fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

My wife and I were taking a beach walk yesterday afternoon along a stretch of shoreline that I fish on a regular basis. As we reached the turn around point, I could not help but notice 2 guys dressed up in semi-scuba gear just getting out of the water with a stringer of 5 giant carp. Since I do a modest amount of snorkel diving I decided to stop and chat for a bit to check out what they were up to.

Turns out they operate a small business/hobby called Kraken Spearfishing right here in Traverse City, MI, and welcome like minded underwater adventurers to join them on excursions when they have something planned...day or night! No charge either, which I found rather intriguing to say the least....

Anyways, we swapped stories for about 15 minutes and then parted ways...but not before he handed me a couple of his business cards for future contact. The water temps are starting to plummet around here, so I'm not sure if I will join them on any trips yet this season, but I am definitely going to hook up with them on occasion! It sure beats swimming alone with my kayak as the "float ring" and a diver below flag stuck into the sailing mast base of my rig with my wife watching from shore!

I know that spear fishing may seem to be a brutal way of fishing...but if you take a moment to listen to one of his intro videos you will see that he is a sportsman at heart, and only takes what he can use...which is not always the reason he dives. His primary thrill is in locating fish, and then observing them. Pretty cool!

One of his many current videos is called "All about that Bass". It's only 5 minutes long, and although there is a school of suckers in one portion, the rest are smallmouth bass...and plenty of them. I know the spot he was diving in, and the bass tend to school up in huge numbers there during the Spring pre-spawn! The areas he dives in are the same places that I tend to fish around my home area, so it was really fun to talk with him.

If you have some spare time, here is a link to his web site:

https://www.youtube.com/c/KrakenSpearfishing

Enjoy the day...and whisper a prayer of thanks for our Freedom and remembrance for those who lost their lives on this fateful day many years ago....

bknecht Loc: Northeast pa

Pretty neat videos FY. Many years ago a friend and I would do some scuba diving in a local lake. The small mouths would follow us around while we turned rocks and would hammer the crayfish that emerged. Got the bright idea of taking a short length of mono with a hook and fishing them underwater. Very interesting and informative on how they took the baits.

nutz4fish Loc: Colchester, CT

VERY interesting, did you try to fool "em with artificial craw baits? Not mining you for specific results, just
Intrigued.

fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

I think that you and I would have made excellent neighbors growing up! You could be Tom Sawyer and I'd be Huck Finn...or vice versa...you pick! Two kids out exploring the world and embarking on all sorts of exciting adventures! From what you mentioned...that sounds just like what I did as a youngster.

One day I had been trying to "see" what fish were doing underwater by opening my eyes and trying to follow them while I swam. I told my Dad when he got home from work how much fun it was, but hard to keep my eyes open very long. The next day when he came home, I had been gifted a beautiful new Dacor brand scuba mask. He then went to a special closet where he kept his wartime memorabilia from Korea, and handed me a set of lima bean green Voit swim flippers. Holy cow...was I in 7th heaven! Next thing you know I am a mini- Jacque Cousteau!

In later years, I rigged up a special underwater fishing rod that featured a Zebco 33 reel that had seen better days above water, on a short 3' solid white fiberglass rod. Always had a blast catching fish that way!

FinFisherman Loc: Born in Ohio - 40 yrs Florida- Clearwater,Fl

You know you can wear a lexan body suit that will keep you warmer and it doesn't affect your boyance and if the water gets colder change to a wet suit just add a dive belt with proper weights.

fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

Good idea. Funny you should mention it! I was kayaking in one of my favorite spots today, in about 12' of water with some nice weeds, and noticed what I believe were a couple of muskie's sitting on bottom...waiting to ambush something. The sun was high, and visibility was excellent, so I was pretty sure they were not northern pike. Too big for pike in my opinion.

Anyways, I am going to stop by our local dive shop tomorrow and see what they have in stock. The current surface temps around here are in the mid 60's at the surface, and that will drop a bit at depth. I have always limited myself to swimming only during the peak Summer temps, so maybe it's time to invest in a suit!

bknecht Loc: Northeast pa

Never tried artificials nutz, would simply catch the live ones (no small task) and hook them on a piece of mono. Fun times.

bknecht Loc: Northeast pa

Yeah FY, seems we have have been cut from the same cloth.

saw1 Loc: nor cal Windsor

What size of wet suit do you wear yaker?

FinFisherman Loc: Born in Ohio - 40 yrs Florida- Clearwater,Fl

I may have misstated when I said lexan. It may have been Lycra. At any rate your dive shop will know. As a certified diver I had 2 suits. 1 was thin material stretchy and I didn't need weights the other was a regular wet suit and I needed weights.

fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

I'm a 2XL and 6' 3" tall...so I take up a lot of fabric! In talking with "Pete", from the Kraken Spearfishing outfit, he mentioned that they have access to gear on loan...or at least at low cost...for folks that want to give it a try. Over the years I have always wanted to learn the "freedive" approach, without tanks...so this may be my opportunity to give it a try. When I was hovering over those muskies today I thought "Gee...sure wish I was actually IN the water right now". I stuck both arms in up to my elbows and held them for a bit...and it was chilly...66 degrees at the surface....

fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

I knew what you meant...but thank's for the update... That is the style of suit's that Pete and his spot diver were using. Pretty cool "weedy" looking camo...kind of like what a fish might perceive if you were amongst the underwater vegetation. I can see how they get stealthy in a suit like that. I was watching some of his videos and I am getting the itch to "pull the trigger" on getting set up....

I might contact them tomorrow and see when they plan to go out next. My gear is a bit vintage, so I would probably need to upgrade. I do have a nice mask with prescription lens inserts, which I really like. My fins are old U.S. Diver's "Rocket fins". I have my original set from back in 1975, as well as a brand new set that I bought years ago as a spare set. Not sure why I thought I needed a spare set...it was just a good deal at the time! Still have my old Ikelite underwater flashlight as well, but have not used it in years (probably hard to even find those old giant 9 volt lantern styled batteries). I always enjoyed night dives, and the Kraken guys do too...as well as the usual daytime outings.

I did notice they were wearing a substantial amount of weights on their belt...so I suspect that the suits they were using were just hovering just above neutral buoyancy.