Giant Swarm of Squid Surrounds Fishing Photographer Jon Schwartz

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 http://www.bluewaterjon.com/ and also at the bottom of this post).

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.

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.

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.

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 here,

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.

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!

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.

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 here), 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!

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!!!!

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.

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!

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.

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.

 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.

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.

The squid were so close that I thought, “I could probably just reach out and grab one!” and so I did.

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.

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!

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!!

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:

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:

Here's a shot of the Puerto Paraiso Mall in Cabo. Pretty swanky!

Dorado, mahi-mahi, or dolphin: what do you call these golden jewels?

Face to Face with a blue marlin: Hawaii's Kona Coast.

Here's a rare shot of a blue marlin, shot while I was in a helicopter!

About the Author:

Jon Schwartz (http://www.bluewaterjon.com/) 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 http://www.kidslikeblogs.org/  and this video of him Jamming with his students!

Kids catch sharks on after school fishing trip!

Fishing with kids is one of my favorite types of sportfishing because you don’t have to catch huge monster fish to have big fun. Gray smoothhound sharks, shovelnose guitarfish, lizardfish, California halibut, and spotted bay bass are plentiful in San Diego Bay, and I recently took a bunch of my students there to fish. We had a blast!  

The fun started as soon as we left the left the dock at Shelter Island. Two of the students had never been in a boat before, so just boarding the boat was new and exciting.

Check out Alex below. We told him to put his hat on backwards and get ready for a speedy launch. He lit up with a huge smile when my friend Captain Tony Miller gunned the engines!

We ventured out to Tony’s secret honey hole and pinned on some live sardines for bait. Within five minutes Alicia was hooked up to a big fish. I couldn’t believe how quickly she got bit!

After a great fight and a lot of hard work she brought her catch to the side of the boat, and lo and behold I’m looking at a first-time angler with a nice sized halibut. How's that for lady luck! It's hard enough to catch any sized halibut. To catch a legal keeper, they have to be at least 22 inches. All eyes were on Alicia as Tony hoisted her magnificent prize.

 It was a great fish, but would it be big enough to keep? We measured it to make sure. Captain Tony had a special sticker from the California Department of Fish and Game taped to the side of his boat; it shows the minimum size for most of the fish caught in local waters.

As you can see the halibut measured well over 22 inches, so into the cooler it went! Look at those gnashing jaws, razor sharp teeth, and the two eyes on the same side of the head. Behold the mighty San Diego Sea Monster. What a catch!

The downside to having so much luck early in the trip is that it can set kids' expectations too high. Privately I worried if things would be all downhill from here. My anxiety didn't last long, for within 5 minutes, Alex's reel began screaming and line raced off the rod tip. Fish on!!

The junior angler was amazed at the power of his fishy foe, and struggled mightily. Suspense mounted as Alex summoned all of his power and strength. This was a battle for the ages!

Alex finally subdued the beast, and Alicia bravely pulled the amazing creature out of the water. It was an incredibly strange, weird fish. Alicia thought it was an oarfish, Raul claimed it was an opah, and Alex was convinced it was a cookie cutter shark. Can you name it?

If you guessed Rhinobatus productus, you're right! Of course that's it's Latin scientific name. It's commonly called the shovelnose guitarfish, which is actually a species of ray. They can be caught with bait like bloodworms, squid, or sand crabs, but this critter fell for a live sardine. The kids posed for a picture and then released it back to the briny depths from whence it came. It's important to teach kids the value of catch and release fishing.

After their valiant efforts, Alicia and Alex headed below deck to savor some of the fine cuisine Captain Tony and I had spent all night preparing. If I remember correctly the lobster bisque, duck confit, and escargot were big hits.

That left Raul on deck alone to face the next fish. His peers enjoyed the gourmet treats in the boat's salon, and I went down to witness the feast. The festivities were interrupted by the the ear-piercing whine of a saltwater reel in full meltdown. By the time I reached topside Raul was engaged in a furious battle. His reel glowed red with heat as the gears ground noisily against each other in protest. This was off 'da hook!

The fish was a formidable opponent, but it was no match for Raul's brilliant blend of cunning, brawn, and sheer brute force. Good thing I brought the "A Team" with me! To our great surprise, Raul's catch turned out to be none other than the feared and revered California Lizardfish.

In fact, this was no ordinary specimen, this was a GIANT lizardfish. Specimens of this size and quality are usually immediately shipped by helicopter to the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo where they fetch untold thousands, but we were committed to only keeping what we would eat. Since we had already boated the halibut, we released this lucky lizard fish to fight another day.

Seconds after the lizardfish swam to freedom, we heard birds squawking in the distance. This could mean only one thing: more frenzied action! Alex manned the deck and scanned the horizon with our Spy Net Night Vision Infrared Stealth Binoculars.

He spotted a maelstrom of activity, and we sped over to try our luck. We were shocked by what we saw: spotted bay bass as far as the eye could see, so tightly packed together that one could nearly walk across their backs to shore without getting wet! Here's Alicia with one of the bass just before she released it. If you compare the size of the fish to her, I'd say it's pretty obvious it was a potential world record spotted bay bass. Look at how it dwarfs her arm!

Incredibly, before the bass hit the water, Alex was hooked up to another beast. After a long a brutal fight, the dorsal fin of a giant gray smooth hound shark broke the surface. The kids gasped in excitement and we brought the huge, writhing shark aboard for a quick photo.

Catch and release shark fishing at its finest!

After their brush with danger, Alex and Raul sat down on deck, equally thrilled and exhausted. Alicia was ecstatic that she had landed a trophy halibut on her first San Diego fishing trip. On the way back to the dock she told me of her plans to fillet the tasty treat with her family.

Once we hit land, Alicia had time to examine her impressive catch. The fish had been put into the cooler so quickly after being measured that she hadn't had time to fully appreciate the fish in all of it's glory.

Besides being one of the best tasting saltwater fish, halibut are unique in that they have both eyes on one side of their head. In addition, they have a huge mouth full of dagger shaped teeth. Oh the horror!

Alicia posed one last time with her fantastic fish, marking the perfect end to our marvelous day on the water.

Later on that day Alicia emailed me and told me that her family had a lot of fun preparing the halibut for dinner. It turned into one of their best meals ever. She was so proud!

Help Jon Schwartz choose between two new fishing, photography, and travel website designs!

Dear Readers, This is Jon Schwartz. I am redoing my fishing, photography, and travel website and I am asking for your input. I hired a designer to come up with two choices. The new design will replace the current design at Bluewaterjon.com: Jon Schwartz's Fishing, Photography, and Travel.

Below is the current front page design: (click to enlarge)

Below is "Choice A": (click to enlarge)

Below is the other new possible design, "Choice B"

The reason that I am redoing my site is that I will be adding a lot more content and I need a completely new format to enable me to add new photos and articles quickly. I also want a slide show on the front page because right now I don't feel like my non-fishing photography and work is reflected on my front page, and a slide show with thumbnails would make that possible.

For example, look at these shots, a sailfish underwater, a shot of a resort in Cabo overlooking Land's End (Los Arcos), andunderwater photo of a big blue marlin swimming, another resort shot in Hawaii, and then a shot of a bonefish in Oahu, Hawaii. If I only show one image on the homepage ( which is what my current site does), I can't show all these different sides of my work. That's why I am so keen on a slideshow for the new site.

The new website will be in a magazine format with lots of information on how and where to fish, who to fish with, fishing photography, non-fishing photography, fishing and non-fishing travel, kayak fishing, fishing with kids, and I will also have an extensive fish database with awesome photos. It will have lots of great stuff for hardcore anglers as well as non-fishing travelers, fishing and non-fishing photography enthusiasts, and also for people who don't necessarily fish, but just want interesting material to read and look at.

Please let me know which one you choose by either commenting on this blog or contacting me. If you have any other input, I'd love to hear that as well. While you're at it, maybe you'd like to become a follower of this blog?

Thanks very much! I look forward to your input.

Jon Schwartz