun. The gentlemen that had my gun had purchased it for $300 from some commercial fishermen that found it floating in the middle of the gulf, approx. 35 miles offshore. The commercial fisherman that found it knew this guy who was an avid spearfisherman. He showed him the gun, which was in pristine condition, said he would take $300 for it, and the guy bought it (knowing the value of a Daryl Wong gun of this caliber). This gentleman took it home, but his conscience got the best of him. He knew that he would be very upset if he had lost this fine gun. He decided that he would post a message on spearboard.com and if someone claimed it (and gave the correct description), he would return it to its rightful owner (for $300 of course). What was really strange was how the commercial fishermen found it. They had heard a distress call around the 4th of July (2006) regarding a bad accident where a woman had drowned while scuba diving. They were pretty close to the location of the distress call and motored in that direction. When they arrived at the location (approx. 35 miles offshore), they stopped to see if they could assist. The woman had passed away and there was nothing they could do. They started motoring away and saw this speargun floating in the water. They asked the distressed boat if it belonged to any of them, but they declined. So, the y took it with them. Weird, huh? So, my Daryl Wong MG Special was lost at the bottom of the Gulf in 85 feet of water, 28 miles offshore and was somehow returned to me! Fate is such an amazing thing. Thanks again for your help. Talk to you soon. Please see attached pics of a recent trip last month in the Gulf off of Tampa. Aloha, Darren President Paul Davis Restoration, Tampa East | 
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