The fish was a considerable size and all I had was this pole spear, but I had to try. My adrenaline started going, a second passed, and I just took the shot. My spear launched straight through it, right behind the gill plate of the halibut’s head. He swam up off the bottom a few feet, flapping and going crazy, and I just held on—halibut rodeo! I stayed on top of the fish and drove it back down where I pinned it to the sand with the spear and my knees. After a few attempts to kill the fish with my dive knife, I finally had to rip his gills out to end it. Man, these are tough fish!

I had no choice but to leave the spear tip in the fish and drag like this. The visibility and ascent were unreal, looking up 50 feet in deep blue water, with the sun filtering through the leaves of the kelp that swayed with the ocean currents, a very calming vision after this crazy hunt at sea.

When I hit surface, I was about 50 feet from the boat, and almost immediately, I could see people on the boat looking to see what I had. On the deck, I hoisted him up for measurement—37 pounds, and easily 4 feet long. The pictures showed the battle; notice the bent spear tips. Needless to say, this was definitely the catch of my lifetime.

James Owens
Pacifica, CA

Where is the Catalina Invertebrate Preserve? Dale:
I have just spent about an hour “Google-ing” every web site I can think of to try and find out the exact geographic limits of this preserve with no luck. Catalina’s Arrow Point to Lion Head—do you know if there is an outer (northern) limit, or perhaps depth limit that defines the location of the preserve? Can lobster be taken, for example, (in season) at Ship Rock, which is outside (north) of a line between Arrow Point and Lion Head?

Also, I see divers breaking open sea urchins all the time so they can watch the ?fish feeds,? and while this is not ?taking? an invertebrate, it must also be illegal inside the preserve.

Mike Blecher
via e-mail

Hi Mike,
The most specific, and legal, statement of the invertebrate preserve at Catalina is the in the California Fish and Game regulations

It states: “No invertebrates may be taken between the high tide mark and 1000 feet beyond the low tide mark along the lee side of Santa Catalina Island between Lion Head Point and Arrow Point.”

I would assume this prohibits urchin busting.

This does NOT include the areas offshore commonly referred to as Eagle Reef nor Ship Rock.

Editor