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Old 07-04-2017, 04:55 AM   #1
mbarrus
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PB Cabezon

Just wanted to share a little fish porn and pound my chest-- been a while since I shared anything here. This guy came in at 30 inches and 17.5 lbs on the spring scale. Woulda been a world record if only I had shot it a couple of years ago...
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Old 07-04-2017, 11:01 AM   #2
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Re: PB Cabezon

That is a true monster. I have only seen one other shot that was that big. That is a fish of a lifetime. Hope you took lots of pictures! Congratulations on a truly epic fish!
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Old 07-04-2017, 11:40 AM   #3
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Re: PB Cabezon

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Originally Posted by North Star View Post
That is a true monster. I have only seen one other shot that was that big. That is a fish of a lifetime. Hope you took lots of pictures! Congratulations on a truly epic fish!
Thanks Max! I couldn't have asked for a better birthday present. Good way to start 29. Now I can leave the cabs alone and focus on looking for a 25lb+ ling...
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Old 07-04-2017, 07:06 PM   #4
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Re: PB Cabezon

Congratulations, that is an incredible fish.
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Old 07-04-2017, 09:58 PM   #5
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Re: PB Cabezon

Nice one!

WR is like 22lbs, ****ing insane.

shot a 14lber in LA County when i was a kid.
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Old 07-04-2017, 10:25 PM   #6
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Re: PB Cabezon

Happy Birthday. That's a massive fish!
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Old 07-06-2017, 02:47 PM   #7
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Re: PB Cabezon

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Originally Posted by Fishy_Killa View Post
Nice one!

WR is like 22lbs, ****ing insane.

shot a 14lber in LA County when i was a kid.
Thanks man! I looked up the world record, and was sorta confused by the inconsistency. The all-tackle record is 23lbs, but the spear record is nearly 25 (are spears not all-tackle?), and then the guy who shot the 25 set the previous record a year prior with an 18lber that looks more or less the same as the 25.

Anyone know Kelly Gillette? I wonder if he has length measures on these-- I'd really like to know the comparison between his two record setting fish.
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Old 07-06-2017, 02:49 PM   #8
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Re: PB Cabezon

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Originally Posted by Aquatic Hunter View Post
Happy Birthday. That's a massive fish!
Quote:
Originally Posted by 264win View Post
Congratulations, that is an incredible fish.
Thanks guys.
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Old 07-06-2017, 05:20 PM   #9
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Re: PB Cabezon

Very nice fish. Pretty sure my biggest cab could have been in its stomach.

Any story to go with it? 80ft down and deep in a cave, surface shot on top of a rock, ...

Congrats!
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Old 07-06-2017, 06:00 PM   #10
mbarrus
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Re: PB Cabezon

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Originally Posted by juanacity View Post
Very nice fish. Pretty sure my biggest cab could have been in its stomach.

Any story to go with it? 80ft down and deep in a cave, surface shot on top of a rock, ...

Congrats!
Right, how could I forget? The story is usually the best part.

This was my third dive of the season, which is a criminally low number given that it's already July, but visibility has been poor around here and I've spent most of my time going up rock faces (climbing) rather than down into water. I couldn't have asked for a better day than this one, though. Blue skies, lighter winds, and my girlfriend's first freediving/spearfishing session in the PNW (previously limited to the north east coast of the US). There was some really cool rockfish behaviour going on which I had never seen before; there were schools of baitfish at the surface and tons of black rockfish were shooting up through them and jumping a few feet out of the water. I though that maybe we were seeing something preying on the rockfish at first, but then the schools of baitfish moved towards us and I could see the fish coming up from my spot on the surface and launching themselves through the bait ball.

I was, as usual, focusing my effort on lings, so I was in 20-45 feet of water, crawling between boulders and looking in cracks and caves. Kelp was really thick and visibility was a functional but not great 5-6 feet. There was a lot of low, thick kelp right on the surface of the reef, which made it impossible to spot anything on top of the rocks; I expected that the action would be happening in caves/cracks/etc.

I was in 30-35 feet of water when I spotted a narrow cave formed by one boulder leaning against a much larger reef. It formed a vertical crack that a rock climber might call an off-width-- too wide for your hands, maybe about the width of your shoulder. I jammed myself into it, took a look around with my light, then slid back out and leaned back to come out from under the overhang and resurface. The top of the rock was about five or six feet off of the bottom, and as I started to rise, I saw a massive Cab head beneath that thick layer of kelp. My eyes were at rock level, and the cab was so close to me that I had to pull the butt of my 80cm gun back to my shoulder to line up a shot. It rose up as I moved, and turned, swam away, and started to go behind the larger rock/reef corner the boulder was against. As it turned the corner, it gave me a broadside shot, and my shot entered the top of the gill plate and exited out the temple/cheek area on the opposite side of the skull. At that point I surfaced-- short dive, somewhere between 45 seconds and a minute.

I swam up to my girlfriend and handed her a section of the floatline. I said something along the lines of "check out what's on the end of that spear". I think the sound she made when she choked on her snorkel as she pulled the cab up was probably one of the best parts of the whole thing, gotta convince the lady you're a hero when it's your first time spearfishing together.

Stayed out for a while more, shot an ok ling, and headed to the beach. I've shot similarly sized cabs in the past and have had people call BS (as they should, I guess), so I threw the fish in the cooler and drove a while to the nearest tackle shop to get a scale and measuring tape. 10 bucks later I had a spring scale and photo proof that this hog was actually big, not just big in my imagination.
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Old 07-06-2017, 11:12 PM   #11
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Re: PB Cabezon

Great writeup. Seeing that big of a fish that close had to make your heart rate skyrocket. Waiting for a good shot was a master stroke. You didn't get in a hurry and take a low percentage going-away shot.

Good memory, especially having your GF to share it with!
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Old 07-07-2017, 11:14 AM   #12
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Re: PB Cabezon

Absolutely amazing fish and outstanding write up! Congratulations and happy birthday!
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Old 07-11-2017, 07:20 PM   #13
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Re: PB Cabezon

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Originally Posted by mbarrus View Post
Thanks man! I looked up the world record, and was sorta confused by the inconsistency. The all-tackle record is 23lbs, but the spear record is nearly 25 (are spears not all-tackle?), and then the guy who shot the 25 set the previous record a year prior with an 18lber that looks more or less the same as the 25.

Anyone know Kelly Gillette? I wonder if he has length measures on these-- I'd really like to know the comparison between his two record setting fish.

KELLY GILLETTE is an aqua robot powered by fish. He just shot a 20 lb cab on a whim visiting his family in your land. It looks like Jabba The Hut. He is from your land. He founded the Tristate Skindivers here out East. I bet he does have length measurements given his fastidious nature. He exists on SB as Snackrifice I think.
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Old 07-13-2017, 11:47 AM   #14
mbarrus
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Re: PB Cabezon

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Originally Posted by Killa Kenny View Post
KELLY GILLETTE is an aqua robot powered by fish. He just shot a 20 lb cab on a whim visiting his family in your land. It looks like Jabba The Hut. He is from your land. He founded the Tristate Skindivers here out East. I bet he does have length measurements given his fastidious nature. He exists on SB as Snackrifice I think.
Ha, thanks for the info! Sounds like a good guy to know. I'll try looking for his handle.

(Hope 'your land' doesnt mean the 20lb cab was taken in BC-- they're illegal by spear up here. I have to head down to the states when I'm thirsty for cab blood.)
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