In October, I dove my tail off and finally scored my first stone crab claws from Palm Beach County, a short drive north of Miami on Florida’s Atlantic Coast. I didn’t get a lot, nor any jumbos like I used to back in Tampa Bay, but they were a to-die-for appetizer.
November cold fronts blew in huge schools of bait, and the fish that followed them were huge as well. These predators are the kind of fish every “spearo” dreams of shooting.
At 20 years old, Cameron Rosetta is the youngest freediver on our team at Florida Freedivers. He earned his Freediving Instructors International (Fii) Level 1 certification this spring and has been impatiently waiting for the day he would come face to face with a big fish.
On this fall afternoon, five miles out of Lake Worth Inlet, young Cameron took an extra-large breath and finned 60 feet deep into the ocean to cross paths with a massive African Pompano. He aimed the borrowed Riffe speargun and squeezed the trigger, but nothing happened… the safety was still on!
Fate stepped in during the pause as the powerful fish only turned slightly, to the perfect angle, and Cameron took the shot… and it was game over!
The spear was still lodged firmly in the fish’s spine as Cameron lifted his prey into the boat. All the guys aboard were experienced spearfishermen, and they looked on in disbelief. Spearing your first big fish only happens once, and Cameron will always remember the day he stoned his big African Pompano.
Capt. Chad Carney is a veteran freediver, scuba and spearfishing instructor at Florida Freedivers in Lake Park, Fla. Contact him at chad@floridafreedivers.com or call (561) 848-0678.
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