On October 13, 1998, I joined two other divers, Nigel Belton and Clay Reed, for a second attempt at spearing albacore tuna in the outer Monterey Bay in Central California. Arriving at the dock at 5:30 a.m., we loaded up our guns, floats and float lines into the boat for the one and a half hour run to the outer edge of the bay.

We were on the charter vessel Flat Fish, a sturdy twenty-six foot boat being operated by Joe Stoops, owner and skipper whose knowledge of albacore and ability to tend to the needs of freedivers in the offshore setting would become invaluable.

The skies were mostly overcast, the NW wind at about 15 knots and a building eight foot swell from the North. Around 8:30 a.m. we reached an area of 59.5 degree water and began to look for the jumping tuna that other sport and commercial boats in the area were reporting over the radio. We started to see an occasional tuna break the surface and then hooked up on a 15 pound bluefin tuna. After reeling in the bluefin we set out a sea anchor and the three of us suited up for the hunt as the skipper began to toss dead bait into the water to start a chum line.

Nigel and Clay were first to get in the water and I was just getting ready to put my fins on when I heard Nigel yell "TUNA." Without wasting time I had my fins on and quickly slipped over the side with my speargun, float line and float. The water was cold and green with visibility of about 25 feet. I quickly loaded my gun while watching the chum trail below me. Just as I finished loading the last band on my gun, two nice size albacore came racing up to the chum line and devoured two dead bait fish and vanished in the green murky water before I could line up for a shot. I began to make a dive on the slowly sinking line of chum when two more albacore came into view.

Resisting the urge to swing my gun into the direction of the approaching tuna I kept my gun pointed at the few sinking dead bait fish in front of me. Like a rocket, they come racing up from the deep to hit the bait. I pulled the trigger and the fish flipped a U-turn with my spear shaft sticking half way through him! He took off at high speed and disappeared.

I swam to the surface where I grabbed my float line and started to fight the fish. As I pulled in the float line, the albacore came into view. My shot was a solid mid body shot and I was confidant this fish wouldn't rip away. As I pulled in the last few feet of line, I was extra careful to avoid a dangerous line tangle and soon had the albacore locked under my arm where I could safely dispatch him with my knife. Returning to the boat I weighed the fish at thirty pounds. I looked at the fish laying on the deck before me and couldn't believe this was really happening. I have been dreaming of landing an albacore in my home waters for years and now it had become a reality. On the boat ride out, we all agreed that we would be lucky just to see one and now there was one on the deck!

After taking my shaft out of the fish, I jumped back in and rejoined Nigel and Clay. Six mola mola or ocean sun fish showed up and swam circles around us. I reached out and gently stroked one as it swam by me. I wanted to spend more time with them but felt I must return to this chance of a lifetime hunt. More albacore pass underneath and I hear a speargun go off. Looking behind me I saw Nigel working a tuna and soon he brought up a twenty-eight pound albacore. Shortly after that, we drifted into 57 degree water and stopped seeing fish so we packed it up and moved back into the 59 degree water.

This next stop starts out a bit slower. Blue sharks show up and started feeding on our chum line. Most of the sharks gave us wide berth but a few came in too close and were poked away with a gentle jab from the end of a speargun. More tuna showed up and I shot a twenty-six pound albacore, my second and final fish of the day. After one more move, we exhausted our bait supply and decided to call it a day with the wind and swell continuing to build and the weather service calling for gale warnings in the bay.