Sea Buoy
| Mike and Marty were obsessed with the wonders of the sea. They loved viewing it from the bottom up while scuba diving from a small faded red runabout. The duo frequented many of the reefs and shipwrecks along the southeast coast. Mike preferred the wrecks off the Carolinas, while Marty loved to explore the clear water coral reefs of Florida. They were heading offshore one particular morning when they noticed a commotion just east of the inlet. Upon closer inspection, they found the disturbance to be a pod of cobia circling a bobbing sea buoy. The cobia had rounded up a school of "peanut bunker" and were thrashing their way through them for a meal. Mike suggested they try to shoot one of the large cobia with a spear gun. Marty maneuvered the boat to the buoy, but the pounding noise of the boat made them skittish and a clear shot was impossible. Minutes turned into hours as the two divers became frustrated with their elusive prey. They finally decided that it would be easier to shoot the cobia while standing on the giant buoy. Marty nosed the small red runabout back to the buoy and tied a line to it. Mike, with spear gun in hand, jumped onto the floating structure. Marty then joined him where they payed fifty feet of line to keep the teetering boat distanced from the circling fish. Standing on a bobbing, slime-covered sea buoy is no easy task, but Marty and Mike were convinced that they had a better chance of hitting a big fish from this vantage point than from the small faded red runabout. A large cobia soon swam into range. Mike eyed the target and readied a shot. Just as he pulled the trigger, a giant sea critter jumped to inhale the big cobia and the spear bulls-eyed the monster in the back. Mike was jerked off the floating platform and began to experience the tow of his life, while Marty pulled the small faded red boat's fifty feet of line back to the buoy. A passing Coast Guard vessel thought he was stranded and circled to lend assistance. As the cutter neared, the crew noticed that Mike was being pulled toward the Gulf Stream at a high rate of speed. The vessel gave chase, but had difficulty keeping pace with the streaking sea critter. They steamed offshore, gaining only a few yards per mile as they attempted to overtake the quarry. Before long, they were well out to sea and fearful that Mike had drowned in the turbulence of his high speed tow. Eventually, the Coast Guard got close enough to see that Mike was tightly wrapped in the line that connected the speared monster to the gun. His severe arm lacerations left a stream of red in the wake created by the monster. Mike was near his last breath when the Coast Guard took aim from a cannon on the bow. The only hope was to kill the large sea critter before Mike drowned. As they readied the cannon, a bolt of lighting hit the monster in the exact spot where the spear had entered its massive body. A clap of thunder followed to herald the demise of the giant critter. All that remained was an aura of green smoke that hovered over a whirlpool as the critter sank to the bottom of the sea. Mike was quickly brought from the water by the Coast Guard and later recovered. Both divers were found guilty and were fined for violating a variety of federal fishing, hunting and boating regulations. The giant sea critter was never seen again. .... be reminded that small fish have large tales. Captain Gus Gustafson of Lake Norman Ventures, Inc. is a member of the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association and a full time Professional Fishing Guide on Lake Norman, NC. Visit his web site, Fishin' with Gus! at http://www.fishingwithgus.com/ or call 704 617 6812. For additional information, e-mail him at Gus@LakeNorman.com. |
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| July 2005 |