In 2007 I took a few months off from my job as crew on a sportfishing boat to go on another spearfishing pilgrimage. I started with a few weeks in Baja with GR Tarr, Brian Head, Craig Clasen and friends shooting wahoo and other pelagics. Then I hopped to the middle of the Pacific to meet up with long time friend Cam Kirkconnell for a 2 week stay in Tavarua, Fiji. From there I flew to Sydney and hung out with Ian Puckridge, then to Brisbane to spend some time with the Adreno crew. And finally I went on a 2 week liveaboard to the Coral Sea. That is where I met a badass spearfisherman named Michael Takach. 

Michael is one of the pioneers of POV video shooting for spearfishing. Back then we didn't have GoPros, so Michael would hold a sony point & shoot camera in one hand and his gun in the other, diving to depths of 100 feet to shoot jobfish, dogtooth tuna, and other difficult species. His video clips were  first of a kind. 

Over the years I have met up with Michael Takach and his partner in crime Jessie Cripps for some epic trips. We have camped in the jungles on Panama, Chased wahoos in Mexico, swamped pangas in the surf, played with crocodiles, chased Whalesharks, shot giant tunas, and much much more. 


(Kelsea Albert, Julie Riffe, Brandon Wahlers, Jessie Cripps, Michael Takach, and myself in Panama)


Michael and Jessie have just released there newest video(for their sponsor, Riffe) and I was lucky enough to be there for some of the adventures they have caught on film. I wish I could have been there for all of them! I hope you all get as big a kick out of this video as I did. I am pumped to get in the water again soon!!

We are headed to La Paz in Baja to teach the Blue Water University again! Last year was so much fun. Here is a little video we made from the class. If you want to know more, click here to see the webpage for the trip. Details and pricing are on this page.

I recently stumbled upon this story published by WPTV West Palm Beach and written by Terra Sullivan. The full article can be read here.

Two boats were pulled over in the St. Lucie Inlet and searched, revealing 120 illegal lobster tails and 12 queen conch. The boats claimed to be returning from West End.  

I am asked all the time what the regulations are for bringing fish, conch, and lobster back from the Bahamas. I put up a post about these regulations here. Keep in mind that when you transport your catch from one country to another you are responsible to abide by the fishing/possesion regulations of BOTH countries. That means, while you might be allowed 6 conch in the Bahamas, you are allowed none in Florida waters. And even though you may posses up to 12 lobster per person in most of Florida, you are only allowed 10 lobster per VESSEL in the Bahamas, and bahamian lobster have to be 3 1/2", which is bigger than the 3" minimum size in Florida. 

I have been all through the Bahamas over the past 20 years both for work and recreation.  And I have recently spent a lot of time in the Southern Bahamas. An area that was very unspoiled for a long time but has now been hit extremely hard by poachers from the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean nations. These poachers take everything. In some areas, you are lucky to find barracudas larger than 12 inches. All of the conch and lobster have been harvested. The Bahamians know how to maintain their fishery. But the Dominican fisherman don't care about sustainability, and the Bahamian fisherman see Dominican boats on their southern border all the time. In fact, reports claim that between 30 and 65 Dominican long range fishing boats are working the southern Bahamas. 

There are a lot of Bahamians that are very upset with the poaching that is going on in the Bahamas by foreigners. And there is talk of changing the fishing regulations and increasing the enforcement of their regulations. And an american boat taking 120 lobsters is the same to them as a dominican boat taking 10 tons. They see all of it as poaching and as a major threat. So please think about this next time you want to transport your catch across the border.