January definitely gave us some solid swell, and produced the kind of waves that make you want to do nothing but think about surfing. Tubes were abundant at most breaks, especially if you were in the mood to travel. But at the end of the month, the swell made it's way out. That equals clear water, and the returning itch to throw on the mask and snorkel, grab a speargun, and shoot some big fish.
I managed to team up for two go-outs with the same group of spearo’s. Captain Ryan Bombard, the owner of Agua Azul charters, is basically pro. He can dive to over one hundred feet of depth on one breath, and hang out submerged and stalking fish for around two minutes. That’s a tall order for anyone. The other members of the group included some of my neighbors, Jeff and Carla, Dixon and Angie, Eric Magaziner, Brian Bombard (Ryan’s younger brother), and Paige (her first trip free diving to my knowledge). Everyone was stoked to be on the water and the vibe was good.
The overwhelming majority of the fish that were harvested on these outings were snapper. Eric and Ryan both managed some major league cuberas while on a separate trip. One of Capt. Ryan’s actually topped out his 30kilo scale (see photos). Eric’s were also solid fish.
Schoolmaster and yellow snappers were also snagged several times on multiple trips. Wahoo were spotted everywhere, and Capt. Ryan lost one due to a severed float line. I had a few bruisers cruise in on me, but never managed to get off a shot, although I lined up on one. Eric Magaziner missed a shot at one as well. Wahoo are all over the reefs right now, but man are they hard to land.
Capt. Ryan along with myself, managed to pull in some decent sized Amber Jacks. Of course, Ryan couldn’t let me be the hero with a 26 pounder, so he went to deeper water and pulled one in that weighed somewhere around 40 pounds. Jerk. More snappers were also pulled in on this particular trip, and I missed a shot at a sierra mackerel, and spotted three others, along with some larger schools of Amber Jack.
The typical array of under water creatures were also at play. Spotted devil rays, morray’s, and lots of white tip and black tip sharks sleeping on the bottom and cruising in on speared fish on occasion. These sharks were all little guys and weren’t overly aggressive in any way, so they were just fun to look at. On one of my dives, I had spotted two larger objects in a murkier area and decided to dive down to see what they were, only to learn that they were two black tips chilling at the bottom. That’s a fun surprise when you’re 200+yards from the boat and alone. While there’s really no threat, it’s still kind of creepy.
Tables and freezers of the divers will be stocked with lots of fish this month! We’re all stoked, and I’m ready to go again next week. It also looks like Paige has been converted, and will be joining us for our future dives as well. Welcome to the tribe. Anyone coming down looking to do some diving or sport fishing is welcomed to contact us at info@surfingnosara.com, and we can team you up with Captain Ryan. Captain Ryan stays pretty well booked, so don’t wait until you get here to make the arrangements. Capt. Ryan fishes out of Garza on his 31ft. Fountain, running twin 150 Mercurys, allowing him to get to some lesser fished areas in little time. See you in the water!!
