Advice on gear for Cortes Bank trip

[Zpearo]

Some friends and I are going on a trip to Cortes Bank and I'm looking for a bit of advice on gear, as I've only done shore diving before (SoCal, CenCal, NorCal, & Hawaii). I've got a 130cm gun and will have extra shafts, bands, shooting line, etc if I have any gear problems while on the boat.

I am concerned about terminal tackle though. I'll be bringing a floatline and would prefer this over a reel, but only have a flimsy 1atm inflatable float to attach to. The target fish for the trip will be YT and WSB, but I'd like to be able to shoot a 60lb tuna if I saw it. Should I get a hard float (or bluewater inflatable)? Should I get a bungee line to put in line with my floatline/float? Should I get a reel to allow for some extra run (and maybe keep from spooking WSB with a floatline)? I don't want to spend money I don't have to, but would rather buy quality gear now and have it forever than miss a fish on this trip because I wasn't prepared.

Any advice is appreciated.

[Water Donkey]

Odds are you wont see a tuna unless you are looking for them, and know where to look for them. Cortes is a big reef, and you're going to need to do some exploring once you are there. My first trip there all I did was shoot a ton of rat yellowtail. But then, I was completely happy exploring and hunting the reef and kelp gardens, and shooting runts. If you venture out to the edge of the reef, where it drops into the deep blue unknown, you have a chance of coming across bigger fish.... A tuna... I really never made it that far. But as long as you hunt the reef itself you shouldnt* need a large float. So figure out where you plan on hunting, what your goals are, and that should answer your question.

[SpearS0CAL]

While there is always a chance of running into something BIG, in years past the grade of tuna tends to be in the 10-20lb range with a few 40-50lbers mixed in. If you are diving outside of the kelp for yellowtail, then there is a chance you will see some tuna.

A good 70-100' float line (w/ a short bungee if you have it, but not necessary) and a good float will do the trick. I typically use my Riffe 1 atm torpedo float out there. What type of float do you have? The volume of the float is important too, not just the pressure. A larger sized 1 atm float (like Riffe) provides a good amount of lift at the surface and will do the trick for YT and tuna up to around 40-ish lbs (?).

[phil herranen]

Originally Posted by SpearS0CAL

While there is always a chance of running into something BIG, in years past the grade of tuna tends to be in the 10-20lb range with a few 40-50lbers mixed in. If you are diving outside of the kelp for yellowtail, then there is a chance you will see some tuna.

A good 70-100' float line (w/ a short bungee if you have it, but not necessary) and a good float will do the trick. I typically use my Riffe 1 atm torpedo float out there. What type of float do you have? The volume of the float is important too, not just the pressure. A larger sized 1 atm float (like Riffe) provides a good amount of lift at the surface and will do the trick for YT and tuna up to around 40-ish lbs (?).

What he said , but I use a 50 or 75' max floatline for yt . I don't want to give them any chance to tie up deep .

[tommy7]

a float can save your life out there.....take it and use it. you may get in to glassy conditions and things turn south in a hurry and now the current kicked up and your friends on the boat cant see you. a signal device is a good call out there.

[Zpearo]

Thanks for the advice guys. We're going out with the peace boat, so the captain will target whatever the divers want. They told us to expect mainly WSB and yellowtail, but said we could hunt tuna if there are recent sightings.

I've got good 66' and 100' floatline. The float I have is this Sea Sport http://store.westsidedive.com/mobile...FWYRoC44bw_wcB one, so basically just for visibility, not for fighting fish.

Looks like I should at least buy a real bluewater float. Any recommendations on sturdy inflatables that won't break the bank? Or I could just buy a hard float too.

[Dannowar]

Originally Posted by Zpearo

Thanks for the advice guys. We're going out with the peace boat, so the captain will target whatever the divers want. They told us to expect mainly WSB and yellowtail, but said we could hunt tuna if there are recent sightings.

I've got good 66' and 100' floatline. The float I have is this Sea Sport http://store.westsidedive.com/mobile...FWYRoC44bw_wcB one, so basically just for visibility, not for fighting fish.

Looks like I should at least buy a real bluewater float. Any recommendations on sturdy inflatables that won't break the bank? Or I could just buy a hard float too.

I'm really happy with the Andre 2atm float. Not horrendously overpriced like some of the other floats and no bladder to worry about

[Zpearo]

Originally Posted by Dannowar

I'm really happy with the Andre 2atm float. Not horrendously overpriced like some of the other floats and no bladder to worry about

I just looked and couldn't find any prices available on the Andre. What does it cost?

[Dannowar]

I got it from blue tuna. It was around 180 I think


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[Chainsaw]

I just got back Sunday from the Tanner and Cortez banks.
Tanner had 20 pound yellowfin and some yellowtail, we took 5 of each. The largest yellow was 41 pounds. The rest around 20.
Cortez was cold and green with a wicked current so we did not stay.
We ran to Clemente and spent the night then went out to the 209 and 289 and chased tuna. I got a 80 pound Blue fin and my buddy got a 77 pounder.
I was shooting a 63 Mori with an 80" bungee, one lobster float with a Neptonics clutch and a 1 atmosphere Riffe float on the end.
The 80 pound tuna dragged me around a while and put up a valiant fight but after about half an hour of towing me around I was able to reef it up with the Neptonic's clutch.
You do not need any more than that, my floats never went down more than a foot.
Now, if you see the 150 plus class tuna, different story, but there are not many around.
BTW we had a very aggressive shark on the tanner, took 2 yellows a cable and tip and drug a diver down in the process. Be careful.

[FreediveCA]

Neptonics has some good floats. I have their 15l (20psi with 34lbs of lift up to 45'). That was $100. They also have a 30l.

[Reef_Chief]

Awesome report chainsaw, we need more like that around here.
Sounds like you had a pretty epic trip I'd say

[Chainsaw]

It was a national Geographic weekend.
Killer whales, Yellowfin in big screaming schools, with the occasional yellowtail coming through. All day swimming with thousands of 6-10 pound Bonita like puppy's so thick a foot away you cannot see through them.
20 pound patty yellows with dozens of 2 pound dorado and yellows.
Then while my buddy's are chasing blue fin tuna I see a swordfish about 30 yards from the boat. I tell the captain swordfish! I am going for it! So I swam for it and as soon as I saw it, it saw me and took off like it was shot out of a cannon. The most interesting thing was there were 3 more right below it that also ran.

[Zpearo]

Wow, chainsaw! I hope it's going off like that when I go down in a month. From some PMs I've received, people are saying my dinky 1atm float should be plenty for the fish I'll see. I've got an offer to borrow a RA 11L which I will probably accept as a backup and so I can use it for a couple days to see if I should just buy one myself. Thanks for the help all! Now to do some target shooting and gun tuning.

[Water Donkey]

Originally Posted by Chainsaw

It was a national Geographic weekend.
Killer whales, Yellowfin in big screaming schools, with the occasional yellowtail coming through. All day swimming with thousands of 6-10 pound Bonita like puppy's so thick a foot away you cannot see through them.
20 pound patty yellows with dozens of 2 pound dorado and yellows.
Then while my buddy's are chasing blue fin tuna I see a swordfish about 30 yards from the boat. I tell the captain swordfish! I am going for it! So I swam for it and as soon as I saw it, it saw me and took off like it was shot out of a cannon. The most interesting thing was there were 3 more right below it that also ran.

You can't spear swords in US