tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28231997750142605332024-03-13T10:41:05.665-07:00Jon Schwartz's Blog: Fishing, Big Fish Photography, and TravelBig Fish News and Photos of Marlin, Tuna, Sharks, and Pelagic GamefishJon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823199775014260533.post-27226088868490447262019-08-12T03:29:00.001-07:002019-08-14T00:12:52.659-07:00College girls catch giant fish in Baja<div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOKqx8QXTqzjsEJRZfmSTDIOwPMgQarzx4uHKv3EoxYH4rBZ1LQacJUNE-n_swJzjD-L9AbFZD_ZqeS7l6fvAQYXTlC1xcKt_e6oB8_Xflgt6rStaVm2WNKq-tX1CP9SRTKAC7L5arr3A/s1600/Cubera.Snapper.Jon.Schwartz.4b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1060" data-original-width="1600" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOKqx8QXTqzjsEJRZfmSTDIOwPMgQarzx4uHKv3EoxYH4rBZ1LQacJUNE-n_swJzjD-L9AbFZD_ZqeS7l6fvAQYXTlC1xcKt_e6oB8_Xflgt6rStaVm2WNKq-tX1CP9SRTKAC7L5arr3A/s400/Cubera.Snapper.Jon.Schwartz.4b.jpg" title="Giant cubera snapper caught by Isabel Schwartz, Michaela Kasper, and Celeste Schwartz" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Isabel Schwartz, Michaela Kasper, and Celeste Schwartz with giant cubera snappers.</td></tr>
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Three college girls on a daddy-daughter fishing trip hit the jackpot when they caught a rare trio of giant cubera snapper and huge roosterfish. Since these anglers happen to be my daughters and a family friend, you can bet they made me proud!<br />
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I'm a part time freelance writer and photographer for fishing mags, but this trip to the East Cape of Baja was strictly for fun.<br />
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I didn't want to jinx the trip and tell the girls that we might score some trophy gamefish, so I tried to keep expectations low. Meanwhile I was dreaming that they'd battle big tuna, marlin, the exotic roosterfish, or the even rarer cubera snapper.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giant cubera snappers lying on the deck of the boat.</td></tr>
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We stayed at Rancho Leonero Resort in the East Cape of Baja on the Sea of Cortez, and chartered the fishing boat the Jen Wren III. I'd been to Leonero many times, and had even taken these daughters when they were four and six. It's far away from the hustle and bustle of Cabo San Lucas.</div>
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When we arrived, it was like stepping back in time. The smell of the palapa huts took me back to younger days in Baja when I caught mahi mahi and marlin from kayaks (videos <a href="https://youtu.be/ZyS4K4J-7N8" target="_blank">here</a> and<a href="https://youtu.be/Q8KNtyPbsSI" target="_blank"> here</a>)</div>
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Now 19 and 21, my daughters are grown women studying at college and we have fewer opportunities to spend time together, so I wanted to make this trip count.</div>
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The first morning we left the dock at 7:00 and bought bait from guys who filled their small pangas with water to hold bait fish called <i>caballitos.</i><br />
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We then went to the famous lighthouse at Punta Arena, the roosterfish capital of the world.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiZxZKpoUR3VPggaTogQGyjQc9IdgJQGNCCN3dF2kZDngne1wyMoPjITu1v_WjmugROMA7tlkUL7W0Ie4OfgdU9DAAIX-YlP7EUwLhCpss9ELM1lC_uOk5Wzp9Pj8vVJWGWvLAS4UH0iY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-08-13+at+12.29.51+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1316" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiZxZKpoUR3VPggaTogQGyjQc9IdgJQGNCCN3dF2kZDngne1wyMoPjITu1v_WjmugROMA7tlkUL7W0Ie4OfgdU9DAAIX-YlP7EUwLhCpss9ELM1lC_uOk5Wzp9Pj8vVJWGWvLAS4UH0iY/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-08-13+at+12.29.51+AM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
Roosterfish are super exotic fish named after their dorsal fins that look like, well, rooster feathers. You can see them here in a photo I took for Sportfishing Magazine.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdSM9HseprhdJVEQmKrCulfNYMK1v0bO_dQbaDur4yCHuGwI634mr2I0RavDdg4eUa_AQt1XLSsnq17RXxIzllHdMdpudSuYfCTrAo7giM_LS_va8io-HJYla0VC3vw3v_MVwaAiDf0W4/s1600/roosterfish.fishing.photo.jon.schwartz.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="1136" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdSM9HseprhdJVEQmKrCulfNYMK1v0bO_dQbaDur4yCHuGwI634mr2I0RavDdg4eUa_AQt1XLSsnq17RXxIzllHdMdpudSuYfCTrAo7giM_LS_va8io-HJYla0VC3vw3v_MVwaAiDf0W4/s320/roosterfish.fishing.photo.jon.schwartz.png" width="258" /></a></div>
Roosters are very finicky and hunt in packs; you can often see their dorsal fins break the water's surface as they cruise the beaches looking for sardines and mullet, their favorite prey. I'd caught some huge ones in the past on my kayak.<br />
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The girls insisted on holding the rods and hooking the fish themselves. Doing so with live bait takes practice, and as much as I wanted to give them the satisfaction of doing it without help, I admit I was a bit worried that a big fish would take the bait and they'd panic, try to set the hook too soon, and the fish would get spooked.</div>
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Mark Raynor, Jen Wren's owner, has onboard top quality aluminum reels made and graphite rods- ultra light and strong. They're tiny but can handle big fish. Loaded with thin, braided line that has no stretch, one can feel every twitch of the tail and head shake the fish makes, which can be very nerve wracking.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG56f4YYncI2pIc1rhyphenhyphen4M6b3f_dYiCPSuLEo1JTvF9P0-efhDgGFokVhqIUQWp-m0N6j-llDu8ApJjWdItuHgM4hTN_Pc09-BOYeZeLR8kHrSpTznAELKsAg4uEWUl2-ofElrfN_XJYZI/s1600/_CAB4891a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1043" data-original-width="1500" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG56f4YYncI2pIc1rhyphenhyphen4M6b3f_dYiCPSuLEo1JTvF9P0-efhDgGFokVhqIUQWp-m0N6j-llDu8ApJjWdItuHgM4hTN_Pc09-BOYeZeLR8kHrSpTznAELKsAg4uEWUl2-ofElrfN_XJYZI/s320/_CAB4891a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Captain Diego started a slow drift near the beach and mate Pollo the rigged a caballito by bridling it with a hook. This enabled the fish to swim around freely and attract larger predators.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjot1R9xNSbWzoFZ35_mblcxENQyWSHsjF3fLFmLerYHM5u_WsjehKs8KKxn_1dhGX-qROYpGA-4-nHa67RaFZoZwKihEa08rjY7uSZX3OeuiDUBHlSmw2y7nBJFB-z2XNsmWS69O3iH8Y/s1600/caballito.bait.fishing.photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="971" data-original-width="1600" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjot1R9xNSbWzoFZ35_mblcxENQyWSHsjF3fLFmLerYHM5u_WsjehKs8KKxn_1dhGX-qROYpGA-4-nHa67RaFZoZwKihEa08rjY7uSZX3OeuiDUBHlSmw2y7nBJFB-z2XNsmWS69O3iH8Y/s400/caballito.bait.fishing.photo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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As we're trolling three live baits, one of the girls' rod goes bendo and the reel starts screaming...it's a big fish! Our friend Michela Kasper takes the rod and the battle begins. She gets flustered when the fish takes back all the line that she's gained after ten minutes of battle, but she's about 5'11", and trains year round for college volleyball. One crank at a time, she gains back the line.</div>
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At some point in the fight I start thinking, what IS this? I've caught a lot of monsters right here, but this isn't fighting like a rooster, or a jack crevalle, or tuna. Its got more of a temper and keeps making desperate dives for the rocks, trying to break itself off. Captain Diego and his mate Pollo won't hazard a guess so we're all wondering what she's battling- and I'm scared something is going to go wrong. Maybe this fancy tackle will go bust! I've never used anything so tiny.<br />
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Finally, the fish comes to color. We can see the first glimpses of the fish's glow, but it's not white like a rooster, it's ORANGE and YELLOW and HUGE!! I start freaking out because I realize it's a trophy size cubera snapper- one of the few fish still on my bucket list.<br />
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Big cubera snappers, also called dog-toothed snappers, fight like beasts. They have these gnarly snaggled teeth spaced out far so they look like a cartoon.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsPC0_nwEKZA-a6tCeAAQlYqboiIXLQj6XVj6Nt4jPlsKAZr_nii_VHQxjfUeA_oW1-PfiVBIvvvZXuAYegcRkkj9MI_CI3OwP79xkQIMz9-Cj0An4YQlBqnJrUZF5YDl9U1ojx204iSo/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-08-12+at+11.51.27+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="874" data-original-width="1168" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsPC0_nwEKZA-a6tCeAAQlYqboiIXLQj6XVj6Nt4jPlsKAZr_nii_VHQxjfUeA_oW1-PfiVBIvvvZXuAYegcRkkj9MI_CI3OwP79xkQIMz9-Cj0An4YQlBqnJrUZF5YDl9U1ojx204iSo/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-08-12+at+11.51.27+PM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
They are caught here, but not very frequently. They usually lay in rocky structures, and many an angler has heard their reel scream followed by their line snapping when the fish swims back into a hole.<br />
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Michaela reels it to the boat and I'm terrified it's going to break line at the last minute. That just recently happened to my daughter Celeste and I on a 100 plus pound bluefin tuna near San Diego and I don't think I could stand another heartbreak.<br />
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Thankfully Pollo brings it on deck. The photographer in me comes out and I (somewhat rudely, according to my daughter Isabel) tell Michaela she's gotta pick it up so I can get a photo.<br />
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Michaela doesn't feel inclined to pick it up because it's huge and weighs a lot, but I say WHAT?? PICK THAT THING UP!!! NOW!!! C'MON!!! again and again until she does so. She's a 5'11' college athlete so she manages to do so, making it look easy. Believe me, it wasn't; you will see a photo on the bottom of this blog that proves this.<br />
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Into the cooler it goes! We put out baits again, and 20 minutes later another rod goes off. I can't remember who hooked it but it's Celeste's turn. She's a more experienced angler, but this fish is changing directions, darting, peeling line, swimming towards the boat which can make the hook come loose, all the tricks in the books. Again, what is it? ANOTHER CUBERA!!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhFhVHkdaWso4tngVRXHHsMfKaq-7RfWKUnL4kfgz3YaZLHEKKmewTjRLfWwP_yjfakKOe3p1OXCswv5mKVvc0k54NoNojG5SdFkAHUhoJhmK_HPVchHuRdepKqLXc-LBmn35Q4iOgPGg/s1600/giant.cubera.snapper.celeste.schwartz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1189" data-original-width="1600" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhFhVHkdaWso4tngVRXHHsMfKaq-7RfWKUnL4kfgz3YaZLHEKKmewTjRLfWwP_yjfakKOe3p1OXCswv5mKVvc0k54NoNojG5SdFkAHUhoJhmK_HPVchHuRdepKqLXc-LBmn35Q4iOgPGg/s400/giant.cubera.snapper.celeste.schwartz.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Now I'm really freaking out. Everyone on the boat is hooting, we all realize this is very unusual to hook, let alone land, two of these in one day. Our trip is already made! Not much time is left in the day; in 20 minutes and it'll be time to motor back. OK, let's put in another set of baits...<br />
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Isabel is holding a rod and something takes her bait. She sets the hook, and she's on! She's 5'9" and strong and starts reeling the fish in, grimacing and grunting.<br />
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The fish heads straight away and then out to sea. It's taking so much line off the tiny reel I'm actually worried that he might get spooled (as in, the fish takes off with all of the line).<br />
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Isa will not give up. The wind and waves have picked up so water is splashing over the rail of the boat into her face and the boat is heaving around. I'm providing moral support but she's doing it all, and correctly too. It's great to see my child struggling against something and trying her best to win.<br />
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She is usually very calm so I don't get to see this intense side of her. Her arms start shaking and her back is cramping, so I hold the fighting harness for her and keep her spirits up. I'm worried the line is going to snap, because she's putting so much pressure on it. I keep telling her it's there's only a little ways to go but I'm lying and it's obvious. Every time the fish takes back all the line she gets crushed.<br />
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As much as the other girls had to battle, this is on another scale. I'm starting to feel sorry for Isa and wonder if she's even enjoying herself or in serious pain, but I figure if I take the rod she'll be demoralized. She's put way too much into this.<br />
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Eventually she starts gaining more than she loses, and its coming up, then it darts away and comes closer, and then up. And it's...a THIRD CUBERA but this time a TRUE MONSTER!! Everyone on the boat is in shock. The last few seconds can be fatal though, and until mate Pollo hoists the fish into the boat, the line can go, so I beg Pollo, PLEASE GET IT IN THE BOAT!<br />
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Isabel straight refuses to try to hold the fish up. I'm not sure of she could, as she's spent anyway. She will, however, pose next to the fish with Pollo holding it.<br />
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I tell the girls to each hold theirs up for a group shot and she tells me I need to chill out, but I'm not giving in. We end up with Michaela holding Isa's monster, Pollo holding one in front of Isa, and Celeste holding the third. Epic shot I'll be showing off for the rest of my life.<br />
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We get back to the ranch have the East Cape Smokehouse process the fish. By 7:00 the guys from the smokehouse meet me at the dinner table with a receipt for 35 pounds of vacuum packed fresh snapper fillets, which we bring back to the states in a box made for transporting fish<br />
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I told you I'd show you a photo that proves how heavy the cubera snappers were. I told the girls, "You wanna see how strong your dad is? Watch me hold them all up!" I almost exploded trying to raise two, and couldn't. These things were beasts!<br />
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We spent the rest of the day on the beach, in the pool, eating chips and guacamole and salsa by the bar, and laying on the hammock.<br />
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No better way to end the trip to watch a Sea of Cortez sunset.</div>
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NOTE: Two days later we caught a massive roosterfish big enough to stun even the world's foremost roosterfish experts. Check back in a couple of days for that story on my blog.<br />
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Jon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823199775014260533.post-89145681306707804572018-04-12T23:03:00.000-07:002018-04-12T23:03:03.026-07:00Fishing for Sailfish in Guatemala: An Epic Family Trip!<div>
Want to catch and release HUGE numbers of sailfish? Go to Guatemala!! My 19 year old daughter and I just went on an epic daddy-daughter vacation and she caught 11 sailfish and 10 giant dorado (aka mahi-mahi) in only two days. By the end of the trip her arms were almost falling off, and she's a strong woman. What a blast!<br /><div>
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Guatemala isn't just <i>a</i> world-class fishing destination; for sailfish (the ones with the radically massive dorsal fin and pointy bill on the front of their face), it's the <i>very best</i> place in the world to fish. On a good day, anglers can catch over 20 a day (actually over 30, but you probably wouldn't believe me). </div>
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That's about ten times more than some other great fishing spots. It's just too good there so I actually don't tell all of my friends because then I have to prove it by googling the info on the spot so they don't think I'm exaggerating.</div>
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My daughter and I stayed at <a href="https://pacificfins.com.gt/" target="_blank">Pacific Fins Resort and Marina</a> which is about 90 min from Guatemala City Airport. The place is super deluxe so all you have to do is arrive at the spiffy airport in Guatemala, where one of there chauffeurs whisks you off to their lodge by the water. </div>
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Once you get to the lodge, it's all about them catering to your every need. They greet you with cocktails as soon as they help you with your luggage. <i>What time would you like breakfast, sir? Will you be having shrimp, steak, or dorado for dinner? Can we bring you some cocktails at the pool, sir? Can we bring you into town to shop or sightsee? Would you like to go for a boat ride in the canal? </i>My daughter was in heaven; I think it's the first time she's ever been treated like royalty. </div>
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Anyway, the fishing was amazing, spectacular, once in a lifetime. I let her catch them all and I took pics for family fun, and also because I was hoping to get some cover shots of her holding some dorado. The problem was that the dorado were too damn big to hold up!! Even the mates had a hard time lifting them up for photos. I'm sure they got tired of holding them up next to my daughter for "just one more shot" but they were too polite to let on.</div>
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This trip was cool, too, because it was one of the first I've taken where I was able to let someone else catch the fish. This time, my daughter did all the fishing. I used to fish for marlin and other exotics from kayaks on channels like Nat Geo TV. Eventually I gave up kayak fishing and started taking cover shots and writing articles about big game fishing and from boats for mags like Marlin, Sportfishing Magazine, Bluewater Boats and Sportfishing, and Saltwater Sportsman. </div>
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This trip was different from most of my other trips to exotic locations in another way. Usually, I try to get jumping billfish shots for the magazines for which I write and take cover shots, and when I was young and foolhardy, I'd get in the water and get underwater shots of big fish like tuna, marlin, and sharks. GoPros now make all of that risky stuff I did swimming around with huge fish unnecessary, plus I'm a bit wiser, so I stay in the boat now.</div>
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We had a great time when our chauffeur took us into the town of San Jose. It's not a tourist town, it's the real deal. Everyone gets around on scooters-I saw a whole family loaded up on one!-and there are really cool markets and fruit stands. My daughter fell in love with a cute little girl downtown and her parents let my daughter hold her. My wife is from Mexico and my daughter and I speak a bunch of Spanish so making conversation with the super friendly Guatemalans we met was a no brainer. </div>
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Next time we go to Guatemala, we will visit some of the awesome sites that make the country a popular travel destination for people who don't fish. Antigua (pictured below) and the super cool and pointy conical volcanos are next on our list.</div>
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I ain't getting paid to write this blog so I am going to stop here, and leave you with some cool pics. Plus, I already promised my daughter I would make a music video of our trip, and I haven't even waded through all of the footage. No matter though, we had the trip of a lifetime. </div>
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Jon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823199775014260533.post-37607357909650395282014-12-14T11:31:00.001-08:002014-12-14T11:32:14.481-08:00Blue Marlin Book with big fish photos by fishing photographer Jon Schwartz<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBEMiACTNPaFwoSIuqETcDM98iI-s21-9WAP6wAcb1JZL2I89olSH8VUKYF7_6eEZeXIg0WTE5Uf4G-xdrek-EjaVYTRF7-b8-3u8_tPIpaXRfIyufj4LfMV26-GSzJQsdUPdaQT20evk/s1600/blue.marlin.magic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBEMiACTNPaFwoSIuqETcDM98iI-s21-9WAP6wAcb1JZL2I89olSH8VUKYF7_6eEZeXIg0WTE5Uf4G-xdrek-EjaVYTRF7-b8-3u8_tPIpaXRfIyufj4LfMV26-GSzJQsdUPdaQT20evk/s1600/blue.marlin.magic.jpg" height="283" width="320" /></a></div>
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Awhile back I was contacted by Wild River Press to provide them with pictures of giant fish for their new coffee table book about blue marlin. I was honored that they chose one of my underwater photos for the cover. The book, called <b><i>Blue Marlin Magic</i></b>, written by Steve Campbell, is a treasure trove of useful and interesting information about big game fishing. It's available at this website: <a href="http://www.bluemarlinmagic.com/">http://www.bluemarlinmagic.com/</a>Jon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823199775014260533.post-8866611218915851992013-01-05T02:52:00.000-08:002013-01-06T14:39:31.768-08:00Giant Headless Mystery Fish Baffles Fishermen and ScientistsA bizarre decapitated sea creature was found floating off Hawaii’s Kona Coast.<br />
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Even with pictures and photos of the 7 foot long serpent-shaped body, fishing experts and marine biologists are thus far unable to identify the rare and unusual species.<br />
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<a href="http://www.konadeepsea.com/" target="_blank">Captain Dale Leverone</a> was fishing aboard his Kona charter boat Sea Strike for giant “grander” blue marlin with his son and first mate Jack when something weird, long, and shiny near the surface caught Dale’s attention. Jack recalls, “I thought it was a car bumper, but then I remembered they don’t float!” <br />
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Jack's been fishing with his father since he was two and a half. The pair and their passenger stopped trolling lures for a moment to scoop up the strange animal. It appeared to be freshly killed and was still bleeding. If the head and tail were still attached, it would have been in perfect condition!<br />
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Captain Dale first thought it might be an oarfish. Jack and Dale took some photos of their strange fish on the boat and Jack immediately shared the pictures with some friends, including me (Jon Schwartz). As a fishing photographer (see my<a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/" target="_blank"> Big Fish Photo Website Bluewaterjon.com</a>), fellow monster fish enthusiast, and frequent visitor to Kona, I’ve befriended the Leverones over the years. Within seconds of seeing the photos I contacted them, eager to learn more.<br />
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I could barely contain my excitement when Jack returned my message. I’d lucked out by reaching them while they still had the exceptional find on board. “<i>Jack did you really just find that</i>?” I asked incredulously.<br />
“<i>Ya we just found it. It's still bleeding because a shark bit it's head off</i>.”<br />
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“<i>Ok cool! Take a million pics from all angles and send them to me!</i>” I replied.<br />
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The Leverones resumed trolling for massive marlin and took more pics of the curious beast from the briny depths. Since Jack and his dad were still in the middle of a fishing tournament, he didn’t have much time to talk, so we agreed to chat later that evening. I was thrilled with the notion that I might know someone who has seen an oarfish up close. Now that's a real celebrity!<br />
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Along with <a href="http://bluewaterjon.blogspot.com/2010/09/bizarre-opah-fish-washes-ashore-in-san.html" target="_blank">Opah</a>, Oarfish are one of the oddest looking creatures in the sea, and I dream of one day swimming with one for some amazing underwater photo opportunities. Ironically, Leverone is one of the few people I know who has caught an Opah. Here he is with an opah catch that made big news in Kona in 2005.<br />
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In fact, two years ago Dale and I spent the better part of a day on the his boat the Sea Strike fishing and talking about oddities like opah and oarfish.<br />
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To confirm Dale's hunch that the headless creature was indeed an oarfish, I contacted noted Hawaii fishing expert and historian <a href="http://fishinghawaiioffshore.com/" target="_blank">Jim Rizzuto</a>. Jim has written for decades about remarkable catches in Hawaiian waters, as well as a host of highly regarded how-to and historical fishing books and articles. Dale and Jack thought it was an oarfish, and speculated that had its head bitten of by a shark at the surface. They figured that the shark was still nearby and was going to finish its meal, but they had spooked it with their boat when they scooped it up. Here is the photo of the part where the head was taken off, possibly by a predator. Notice the fresh-looking wound.<br />
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They figured that the shark was still nearby and was going to finish its meal, but they had spooked it with their boat when they scooped it up. What did Jim think?<br />
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Jim told me, “Because it was headless, I assume it was attacked and killed by a predator and the body floated to the surface. It might have been hooked on a deep water line of some kind and then discarded by the fisherman who caught it, but that seems unlikely.”</div>
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Here is a picture of where the tail would have been on the mystery fish. Notice the cut angle is different than the angle of the laceration near the head.</div>
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Had it been attacked by a shark that disabled it first, and waited until it floated up and bled out before planning to gulp it down? Maybe Dale was right, a shark could have been lurking nearby and they interrupted his meal. <i>Mealus Interruptus</i>. Bummer for the shark!</div>
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Jim and I had the luxury of doing some research while the Leverones were still busy on the water, and Jim said he thought the absence of a red dorsal fin would mean it wasn’t an oarfish. Jim thought it might be a type of cutlass fish; possibly a <a href="http://www.fishbase.org/summary/Lepidopus-calcar.html" target="_blank">Hawaiian ridge scabbardfish</a>, but without the head, it was going to be hard to get a positive ID. They seem to be so rare that the only image I was able to find was this old-school drawing on Wikipedia:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijWMhE1IP7PY6I1zMm2mkJQiVlQhs-X2W_P14zKXZHeTlf3fDvMcFMRs-jGDr-jU-ooNg76IS64F5JXxr37SaI2w4eZXDIhoKIsrJXzmY9BPd2NYe1vznzYx9i9DWYQBxFsaxTYX3wg4w/s1600/hawaiian.ridge.scabbardfish.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijWMhE1IP7PY6I1zMm2mkJQiVlQhs-X2W_P14zKXZHeTlf3fDvMcFMRs-jGDr-jU-ooNg76IS64F5JXxr37SaI2w4eZXDIhoKIsrJXzmY9BPd2NYe1vznzYx9i9DWYQBxFsaxTYX3wg4w/s320/hawaiian.ridge.scabbardfish.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
Rizzuto told me that they were rare enough that he didn’t have “a specific remembrance of other sightings and I have no memory of having seen one in the market”. To me that’s significant because to my knowledge, nearly everyone in Hawaii contacts Jim when they catch anything big or unsual, and it’s been that way for many decades.<br />
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Next I consulted Owyn Snodgrass and James Wraith, fisheries biologists at NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). Both of them thought it might be a King of Salmon fish- something I’d never heard of before. I researched them (one's pictured below in fairly rotten shape) and they didn’t look similar to the ones I saw on <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Trachipterus_altivelis.jpg" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitT59MNLYDGFVPmUCSyB9VWGl-krMJrXXtWsLSx0uBl5uL3-r8cmI4J0gA_xhTbKlEe38BFAXDiv66r0P5ZD7B-Sohr0oKfv64fUicVEGKpvUNIoz7UNa-grFzYzPf9xZ4DqwmTga2YuA/s1600/Trachipterus_altivelis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitT59MNLYDGFVPmUCSyB9VWGl-krMJrXXtWsLSx0uBl5uL3-r8cmI4J0gA_xhTbKlEe38BFAXDiv66r0P5ZD7B-Sohr0oKfv64fUicVEGKpvUNIoz7UNa-grFzYzPf9xZ4DqwmTga2YuA/s320/Trachipterus_altivelis.jpg" width="139" /></a></div>
Snodgrass said that he doubted it was a Hawaiian ridge scabbard fish as he noted the largest recorded specimen was only 70 cm- only a fraction of the size of the fish found by Dale and Jack.<br />
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For reference, here's a closeup of the Leverone's mystery fish's skin in another picture. Notice the apparent lack of scales.<br />
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I kept peppering everyone with questions. Why didn't the predator eat more of it? At what depth was it attacked? I began to realize that because these are deep water fish, people don’t know a lot about them- even many scientists and fishing experts.<br />
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I was able to find some fish that resembled the Leverone’s mystery fish on Wikipedia, which listed them as “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Largehead_hairtail" target="_blank">Beltfish</a>” or "Largehead Hairtail" (pictured here in a Tokyo fishmarket) but who knows if they are the same species. For the record I hear belt fish taste exactly like chicken.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfDEKmHOJhc_amIk2Qeq0BYekR94Hp9qdcJY9HJu_0lEGmN5hnUdVAxzLtQMT0LaiMQwCAZD-fsdMpBoZSv1BHEFnJnr2GCbU0U1wXLigfMzkmnHlT2rUOPki-LK6Vv56fVABSMHsMAoE/s1600/Trichiurus_lepturus_FishMarketInTokyo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfDEKmHOJhc_amIk2Qeq0BYekR94Hp9qdcJY9HJu_0lEGmN5hnUdVAxzLtQMT0LaiMQwCAZD-fsdMpBoZSv1BHEFnJnr2GCbU0U1wXLigfMzkmnHlT2rUOPki-LK6Vv56fVABSMHsMAoE/s400/Trichiurus_lepturus_FishMarketInTokyo.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
While the Leverones were still on the boat they said that they planned on eating the fish. When I contacted them later Jack told me they had filleted the fish at the harbor and tossed the carcass so it was now impossible to get more photos of the body. I asked him for pictures of the meat while they were cooking it. Before they were able to take any pics of the fillets, the meat from the headless mystery fish turned into a gelatinous mess in the refrigerator and they decided to pass on eating it. Good idea!<br />
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Jack's description of the jelly-like flesh matched up with some information I found online when I was researching oarfish, so who knows? Snodgrass offered to submit the photos to people he knew at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in hopes of getting more answers on this fascinating find. Maybe we’ll get lucky and get some answers soon; if I get any more news, I’ll be sure to post it on this blog, so stay tuned!<br />
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In the meantime, do you like big fish photos? I happen to be giving away a 16x20" signed, framed photo worth on my <a href="http://www.facebook.com/bluewaterjon" target="_blank">Facebook Page</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5O-uB7DHcDkYDLTheAz6npgETqT4WXZjjQI0_MpCygjd6CEr2JQwGzQZ3Ohhvjjce6UCwBc-vfRhC3OZvBcLKIkhKooZ6-w7tviaCrsvIqvT1zj2RxDs-gn0FDo0MXGcaentBYero_Ho/s320/520x570-final14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5O-uB7DHcDkYDLTheAz6npgETqT4WXZjjQI0_MpCygjd6CEr2JQwGzQZ3Ohhvjjce6UCwBc-vfRhC3OZvBcLKIkhKooZ6-w7tviaCrsvIqvT1zj2RxDs-gn0FDo0MXGcaentBYero_Ho/s320/520x570-final14.jpg" /></a></div>
I photograph big fish like marlin, sailfish, tuna, dorado, and sharks from above and below the waterline for publications like Marlin Magazine, Bluewater Magazine, Saltwater Sportsman, Sport Fishing Magazine, and my work has been featured on Nat Geo TV, in Forbes Magazine, and Field and Stream.<br />
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For example, above is my latest cover of a sailfish being released in Nicaragua. On my Facebook Page I am running a free photo giveaway worth $400. Here's how you can win:<br />
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Visit and “like” <a href="http://www.facebook.com/bluewaterjon" target="_blank">Jon Schwartz Photography, Fishing, and Travel on Facebook</a>. There you can get a chance at winning a signed, framed 16x20” photo worth $400 from fishing photographer Jon Schwartz (that’s me!) postage included, by clicking on the "WIN PHOTO HERE" button that looks like this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW4Jtv7GkN-xrmQuwZalegxz9aHjp_qNYDyXvdmwHbcGiJ75SVk6ZM1zkqqW7m-e51aiLi_SdUWe-eF0cHbe2QJF6WHFX0usWl_UkztcOmkiqhhKwST2qpNpDCII1a3B_tVhJRG1jYuVM/s1600/win.photo2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW4Jtv7GkN-xrmQuwZalegxz9aHjp_qNYDyXvdmwHbcGiJ75SVk6ZM1zkqqW7m-e51aiLi_SdUWe-eF0cHbe2QJF6WHFX0usWl_UkztcOmkiqhhKwST2qpNpDCII1a3B_tVhJRG1jYuVM/s1600/win.photo2.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>Note to Webmasters</b>: This article is copyright protected and cannot be used without Jon Schwartz’s written permission. You can contact him at his website <a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/">www.bluewaterjon.com</a> or through his Facebook page.Jon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823199775014260533.post-69555300531441302162013-01-01T19:41:00.001-08:002013-01-01T19:41:04.332-08:00WIN a signed, framed $400 fishing photo by magazine photographer Jon Schwartz!Hi this is fishing photographer Jon Schwartz. I'm giving away a valuable signed, framed 16x20 big fish photo worth $400 on my Facebook Page <a href="http://www.facebook.com/bluewaterjon" target="_blank">Jon Schwartz Photography, Fishing, and Travel</a> !<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5O-uB7DHcDkYDLTheAz6npgETqT4WXZjjQI0_MpCygjd6CEr2JQwGzQZ3Ohhvjjce6UCwBc-vfRhC3OZvBcLKIkhKooZ6-w7tviaCrsvIqvT1zj2RxDs-gn0FDo0MXGcaentBYero_Ho/s1600/520x570-final14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5O-uB7DHcDkYDLTheAz6npgETqT4WXZjjQI0_MpCygjd6CEr2JQwGzQZ3Ohhvjjce6UCwBc-vfRhC3OZvBcLKIkhKooZ6-w7tviaCrsvIqvT1zj2RxDs-gn0FDo0MXGcaentBYero_Ho/s320/520x570-final14.jpg" width="308" /></a></div>
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<b>How can you win? </b><br />
1. Go to <a href="http://www.facebook.com/bluewaterjon" target="_blank">Jon Schwartz Photography, Fishing, and Travel</a> Facebook Page<br />
2. "Like" the page.<br />
3. Click on the small "WIN PHOTO CLICK HERE" button that looks like this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHHSEx3G2k5TC4MF91EsBhdTO-EsZV8roCfkCO36ilQNKkPXY4zup89KTsvl59VoCif6gx6XtNfbMgorn4xVd6ODattKchW3mxe6-LZW6vgq1T4s3nBVfQJlwbdqG8vEadfKAHNhdpjZE/s1600/win.photo2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHHSEx3G2k5TC4MF91EsBhdTO-EsZV8roCfkCO36ilQNKkPXY4zup89KTsvl59VoCif6gx6XtNfbMgorn4xVd6ODattKchW3mxe6-LZW6vgq1T4s3nBVfQJlwbdqG8vEadfKAHNhdpjZE/s1600/win.photo2.jpg" /></a></div>
4. Enter your name and email so I can contact you if you win.<br />
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This is what Facebook calls a "Sweepstakes" and I am having Wildfire, a "third party" company, handle the registrants so it is Facebook compliant. Once January 30 comes, Wildfire randomly selects a winner and I contact that person. I invite you to sign up and wish you luck. Let me know if you have any questions by contacting me through my Facebook Page or leaving a comment below.Jon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823199775014260533.post-23276544907908091702013-01-01T18:31:00.000-08:002013-01-01T19:34:22.244-08:00Fishing for Sailfish and Marlin in NicaraguaThis sailfish photo I took in Nicaragua is now on the cover of Saltwater Sportsman Magazine. Yahoo!!<br />
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I went there several years ago and had a great time with at Surfari Fishing and Surfing Charters and my hosts Captain Lance Moss and his wife Kristen. There are TONS of big fish there, including wahoo, roosterfish, marlin, sails (known as "Pez Vela" in Spanish) and dorado. In fact the fishing is so good there that I was able to get this shot of a dorado (dolphin or mahimahi to some) when I was there too!<br />
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It's also a world class surf spot and I was able to get some decent shots of the crew in the lineup. Surfing photography is fun and I hope to do more of it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_7XU3zoFXxMvhnppqoncCxz_FSpFTkAZYvbwiCL8HTFQ3CBcFc3EX1_JiFynJ6YNZL3-yEpi61WTh83-0PArVnGiZEVZTZ5aL3OrqcXkUo3c-5dZYBoTdOx2XbLDe5kFJZubhs3vhuFM/s1600/520x570-final14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_7XU3zoFXxMvhnppqoncCxz_FSpFTkAZYvbwiCL8HTFQ3CBcFc3EX1_JiFynJ6YNZL3-yEpi61WTh83-0PArVnGiZEVZTZ5aL3OrqcXkUo3c-5dZYBoTdOx2XbLDe5kFJZubhs3vhuFM/s320/520x570-final14.jpg" width="308" /></a></div>
<br />Jon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823199775014260533.post-54756426337447008532012-09-03T17:37:00.001-07:002012-09-03T17:38:32.561-07:00Blue Marlin Fishing Photo: Releasing Big Fish in Kona Hawaii<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/blue.marlin.fishing.photo.underwater.release.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/blue.marlin.fishing.photo.underwater.release.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Most marlin that are caught in Hawaii are released. Here's a picture I took of a big lit up blue marlin just before the crew took the hook out and let the fish swim free. If the captain and angler are skilled and use heavy enough tackle to quickly land the fish, the chances of survival are increased, and many marlin have been caught, tagged, and shown to have travelled thousands of miles after their initial capture.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIZeXBW4W-3p6bZ8jQswno3DD3VOpglyLGHB9jHjRuUloG8t6ce42r-r7G3b6vkJCjvn9CibiS3rgqf49w7t4vI-nkH4-Km5MvtCN3MNMNFM1Xdsng-Br0Hw8KZ4IStmrjkr8QYvGhZEw/s1600/great.marlin.race.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIZeXBW4W-3p6bZ8jQswno3DD3VOpglyLGHB9jHjRuUloG8t6ce42r-r7G3b6vkJCjvn9CibiS3rgqf49w7t4vI-nkH4-Km5MvtCN3MNMNFM1Xdsng-Br0Hw8KZ4IStmrjkr8QYvGhZEw/s400/great.marlin.race.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Organizations like The Great Marlin Race and The Billfish Foundation prove this with satellite tags which fall off of the marlin several months after they were implanted.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3SuVg1gGaanEM22UEAgFexSSKUBV2DQMqC_CGxuc8vTK0G_VoGeu2WxJt-fjYekVQ_Bmox0zrCPkX4Cbiy8tUHxsYnCTbjedNvmV_XGzcXo_WSPrJ-0jXGo8cCd29w6P2sJp5vVu9P1s/s1600/satellite.tag.photo.marlin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3SuVg1gGaanEM22UEAgFexSSKUBV2DQMqC_CGxuc8vTK0G_VoGeu2WxJt-fjYekVQ_Bmox0zrCPkX4Cbiy8tUHxsYnCTbjedNvmV_XGzcXo_WSPrJ-0jXGo8cCd29w6P2sJp5vVu9P1s/s1600/satellite.tag.photo.marlin.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYI0sPb5KMeDGsCg1Wmw3oSnON34Pjw_SHLkKNe1UULMKRnZMUMuXJmfB_3gDIH2mBDp09aQ5AqbRCsLMwdf7BUqqOBGI9uGd1GkS14Rt2udVdaYJp4_x1sRqytQQnIpUcMb77JeyJITM/s1600/_H327014a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYI0sPb5KMeDGsCg1Wmw3oSnON34Pjw_SHLkKNe1UULMKRnZMUMuXJmfB_3gDIH2mBDp09aQ5AqbRCsLMwdf7BUqqOBGI9uGd1GkS14Rt2udVdaYJp4_x1sRqytQQnIpUcMb77JeyJITM/s400/_H327014a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">These tags float up to the surface and send data to computers on land that can determine how deep and often the marlin dove, what temperatures they were in, and their travel routes. For more information on the Great Marlin Race check this article out: <a href="http://bluewaterjon.blogspot.com/2009/10/amazing-fishing-news-marlin-travels.html" target="_blank">Marlin Travels 2225 Miles in 94 Days</a>.</div>Jon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823199775014260533.post-8730737540714837542012-09-03T16:05:00.001-07:002012-09-03T16:24:05.803-07:00Wahoo Photo makes Sport Fishing Magazine's cover shot<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/wahoo.fishing.photo.teeth.mouth.underwater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/wahoo.fishing.photo.teeth.mouth.underwater.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>A picture I took of a razor-toothed wahoo swimming straight at my underwater camera made the September cover of Sportfishing Magazine. Yahoo! I took the image when I was in Fiji fishing with Captain Adrian Watt and Glenn Gardener of Bite Me Gamefishing Charters. Click <a href="http://bluewaterjon.blogspot.com/2012/03/fiji-adventure-travel-and-ecotourism.html" target="_blank">here</a> to see what their location is like at Matava Resort. I also did a lot of resort and scenic photography for the website of their tropical paradise.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.snorkel.travel.vacation.photo.jon.schwartz.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.snorkel.travel.vacation.photo.jon.schwartz.1.jpg" width="341" /></a></div><div><div>I've been really fortunate to have had cover shots in many prestigious publications, including Bluewater Boats, Marlin Magazine, and Saltwater Sportsman, but this is my first in Sportfishing Magazine. You can see my cover shots <a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/gallerybyjon.htm" target="_blank">here</a>. The mag features a lot of fish that I don't typically photograph, like redfish, snook, tarpon, and cobia, so there are fewer opportunities for a fishing photographer like me who specializes in large pelagic fish like marlin and tuna.</div><div><br />
</div><div>In fact, that's one of the reasons I wanted to go to Fiji, because there are a lot of Giant Trevally (or <i>ulua</i> in Hawaiian) and wahoo, and I didn't have many pictures of either species. We hooked this wahoo on a skiff trolling between reefs inshore and it was a big surprise because we caught it in February. At other times in the year they hook into huge marauding packs of big wahoo offshore, and in fact they sometimes even jump out of the water to pounce on lures! I am going to have to go back there during wahoo season to witness some of that action!<br />
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Wahoo are one of the fastest fish in the ocean, reaching speeds of 60 miles per hour. In Hawaii they are called Ono, which means delicious. When filleted, their firm white flaky meat makes for great cooking and eating, and it's one of the least "fishy" tasting fish on the menu. I don't have a favorite wahoo recipe, but restaurant chefs use them a lot in cooking meals because wahoo tastes great broiled, sauteed, baked, and fried. Wahoo would be perfect for picky eaters who don't like the taste of most fish.</div></div>Jon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823199775014260533.post-6251830006711332082012-08-07T02:00:00.009-07:002012-08-07T07:20:43.103-07:00Fishing for marlin, tuna, and spearfish with Captain Teddy Hoogs and Bwana Sportfishing<div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.teddyhoogs.com/" target="_blank">Teddy Hoogs</a> is a top-notch big game fishing captain on the Kona Coast of Hawaii's Big Island. Check out him pulling this 130 pound tuna into the boat that his clients recently caught!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/teddy.hoogs.marlin.fishing.photo.kona.hawaii.6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/teddy.hoogs.marlin.fishing.photo.kona.hawaii.6.jpg" /></a></div>Teddy has an excellent reputation among other Kona captains and mates, and he has a lot of experience with giant blue and black marlin in Hawaii and Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Over a decade ago Teddy “wired” the fourth largest giant black marlin ever caught in Australia, a huge 1,389 pound monster. For laypeople, this means he grabbed hold of the line attached to the surging fish when it got close to the boat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/teddy.hoogs.marlin.fishing.photo.kona.hawaii.2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/teddy.hoogs.marlin.fishing.photo.kona.hawaii.2.jpg" /></a></div>I can’t imagine grabbing the reigns of a wild animal well over 1000 pounds! Not for the faint of heart, but every mate’s dream. He soon became a captain and rose in the ranks at Kona’s Honokohau Harbor.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Captain Marlin Parker, one of big game fishing's true legends, called Teddy "One of the best in the business". The thing I like best about him is that he's managed to stay super friendly and humble while skippering some of the choicest boats in Kona, which is arguably the blue marlin capital of the world. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/teddy.hoogs.marlin.fishing.photo.kona.hawaii.7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/teddy.hoogs.marlin.fishing.photo.kona.hawaii.7.jpg" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal">Teddy now operates the “Bwana”, a luxuriously appointed 46' Gamefisherman outfitted with an ungodly amount of power: twin Cummins QSM11twin diesels with 710 horsepower per side for a whopping 1420 total horsepower. It's one of the fastest charter boats in the harbor, and when Teddy was putting it through its paces upon it’s delivery to Kona, some jaws dropped. It’s one serious boat!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">His father Peter Hoogs is one of the old time greats of Kona big game fishing and took the eager Teddy under his wing from a very early age. Check out this picture of Teddy as a toddler reading renowned fishing author’s Jim Rizzuto’s “Fishing Hawaiian Style”!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/teddy.hoogs.marlin.fishing.photo.kona.hawaii.9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/teddy.hoogs.marlin.fishing.photo.kona.hawaii.9.jpg" /></a></div>I've had the pleasure of riding along with Teddy while taking big fish photos for my fishing photography work and wrote an article about him for Marlin Magazine in March 2010 called "<a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/articles.htm" target="_blank">Lure Magic: Kona Capt. Teddy Hoogs Learned from the Best</a>".<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">About ten days ago I accompanied Teddy with one of his charter clients, the Vandrie family from Carefree, Arizona. Mate Joe "Kaiwi Joe" Thrasher usually crews with Teddy, but Joe had taken out Teddy's new commercial fishing vessel and landed three big yellowfin ahi tuna by landline the night before and arranged for Brian Shumaker to replace him this day. In fact, we passed Joe coming in with his fish on our way out of the harbor at 6:15. Those are some tough hours! Here’s a picture of Joe Thrasher.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/teddy.hoogs.marlin.fishing.photo.kona.hawaii.5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/teddy.hoogs.marlin.fishing.photo.kona.hawaii.5.jpg" /></a></div>The Vandries were super friendly and it was interesting to hear about the father Jeff Vandrie's experience as an iron man triathlete. About 90 minutes into the trip while heading south, a huge boil exploded behind one of the lures in the trolling pattern. Two rods went off simultaneously, two reels are screaming, and we've got a double hookup!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/teddy.hoogs.marlin.fishing.photo.kona.hawaii.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/teddy.hoogs.marlin.fishing.photo.kona.hawaii.1.jpg" /></a></div>Because neither fish jumped and they struck at the sometime, it became clear that we'd stumbled upon a pair of big yellowfin tuna, known as ahi in Hawaii. The ahi bite has been better than it had been in years and I was stoked to see that it was still on fire. There's not too many places you can hook into 150 pound tuna within 5 miles of shore so fishing in Kona is a special treat. Here's a photo I took last year of a big yellowfin ahi tuna chasing a lure that made the cover of Bluewater Magazine:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/ahi.yellowfin/big.tuna.fishing.lure.photo.6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/ahi.yellowfin/big.tuna.fishing.lure.photo.6.jpg" /></a></div>Jeff manned the fighting chair and his neice Abby Hansen fought<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the other fish from the side. While swimming next to the boat I took some neat photographs of the duo both hooked up, and also of the big fish swimming in the incredibly clear blue water. Jeff reeled his ahi in first add then Abby managed to battle hers in as well. After posing for some pictures of their 'wicked' tuna, mate Brian Shumaker set all the lures back into the spread. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The next fish to hit pulled line off the reel but by the time Jeff manned the chair, he thought it had come off..until it started to pull line again. This on again, off again pattern repeated itself unti Teddy identified it as a shortnose (or short billed) spearfish. In truth he may have seen it hit the lure; he's got his eyes trained on them all day and sees most every critter that pops up near the lures, regardless of whether it strikes. <br />
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Short nose spearfish, which are called "Chuckers" in Hawaii, are the world's smallest and rarest billfish. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/teddy.hoogs.marlin.fishing.photo.kona.hawaii.3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/teddy.hoogs.marlin.fishing.photo.kona.hawaii.3.jpg" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal">For anglers hoping to achieve a Billfish Royal Slam by catching one of every species of billfish, the short billed spearfish often proves to be the most elusive. It isn't found in numbers in many areas other than Hawaii and even then, it's somewhat of an uncommon, incidental catch. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I wrote an article for Marlin Magazine in February of 2010 called "<a href="http://bluewaterjon.com/articles.htm" target="_blank">Spearfish Skippers: A Talk with Hawaii's top Spearfish Captains</a>" that detailed how anglers come from all over the world to Kona to catch these fish, which are most fun to catch on light tackle due to them topping out at about 70 pounds. Getting good pictures of spearfish is also hard because they don't jump alot; one of my luckiest moments in photographing fish underwater came when I swam with a shortbill several years ago. The captains I featured for the story were Guy Terwilliger, Marlin Parker, and Gene Vanderhoek.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Shortnose spearfish are also good eating- they're called Hebi in Hawaiian fish markets-but the Vandries were all about catch and releasing billfish and the fish swam away in good shape after being leadered by the mate. For all we know it was devoured shortly thereafter by a big blue marlin, which have been known to swallow spearfish whole!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">About midway through the day Teddy’s lures attracted another strike from a blue marlin, and Vandries again found himself in the fighting chair. The day was only half over and Bwana Sportfishing’s anglers had caught two big tuna, a spearfish, and a blue marlin! I didn't get any good photos of the marlin jumping, but here is a picture I took in Kona of a blue marlin that made the cover of Marlin Magazine a couple of months ago:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.huge.monster.marlin.magazine.jumping.fishing.photo.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.huge.monster.marlin.magazine.jumping.fishing.photo.1.jpg" /></a></div>Here's another photo I took of the same fish. This shot became kind of well known.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1IafWFFybS6lxeSbxmvCFLKcJXqrIyc9iJ4MU33utTfJ8AjNcjZQP0Xgfei6rAdAQ7nVMszaqMGRXuAxyvbnwwbOxgM5Fh-RZ5T9AeUAvs9EZWFxkP1DD0cOUPtVVEe78BeZ0d1ejeZU/s400/jon.schwartz.fishing.photography.marlin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1IafWFFybS6lxeSbxmvCFLKcJXqrIyc9iJ4MU33utTfJ8AjNcjZQP0Xgfei6rAdAQ7nVMszaqMGRXuAxyvbnwwbOxgM5Fh-RZ5T9AeUAvs9EZWFxkP1DD0cOUPtVVEe78BeZ0d1ejeZU/s1600/jon.schwartz.fishing.photography.marlin.jpg" /></a></div>Incredibly, the big fish action wasn’t over. In the last 5 minutes of the charter, on the way back the harbor and only a mile offshore, a reel went off and a blue marlin started doing aerial acrobatics off the stern. Back into the fighting chair for Jeff Vandries! Teddy maneuvered the boat effectively to allow Jeff to wield maximum pressure on the fish and after a fun fight, the blue was brought alongside the boat for tagging. Here's a picture I took of it swimming near the boat just prior to release.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/teddy.hoogs.marlin.fishing.photo.kona.hawaii.4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/teddy.hoogs.marlin.fishing.photo.kona.hawaii.4.jpg" /></a></div><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/teddy.hoogs.marlin.fishing.photo.kona.hawaii.8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/teddy.hoogs.marlin.fishing.photo.kona.hawaii.8.jpg" /></a></div>All in all it was a great day fishing for the Vandries family, Bwana Sportfishing and Teddy Hoogs. Total fish count for the day: two 100 plus pound tuna, two blue marlin, and a spearfish. I was fortunate to be there to take photos of all the big fish action and I'll be sending the VanDries family some pictures to hang on their walls. Yet another fun day on the Kona Coast with good people and plenty of fish!<br />
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If you enjoyed reading this article and would like to see more fishing photos, please go my Facebook page Jon Schwartz Fishing, Photography, and Travel and "Like" it by clicking <a href="http://www.facebook.com/bluewaterjon" target="_blank">HERE</a>. I periodically have photo giveaways worth $400 and post a lot of neat content there. Thanks, Jon Schwartz</div>Jon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823199775014260533.post-58030280127780485092012-08-01T07:42:00.020-07:002012-08-01T23:02:24.963-07:00Giant tuna speared as Sharks circle breath holding free divers!<div class="MsoNormal">This is fishing photographer <a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/">Jon Schwartz</a> reporting on some BIG FISH NEWS from Hawaii with amazing video and photos!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/big.tuna.fish.photo.spear.fishing.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/big.tuna.fish.photo.spear.fishing.1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">A big game spearfishing expedition turned into the catch of a lifetime for Hawaii's Wendell Ko when he swam down 60 feet on a single breath to lie in wait for his dream fish, a huge yellowfin tuna ('ahi' in Hawaiian). Ko is a rare breed of sportsman called bluewater freediving spearfishermen: waterman, athlete, and ultra selective and ethical deep water hunter who possesses equal amounts of patience, skill, and daring. All these qualities came into play when he bested a massive 188 pound ahi tuna on July 24 off the Kona Coast of Hawaii's Big Island.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.tuna.fish.photo.spear.fishing.6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.tuna.fish.photo.spear.fishing.6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Kona is one of the world's top big game fishing spots, and Ko took a weekend with some friends from Oahu to continue his lifelong quest to spear a monster tuna that began when he was 9 years old. As Ko and his partners continually dove down to 60 feet and waited with breaths held for minutes, hoping for a chance at seeing a giant tuna swimming by, a trio of oceanic white tip sharks gathered ever closer, curious if they could catch a free meal of freshly speared fish. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.tuna.fish.photo.spear.fishing.4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.tuna.fish.photo.spear.fishing.4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Miles offshore in water thousands of feet deep, divers Ko, Mike Shimabuku and Nate Kaneshiro took turns fending off the increasingly interested sharks by poking them with their spear tips when they got too close for comfort. Captain Bomboy Llanes waited nearby on the <i>Lana Kila</i> with mate James Kataki.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Llanes, a well known Kona big game fishing captain and lure maker, had been hired to bring the 51 year old Ko and his Hawaiian partners to various offshore bouys that act as "FADs" (Fish Aggregation Devices) which are maintained by the State of Hawaii. Bluewater spearfishing enthusiasts like Ko target hard to catch, fast swimming open ocean pelagic fish like wahoo, tuna, and dorado ( known in Hawaii as ono, ahi, and mahi in Hawaii), but they usually don't swim miles offshore by launching from the beach and simply hoping to stumble upon them. <br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Their prey can swim upwards of 45 miles an hour and freely roam the sea; FADs provide them with some fish-attracting structure and at least some hope of finding these fish. In fact, FADs are thus a common spot for both rod and reel and "spearos" and as the group took great care to only dive at FADs that weren't crowded with too many boats hoping to catch ahi with more traditional methods. Just when they thought no big fish were present, a school of mahi mahi swam by, providing the spearos with a chance at some action, and me, with a chance for some more photos for my fishing photography collection. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.tuna.fish.photo.spear.fishing.10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.tuna.fish.photo.spear.fishing.10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I write for fishing and travel magazines and usually don't get to see many free swimming fish so I snapped away with a grin under my mask. I was also excited to get some great oceanic white tip photos and video. Although just like many other wild animals these sharks can be aggressive when provoked, Ko and his buddies and I were mostly concerned with keeping them calm by not letting them get near any speared fish. Sharks are commonly encountered by spearfishermen and are a part of the sport. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">As legendary freediver and pioneering spearfisherman Terry Maas said in an interview today with me, "Sharks and spearfishermen are competing predators in the water" and spearfishermen must set the tone and discourage sharks from getting too close by setting an aggressive stance in the water. In fact, spearfishermen are much more likely to get hurt by boats running them over that don't see them, equipment malfunctions with their huge multi-band spearguns that are under a tremendous amount of tension, and shallow water blackout. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.tuna.fish.photo.spear.fishing.8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="283" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.tuna.fish.photo.spear.fishing.8.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In fact, says Maas, because spearfishermen usually swim in clear water and the sharks won't mistake them for their usual prey of fish or ocean mammals like seals, they are much less likely to have negative experience with sharks than recreational swimmers so. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I'm not going to go into my diatribe about how people are more likely to get killed in a car crash on the way to the beach than by a shark in the water (true!), nor will I rant about how millions of sharks are killed each year by people simply to make soup out of their fins(true!), and I won't carry on about how dog bites send thousands of people in the US alone to the hospital each year while there are only about 100 shark attacks reported annually on average and the great majority of them are NOT fatal), but I will say that although sharks can certainly be dangerous, I felt safer swimming with Ko and his partners that day than I would if you were to put me on a motorcycle (you'd have to force me, because them things are <i>really</i> dangerous!). Sorry to kill your buzz if you are a shark week fan... <br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Back to the giant tuna story..Ko, a former USA National Spearfishing Freediving champion, speared a mahi mahi and eventually brought it back to the boat. Although it was exciting for me to see the sharks and the mahi mahi, Ko and his partners were just about to hop back on the boat and try another location when we saw the the yellow sickle-shaped fins of several HUGE ahi tuna below us.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/uFCxosD6evg?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div></div><div class="MsoNormal">I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I knew that it was very rare to for spearfishermenspearos, and here I was seeing them on my maiden spearfishing photo shoot! Here's where the greatness of the sport kicks in for me, and where I truly began to appreciate what it would take for a freediving spearfisherman to get one of these huge fish. Floating at the surface with a snorkel and camera, I could afford to let my excitement get the better of me, and when my adrenelin started pumping and my breathing and heart rate increased, it didn't matter, other than I thought I might die of excitement.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTFnzuxoHMtWqHOvVsuq_3ax4LK-V9jNZ409LPdZ3Ph1fsthWhqg0kAZ7MdPHmPAzgrtjWec9bfv4pZezl4lhb84AxkC3DEeH2b96lJQK4-CtegzWLxxXGxcRJ0t2TTxgrQT11ZevZoA/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTFnzuxoHMtWqHOvVsuq_3ax4LK-V9jNZ409LPdZ3Ph1fsthWhqg0kAZ7MdPHmPAzgrtjWec9bfv4pZezl4lhb84AxkC3DEeH2b96lJQK4-CtegzWLxxXGxcRJ0t2TTxgrQT11ZevZoA/s400/6.jpg" width="267" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">The spearfisherman has no such luxury. Because they've got to swim down to incredible depths and then lie in wait for sometimes over 2 minutes, and do this repeatedly in the hopes that they just might get close enough to the tuna, they have to maintain strict control of their heart rate and breathing. If they don't they can blackout on the way back up, and at the very least, their quarry can sense their nervousness and run, and they can run out of air quicker. So to swim down that deep and wait patiently and calmly with only the oxygen you have left in your lungs? </div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">That's so beyond extreme! Oh yeah, it gets even wilder: I mentioned that Ko is a selective and ethical hunter, so let me explain. Like most spearfisherman, he knows that with such big fish in open water, if their spear doesn't hit the fish in the right spot, it will only hurt the fish and it will get away. He and others like Maas detest this idea of waste- they only want that special one, and will only pull the trigger of their speargun of they feel they can take the fish. </div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">I know that this isn't baloney because when the big ahi tuna showed, Ko did another "drop" and, as proven by the video I took, he went down extremely deep, leveled out, passed on several shots at the tuna because he didn't think he would be able to deliver the spear correctly, and only let the spear fly when the giant fish passed a third time. You realize that by passing up the first two opportunities, he could have seen the biggest tuna of his life ( his previous best was 120 pounds less!) disappear forever, right?
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.tuna.fish.photo.spear.fishing.13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.tuna.fish.photo.spear.fishing.13.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">That takes serious composure, and to do it with basically no air in your lungs? OMG. Ko was so deep when he let his spear fly at the giant ahi tuna that I could barely make out the fish, and so mostly trained my camera on the giant speargun that he made for himself. Next, I heard a faint "thwick" sound like a toothpick breaking. Did he actually hit the fish, I wondered? I stopped wondering when I looked over at his the floats that were attached to his gun.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.tuna.fish.photo.spearfishing.18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.tuna.fish.photo.spearfishing.18.jpg" width="298" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">See, in big game spearfishing, the fish are so big there's no way that the a man even as fit as Ko could wrestle a fish of that size to the surface once the spear hit home and it sounded for the depths. To tackle fish this size, they attach a series of floats to their guns and when they spear the fish, the spear, which has a breakway tip, keeps the fish attached to the floats, and now the fish fights the floats until it tires out enough for the spearfisherman to pull it up. </div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">To my delight and amazement I saw Ko's lines go tight and whine under the strain of a giant fish pulling down on the floats. The floats were actually being pulled down and gas was being forced out of them by the power of the fish sounding over 150 feet below! Ko swam up just as calmly and slowly and controlled as he had done with all of his previous drops, so it seemed incongruous that he could have just speared the fish of several lifetimes, but when I saw his partners come over with looks of joy on their faces, I knew it actually happened.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.tuna.fish.photo.spear.fishing.11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.tuna.fish.photo.spear.fishing.11.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">A long battle ensued and Ko triued to bring the fish up, only to have to stop puling and attach more floats to the two that he started out with. This fish was like a locomotive! Wendell told me that it would be awhile before the fish might come up, so I swam back to Bomboy's boat to change lenses in my underwater housing and hopped back in the water. The sharks were still there, and in fact, now that there was a sense of urgency in the water, it felt like they were getting a bit closer, so Nate and Mike continued to protect Wendell by staring the sharks down and poking at them with their spears when they got too close.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.tuna.fish.photo.spear.fishing.14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.tuna.fish.photo.spear.fishing.14.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">As Terry Maas told me, that is every wingman's job in spearfishing: to protect the man who's fighting the fish so they he could focus 100% of his attention on raising it.Interestingly, at this stage of the game Maas calls the sharks and the spearfishermen "competing predators" who both want the fish. Maas said the shark might be thinking, "The diver won the first round, but the game isn't over yet" and of course, with several white tips coming ever closer, this scenario unfolded in front of my own eyes in dramatic fashion.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.tuna.fish.photo.spear.fishing.15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.tuna.fish.photo.spear.fishing.15.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">After about half an hour, the fish grew tired of pulling down against the floats and came up to where we could see it. It was still beating it's tail and swimming rather heartily, and as Ko brought the fish up little by little, the sharks took many close passes at the fish, but for some reason never attacked it.</div><div class="MsoNormal">The sharks might have been as stunned as I was, for I can't otherwise explain how they managed to let the tuna be pulled right through them (see the video!) </div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">Ko finally managed to bring the fish to the surface and with his last reserves of energy, swam the fish to the boat while his friends stoodd guard for the sharks. Once he got the fish to the boat the mate James gaffed the fish and hoisted it aboard, and when it hit the deck, everyone's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets!!!!! Everyone was hooting and hollering.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.tuna.fish.photo.spear.fishing.19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.tuna.fish.photo.spear.fishing.19.jpg" width="291" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">This celebration continued until we got back to the certified scale back at Honokohau Harbor's Charter Desk. Here is Mike, Wendell, Bomboy, and Nate:
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.tuna.fish.photo.spear.fishing.20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.tuna.fish.photo.spear.fishing.20.jpg" width="289" /></a></div>"What do you guys think it weighs?" asked the woman at the scale. We'd all spent enough time with fish and scales to know that it's always better to take a lot of weight of what you think it weighs, so we shouted out numbers like 150, 167, 170, and 155. When she said "188!!!" we all redoubled our celebratory efforts.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.tuna.fish.photo.spear.fishing.7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.tuna.fish.photo.spear.fishing.7.jpg" width="323" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">I've seen a lot of really wild stuff on the ocean, but this was far and away the gnarliest thing I ever witnessed. For example I used to catch <a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/story/story7.html">marlin from kayaks</a>, but that is child's play compared to big game spearfishing. It being my first time on a spearfishing photo shoot, I think I might just stop here, because it's gotta be all downhill after Wendell Ko's 188 pound giant ahi tuna! ....FAVOR TIME......</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">If you liked this story, PLEASE do me a favor and "Like" my <a href="http://www.facebook.com/bluewaterjon">Facebook Page</a> Jon Schwartz Fishing, Photography, and Travel by clicking <a href="http://www.facebook.com/bluewaterjon">HERE</a>. That way you can stay current with my latest photo adventures and also be eligible to win my next photo giveway worth $400.00 ************* About the Author************** Jon Schwartz contributes to fishing and travel magazines worldwide, specialzing in <a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/gallerybyjon.htm" target="_blank">big fish photos</a> and <a href="http://bluewaterjon.blogspot.com/2008/05/bluewater-jons-first-post-welcome.html" target="_blank">yacht and travel photography</a>, has been featured on Nat Geo TV, and blogs at <a href="http://bluewaterjon.blogspot.com/">http://bluewaterjon.blogspot.com</a>. He lives in San Diego his wife and daughters, teaches elementary school, and enjoys teaching technology, fish science and art, and blues music to his students. Below is one of his student's tiger shark renderings!
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtUdb-Ulq_CKhi8sWAZYPl2kVFY3Lpdu3TiyCF83hpTAyLwmrTMeJxrjOp-erFgHdc5mPxW36ZWvXMJ-hTmlx-5Ia2LPgQHv5mwqeMcaqBJRQcrM5uzrrKCftzBQOTWthBBHkona1Z1AI/s1600/photo-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtUdb-Ulq_CKhi8sWAZYPl2kVFY3Lpdu3TiyCF83hpTAyLwmrTMeJxrjOp-erFgHdc5mPxW36ZWvXMJ-hTmlx-5Ia2LPgQHv5mwqeMcaqBJRQcrM5uzrrKCftzBQOTWthBBHkona1Z1AI/s320/photo-1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Jon Schwartz also contributes articles to educational websites like Edutopia and has been featured on KPBS TV and many other networks for his pioneering work with technology, music and literacy in elementary education. Check out his <a href="http://kidslikeblues.org/">First Grade Blues Band</a> (they were on TV y'all!) and his student blogging site <a href="http://kidslikeblogs.org/">Kids Like Blogs</a>. Here he is on stage with some of his first grade bandmates:
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXRESwENKiZg5hSEwisjq1eUU6R1cqTgD_tU8KgEnZNGvSEQQJm4xZekAHvL39x4z5Px7IayShwHWkXIXdFfMM_NnRhcukgFppJFU2vNnJjJ6WSFMPckC3oQ1MfVsLvk2rjCOrYmgUg34/s1600/SafariScreenSnapz001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="117" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXRESwENKiZg5hSEwisjq1eUU6R1cqTgD_tU8KgEnZNGvSEQQJm4xZekAHvL39x4z5Px7IayShwHWkXIXdFfMM_NnRhcukgFppJFU2vNnJjJ6WSFMPckC3oQ1MfVsLvk2rjCOrYmgUg34/s320/SafariScreenSnapz001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div>Jon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823199775014260533.post-76775331059743279052012-07-25T04:19:00.003-07:002012-08-01T12:50:19.587-07:00Huge tuna speared in Hawaii by free diverThink fishing for big tuna from a boat is extreme? Try holding your breath for several minutes, free diving 60 feet down into the silent blue abyss with a massive speargun, and waiting for a giant fish to swim by!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwqWwOqqO97RrG75r7Yo-usIgRZYyU1LL-h5-OGIsU6FxAT7iF1GdzYaBRSRksEv2eBxn-9mO8NqhyK22GPSJmDCjMmzVze7wugl1gre4UGkjZXYyNWojd5YTmMLgSlpuovr9wzZWVLeE/s1600/tuna.spear.fishing.record.giant.ahi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwqWwOqqO97RrG75r7Yo-usIgRZYyU1LL-h5-OGIsU6FxAT7iF1GdzYaBRSRksEv2eBxn-9mO8NqhyK22GPSJmDCjMmzVze7wugl1gre4UGkjZXYyNWojd5YTmMLgSlpuovr9wzZWVLeE/s1600/tuna.spear.fishing.record.giant.ahi.jpg" /></a></div><div><div>Wendell Ko, a spearfishing expert from Oahu, landed an incredible 188 pound tuna after doing just that.<br />
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<b><i>------------UPDATE: To see the full account, pictures, and video, click <a href="http://bluewaterjon.blogspot.com/2012/08/giant-tuna-speared-as-sharks-circle.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>-----------</i></b><br />
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</i></u></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTFnzuxoHMtWqHOvVsuq_3ax4LK-V9jNZ409LPdZ3Ph1fsthWhqg0kAZ7MdPHmPAzgrtjWec9bfv4pZezl4lhb84AxkC3DEeH2b96lJQK4-CtegzWLxxXGxcRJ0t2TTxgrQT11ZevZoA/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTFnzuxoHMtWqHOvVsuq_3ax4LK-V9jNZ409LPdZ3Ph1fsthWhqg0kAZ7MdPHmPAzgrtjWec9bfv4pZezl4lhb84AxkC3DEeH2b96lJQK4-CtegzWLxxXGxcRJ0t2TTxgrQT11ZevZoA/s1600/6.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I just spent an incredible day with Ko and his spearfishing pals in Kona, Hawaii with Captain Bomboy Llanes on the <i>Lana Kila</i> and have the most amazing photos and video from this adventure. I've been on the water everyday so I haven't had much time to devote to this story, but soon I'll start putting some more up on this blog, and also on my main fishing photography website which you can see by clicking <a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If you enjoy reading about extreme adventure sports, this story and photos are a <i>must see</i>, so check back soon to see how Ko and his buddies fended off sharks, pushed their physical limits, and landed the biggest tuna I've ever seen in my life!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the meantime please like my Facebook page by clicking here on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/bluewaterjon" target="_blank">Jon Schwartz Fishing, Photography, and Travel</a>. I am about to hold another free photo sweepstakes there. Last month one of my fans won a 16x20" gallery quality print worth $400. </div></div>Jon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823199775014260533.post-14472247804685179012012-06-28T00:25:00.004-07:002012-06-28T00:41:29.378-07:00Fishing Photographer's Giant Marlin Photo on Magazine CoverThe huge 600 pound marlin that bounced off the press boat, broke hook, and swam to freedom at the 2010 Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament (HIBT) continues to make big fish news!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.huge.monster.marlin.magazine.jumping.fishing.photo.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.huge.monster.marlin.magazine.jumping.fishing.photo.1.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;">The picture shown above that I took as the big fish was jumping towards our press boat is now on the cover of Marlin Magazine's March 2012 issue. Yahoo!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I wonder how that big girl is doing now? You probably know that most large marlin are females. Hopefully the fish is continuing to reproduce and eating 100 pound tuna for snacks in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;">If you don't remember this famous fish tale, click <a href="http://bluewaterjon.blogspot.com/2010/08/huge-marlin-attacks-press-boat-in-kona.html" target="_blank">here</a> to see how this marlin was one of the top photos and news stories of the summer of 2010.</div>Jon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823199775014260533.post-78953901400953946012012-06-27T19:26:00.004-07:002012-06-27T19:35:01.729-07:00Dorado, mahi, or dolphin fish. Whatever you call it, here's my newest cover!This is the newest issue of Australia's Bluewater Magazine with a photo that I took in Nicaragua.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/mahi.dorado.dolphin.fishing.photo.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/mahi.dorado.dolphin.fishing.photo.1.jpg" /></a>=</div>People on the East Coast of the USA call it a dolphin fish, while Hawaiians and the seafood industry call it Mahi Mahi. If you go where they speak Spanish it's called a dorado. They jump like crazy and are very hard to capture on film. In addition, the moment you bring them aboard, they lose their color and turn green-brown, so it's hard top get good shots of them. If that weren't enough, they go absolutely ballistic when they are in the boat and they can be dangerous to handle because they are often attached to a set of large hooks.<br />
They often travel in schools. The bull male has that weird looking "Lurch" forehead and the female is usually smaller with a more gently sloping forehead. For a huge thrill, try catching them from a kayak!<br />
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</a></div>Jon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823199775014260533.post-6215772162283428492012-03-07T20:40:00.005-08:002012-03-08T01:01:19.517-08:00Photo of big fish and lure makes top fishing magazine coverCheck out my yellowfin tuna picture on the cover of the new issue of <b><i>Bluewater Boats Magazine</i></b>!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/ahi.yellowfin/big.tuna.fishing.lure.photo.6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/ahi.yellowfin/big.tuna.fishing.lure.photo.6.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I do a lot of fishing photography on the Kona Coast on the Big Island of Hawaii. Last summer I fished with Captain Russ Nitta of Lepika Sportfishing chasing <i><b>Ahi</b></i> (the Hawaiian name for big yellowfin tuna). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">He caught the 130 pound yellowfin tuna featured on the cover trolling a custom Hawaiian lure head made by Ronald Shiroma. Russ likes to skirt it with blue and silver over pink and white. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/ahi.yellowfin/big.tuna.fishing.lure.photo.5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/ahi.yellowfin/big.tuna.fishing.lure.photo.5.jpg" width="351" /></a></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For ahi, Russ uses 300-400 pound test Momoi Extra Hard leader, with leader lengths between 18 and 24 feet. His reels are all Fin Nor 80's and 130's, matched with custom Ian Miller rods from Australia.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I had originally booked time with him because I wanted to see him catch huge tuna with an interesting contraption known as the "green stick", but we had better luck trolling lures. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Captain Nitta on the <b><i>Lepika</i></b>, a 33' Force built in Hilo.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/ahi.yellowfin/big.tuna.fishing.lure.photo.7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="307" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/ahi.yellowfin/big.tuna.fishing.lure.photo.7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm thrilled that my photo was featured on the cover of <i><b>Bluewater. </b></i>Editor Tim Simpson runs an awesome publication that is cherished by big game anglers worldwide, and I hope his readers will get a kick out of this tuna pic. Below is a photo I took of a sailfish being released in in Guatemala that made the cover of Bluewater awhile back:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbr8SNDtJSre5gLEAMukXPhsBqe79vgpWwVpN2m6KPmY0PGyvM0d-j2JIITmRrNzEkBbrkNIY27nk_OfzCPnjS5NNfr0q680FlVfSZMyS_Ag072VmMaxe4SavZprCw334fG-6gpfhpIYc/s1600/fishing_photography_jon_schwartz_sailfish_copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbr8SNDtJSre5gLEAMukXPhsBqe79vgpWwVpN2m6KPmY0PGyvM0d-j2JIITmRrNzEkBbrkNIY27nk_OfzCPnjS5NNfr0q680FlVfSZMyS_Ag072VmMaxe4SavZprCw334fG-6gpfhpIYc/s1600/fishing_photography_jon_schwartz_sailfish_copy.jpg" /></a></div>Jon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823199775014260533.post-53696315812433853012012-03-03T20:07:00.004-08:002012-03-04T18:00:57.585-08:00Fiji Adventure Travel and Ecotourism Photos by Jon SchwartzFiji has been on my bucket list for years. Ultra exotic fish like the Dogtooth Tuna, Giant Trevally, and Wahoo prowl the waters just off the Great Astrolabe Reef, and it's also a top snorkeling, diving, surfing, and ecotourism destination.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.snorkel.travel.vacation.photo.jon.schwartz.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.snorkel.travel.vacation.photo.jon.schwartz.1.jpg" width="341" /></a></div>Captain Adrian Watt operates a world class sport fishing boat called the <i>Bite Me</i> out of Matava Resort on Kadavu Island, and my recent visit provided me with a great opportunity to get more exciting fishing and travel photos (click pictures to enlarge)<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">"Bure" is the Fijian word for cabin. Here's an exterior view of one of the bures.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here's where I slept! The sound of the waves crashing on the Great Astrolabe Reef are very soothing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.17.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is Lion Rock, where I took the over under shots of the snorkeler swimming.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Below is an under over (also called over under or split shot) photo that I took at Lion Rock. It was fun trying out my new specialized custom camera lens port that enables me to do this type of photography.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.snorkel.travel.vacation.photo.jon.schwartz.2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.snorkel.travel.vacation.photo.jon.schwartz.2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Every night the guests gather for a multi course meal and conversation. I made friends with people from Australia, France, Germany, Argentina, England, and New Zealand.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.19.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Matava Resort is also a PADI 5 star dive center. Here's a couple of divers entering the water. I'm a fool for not being certified in SCUBA, because the Great Astrolabe Reef is one of the best dive spots in the world. I'll have to go back and do a dive trip there. I got some awesome pics just snorkeling!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="283" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Cool local style carving outside my cabin.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.18.jpg" width="327" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Anyone for a message?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.15.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The view from my bure (cabin).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.20.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The dining room set up for lunch.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Flying into Kadavu Island on Pacific Air from Nadi Airport on mainland Fiji.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.16.jpg" width="326" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In Fiji and the Western Pacific they have a drink called Kava. It is mildly intoxicating and according to Wikipedia, can act as a sedative and anesthetic. Here's the staff preparing some for the guests from the roots of the plant <i>Piper Methsyticum</i>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.13.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm a sucker for closeup flower shots like this:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Scenic shot of the entrance to the resort</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.12.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Dining room looking out</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fiji/fiji.travel.vacation.photo.matava.resort.8.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Jon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823199775014260533.post-5633025240547539622012-02-28T13:55:00.003-08:002012-02-28T17:21:12.071-08:00Jon Schwartz squid photo on cover of academic journal<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/squid.photo.underwater.mollusk.molluscan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/squid.photo.underwater.mollusk.molluscan.jpg" width="259" /></a></div>Being in the right place at the right time sure can pay off! When I went kayak fishing last summer in Southern California for white seabass, a giant school of squid appeared at the surface. I dove in with my camera and lucked out with some amazing underwater squid photos.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/giant.squid.big.fish.photo.8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/giant.squid.big.fish.photo.8.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
My squid pictures made the front page of the <i>San Diego Union Tribune</i>, were featured in the <i><a href="http://magblog.audubon.org/squid-surprise" target="_blank">Audobon Magazine</a></i>, <a href="http://www.divephotoguide.com/underwater-photography-special-features/article/shooting-schooling-squid-la-jolla/" target="_blank"><i>Dive Photo Guide</i></a>, and numerous major websites. I was even featured on TV (click on the below clip to see that). Not bad for a chance encounter!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/N-Yugk6vVV8?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
My luck continued when Oxford University Press's London bureau contacted me and asked to use one of my squid photos for the cover of their scientific publication <i>Journal of Molluscan Studies</i>. What a gas! I can't make much sense of what they talk about inside the book because it's very technical, but I'm flattered that such smart people liked my squid pics.<br />
<br />
If you want to read the entire story with more photos, check out this article <a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/article/article12.html" target="_blank">here</a>.Jon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823199775014260533.post-2207692528291718472012-02-27T22:41:00.003-08:002012-02-28T17:23:53.304-08:00Jon Schwartz's Technology Work with Elementary StudentsIn addition to being a fishing photographer and travel writer, I have been teaching elementary school for 15 years. I use my passion for fishing, writing, photography, and technology to engage my students.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgljQr9P7pmY8p6Cl7I_r6DxDoHJr0KvNHKW-_LitobtdJGzJi56P3W1UcXZzAMQj36bU-YMJR4evsDdUhZ2x4DgyTckKUGzOLTznCbs9VbeWvutUAV5ootJ754G1_MY1B8RvSyB-cdius/s1600/kids.fishing.photo.jon.schwartz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgljQr9P7pmY8p6Cl7I_r6DxDoHJr0KvNHKW-_LitobtdJGzJi56P3W1UcXZzAMQj36bU-YMJR4evsDdUhZ2x4DgyTckKUGzOLTznCbs9VbeWvutUAV5ootJ754G1_MY1B8RvSyB-cdius/s1600/kids.fishing.photo.jon.schwartz.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>This fall I was recognized by the <b>California State Senate</b> and the <b>Technology Training Foundation of America </b>as a "2011 Tech Hero" for my "Commitment to providing students with the necessary training and tools to compete in our technological world."<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTrUkoMdO-9Ojqc3U2ySzwE6ahkZ0rWUrv0gqr1I4g53uQNzMc_bsBgkzNYqSc7JNEjjSAQzO-5oVCpJnUD9OYm2nW1uH0iVOzgiuYfeQbiJPv53BvPyRFQG-zZh57HhB39qLB94ykWSQ/s1600/jon.schwartz.technology.teacher.award.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTrUkoMdO-9Ojqc3U2ySzwE6ahkZ0rWUrv0gqr1I4g53uQNzMc_bsBgkzNYqSc7JNEjjSAQzO-5oVCpJnUD9OYm2nW1uH0iVOzgiuYfeQbiJPv53BvPyRFQG-zZh57HhB39qLB94ykWSQ/s400/jon.schwartz.technology.teacher.award.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzg064oyK3uHFbfdSVkUYWkcYefj8MFerpUaciciXJXR7QVYkoEHMGAHfr5P6Ouutz-RxNU4nWLxQnMBnCpou-wRh8iJ_tRnNNkIYjk9aWfadIIB88v9dcDPqVOPz_vAW0-MUb3rsIxN8/s1600/jon.schwartz.tech.award.blogs.student.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzg064oyK3uHFbfdSVkUYWkcYefj8MFerpUaciciXJXR7QVYkoEHMGAHfr5P6Ouutz-RxNU4nWLxQnMBnCpou-wRh8iJ_tRnNNkIYjk9aWfadIIB88v9dcDPqVOPz_vAW0-MUb3rsIxN8/s320/jon.schwartz.tech.award.blogs.student.jpg" width="245" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Specifically, I have been teaching students how to use blogs, photoshop, and video editing. I also teach them digital citizenship, the evolution from print to web, and search engine optimization.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7cRkYRGprSVA2heJxlt9PelfG8PyMGTJw8YBSyLRJHoIajyy8eNfsHM50w-j56u0CAa0bUhbi6z3gKVFzSmKYdc5Vstctxnk8bIkgdVlPUmKyUEnVWb79XyOvlPhYyBTAXDUe7LS753I/s1600/jon.schwartz.teacher.tech.kids.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7cRkYRGprSVA2heJxlt9PelfG8PyMGTJw8YBSyLRJHoIajyy8eNfsHM50w-j56u0CAa0bUhbi6z3gKVFzSmKYdc5Vstctxnk8bIkgdVlPUmKyUEnVWb79XyOvlPhYyBTAXDUe7LS753I/s1600/jon.schwartz.teacher.tech.kids.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I was asked by the prominent educational website <i>Edutopia </i>(funded by the movie mogul George Lucas of Star Wars) to write an article on using student blogs to help English Language Learners cross the Digital Divide. You can read the article by clicking <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/blog/ell-digital-divide-jon-schwartz" target="_blank">here</a>. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My class was also featured on TV (see below video) and our work was written about in several different publications, including <i>Education News</i> and <i>Converge Magazine</i>. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/OTToERnTKB4?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>If you have any interest in checking any of this work out, please visit my site at <a href="http://www.kidslikeblogs.org/">www.kidslikeblogs.org</a>. My next project involves using billfish and marine science to teach my students the science, math, and writing.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYuisNuZyxfQsEfrT36V44ULDgBY1qZvrHZI_UluFOpnXyizTTiH3D7PklYtPA7OEBQfvgL1QlHnUHwTC64njilweMVPzIT0Q3_IZdjHAwJikbPcaTQTprbx7dwiHZ4Kjr3BqB_uRDm3s/s1600/student.kid.blogs.school.class.jon.schwartz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYuisNuZyxfQsEfrT36V44ULDgBY1qZvrHZI_UluFOpnXyizTTiH3D7PklYtPA7OEBQfvgL1QlHnUHwTC64njilweMVPzIT0Q3_IZdjHAwJikbPcaTQTprbx7dwiHZ4Kjr3BqB_uRDm3s/s400/student.kid.blogs.school.class.jon.schwartz.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>To see examples of how I use fishing and technology to engage my students, click <a href="http://bluewaterjon.blogspot.com/2010/11/fishing-with-kids.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/story/story9.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Stay tuned for updates from our exciting classroom.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIFk07U5hDPGmDweJhvMZ1mN7-dwvqMPOXrhjtPrf1FpXUD_h0kkrmqvqevaxbPzSOJUi4B0QX4NVQ1vlcx9lwvxY69GJR3yIyBSe0AqcrzWfGY4A_4S5gp8UcSoLu5IJrZGcDb1dGvmU/s1600/studentreport.jpg" /></div>Jon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823199775014260533.post-6677491819837194562012-01-30T00:31:00.000-08:002012-02-06T20:51:20.180-08:00Win a $400 signed fishing photo from fishing photographer Jon SchwartzIt's exciting to have my big fish photos and video on magazine covers, billboards, private collections, and National Geographic. Now I'm giving away 2 signed 16x20" gallery quality prints worth $400 each! Here's how you can you get a chance to win these photos:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiykOol7BVek_I_wynGKNwxZleScwJR6Ka6S8JZ7Bxux5XIhoFkpQZhue8Hx9LKGJc4QShA8rjLY168MCpbmK8Y0ppIofOocLpVd_T73jS3PneYiMsNd_WdwjDgKZq8VWAZVE-_Fc6xcxw/s1600/300X250+blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiykOol7BVek_I_wynGKNwxZleScwJR6Ka6S8JZ7Bxux5XIhoFkpQZhue8Hx9LKGJc4QShA8rjLY168MCpbmK8Y0ppIofOocLpVd_T73jS3PneYiMsNd_WdwjDgKZq8VWAZVE-_Fc6xcxw/s1600/300X250+blog.jpg" /></a></div>1. Visit my Facebook Page by clicking here: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bluewaterjon?sk=app_106878476015645" target="_blank">Jon Schwartz Fishing Photography</a><br />
2. Follow the easy instructions. All you have to do once you get there is "Like" the page and sign up to be eligible.<br />
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<i>Please Note</i>: there are two small buttons below this blog post that look like Facebook buttons. Don't bother with them. You actually have to go to my Facebook page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bluewaterjon?sk=app_106878476015645" target="_blank">Jon Schwartz Fishing Photography</a> and click "Like" once you get there. Thanks!!<br />
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Here are some images I am considering for the giveaway. I am open to suggestions and I welcome all input. If you scroll through my blog and look through my Facebook page you will see a lot more images. I will be going to Fiji in two weeks and will also be coming back with more images so stay tuned for my Fiji reports!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Em5_k70t0_8Y2pa1zWEq33-51Pk7jLMd2rWx_DgNwN8SdVfb1E_x1Rdptmkur2a3jH105rqjDH_k2gPktMSrmdINfc-mIUd9wuYCDG3okJJGKco95i1OXPpj4j2we4U8QFjV5Bgmgs0/s1600/jon.schwartz.fishing.photography.marlin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Em5_k70t0_8Y2pa1zWEq33-51Pk7jLMd2rWx_DgNwN8SdVfb1E_x1Rdptmkur2a3jH105rqjDH_k2gPktMSrmdINfc-mIUd9wuYCDG3okJJGKco95i1OXPpj4j2we4U8QFjV5Bgmgs0/s1600/jon.schwartz.fishing.photography.marlin.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/tuna.fishing.big.yellowfin.photo.underwater.jon.schwartz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/tuna.fishing.big.yellowfin.photo.underwater.jon.schwartz.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/blue.marlin.fishing.photo.jon.schwartz.4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/blue.marlin.fishing.photo.jon.schwartz.4.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/bonefish.fishing.photo.hawaii.jon.schwartz.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/bonefish.fishing.photo.hawaii.jon.schwartz.1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/mahi.dorado.photos/mahi.dorado.fishing.photo.7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/mahi.dorado.photos/mahi.dorado.fishing.photo.7.jpg" /></a></div>In the meantime here is my 2012 Wall Calendar published by Willow Creek Press, available in bookstores now:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/big.fish.fishing.photo.calendar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/big.fish.fishing.photo.calendar.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div>Jon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823199775014260533.post-35651857040946723862011-12-26T12:54:00.000-08:002012-01-02T22:29:55.172-08:00Wife Bests Husband in Marlin Fishing Standoff<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.56.jpg" width="375" /></a></div>How about this big fish story: a married couple fishing aboard the 35' <i>Bad Medicine</i> in Cabo San Lucas spotted the dorsal fins of two striped marlin breaking the surface. Patricia and Edward Araujo of Chula Vista, California tossed baits to the pair of billfish, and within moments the husband and wife team found themselves hooked up to a pair of javelin-nosed jumpers greyhounding for the horizon.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="323" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.20.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div>The married duo strapped on their fighting belts and shouted with glee as the fishing line peeled off their reels in bursts. Patricia's fish headed west and Edward's went east, pinning the anglers in opposite corners of the boat. I grabbed my wide angle lens, raced to the bridge, and snapped away. As a fishing photographer and travel writer, I have plenty of stock fishing pictures, but photos of married couples hooked up at the same time to huge fish are hard to come by!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.17.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The Araujos are experienced anglers and spend a lot of time fishing in Baja, but they'd ever enjoyed a simultaneous double marlin hookup together. I couldn't decide what to photograph next!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.19.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>I wanted to get jumping shots of their fish, but I also wanted to swim with the striped marlin, take underwater photographs, and then take photos from the water looking up at them and their fish. After some thought I decided to put my telephoto lens on and see if their fish wouldn't put on an aerial show closer to the boat. Fortunately they did!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.15.jpg" width="344" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="311" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.16.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As soon as I got these jumping shots, I readied my underwater camera gear and donned my mask and fins. I'm walking around the boat with the fins on getting in everyone's way and looking like a complete clown. Someone had to decide which spouse would reel their fish in first. Edward's fish was a bit closer so the Captain Bernabe "Bernie" Ruiz told him to bring his fish in. If everything went according to plan, I'd document the release of this fish from the water while Patricia continued the fight with her marlin.</div>In the meantime I snorkeled off the boat's stern and got shots of the two anglers hooked up.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.24.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.27.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Fortunately the plan unfolded smoothly and I was able to get some pretty awesome photos of Edward and his fish. The mate inserted the tag into the fish. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.55.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="325" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.55.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If the fish is again caught, the capture and tag information will be reported to organizations like The Billfish Foundation, which can determine the length of travel between travel and marlin migration patterns, etc. The Billfish Foundation helps promote the conservation of marlin, sailfish, and related species worldwide.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here is a cool shot of Edward and his fish while wife Patricia is battles her own marlin in the background:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.54.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Deckhand Alberto “Beto” Ceseña released the first fish; now it was time for everyone to concentrate on Patricia, who fought along gamely as her fish dove for the bottom.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="307" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.28.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>When the marlin resurfaced near me, it became evident that her fish was the bigger of the two. I gave it plenty of space until Beto grabbed hold of the leader, and then took some shots of her posing with her fish. Patricia backed off and the Beto took over. This was one big striped marlin!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The <i>Marinero</i> expertly insertied the tag into the fish and deftly sent it on its way. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This wasn't the crew's first time at the rodeo; in fact, they'd won the 2011 Bisbee's Black and Blue Marlin Tournament. Sensing another cool photo op, I snapped away the entire time and got some neat shots of the entire marlin release sequence. I put together a composite that I will be using in future articles on the subject of how to release marlin. Here it is: (click to enlarge photo)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.marlin.release.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.marlin.release.1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Ironically Patricia almost didn't make the trip; the couple had a wedding to attend the same night and she almost stayed home to get ready for the occasion. I know my wife would have. As it was, she only had a couple of hours between landing at Cabo San Lucas Marina and the start of the wedding. That's what I call a dedicated angler! Turns out that I have a lot in common with the couple; Patricia and I both teach elementary school in San Diego and our students might become online pen pals. On the way back Patricia filled out the Tag Report that <a href="http://www.badmedicinesportfishing.com/" target="_blank">Bad Medicine Sportfishing</a> will send to The Billfish Foundation.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.53.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.53.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>I use fishing and technology to engage my students so you can bet as soon as I get back in the classroom after winter break, I'll be telling the kids this cool fishing tale.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/story/studentreport.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/story/studentreport.jpg" /></a></div>I have a marlin mount in my car right now and the day before school starts back up I'm going to put it up on the wall. When the students come in, we'll do the dramatic unveiling! It will lead to more fish science in our room. I'll be sharing our marlin and marine science work with The Billfish Foundation to aid in their billfish conservation efforts.<br />
Stay tuned as I will be writing another article featuring other photos and stories from this trip to Cabo. Here's a preview:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.23.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>If you liked this article, please click <b><a href="http://www.facebook.com/bluewaterjon" target="_blank">here</a></b> to like my Facebook page.<br />
I will be doing a free monthly photo giveaway raffle that is available to all those who have "liked" the page. If you scroll through my blog and website you'll see some of the neat images that might be raffled off. Three per month will be given away to randomly selected "likers" of my Facebook page.<br />
Cheers and tight lines,<br />
<a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/" target="_blank">Jon Schwartz</a><br />
<br />
UPDATE:<br />
This story was picked up by the San Diego Union Tribune!<br />
Outdoors writer and SD Tribune columnist Ed Zieralski did a writeup and you can see it here <a href="http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2011/dec/30/cabo-san-lucas-marlin-adventure-chula-vista-couple/" target="_blank">San Diego Union Tribune: Couple has Marlin Adventure in Cabo San Lucas</a>.</div>Jon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823199775014260533.post-83148380704269308762011-12-20T13:59:00.000-08:002011-12-20T14:15:04.858-08:00Giant Bonefish! Fishing Photos from my trip to Oahu, HawaiiHere is a picture of a huge bonefish that I took in Oahu, Hawaii.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/bonefish.fishing.photo.hawaii.jon.schwartz.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/bonefish.fishing.photo.hawaii.jon.schwartz.1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Oahu is what's called a "sleeper" spot for massive bonefish. There are plenty of big ones there. I wrote an article about the trip in Saltwater Sportsman Magazine.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/bonefish.fishing.photo.hawaii.jon.schwartz.3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/bonefish.fishing.photo.hawaii.jon.schwartz.3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After witnessing the sheer number and size of enormous specimens, I asked my friend and guide Captain Mike Hennessy, "Mike, I don't get it. Why would anyone go anywhere else when they can fly to Honolulu and be in the flats stalking these monsters within site of Waikiki and Diamond Head?"</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/bonefish.fishing.photo.hawaii.jon.schwartz.2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/bonefish.fishing.photo.hawaii.jon.schwartz.2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">He explained that it's "varsity" fishery; the fish are incredibly hard to catch, and fly fishing enthusiasts that aren't on top of their techniques can get their hats handed to them by the largest fish. Fortunately the fish cooperated and I got a lot of great shots!</div><div>I have a new Facebook Page. If you click on this link and like <a href="http://www.facebook.com/bluewaterjon" target="_blank">Jon Schwartz Photography, Fishing, and Travel </a> you will be able to "Like" the page and soon I'll be giving away free prints every month to a couple of random fans.</div>Jon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823199775014260533.post-504360435239978712011-12-17T20:05:00.000-08:002011-12-18T16:56:26.526-08:00Yacht Photography in Cabo San Lucas, Baja Sur MexicoLos Arcos in Cabo San Lucas is a great location for taking pictures and photos of sportfishing boats.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="291" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><div><div>Today I was out shooting the 35' Cabo Yachts Sportfisher <a href="http://www.badmedicinesportfishing.com/">Bad Medicine</a>. It's a super sweet boat and I will be fishing and taking photos with them for several days.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>On the way back, a sea lion hopped up onto the back of the <i>Bad Medicine</i> and gave all of us a big laugh! Click on the photo to zoom in.</div></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div>I finally figured out a way to do a free photo giveaway on my Facebook Page without getting in trouble with Facebook (I registered my FB page on a third party app that is FB approved) and soon all the people who are fans of the page will have a chance at a free monthly photo giveway. Yahoo!</div><div>Here are some photos I took of one of my favorite restaurants in Cabo. In the first shot the fellow is getting a tequila tour.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="291" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/Jon.Schwartz.fishing.photo.cabo.10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div>I will be posting photos and details about my Cabo vacation on this blog, and also on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/bluewaterjon" target="_blank">Jon Schwartz's Photography, Fishing, and Travel Facebook Page</a>. You can become a fan of that page by clicking on the above link.</div><div>~Jon Schwartz</div>Jon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823199775014260533.post-44574315878438282011-11-23T04:24:00.000-08:002011-11-23T16:17:52.934-08:00Which big fish are released and why: Marlin, Tuna, and Shark photos and factsEver wonder why sport fishing anglers keep some big fish and let others go?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/blue.marlin.fishing.photo.jon.schwartz.4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/blue.marlin.fishing.photo.jon.schwartz.4.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>It might simply be a matter of taste. Marlin are great fun to catch, but in my opinion they don't make for great table fare. They are sometimes prepared by smoking or grinding them up into meatballs called <i>albondigas. </i>The results can be decent, but then again, lots of people say frogs and and pigs feet are tasty, too. "If you cook 'em just right they're delicious!" Fortunately most sport fishing anglers are content to let marlin go.<br />
<br />
I took the above photo of a blue marlin that was being released. Taken above or below the water, photos are a great way to celebrate one's catch. Taxidermy mounts are still popular. They're no longer made from dead fish, and this results in a lot less fish hanging at the docks for the sake of a picture. I had a fantastic life-sized plastic marlin mount made for me by one of the best taxidermy companies in the world, and they only wanted to know the species and approximate size. They had molds in different sizes made from fish that have been already been caught hanging up on their walls. I kept telling them, "Look at the photo of <i>MY </i>marlin" and they said politely with a knowing smile, "Yup, that's a marlin alright!"<br />
<br />
Having spent a fair amount of time swimming with marlin and examining the photos I take, I can attest to the fact that most marlin of the same species and size range look fairly similar (They probably say the same thing about us humans!) Once in a while you'll see one that's particularly portly or skinny or has a deformity, but for the most part, the accuracy of the mount will depend more on the quality of the artist than anything you might bring them.<br />
<br />
I often travel to Hawaii and fish the Kona Coast. I know that a lot of local Hawaiians keep the marlin they catch, and to me, that's OK, because they are different than sport fishing anglers. They are not tourists with extra cash on hand, and they are not really fishing for sport. They live there, and these are the animals they have access to. They are fishing for marlin with hook and line, the hard way. Often they are doing it solo, without the help of a deckhand, using inexpensive gear. Marlin may be one of the few fresh meats they can afford, and they are usually fishing to feed their family. Providing for one's family is what people used to do before division of labor came along....before we paid other people to hunt, fish, and farm so we could chat with people we barely know on Facebook, watch TV, and eat Hot Cheetos.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/yellowfin.tuna.fishing.photo.underwater.jon.schwartz.5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/yellowfin.tuna.fishing.photo.underwater.jon.schwartz.5.jpg" /></a></div>Tuna, like the above big yellowfin (or <i>ahi</i>) that I photographed, are usually NOT released. They are simply too darn delicious! I love eating tuna, and I am careful about which kinds I eat. Some species of tuna, particularly bluefin, are being over-harvested by commercial fishing enterprises that go out on the ocean with huge ships, massive nets, and spotter aircraft. The fish don't have a chance. The people who are fishing with hook and line, a process that takes more effort and time and is less productive, can't compete with these monstrous fishing operations.<br />
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A famous and universally respected captain in Hawaii named Marlin Parker told me something that I thought was pretty interesting and agreeable. He thought it would be a good idea for people to get back to fishing with hook and line instead of using mass capture methods like bottom trawling, spotter aircraft, and floating fish processing factories. What do you think? Here is a photo of Marlin Parker releasing a blue marlin.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/marlin.parker.release.big.fish.hawaii.kona.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/marlin.parker.release.big.fish.hawaii.kona.jpg" /></a></div><br />
He is using a special tool that helps him remove the hook. He'll keep the boat in gear to keep water running over the fish's gills. The fish's colors come back, the hook is removed, and once the marlin starts kicking it's tail, he let's it go and the angler gets to watch the fish swim off. It's a great feeling. <br />
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Check out my photo below of an angler hooked up to a 400 pound black marlin, with the mates leadering the fish to the boat so they can tag and release it. I took it at Tropic Star Lodge in Panama, which was named World's Top Fishing Resort by the Robb Report. This photo is now the opening image on Tropic Star Lodge's website.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/black.marlin.tropic.star.release.panama.jon.schwartz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/black.marlin.tropic.star.release.panama.jon.schwartz.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Below is a picture of one of their deckhands inserting a tag into the shoulder of a black marlin near the dorsal fin. Once the mates tag the fish, it counts as a catch. The tag also contains a code; if the fish is caught again, the second angler can see how far it traveled and how long it has been free.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/black.marlin.tag.tropic.star.release.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/black.marlin.tag.tropic.star.release.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On that same trip to Tropic Star I took a picture of a marlin that ended up on the cover of Marlin Magazine. That was a great trip! Here is the cover shot:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/marlin.magazine.cover.photo.panama.tropic.star.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/marlin.magazine.cover.photo.panama.tropic.star.jpg" /></a></div>On the subject of mates, deckhands, and photographs, let me tell you about a friend of mine named Joe Thrasher. "Kaiwi Joe" is a world-class deckhand and mate and is currently working with Captain Teddy Hoogs in Kona. Joe sometimes does the job of 3 people: he grabs the leader and pulls the marlin to the boat, pokes the marlin with the tagging stick with one hand, and takes photos with another. I will email him and see if he won't sent me a pic or short clip of him doing this. You won't believe it! Here is a picture of Joe Thrasher:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/fishing.deckhand.kona.hawaii.joe.thrasher.marlin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/fishing.deckhand.kona.hawaii.joe.thrasher.marlin.jpg" /></a></div>I know that giant bluefin tuna are in serious jeopardy. Currently, in some areas like possibly Nova Scotia, people are allowed to harvest a limited number of giant bluefin tuna. That seems to be a pretty smart way of letting people catch a safe amount of fish that are in need of protection. My friend Tim Simpson, the editor of <i>Bluewater Boats and Sportfishing Magazine, </i>was just in that area and released one that may have been over 1,000 pounds! Fish like that are worth a ton of money, and because they can't keep every fish they catch, the captains are very selective about the fish they do keep.<br />
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Years ago I read a book called<i> Fish the Chair If You Dare</i> written by Greg Beacher. It was a great read and it's still available on Amazon. If I remember correctly he was one of the pioneers of giant bluefin fishing on the East Coast of the USA in the 1970's. In the book, he showed pictures of giant bluefin laying on docks back about 50 or 60 years ago. Incredibly, back then people didn't view giant bluefin tuna as a delicacy, and they would sometimes leave their fish on the docks because they didn't want to bother with them. Now fish like that can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/galapagos.shark.photo.underwater.kona.hawaii.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/galapagos.shark.photo.underwater.kona.hawaii.1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Above is a photo I took in Hawaii of a Galapagos shark. Sharks are usually released by sport fishing anglers. In my opinion, most don't taste all that good, and some are downright nasty. I see mako shark and thresher shark in fish markets, and some people say they taste great. I haven't ever had mako and the little thresher I tasted was OK. The worldwide shark population is being decimated by shark finning. That's when people cut off the shark's fins to sell for shark fin soup and let the shark sink to the ocean floor. Sharks are vulnerable because they don't reproduce quickly, so personally I am not into eating or killing sharks. Recently I have heard of some shark-free marinas that don't allow sharks to be hung at the docks. Sounds like a good idea to me. To me, the release is the most exciting part of shark fishing.<br />
Here's a picture I took of a Galapagos shark being released.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/galapagos.shark.photo.underwater.kona.hawaii.2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/galapagos.shark.photo.underwater.kona.hawaii.2.jpg" /></a></div>Sharks get a bad rap for being aggressive, but they actually bother very few people. On the rare occasion that they do bite someone, it interests people and the media makes money talking about it. If you do a Google search and compare shark bite stats and dog bite stats, you'll see what I mean.<br />
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There have been times when I didn't let marlin or sharks go. When I first started out shore fishing I kept some small sharks and ate them. I haven't kept a shark in maybe a decade and don't plan to again. One time I caught a 200 pound blue marlin on a kayak. After it towed me around for an hour, it dove down deep and died, and there was nothing I could do about it. I pulled it up by hand, gave most to the captain who lived in the Baja fishing village where I was staying, and I also took some home to try. I didn't care for it but I can understand why he eats it occasionally. That'd be like telling someone from Vermont or Wisconsin that they shouldn't harvest any local deer.<br />
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Catch and release fishing can be a lot of fun, and I have since learned that to promote a healthy release, it's a good idea to reduce the fighting time and use heavy enough tackle so the fish experiences less stress. In fact, if you are fishing for tuna and plan to eat them, a shorter fight time will result in a tastier fish.<br />
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Note: If you have enjoyed this article, please help me out by becoming a fan of the<a href="http://www.facebook.com/bluewaterjon" target="_blank"> Jon Schwartz Photography, Fishing, and Travel Facebook Page</a>.<br />
Thanks, Jon SchwartzJon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823199775014260533.post-43900887003460439602011-09-26T00:55:00.000-07:002011-10-02T23:42:53.433-07:00Swimming with Humboldt Squid: Photos and Pictures by Jon Schwartz<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Swimming with giant schools of Humboldt Squid at night is creepy!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/humboldt.squid.fishing.photo.4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/humboldt.squid.fishing.photo.4.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Saturday I drove to Newport to try free diving with the Humboldt Squid that have invaded Southern California. These strange sea creatures have been washing up on nearby beaches, and untold thousands continue to lurk in boiling masses just offshore.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/humboldt.squid.fishing.photo.2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/humboldt.squid.fishing.photo.2.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Unlike the cigar-sized market squid that I encountered in June at La Jolla (click <a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/article/article12.html">here</a> to read that cool story), Humboldt Squid can be dangerous and I wondered if it was a good idea to get in the water with them at night. I've seen videos of them attacking divers, and in fact have spent a lot of time over the past decade seeking out every last bit of information about people that dive with Humboldts. The encounters are fascinating.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/humboldt.squid.photo.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/humboldt.squid.photo.1.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After calling several experts, I decided to give it a go. It turns out that this particular population of Humboldts was just the right size for me to investigate without having to worry about getting dragged down, body slammed, or chewed on. Actually they might chew on me a little bit.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The ones off Newport are about 2-3 feet long, and the biggest Humboldts can get 6 feet long and over 100 pounds. This might seem huge, but Humboldts as a species aren't even close to being the biggest squid in the ocean. Colossal Squid can get as big as a school bus, but they spend their time in the depths fighting off sperm whales in epic battles (or are those Giant Squid?) Here are two images I took off of Wikipedia. One shows a depiction of a sperm whale fighting a massive squid, and the other illustrates the relative sizes of Colossal and Giant Squids.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyKXDzFNjSq8Xk1W4XhhysVW8I1pGMZwregSPgXqJdj9MyEohGitvH3YsS2Bx515J2yl0Ygr0bpbFuuP3g9V_4TMbgk3MfGPcg0aQ-Ktkd-JmbMsHRVEyX4j22m4H5UtrALrVEXYd4eds/s1600/Sperm_Whale_vs_Giant_Squid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyKXDzFNjSq8Xk1W4XhhysVW8I1pGMZwregSPgXqJdj9MyEohGitvH3YsS2Bx515J2yl0Ygr0bpbFuuP3g9V_4TMbgk3MfGPcg0aQ-Ktkd-JmbMsHRVEyX4j22m4H5UtrALrVEXYd4eds/s320/Sperm_Whale_vs_Giant_Squid.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIS6ORkrQ0yFRcbP-CDumDC1iZ82lqDjOJDdQ_HX9wiSWLuEUzPc7hAvKneklF_sRcmYh-BxPtM8ZV_ZsZm_DM_AK7N6C50vWcmMBFUOq9A6tjVFGX5F1uLrRr5nGcyMehCndUwiWBDSY/s1600/colossal_squid_compared.gif" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sperm whales have been found on beaches covered with scars from the tentacles of massive squid, and their stomachs have been found to contain thousands of squid beaks. Here's an old classic photo of a whale marred by squid tentacles.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpvXTn8ahAp_YxfQizbcx386CDbN5Bsm78eRLZQulgu792cS6TUPeQNLw1OT4zgC7RaZNdwS8qVmb_QqpjYcnEdmJG4eUkq8Dpiz23SOJISVn60M2pOLljYRTz5kWpIsK6MA0rgrk-9_I/s1600/slide_squid03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpvXTn8ahAp_YxfQizbcx386CDbN5Bsm78eRLZQulgu792cS6TUPeQNLw1OT4zgC7RaZNdwS8qVmb_QqpjYcnEdmJG4eUkq8Dpiz23SOJISVn60M2pOLljYRTz5kWpIsK6MA0rgrk-9_I/s320/slide_squid03.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Compared to these leviathans, the <a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/article/article12.html">market squid I came across in La Jolla</a> in June seem tiny. Here's one in my hand, and then a shot of them balled up in a school:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/giant.squid.big.fish.photo.11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/giant.squid.big.fish.photo.11.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/giant.squid.big.fish.photo.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/giant.squid.big.fish.photo.1.jpg" /></a></div>In any case, back to my more recent squid adventure. I guessed that unless the Humboldts in Newport ganged up on me, I'd be OK near the surface if I stayed close to the boat. These squid do have beaks that can take nasty bites, and their tentacles have sharp pointy things that rotate on them, but dogs can bite too, and I don't see people staying indoors on the off chance that they're going to get attacked by Fido. Maybe that's not the best analogy, but maybe you see my point. Compare the amount of people getting mauled by squids to the number mauled by dogs, and the result isn't even close.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/humboldt.squid.fishing.photo.3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kca="true" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/humboldt.squid.fishing.photo.3.jpg" /></a></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Just after nightfall, we headed out. The bioluminescence from the red tide glowed a striking blue beneath our boat.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/squid.fishing.boat.photo.9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/squid.fishing.boat.photo.9.jpg" /></a></div>Finding the squid boats was easy; there was a flotilla lit up like a football stadium just outside of Newport Harbor, including open party boats stuffed to capacity with eager anglers, private yachts, and commercial squid boats that net them by the ton.<br />
Here's some photos of a party boat:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/squid.fishing.boat.2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/squid.fishing.boat.2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Notice the anglers are wearing rain gear. This is to protect them against the squid that shoot geysers of ink and saltwater into the air. You can see them getting blasted!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/squid.fishing.boat.photo.6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/squid.fishing.boat.photo.6.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/squid.fishing.boat.photo.5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/squid.fishing.boat.photo.5.jpg" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I had hoped to find them schooling at the surface, but most of them lay at depths below 20 feet, which is just out of the range of my camera housing. I was able to see some in plain sight, and others remained invisible until they began blinking on and off like a strobe light. They can turn colors quickly, and I imagine they communicate with light. I jumped into the water, which was illuminated by the squid lights that the boats set below their boats.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/humboldt.squid.photo.2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/humboldt.squid.photo.2.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is what that water looks from below the surface:</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/humboldt.squid.fishing.photo.5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/humboldt.squid.fishing.photo.5.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As I was taking a picture of one that was hooked up to a fishing line, I was approached by a free swimming squid. This was what I had come for! My underwater equipment isn't really made for night photography so most of the time when I pressed the shutter, my strobe blinked spasmodically but my camera didn't take any pictures. I did get a precious few shots of this squid. I'm not a squid expert but it seems to be an aggressive stance; check out how the tentacles are thrust forward at me. Was it waiting to strike, or was it merely checking me out? Someone who has dove with them referred to this as "attack mode" but again, I'm not a squidologist. I'd love to hear from some real experts as to what this stance means. If there are any out there please email me or add a comment to this blog.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/humboldt.squid.fishing.photo.7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/humboldt.squid.fishing.photo.7.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'll post more when I get a chance. I'm looking forward to a hands-on science lesson I plan to conduct with my first grade students. We'll use the one squid that I brought back from the adventure. I enjoy using fishing and marine science to engage my students in class and you can see an example of that <a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/story/story9.html">here</a>.<a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/story/studentreport.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kca="true" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/story/studentreport.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Below is a sample of our class work from today (9/29). It combines our work with temperature, reading, writing, science, and art. Fun stuff!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZ7QI-MuahZh1IfvgyNyz_06mBLQMt5mnjHPu7bg15qOYd1f5m8ftVg5ckW9aV0hyphenhyphenHt75sbJF4y0Yg9MWAmRvNzArmFN2m4rGkEYzPUZmBrnBdeOyNniT-NWrBE4bFDpAZZSklwtVjH0/s1600/squid.kid.work.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZ7QI-MuahZh1IfvgyNyz_06mBLQMt5mnjHPu7bg15qOYd1f5m8ftVg5ckW9aV0hyphenhyphenHt75sbJF4y0Yg9MWAmRvNzArmFN2m4rGkEYzPUZmBrnBdeOyNniT-NWrBE4bFDpAZZSklwtVjH0/s320/squid.kid.work.jpg" width="258" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One of the neatest things about this Humboldt Squid encounter is that it marks the second time that I've been able to luck get neat photographs in an area close to my San Diego home. When I am not teaching school I often travel to locations like Hawaii, Mexico, and Panama for travel articles and big fish photos of game fish like marlin, sailfish, and tuna. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here are some photos from my recent trips: Kona Captain Teddy Hoogs, the Puerto Paraiso Mall in Cabo, and a striped marlin up close in the East Cape of Baja Mexico.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO0nESVwV36qXopXkIAuoAJW8bXx6m3b_T1LE_5D15AXySdZ5Qb6BhEcZBJu8_npF16-F8pniq5Mrz7uH50OX01TtixmGpA1zPShBMipfcmw_lFWVK-V9UXuTzexWGbUaM18OBhVH1T14/s1600/teddy.hoogs.fishing.kona.photo.by.jon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO0nESVwV36qXopXkIAuoAJW8bXx6m3b_T1LE_5D15AXySdZ5Qb6BhEcZBJu8_npF16-F8pniq5Mrz7uH50OX01TtixmGpA1zPShBMipfcmw_lFWVK-V9UXuTzexWGbUaM18OBhVH1T14/s1600/teddy.hoogs.fishing.kona.photo.by.jon.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/marlin.fishing.photos/cabo.mexico.mall.night.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/marlin.fishing.photos/cabo.mexico.mall.night.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/striped.marlin.fishing.photo.underwater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/striped.marlin.fishing.photo.underwater.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">To see my travel, scenic, and fishing photo galleries, click <a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/photogallery.htm">here</a>. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">To read my fishing and travel articles, click <a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/articles.htm">here</a>. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I used to catch and release marlin from kayaks and you can check that out <a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/stories.htm">here</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Photography Enthusiasts Take Note:</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If you "Like" my Facebook Page<b> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/bluewaterjon">Jon Schwartz Fishing, Photography, and Travel</a> </b>you might win a rare fine art print from my collection.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On October 10 I will randomly pick from 3 people who "Like" my Facebook page, and the winners will receive a FREE 16x20" gallery quality fine art print from my private stock! I sell these for 500.00 to private collectors so this is a neat opportunity.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Click <a href="http://bluewaterjon.blogspot.com/2008/05/bluewater-jons-first-post-welcome.html">here</a> to see details.</div><div style="text-align: left;">Thanks!~<br />
Jon Schwartz<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/marlin.fishing.photos/fishing.photographer.jon.schwartz.big.fish.underwater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/marlin.fishing.photos/fishing.photographer.jon.schwartz.big.fish.underwater.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
</div>Jon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823199775014260533.post-47061057938395664672011-08-16T21:15:00.000-07:002011-08-20T20:43:32.286-07:00Roosterfish! Exotic Fishing Photos from Baja Mexico's Sea of Cortez<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/roosterfish.fishing.photo.12" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="326" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/roosterfish.fishing.photo.12" width="400" /></a></div>The first time I saw a photo of a roosterfish, I couldn't believe my eyes. They looked like the world's weirdest fish!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/roosterfish.photo.fishing.underwater.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/roosterfish.photo.fishing.underwater.1.jpg" /></a></div>About ten years ago I found out about them on the internet. I was thrilled with the fact that they get huge (the world record is over 100 pounds) and are caught in ultra shallow water. I became obsessed with catching one. Eventually I got into kayak fishing in the East Cape of Baja and learned how to catch them by trolling live bait like mullet or sardines behind my kayak. Here is a photo of the biggest one I ever caught, almost ten years ago. It was about 50 pounds.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/kayak.fishing.roosterfish.baja.3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/kayak.fishing.roosterfish.baja.3.jpg" /></a></div> It was a tricky proposition because I had to keep the live bait in a bucket that I'd drag behind my kayak, and every time I'd let out a bait, I had to worry that the ravenous <i>bandito</i> needlefish were going to eat it. I kept two sardines pinned on hooks, and let them swim just off the side of my kayak so the pesky needlefish wouldn't venture too close and eat them. When I saw a rooster pass by me, I'd let a bait out.<br />
Here's a photo I took of a smaller rooster that I released after catching it mere yards from the shoreline.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/kayak.fishing.roosterfish.baja.2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/kayak.fishing.roosterfish.baja.2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
This was tons of fun but very hard work, and the equipment that I was using was rather primitive compared to fishing from boats. I even wedged the rods beneath my legs in lieu of rod holders.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/kayak.fishing.roosterfish.baja.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/kayak.fishing.roosterfish.baja.1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Half of the battle was keeping covered up, surviving the blistering heat and sun, and keeping my bait alive. In August the Sea of Cortez is so warm that I got little relief splashing ocean water over my head, so I had to take a cooler of ice and stuff it in the back of the yak.After much effort and patience I caught and released some big roosterfish (<i>pez gallo </i>in Spanish) and wrote many stories about my time on the water chasing these wonderful fish. Click here if you want to read one of them: <a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/story/story1.html">Kayakfishing for Roosterfish Story</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/story/story1.html"></a>Years later I put down the rods and switched from kayak angling to big fish fishing photography for magazines, travel bureaus, and calendars. In fact, my new 2012 <i>Offshore Angler</i> Fishing Calendar published by Willow Creek Press is now available online and in stores, and here is what it looks like:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/big.fish.fishing.photo.calendar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/big.fish.fishing.photo.calendar.jpg" /></a></div>In any case, when I took up fishing photography, my interest in roosterfish returned. Once again I became preoccupied with these elusive, wild looking sea creatures. This time, however, I didn't want to just catch and release them from kayaks, I wanted to capture them on camera. A return trip to Baja was needed!<br />
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I hadn't been to the East Cape of Baja in many years and it was great to see all of my old friends. Luckily for me the roosters were around and biting, and I was able to get a lot of photos. Fishing photography requires a lot of luck, and I have taken many trips that have resulted in nothing. This time I hot the jackpot! Here's a big roosterfish looking at me like he's ready to pounce. This is probably the last image that many baitfish saw before they were eaten!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/roosterfish.pez.gallo.fishing.photo.underwater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/roosterfish.pez.gallo.fishing.photo.underwater.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Below is a shot that shows how close they get to the beach. People even catch them from shore. That's one thing I have yet to do. Imagine hooking a 70 pound gamefish from shore! In fact a fellow named Gary Barnes-Webb, one of the world's most experienced roosterfish anglers, was spooled by a monster roosterfish while angling from shore while I was there. That means the fish emptied all of the line from his reel and kept on going! This one below has his trademark dorsal fins swept back.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/roosterfish.fishing.photo.underwater.18a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/roosterfish.fishing.photo.underwater.18a.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Below is a roosterfish picture you're not likely to see often: two roosterfish in one image! Keep in mind each one was over 40 pounds. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/roosterfish.fishing.photo.underwater.10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/roosterfish.fishing.photo.underwater.10.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Some photos in this blog have blue water while others have green water because the fish were caught in different depths and locations. In my experience, blue water is usually clearer and better for fishing. If you show up for a fishing trip and they tell you the water is green, that's not good news. Then again this may not be true in all areas, just in the following areas I have fished: California, Mexico, Hawaii, Nicaragua, Panama, Costa Rica, and Guatemala. If green water means good fishing where you live, contact me, as I'd be interested in hearing about it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/baitball.baitfish.underwater.school.caballito.2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/baitball.baitfish.underwater.school.caballito.2.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">What do roosterfish eat? Well, as you can see in the above photo, I got to swim in the middle of a school of baby caballitos and I'm sure a roosterfish would have dined heartily on these tender morsels. This bait ball was feeding ravenously on small red pieces of spongy material that was so brightly colored I thought it was going to sting me. Look at how the bait is making the water boil at the surface. Pretty cool, huh? I was so stoked to be in the middle of all of this that I forgot to take my lens cap off and took about 150 shots with it on. Thanks Gosh I realized my mistake!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/baitball.baitfish.underwater.school.caballito.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/baitball.baitfish.underwater.school.caballito.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In addition to roosters, I got photos of some other interesting fish. Here is a underwater photo of a bull Dorado that ate a "hoochie" lure:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/mahi.dorado.dolphin.fishing.photo.underwater.1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/mahi.dorado.dolphin.fishing.photo.underwater.1a.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There were also plenty of Pompano. These fish are medium sized and fight dutifully for about 5 minutes. They'd be perfect for kids to catch because unlike roosters, they don't take a lot of muscle and strength to beat.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/pompano.fish.photo.fishing.1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/pompano.fish.photo.fishing.1a.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/pompano.fish.photo.fishing.3a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/pompano.fish.photo.fishing.3a.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/pompano.fishing.photo.underwater.1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/pompano.fishing.photo.underwater.1a.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In addition to Roosterfish, Dorado, and Pompano, I also caught a striped marlin. I found that in some ways, they are harder to catch on a boat than a kayak. Pretty strange, huh? Years ago I hooked, fought, and released a bunch of striped marlin from kayaks on National Geographic TV's "Hooked: Monster Fish II" (click here to see <a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/article/jon.schwartz.nat.geo.mov">Jon Schwartz on Nat Geo</a>), and now that I have caught one from a boat, I can compare the two experiences.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Although each one of the marlin I caught from kayaks gave me a good workout, I don't remember feeling as exhausted and drained as I was after I caught this one from a boat! I'm embarrassed to say it took me over an hour. I wasn't using very heavy gear and the fish and I were locked in a stalemate. By the time it surfaced I was spent but I wanted some pics so into the water I went with my camera.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/striped.marlin.fishing.photo.underwater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/striped.marlin.fishing.photo.underwater.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Interestingly, when I dove in with the marlin, I noticed that it has a tag in it. It had already been caught, tagged, and released by another angler. Below is a picture that shows the tag that was placed in him by another angler at an earlier time. Who knows when that was? Months? Years?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/striped.marlin.fishing.photo.underwater.a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/striped.marlin.fishing.photo.underwater.a.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After we removed the hook, we sent the striped marlin back off to the briny depths from whence it came, a fitting end to another spectacular Baja adventure.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/striped.marlin.fishing.photo.underwater.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/fishing/striped.marlin.fishing.photo.underwater.1.jpg" /></a></div>Jon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823199775014260533.post-87399783380063907862011-06-27T00:46:00.000-07:002011-07-08T16:38:56.084-07:00Giant Swarm of Squid Surrounds Fishing Photographer Jon Schwartz<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/giant.squid.big.fish.photo.1.jpg" /></div>Today I came face to face with a giant shoal of squid and got some amazing underwater pictures! I had hoped to get fishing photos of white seabass, thresher sharks, and yellowtail, but I never dreamed I would encounter a massive, frothing mass of squid. I really lucked out! This was a local Southern California excursion where I accompanied my kayak fishing friend Josh Pruitt. He has an uncanny knack for catching big fish from kayaks. When I'm not teaching school I enjoy taking big fish photos of marlin, sailfish, tuna, and sharks in tropical locations (which you can see on my site <a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/">http://www.bluewaterjon.com/</a> and also at the bottom of this post).<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/tuna.fishing.big.yellowfin.photo.underwater.jon.schwartz.jpg" /></div>Ironically, I don’t have many images depicting fish that inhabit the waters within walking distance of my house. Josh would be my guide to getting more San Diego fishing photos. He actually runs a kayak fishing guide service called Inshorekayak.com so having me tag along as a photographer was a snap for him.<br />
<img border="0" i$="true" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/giant.squid.big.fish.photo.2.jpg" /><br />
We met at 3:00, launched our kayaks under cover of darkness, and paddled out to a spot over a mile offshore. Pruitt was able to locate shoals (or schools) of squid on his kayak’s fish finder and jig them up with a special lure. Josh kept 20 or so of these live squid in his bait well on the back of his kayak, and pinned one on his rod. Every so often he’d meter a fish (probably a white seabass) and drop a bait down, but he never got bit, and grey light passed without us hooking up.<br />
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We did see one boat that landed a big 30 pound yellowtail at 4:30 am, and I wanted to take pictures in the night time with my special low light camera. I refrained because I was too scared to take it out, make noise, and scare away the white seabass that might be lurking just below our kayaks. These “grey ghosts” are easily spooked and one tiny noise can scare them away for good. At 7:30am, Josh's rod bent over his kayak, and it was obviously a big fish. The plan was that if he hooked up, I’d tether my kayak to his, jump off my kayak with my underwater camera, and take photos of the fish as it swam below him.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/giant.squid.big.fish.photo.3.jpg" /></div>I used to do a lot of kayak fishing, but over the last several years my passion for fishing photography and travel had taken over, and I had put down the rods and paddles and replaced them with cameras. Years ago I had every kayak gadget I needed, including a variety of leashes that I used to secure my rods and equipment in case I capsized. Below is a photo of a giant trevally, or ulua as they call it in Hawaii, that I caught on the Kona Coast while kayak fishing with my friend Steven Heusser. To read the great story behind this catch that involves tiger sharks and kayak fishing, click <a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/story/story3.html"><strong>here</strong></a>, <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/giant.trevally.ulua.fishing.photo.kayak.jpg" /> <br />
At any rate, as I hadn't logged much time kayaking in the past couple of years, I couldn’t locate half of these leashes in my garage, and I did the best I could with what I could find. Honestly I was so focused on my camera gear that I wasn't thinking about the two rods that I brought along.<br />
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Murphy’s Law caught up with me when I slid off my kayak into the water with my camera. As soon as I got off, my kayak flipped upside down! I was holding on to a $4000 dollar underwater camera setup and through my mask, I could see some of my unleashed fishing equipment fall in slow motion from my capsized kayak, down into the murky depths. Josh said, "Grab your rod!” but I was more concerned with the other non-waterproof camera that was on (or under!) my kayak, and I made a half-hearted attempt to swim down and grab the sinking rod. I wish I had a video of all the shenanigans because it was all pretty hilarious; I must have looked like a total kook!<br />
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In any case, we righted my kayak and Josh resumed fighting his big fish. When it came close to the surface I got a lot of great underwater photos of the fish, a big white seabass that must have weighed at least 40 pounds. After I took all the photos I needed, I climbed back in my kayak and started shivering uncontrollably. Brrr!! I had forgotten how cold it can get on the water in the summer. When the sun came up, I was grateful for some warmth.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/giant.squid.big.fish.photo.4.jpg" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Josh is an interesting kayak angler because he is able to stand up on his kayak and sight fish for big fish in the middle of the ocean. Many anglers do this on kayaks in ponds and lakes for small fish, but we were on the open ocean, and Josh frequently hooks huge fish while standing up! As we continued to paddle around (or I should say peddle), Josh noticed many schools of yellowtail feeding on the surface, but he wasn’t able to hook up. Here is a video of us crusing around the open ocean. Notice how Pruitt is standing up, looking for any signs of life. He has a great eye like all top fishermen. I have had the pleasure of riding along with some of the world's top sportfishing captains like Marlin Parker, Gene Vanderhoek, Teddy Hoogs, and Guy Terwilliger (read about them <a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/articles.htm">here</a>), and in my opinion Josh has the same qualities they do: an attention to detail, learning how the fish think and act, professionalism, and dedication. The main difference I can see is that his workstation isn't a 50 foot yacht, it's a 15 foot plastic kayak! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/JcxUCANUsuY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>At about noon, Pruitt stood up for a bit and saw a red swirling mass of life close to the surface. All seasoned kayakers have seen schools of sardines, mackerel, smelt, and a number of other types of bait on the surface, but this wasn’t finned fish, it was squid…LOTS of squid!!!!<br />
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The first thing that came to mind for me was, can I ditch my kayak, get back in the water, and take pictures of them? Would they still be there when I got in? I had stashed my underwater camera in the hatch of my kayak and I would need to get that out, take off my booties, don my fins and snorkel, rub some defog on my snorkel lens, prep my camera, and most importantly, NOT capsize this time if I got in the water.<br />
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While I was trying to figure out if this was a good idea, Josh kept an eye on the huge mass of squid. Fortunately, it was hanging right next to his kayak. When I finally got in, I realized why: big fish were below the shoal, forcing them to flee to the surface, and at the same time, mackerel were attacking from the side, and birds were dive bombing them from above! <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/giant.squid.big.fish.photo.5.jpg" /></div>These squid were under siege and were using any protection they could get, and Josh’s kayak was the best they could find. Again I wondered, would they continue to stay when I swam close enough to take their picture? I swam down to take a shot from underneath, and my heart began racing because I knew that there was the potential for some rare underwater squid pictures.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/giant.squid.big.fish.photo.6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/giant.squid.big.fish.photo.6.jpg" /></a></div>Incredibly, when I surfaced for air and swam towards them, they swam right to me!! They looked otherworldly, and I could see and feel hundreds of eyes trained on me. I felt as if I was being approached by a group of intelligent beings rather than fish; something about the way they moved and pulsed rhythmically made me feel connected to them.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/giant.squid.big.fish.photo.7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/giant.squid.big.fish.photo.7.jpg" /></a></div> I kept closing the distance and soon I was in literally in the middle of the shoal, completely surrounded by thousands of squid. My camera was on full burst mode, clicking at 8 frames per second. I hoped and prayed that my camera settings were correct, because if what I saw with my own eyes was being captured on film, I’d have some incredible photos!! The huge mass of squid kept going past me towards the kelp forest, but several stragglers stayed with me and hovered inches from my mask.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/giant.squid.big.fish.photo.8.jpg" /></div>They were using me as a source of protection! Was this a good thing? Had I been in Hawaii, where I do a lot of underwater photography with marlin, sailfish, and tuna, I would have been terrified, because being surrounded by prey would have made me a target, but I figured that with there being no huge predators feeding on the squid (other than sea lions and maybe the occasional smaller shark), I felt relatively safe. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/giant.squid.big.fish.photo.9.jpg" /></div><br />
The squid were so close that I thought, “I could probably just reach out and grab one!” and so I did. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/giant.squid.big.fish.photo.11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/giant.squid.big.fish.photo.11.jpg" /></a></div>The one squid I grabbed didn’t seem to mind and I wasn’t holding it too tightly; I cradled it like a pet mouse. My next thought was, “No one is going to believe this!” so I turned the camera around, gently placed the live squid in my mouth, and took a self portrait.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/giant.squid.big.fish.photo.12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/giant.squid.big.fish.photo.12.jpg" /></a></div>The squid seemed pretty calm. Could it sense I meant it no harm? When I took it out of my mouth it was still uninjured. I then released it and surfaced to tell Josh about all that I had experienced. I was beside myself with excitement and gasping for air!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/squid/giant.squid.big.fish.photo.10.jpg" /></div><br />
Knowing that I might have just captured some of my best underwater photographs to date, I gently placed my underwater gear back in the hatch, and by 3:00pm, twelve hours after we had peddled out into the surf in the pitch black night, we were landing our kayaks amidst hundreds of beach going tourists enjoying a hot summer day. When I got home an hour later and viewed the photos of the squid on my laptop, my jaw dropped in disbelief; the pictures came out even better than I had hoped!!<br />
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Days later my squid photos appeared on the front page of the San Diego Union Tribune and I was featured on San Diego's CBS TV station KFMB. Here's a clip pf the video below:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/N-Yugk6vVV8?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
P.S.- Here are some of my recent travel and fishing photographs. I also have just taken up surf photography as you can see here with my shot of these tandem surfers in at the Queens surf break in Oahu's Waikiki:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/tandem.surfing.surfers.photo.waikiki.jon.schwartz.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/big.fish/tandem.surfing.surfers.photo.waikiki.jon.schwartz.1.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here's a shot of the Puerto Paraiso Mall in Cabo. Pretty swanky!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/marlin.fishing.photos/cabo.mexico.mall.night.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/marlin.fishing.photos/cabo.mexico.mall.night.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Dorado, mahi-mahi, or dolphin: what do you call these golden jewels?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/mahi.dorado.photos/mahi.dorado.fishing.photo.7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/mahi.dorado.photos/mahi.dorado.fishing.photo.7.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Face to Face with a blue marlin: Hawaii's Kona Coast.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/marlin.fishing.photos/marlin.fishing.photo.underwater.big.fish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/marlin.fishing.photos/marlin.fishing.photo.underwater.big.fish.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here's a rare shot of a blue marlin, shot while I was in a helicopter!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/marlin.fishing.photos/marlin.photo.aerial.helicopter.2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/blogphotos/marlin.fishing.photos/marlin.photo.aerial.helicopter.2.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><strong>About the Author:</strong> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0l9_EXI-NvM1yyCiQ_n1TqEecVd06k7cr8Dq2yjZ7XTHLKUpw8ptEX2BASoLa_Mjvxjnnt4FLDXXBQ69-1JhtH9HOvP7XceYSfKPWwL-kYXPAh-3SfifOblzzelepO36WILtEws49C-8/s220/mephoto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0l9_EXI-NvM1yyCiQ_n1TqEecVd06k7cr8Dq2yjZ7XTHLKUpw8ptEX2BASoLa_Mjvxjnnt4FLDXXBQ69-1JhtH9HOvP7XceYSfKPWwL-kYXPAh-3SfifOblzzelepO36WILtEws49C-8/s220/mephoto.jpg" width="158" /></a>Jon Schwartz (<a href="http://www.bluewaterjon.com/">http://www.bluewaterjon.com/</a>) contributes to fishing and travel magazines worldwide, and has been featured on Nat Geo TV for catch and release kayak fishing for marlin. Jon lives in San Diego his wife and 3 daughters, teaches elementary school, and enjoys teaching technology to his students and taking kids fishing. Check out his elementary student blogging site <a href="http://www.kidslikeblogs.org/">http://www.kidslikeblogs.org/</a> and this video of him <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCoels5WN6U">Jamming with his students</a>!</div>Jon Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10516155473363747495noreply@blogger.com8