The action took place last week at about 40 miles off the Nicoya coast of Costa Rica.
After two weeks made of windy weather and ugly green water coming from the south, we finally got a becalmed sea and a clean/ blue water .
The main goal of the trip was marlin chasing. The captain and me know in this area a couple of offshore "secret spots" where you may find in the same day blue, black or stripped marlin! So I could encounter the day before an amazing about 500 lb blue which did a pretty short visit close to drifting sargassum. Doing an instinctive medium range shot in this context doesn't work... better release the billfish while observing briefly this magnificent super predator.
We were boating for one hour in the Pacific Ocean and looking for upwelling currents which usually bring food and stabilize drifting débris on the surface, I finally could spot there a dead turtle... and dove.
I was using a T. Botha tuna gun 4 bands equiped with a 72" Riffe shaft 3/ 8", a tuna setup connected to the floating system...
A lot of baitfish was patrolling all around the turtle. The school was made of tiny jacks, sardines, trigger fish and tiny yfntuna in the depth. Action!
I was playing my home made flasher... At the time I was staying quite at about ten feet depth, suddenly came from nowhere a restless dorado. It visited the flasher, then swam to the surface by crossing my path . I aimed and did a shot in the "kill shot area": on the lateral line and just behind the gill plate.
The fish took off in a split of second showing an explosion of energy, first by towing me a couple of minutes, then by sinking in the depth while pulling hard the floating system.
I usually subdue and kill dorado in about five min, but the fight will last much longer.
Only about ten minutes later and by pulling with care the bungee, I finally could see the dorado swimming in the depth. A huge cow: about the same length as the shaft ( 6 feet), I estimated the fish over 70 lb .
At the time I was sure i would not lose the fish ( but I was wrong ): I could observe the spearhead sticked on the other side of the gill plate. So I thought the fish could not escape. I had only to relax, to be confident in the setup: the shooting line is made of a 3/ 32" steel coated cable ( 600 lb resistance ), as well as the cable connecting spearhead to the shaft ..
Minutes later while holding the wood gun + video in one hand, I tried again with my left hand to pull the fish closer to me, but I could not make it. This fish showed strength and stamina again in abundance!
Then the fish energy seemed to weaken... I tried pulling the line again, but the dorado took off by towing me and
something broke suddenly in the set up!! The dorado vanished in the depth while taking away the spearhead.
I pulled the empty line and checked the steel cable breaking on the slide ring... unbelievable!
pic of the spearhead setup...
Video: SpearFishingMotion.com
An over 70 lb dorado record encounter...
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