# Monster 11/30



## bottombumper (Nov 6, 2007)

This is a picture of the gag my fishing partner caught while fishing for mangroves at night during a 3 day dive trip. the fish was caught in 190' off panama city. Most impressive, the monster was caught on 80 lb mono with a 60lb floro leader and a 6/0 gama live bait hook. The fish was 61 lbs gutted, and is the second 60 plus pounderhe has caught in the last year and a half. Very impressive. There are only a handful of people with twofish like thisin their lifetimes, and dan has two before his 22nd birthday.










This is the fish he caught last year. It went 69 gutted. Looks smaller in the picture, but it didnt have it's air bladder blown up,










Here are a few other pics from his diving this past weekend. Another guy on the boat caught a 38 lb gag within 10 minutes of the big one.


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## Bigg J (Nov 7, 2007)

nice


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## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

wow nice haul all the way around. Was the bottom big relief or small broken bottom.


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## bottombumper (Nov 6, 2007)

not real substantial relief, just good live bottom


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## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

yea the few gags we found this year came off of small broken bottom. Is it east or west of the pass in PC


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## Telum Pisces (Sep 27, 2007)

That right there is a good haul of fish. Especially that monster. Good job and thanks for the report.


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## bottombumper (Nov 6, 2007)

i almost forgot about this 48 pounder he poked the morning after catching the big one.


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## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

surely not in 190 feet of water I hope.


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## bottombumper (Nov 6, 2007)

More like 187'...Dan is a professional, and certified to the highest degree. they were fishing ssw of the pass. just north of the 40 break.


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## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

:bowdown:bowdown:bowdown:bowdown


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## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

thats insane diving that depth. I know a lot of people do it but it eventually catches up with you.


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## FenderBender (Oct 2, 2007)

It is safe as long as you plan your dive and stick to your profile... its not something you just go "DO". Incredible fish man, great job!:bowdown


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## bottombumper (Nov 6, 2007)

there is no doubt it is a hazardous sport, but these guys have made hundreds of dives at these depths, and take every precaution necessary.


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## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

There was a diver down southeast this summer that bought the farm doing just that. He had completed 100's of dives at that depth without a hitch and then it was curtains. years and years of experience at great depth. The problem arises when there is a minor problem and at that depth a minor problem becomes a huge problem and sometimes cannot be overcome. To me it is not worth my death for any and all fish I could possibly shoot.One day your luck runs out. Your dancing with disaster.


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## true-king (Oct 2, 2007)

nice job! :hungry


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## Lickety-Split (Oct 3, 2007)

Maybe I need to bring him a grouper trip. I've got one spot that we repeatedly get broken off at by some stud grouper. Maybe he can ease them out of there???


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## David Ridenour (Sep 28, 2007)

Dang! That's a couple of monsters for sure. Thanks for the report and photos. Do be careful and post often!


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## theangrydolphin (Oct 2, 2007)

> *lobsterman (12/6/2007)*There was a diver down southeast this summer that bought the farm doing just that. He had completed 100's of dives at that depth without a hitch and then it was curtains. years and years of experience at great depth. The problem arises when there is a minor problem and at that depth a minor problem becomes a huge problem and sometimes cannot be overcome. To me it is not worth my death for any and all fish I could possibly shoot.One day your luck runs out. Your dancing with disaster.


<SPAN id=_ctl1_ctlTopic_ctlPanelBar_ctlTopicsRepeater__ctl18_lblFullMessage>In the gear he's in, no way! I don't see a stage bottle or a deco bottle and his spg is not where it should be. 190 is completely doable but only with the right knowledge and gear with serious redundancy. I'd think I would wanna be on trimix for that depth. I really need to get movin' on this tech stuff!


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## bottombumper (Nov 6, 2007)

they are on trimix


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## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

i've been diving since 1970 and just because you are diving trimix doesn,t make it that much safer. trust me I know of five people personally that have either been hit hard , like bowed up crippling and a few that have died. The few that are messed up will never be the same.


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## CaptainDan (Dec 7, 2007)

Thanks for all the great responses guys! just to clear a few things up about the diving, my dive buddies and i realize the risks and dangers associated with diving that deep. yes we are diving trimix, in the underwater picture you cannot see, but i have a 40cf lp steelpony bottle mounted directly behind my back. this tank contains trimix also and will allow me to make a controlled ascent if i were to have an emergency at depth. as for decompression situations, once we reach 10-15 feet we sent a float to the top, this lets the boat know that we are ready for our "scrub" gas. they then drop a weighted 120 cf bottle of 80-90 % o2 that we will breathe for the remainder of our deco. this enriched air not only speeds up the process of deco but also factors in a wide safety margin. in the first picture of the gag you can see some of our set-ups in the background. thank you guys for your concerns but i can assure you that my team and i have done the reaearch and made the steps to make this type of "extreme" diving safe as possible.


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## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

Thanks for the response Capt Dan I know how fun it is and how great it is to come up with big fish, But the risks are greater than diving nitrox at say 100 feet with a proper saftey stop. That is all that I am saying, so please be extremely safe and careful.


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## Captain Woody Woods (Oct 2, 2007)

thats badass, i can appreciate that kind of fishing. didnt even know we had hogfish and lobsters around here; awesome


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## CaptainDan (Dec 7, 2007)

The spineys and hogs are few and far between.... but when we see them they are usually monsters. both the bugs were over 6 lbs and the hog was 12


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## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

there used to be tons of spineys andfew hogs also. In 1995 hurricane Opal changed something and the spineys never came back in numbers. I can show you pictures before Opal that would blow your mind.


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## bigfishrookie (Oct 1, 2007)

Very nice. Keep it up!


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## Inn Deep (Oct 3, 2007)

I consider myself a grouper fisherman. My passion is chasing them. Thats some awesome fish there guys!! I've caught several over 40 but just one in that range. My personal best gag is 70.02 lbs caught last year. That young man should be very very proud!! Most people will never see a gag like that much less two in a short period of time. Congrats on yours again!! Job well done!! Most people don't know how hard it is to get one like that off the bottom.If you guys ever have an opening for 1 on a trip call me!! See the attachments below if you like to see my gag. Congrats again !! Awesome Fish!!


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## wirenut (Sep 30, 2007)

Damn :bowdown:bowdown:clap


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