November, 2005 - Los Angeles Fathomiers

FATHOMIERS NEWSLETTER
FREEDIVING – SPEARFISHING – COMPETITION
SINCE 1957
November 2005
Vol.?? No. 9
Inside this issue:
Life Member Ed Gulley
I’ve been thinking for some time about how we can honor
the memory of the club founder and our long time beloved
friend Ed Gulley. More than anyone else he was responsible for creating the club, giving it the name and organizing
the basic rules for our monthly intra-club meets and meetings. My thought is it should be done in a way which would
more closely represent the image of the real Ed Gulley as
many of us remember. He almost never missed a monthly
club meet or meeting for way over forty (40) years of active
participation in the club.
In my mind I’ve narrowed it down to the “First Place
Diver” of the year award. It could still be referred to as the
first place diver/competitor award, and more, and there will
still be essentially the same requirements as before. The
name of Ed Gulley would be added making it a more meaningful award, and at the same time properly honoring the
memory of Ed. It will be a motivation for the members to
participate in the monthly meets and meetings as Ed did so
faithfully for so many years.
See example below:
(Continued on page 4)
Ed Gulley memorial proposal
1,
4
Minutes,
2
Competition, pts.
3
Currents
5
Pics, calendar
6
John Modugno
7
lifetime nomination
Banned, busted.
8,9
2006 board nomi- 9
nations
All time record
proposal
10,
11
Special points of
interest:
• Big bass caught by
Ryan Moore….
• Proposals that mean
something!!
• Have a safe, Happy
Thanksgiving..
The Fathomiers Newsletter is the
official monthly publication of the
Los Angeles Fathomiers
The Fathomiers is a Southern California club dedicated
to Freediving and Competitive Spearfishing.
Membership is open to the public. To become an Active member, you
must fulfill obligations and conditions. You can also become an
Associate Member for $20. Contact the Fathomiers for further
information.
PRESIDENT
CONTACT NUMBERS
Erik Banados
714-726-8409
Email: [email protected]
VICE PRESIDENT
Richard Balta
562-983-1231
Email: [email protected]
SECRETARY
Stathis Kostopoulos 310-458-9313
Email: [email protected]
TREASURER
Bob Sellers
310-320-7153
Email: [email protected]
RECORDER
Brandon Wahlers cell: 310-809-6389
Email:
Email: [email protected]
CONSERVATION
Gary Thompson
909-674-4918
NEWSLETTER
Paul Romanowski
714-847-1930
Email: [email protected]
Editor’s adress:17212 Ash st. Huntington Bch. Ca. 92647
Editor’s note: Since this position is voluntary, I will edit,
and delete crap as I see necessary. Any and all complaints
can either be kept to yourself, or you can take the job, freeing up miles of my time for my diving exploits. Please send
pics in the form of jpeg, or on disk. All stories are welcome.
Oct. 2005 Minutes
Meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm by
president Erik Banados.
Visitors introduced themselves. Officers
gave their reports.
Members voted in favor of giving a plaque
award for a tuna speared in California waters.
President Erik presented a motion to make
the rules for a all-time record equivalent to
the IUSA rules for an unassisted catch.
Members will vote at our next meeting for
3 proposals:
1. Ed Gulley award
2. All time Records and Steve Redding records adopting IUSA standards
and rules.
3. New membership rule change; not necessary to have the member at the
meeting during voting.
Skip nominated John Modugno for the
Lifetime Member.
To the SPONSORS, A Thank You
Not wanting to DISS, or MISS anyone, I am posting all our frequent sponsors. Thank you for supporting us, as we in turn support you!!!
Sport Chalet
M&B wetsuits
Riffe
Picasso
Daryl Wong
In Depth
Sea D sea
Hammerhead Muzzles
Long Beach Neptunes
Beach Cities Scuba
Dive and Surf
JMJ Wetsuits
Blue water hunter
Rabbitek
Mori
Page 2
We had an interesting presentation from
Don of M&B wetsuits.
Mori offered some insight into the CR
derby and associated issues.
Fish stories: we heard some exciting stories
from Richard, and Paul.
Meeting was adjourned at 10:00 pm.
Inside Story Headline
October 2005 Fathomiers Competitive Results
Al Shuck points….Brandon,2. Fil,1. Paul,1. Rich2 Richard gets another point for
his sheephead, which was the 2nd biggest of the meet, but the largest by a
Fathomier. Ryan is not a Fathomier, but he actually got the biggest fish.
Al Schuck
Memorial
October 2005 Charlie Sturgill meet.
Well, it happened AGAIN. Dang… he is simply the benchmark here to beat. Ryan Duell
wins his5th consecutive Sturgill meet. He ties Gary Thompson for all time wins, and next
year, there is gonna be a showdown….The results: 1st place Ryan Duell. 2nd place (1st
place loser!) Paul Romanowski. 3rd, Richard Balta. 4th, Brandon wahlers. 5th, Dave
Galich. 6th, Kevin Sakuda. 7th, Mark Navas, 8th, Eric Banados, 9th, Ryan Moore, 10th,
Mike Thompson, 11th, Brian Dreiling. A great day, vis was up and down, par for the
year.
Interesting notes: Dave Galich had a big triggerfish. But, no lie, he caught it by
HAND. Don’t ask… He’ll tell you about it someday. Richard/ his boat got 3rd and 4th
with NO scouting. That shows the depth of the divers, for sure. My boat was lucky
enough to get 2nd, 5th, and 6th place, WITHOUT diving the breakwall. My spot rules.
We also got lobsters galore, and it was great. Larry and Pressy handled the cooking for
us, it was awesome. Divers were scattered from Laguna to Malibu, trying their luck on
their home turf.
Next year, things are gonna be different. Brandon is going to donate 2 or 3 Garabaldi to Ryan’s ice chest, I will supply the short halibut. Richard promises to pay Tonya
Harding to baseball bat Ryan’s knees the day before the meet...NEXT YEAR, we are
TAKING this from Ryan. It is the biggest challenge to local divers...to win this meet!
Vol.?? No. 9
Diver
March
Brandon Wahlers
100.00
April May
0
June July
Aug. Sept.
Oct
Totals
Standing
0
0
0
56
100 93.47
349.47
1
14.3
0
14
23.77 67.45
290.32
3
0
0
29.99 34.63
125.91
8
Dave Galich
94.01
0 76.79
Ryan Moore
61.29
0
0
Tom Fogerty
61.29
0
0
0
0
Paul Romanowski
33.64
0
0
100
0
Randy Weston
15.21
0 18.75
0
0
Mike Thomas
35.94
0 52.68
9
0
Brian Dreiling
55.76
0
0
0
Troy Alarcon
30.88
0
0
0
Fil Labastita
0
100
8.22
0
13
28.69
Mark Navas
0
50
0
0
51
0
0
61.29
11
68.34
100
314.98
2
0
33.96
15
10.86 28.95
150.43
6
0
19.13
74.89
10
0
0
30.88
16
0
149.91
7
12.72 41.42
155.14
5
13
13
Richard Balta
100
197.71
4
Erez Abayov
72
72
11
Clint Koberstein
69
69
12
Eric Banados
55
104.06
9
Zoilo Velasquez
39
39
13
Eddie Ota
36
36
14
Eric Sun
12
12
17
Tyson Curtis
10
10
18
97.71
11.51
37.55
Page 3
Proposal for Ed Gulley
(Continued from page 1)
THE LOS ANGELES FATHOMIERS LOGO
NAME OF DIVER
Recipient of the
ED GULLEY AWARD
For
FIRST PLACE COMPETITOR
2005
I propose that the membership approve adding Ed Gulley’s name to the annual
First Place Competitor award making it a more prestigious award beginning in
calendar year 2006.
Very sincerely
Bob Sellers – Oct. 2005
Page 4
CURRENTS
So, a few things have happened lately. The Surfrider Foundation has studied the water, and tested it all year. The
results??? Some of the worst water quality they have seen in all their years of monitoring. The major pollutants?? Runoff related poisons, fertilizers, man made waste, and human waste. That is what nature did last winter; flushed the toilet. WE are the
toilet. Now, we are all in the ocean, so to speak. It has been a giant septic tank this year. I hope to have a medium winter, not a
mild one. Why??? I have been to the deserts this year many times, and there is a beauty about it, and the amount of life that
has clawed its’ way up is incredible. You should go see it...NOW. It is not too hot, the recent rains have spurred yet another
growth cycle out there. One or two dry winters will send it all retreating, so get it while it’s at its’ best. We will likely suffer
the dirty ocean for the next year to come. I talked to one tester for Surfrider, he said it’s pretty stable, just still dirty. At least
the water near the islands has cleared up a good bit. Let’s hope next year brings better water quality.
I want to bring to your attention something you may or may not have any concept of. It is called :
TARGET FIXATION.
Put simply, you see something, you lock onto it, and you go straight to it. No if’s, and’s or but’s. You are doing
something primal, set into your brain at birth. You are hunting, wether you know it or not. The scary part, it is hard wired into
your thought process, and there is no light that comes on saying you are doing it. It is wonderful, as it allows a hunter to zoom
in on his/her prey, and not lose sight of the target. You are not easily distracted once it happens, and are usually surprised
when something does interrupt your hunt. Nature installed this in all of us, and it helped to make us survive.
Got a cat, or dog? Watch how they play. See the ball? Fetch. BOOM-right to it. See the bird? To a cat, the world dissapears when they stalk a bird. We do it when a big fish in a school shows itself….. 50lb WSB! What 25lb er’s???
But it also works against us….. Think about what you read next.
You are tired. You have fished/ dove for 2 days, and have had little rest. You are coming home. GPS is good, seas
are flat, you are going home. You see the compass, the GPS, and miles ahead are lights. LA harbor. The lights are in the general direction you are headed. Good. A target. 45 minutes later, some weird sounds startle you, and bring you to attention. The
sound of surf…BREAKING!!! You cut throttles, and turn like hell for open ocean. You just followed the Sam’s seafood
swordfish sign right into the surf, and almost crashed your boat!!! Okay, I admit it. It was ME. Not once, but TWICE. Dead
tired, and almost beached. I don’t trust any swordfish without a hook in its’ mouth anymore.
Pilots fly into mountains, with years of experience. Skippers crash into piers, breakwalls because of it.
Alcohol/ drugs make it worse. Drunk drivers tend to torpedo the lights of Caltrans at a rate of 20 times more than
they hit the walls… Being tired seems to be the worst influence of all, bar none.
I want you to think hard about target fixation. Maybe don’t follow that grouper to 100ft. To get the shot. Maybe don’t trust the
lights in front of you; check your compass and GPS. Maybe don’t follow that small spot on the side of the road.
My aunt was killed Oct. 29,2005 when a Jeep hit her in the dark, on a lit street, in Hawaii. The driver was not drunk,
he was not speeding. He did try to stop, evidenced by the skid marks. She was even in a crosswalk, one foot from the curb. He
didn’t know her, so there is simply no answer, except for a horrible accident. There is no way to judge what happened. But
there is a good argument that it was target fixation. There are two lessons to be learned from this.
Understand what YOU are doing when you zone in on something, and just as important, remember not to trust something you see or hear coming toward you, especially when out on the ocean. A boater may think you are a buoy, or marker,
and drive right over you. Try to be safe, and avoid the pitfalls of being lulled into a bad situation.
UPDATED CALENDAR– 2005
AS OF JULY 2005:
.
November:10 Club meeting. Nominate new suckers!!
11/20 Club dive/GLACD dive.
December: 4 Club dive/ Larry Staat polespear meet.
12/8 Club meeting. Vote in new suckers!!
12/17 L.B. Neptunes Dragon swim.
Vol.?? No. 9
Page 5
FISHIES!!!!
Neptunes fall classic, Rene shows them what’s up! He got this big YT while diving calico’s at ship rock, 90cm
gun, no trail line. Just shoot and hang on! A pic of the guys, ready to watch Brandon make a vomitarium at the after party!
Last page, Ryan Moore has something to show you… goto page 11. All you can say is WOW.
Next Club Meetings
November
PCC’s were moved!
Nov5/6, San Simeon.
11/10 club meeting, Round
table pizza.
11/20 GLACD /Fathomier
club dive. County line,
Malibu.
December
Larry Staat polespear meet
12/8 club meeting
12/17 Neptunes Dragon
swim.
The pic of the month!!
That’s 5 DAYTIME LIMITS, while scouting! Even the
dog got his lobsters!! We passed on the night dive to get
some rest, and then put the hammer to the bugs. John
would point out a hole, or a bug, and we would retrieve
it for him...And there were plenty of fish, as we all
placed in the top 10.
LOBSTAMANIA!!!!
Lifetime membership nomination, John Modugno.
John has been a legend in our sport for some
50 years. He has many spearfishing accomplishments, including past World Record
holder for White Seabass. Although John
does not dive anymore, he has been a role
model club member who attends many club
functions and meets, and has been a great
sponsor to the club, making many contributions over the years. He has gained the respect of all of us as an underwater legend, a
great sportsman and friend. John would be a
wonderful addition to our lifetime member
ranks.
I nominate John Modugno as our next honorary Fathomier life member.
Respectfully, Skip Hellen.
(Editor’s note) John has worked tirelessly to
create useful tools for the people who explore the ocean, through his company, In
Depth. He has donated many great items for
our club, and has been nothing short of a
blast to have around. I second Skip’s motion,
and agree, John would be an excellent addition to our Life member group.
Here is John with his world record WSB.
Ironically, taken on the same day as the 1st
Neptunes Blue Water Meet, which was ?
cancelled? Or rescheduled. Any way you
look at it, he shot this fish with a homemade
gun out of a broomstick. No teak here. Just
one big ass sweep up job by John.
The IUSA is sending the national spearfishing team to Portugal in
2006. These photos are of the logo on the shirts they are selling to raise
funds. The divers are: Lance Otsubo, 2004 champ, Wayde Hayashi, 1999
champ, and Our own missing in action Gerald Lim, 2 time champ,
1997&1998.
The shirts have excellent graphics, and are top notch quality. The
cost is $15 each, plus $4 shipping. But, bulk shipping will cut the cost .
Shirts come in all flavors, blue, white, grey and black. They come
in all sizes, from Rene Rojas to Mike Petrusko.
Contact Dave Edlund, (408) 356-4622. Email
<[email protected]>
Well, now you know one of my gifts for Christmas, you turkeys!!!!
I am a size Large... It’s my ego that is XXL.
Page 7
Banned, blocked, busted…
I was starting this article off, with most of my reference devoted toward how fish and divers have diverged in
negative fashion, and how we could work on fixing the situation. I have had a LOT of stuff on my mind. A LOT of
things have been brought up lately, and not all of it is good. Then, I got a post from Larry Heinrich, and it sent this article reeling. I had to research some more stuff, and find out what’s what. I am being fair here. I am REPORTING what I
have found to be true, and will post it as such. I will post things I found to be speculation, and things that are completely hypocritical as that. But beware. Fathomier or not, you saw what I did with poster boy Adhami, and no one is
safe. ESPECIALLY those who know better……Here goes!!!
In the beginning, there were no limits in fishing. It was catch as catch can. Gear was primitive, and divers and
fishermen were in their infancy. The only advanced equipment was in marlin fishing, and commercial diving. Coastal
areas were not very developed, and things were good. Divers shot tons of fish in tournaments. I have no idea what was
done with the fish. I can attest to pictures of fishing trips of old that left literally hundreds of fish on the beaches to rot,
and I can only assume the situation was similar for divers.
Enter the new era. Several fish were depleted to crisis levels, like sardines and herring. White seabass, and
abalone followed. It was a combo, of overfishing and pollution. There was a time when WSB were rare. Hard to imagine today. Sardines were gone for almost 20 years, and were nothing compared to today. They only reappeared in
1986…..I know, I was a deckhand then. We welcomed back big bait. Fishing had changed. There were limits all over
the place, and the same divers who were so successful in the past sought to change the diving limits to match the times.
Divers became more selective, and began an approach of sustainable diving, and conservation. Gear had advanced as
well, and now spearguns had become very efficient tools.
Divers formed a second tier of diving, one which pursued big game, and like the other big game fisherman,
pushed for more conservation practices. And, in the realm of inshore and competition diving, serious limits were implemented to meet the times. No longer are tournaments just shoot-ups, and rules are pretty strict as to size and numbers
limits. Divers routinely point out the issues of commercial fishing, and the bycatch generated. We have worked to keep
fisheries open, and to keep our dive locations open to diving, as we are selective in catch. We are quick to point out we
only take what we can use, and never waste any fish.
Okay, had enough BULLS*&T?????? Hang on, it gets bumpy from here….
Unfortunately for me, in the past 3 years, I have gone home with over 70 fish to deal with that weren’t mine.
Each time…. At the Sturgill polespear meet. Last year, I had 4 EXTRA limits in my ice chest. Wanna try to explain that
one to a DFG if he stops me??? I’m talking fines to death, and losing my gear. And the 2 years prior were almost as
bad. I am lucky. I have a bunch of neighbors who don’t have the money to buy fresh fish, and I give it away by the load.
But the fact remains, these were dumped fish. And it annoys me. When the nationals were here, we set up a charity to
take the fish. It was supposed to happen this year, but didn’t. Oh well. I for one, learned. I closed my ice chest, and
hauled it out as soon as I could, to keep from having to hawk other guys’ fish again. Someday, we’ll get this right.
On this note, Larry had gone to Willow Beach, to dive stripers. He met up with the DFG, and showed his license. No sweat. He started to get ready to dive, when a ranger came up and, in the head ranger’s wording…was
HEAVILY encouraged not to dive there. There was a beach up the river he could go to, and should stay near there.
When Larry asked, the response was that a dive tournament left fish behind. I’ll not go into the semantics of this. I
know Larry, and I do not believe he was lying. So, when queried about this, the ranger in question simply stated, you
can either talk to my superior, or the public relations officer: “ Have a nice day.” CLICK” So, the head ranger is nice,
and encourages me to read all things into my conversation-warm, warm, getting warmer, “Have a nice day.” CLICK”
So I got hold of a tackle consession/ boat rental shop there. Some fish had washed up on the beach, and they were carp,
evidently from the tournament. The people’s worst fears were that there may be some disease, or pollution, as the fish’s
stomachs were rotted out. Pretty simple explanation to this one.
The organizers of the tournament dealt with the fish how the rangers requested. The fish in the river were due
to the fish grinder machine being fully used. So the fish had their stomach’s cut by the divers, and they were set out into
the river to be washed away. Unfortunately, some of the fish made it back to shore. And, in the wrong instance, one fish
may be too many. I looked into this for a while, and I am sure that the divers tried to do what was asked of them. But, I
am also sure that Larry was landlocked, and the fishermen were used as the reason 3 weeks later when I looked into the
story. So, there is yet another place where pseudo-enforcement may be used against divers. Be polite, and aware. As to
the tournament, there will be many more there, and I can guarantee that the organizers will be militant about the fish
they deal with. But they are good guys, and are going to try and protect the game for everyone there.
Vol.?? No. 9
Page 8
In the past, I have been told I cannot dive because I didn’t have surf fins, I had no tip protector on my tip, an ice pick stuffed
into my bands, I could not dive because my speargun was TOO BIG…(Unfortunately, it wasn’t a female lifeguard telling
me this…), and I could not go in because there were swimmers. Too many, and I might scare them, to top it off. None of
this was legal, but nonetheless, I have been turned back a few times.
And dirty looks are sometimes common.
But the worst issue that has reared its’ ugly head recently is selling fish, wether commercial or not. I got a good
bashing from some guys who live in a state which gets hit by 10 or 20 hurricanes a year, about some rockfish caught commercially in 2,000 feet of water. They pointed out the waste, and the loss of fish, and the destructive practice. This from
people who spearfish commercially, who use a technique called “Golf Balling”, which is a golf ball at the end of a spear. It
blunts into a fish, and knocks them out, or cripples them. The important thing, it does not leave spear holes in the fish. Better for the market. But, how many fish swim off, battered and bruised, to die later somewhere else? And, don’t start me
about using implements to drag bugs out of a hole. How primitive… For sure, more selective, but still an issue.
This one is not an issue. It was wrong then, and it is wrong now. It is a well known fact that when Americans
started to go down to baja, they sold much of their catch back here, to support their trips there. And, the more and better the
trips, the more the money. Which meant more trips….. not to mention, selling the black seabass they speared here. Thankfully, much of the BSB they sold was for catfood. Whew! I was worried those giant fish were just wasted! Yeah right! And,
selling fish was an underlying factor in a prospect here once. That was unsubstantiated. But Some others weren’t. I know a
guy, a good friend, who lives in a place 1,100 miles from here. He had a prominent diver come to his place, and it was
worked out that the diver would be able to sell his fish to help offset his trip. This was an individual, not a group. The guy,
my friend, is a saint, and he does not wish to be involved. But he lamented it left a bad taste in his mouth, the whole deal.
And, very recently, it was substantiated, that it had happened again. I will leave out names, to protect the guilty.
The argument that gas is expensive is a good one, but it doesn’t hold water. If you are not prepared to do the right thing with
yellowtail, or tuna, or perch, pass on the shot. For this to be levied against people in a position of authority, in any dive club,
is unacceptable. And yet we scream with delight when they catch a diver who is selling lobster in a hospital parking lot in
Laguna. We are happier still when they catch a commercial boat taking WSB out of season. And, my favorite was the guy
caught grabbing abalone for his boss to sell at a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco.
We all do things wrong, make bad judgment calls. We all eventually take a shot on something we wish we hadn’t.
So to come out and say we are super-ethical, and above everyone else is garbage, plain and simple. Remember, we are very
visible, and we do walk out of the surf with some huge fish. Better to point out how we are trying to make things better, and
be creative in our use of the fish we take. And when we travel abroad, especially in Mexico, be sure to keep any idea of the
“Ugly American” away from us. Shoot less fish, or be sure to share the fish with some of the locals. And, if you go to the
land of giants, be fully prepared. Not just with a big gun, and the right floats. Be prepared to deal with 100, 300, 1,000 lb of
fillets. Yeah, I plan on taking a grander if I get a chance. I’m just gonna call the entire club, and start passing out chunks of
fish until I can handle the rest. I am happy with the way I leave the areas I go to, and I am always welcomed back. There are
places where this is already not the case, and I don’t think we need any more.
Just do the right thing. For your fellow divers, and more importantly, for yourself.
Bored member nominations. Oops. BOARD MEMBERS.
Here are my nominations for 2006 Board Members
I Erik Banados President of the LA Fathomiers officially nominate the following members for the 2006 Board
membership.
The following members have demonstrated that are natural leaders, posses excellent skills and are interested,
and are very passionate in providing outstanding service to the club.
Vice President: Randy Weston
Recorder: Mark Navas
Treasurer: Mike Petrusco
Web Master: OPEN
Conservation Officer: OPEN
Dear Members,
Ever since the inception of the Club in the 50's, it has always been known and implied
by club members that summiting applications for club records (all time, in and out state,
Redding, annual, etc) for fish were done while freediving, with no scuba, including retrieving
entangled fish or hole up fish was done unassisted (without the assistance of another individual in subduing, capturing or securing the catch). The issue is that there is no written document in the bylaws or the constitution that says that. Although we all know that we must land
the fish with the above conditions and included are also several other conditions we can all
agree on such as not using explosive tips (bang sticks, powerheads, etc), and so forth. The
club had several discussions on this matter and the members always agreed on the above
conditions.
SAFETY in the water or outside the water is always the most important issue in our
sport. Off course if your fish gets entangled deep in the kelp, hole up or you are fighting a
COW, you should have your buddy, the boat, buddies there to assist you, spot you, help you,
whatever is necessary to safely land the fish. We should always prevent accidents to our best
ability whenever it comes to our sport SAFETY is consider a priority. But I believe that a fish
that was landed with assistance or with the use of scuba to retrieve the fish should not be
consider for ALLTIME RECORDS or a REDDING fish. We can not say that fish landed with assistance has the same merit as fish landed unassisted.
IF you have to resource to use scuba to retrieve your fish from a hole, entangled in the
kelp or in deep water, you are doing this because of safety, as measures to avoid swallow water blackout, drowning, entanglement, or any other accidents that could happen and you are
probably doing it as a last resort. We should continue doing that as long as we dive. We sure
don’t want any more fatalities in or club or any club or event. That is understood in our diving
community world wide SAFETY ALWAYS FIRST.
If you are assisting your buddy to retrieve a fish from deep water,
because he is not able to dive that deep, or he is too exited, his
sinus are plug up, etc or for any reason or if you are second shooting
the fish for him, or helping him to pull the fish or to fight the
fish, etc. for safety reasons that again is understood and we should continue practicing safety
measures. I believe the diver is in more eminent danger when landing the fish than when
shooting it. Landing the fish is a lot more dangerous; the fish is fighting for his life and is going to do whatever necessary to try to live, including taking your life in the process.
We can continue giving awards like always for annual records,
medallions, trophies, placards, for our competitions, because we are a competitive club. Some
of us compete and that is why is a requirement for membership to go to 3 competitive dives.
What I am proposing is that for ALL TIME RECORDS and Redding records we should
have higher standards, these fish are career fish, some of the records will take many years to
be broken but we need to have CLEAR RULES for the records.
Our merits are based solely on the philosophy of sportsmanship and excellence in spearfishing.
In keeping with the philosophy of ethical and fair spearfishing practices, freedivers must subdue their catch
unassisted.
For those reasons I am proposing that the LA Fathomiers adopt the same IUSA rules and standards
for the All time records in and out of state and the Steve Redding Award.
The new Article that I am proposing to be added to the constitution should say.
Article XVIII - RECORDS
1. The Fathomiers All time records for in and out of state and the Steve Redding Award should follow the
same standards as the IUSA general rules, definitions, gear, eligible fish, weighing requirements.
2. The IUSA records rules are based on the philosophy of sportsmanship, excellence in spearfishing,
ethical and fair spearfishing practices, freedivers must subdue their catch unassisted.
Erik Banados
LA Fathomiers President
WORLD RECORD CALICO BASS….11.25 lb.
It will qualify for a 21st. Century world record, and it is the largest calico taken in several years.
This is Ryan’s Redding memorial calico, too. And the calico bass of the year.
No story yet as to where caught and how deep, etc. other than at Catalina island.
He’ll be telling a story at the club meeting.