What should i catch next?
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00:00I got in the water right at sunrise and it was like stepping into a warm bath.
00:03That's probably my favorite part about Florida.
00:05It's never too cold.
00:06And I'm going to be hitting a total of like nine or ten coral heads here.
00:09Going up to the first one, I noticed it's perfect visibility.
00:11And the first thing I do whenever I get to a coral head is I want to do a little bit
00:14of recon.
00:15So I dive to the bottom.
00:16The reason I do this is so that I get a better angle on the rocks.
00:19I can see right into them.
00:20And on top of that, it makes me look a lot smaller to top water fish.
00:23So sometimes something will be swimming near me and they think I'm really big.
00:26So when I'm scaling the bottom like this, they don't really get as warm.
00:29When I went back down, I was originally targeting the hole on the left, but then I looked up
00:32and I found like six lobsters just staring at me.
00:35And this was overwhelming, a little bit overstimulating because I have never seen this many lobsters
00:38in my life.
00:39So I was like, OK, let me go to the top, get a deep breath and regroup.
00:41At this point, I'm planning my attack.
00:43And I think they know because they're displaying the perfect defense position.
00:46So the reason they call them Florida spiny lobsters is because those little antennas
00:50or whiskers on them are pretty much extremely serrated.
00:53And when they're all pointing them at you, it's how they deter their predators.
00:56So you see, they're all pointing it in the same direction.
00:58And this group is doing the same exact thing.
01:00It's a different hole.
01:00But they're all like, yo, if you come near me, I will stab you with this thing.
01:03On top of that, you see how they all move as a unit.
01:05They are very aware that if they're singled out, their chances of survival are almost
01:09cut in half.
01:09So usually if you find one lobster, there are going to be multiple in the area.
01:12I find a hole over top of them.
01:14And my thought process is that if I reach in and catch one, we're in the clear.
01:16But if I don't, they're going to be pushed out into the open and will be a lot easier
01:20to catch.
01:20And you see, I follow my game plan.
01:22I reach in there and look and dude, there was a hoss of a lobster.
01:25I'm like, I need to get this.
01:26I need to grab him by the knuckles of his antenna.
01:28But he was too fast.
01:29And something really important whenever you're diving, whether it's alone or with someone
01:32is shallow water blackout.
01:33This happens when essentially you don't realize that you're running out of breath.
01:37And before you know it, your vision starts to blur and you pass out in the middle of
01:40the water.
01:40Now, this is especially dangerous for me because I don't have a dive buddy with me.
01:43I am completely alone.
01:45Once I re-upped on oxygen, I went back down and I noticed that the lobsters weren't in
01:48their original place, but rather in these little crevices.
01:51And this is actually good for me because lobsters really only are able to shoot directly
01:55backwards.
01:56So when they have this rock behind them, I know that they're not really able to escape
01:59too easily.
02:00And I just reach in and this one was just cake.
02:02I got him very easily.
02:03Now, the main thing on my mind, obviously you guys noticed I don't have any lobster
02:07equipment on me and I can't even measure this thing.
02:09So I, and on top of that, I've only ever caught two or three lobsters in my entire
02:12life.
02:12So I told myself, no, I know there are bigger lobsters somewhere in this reef.
02:16I just need to find them.
02:17On top of that, I was diving from shore.
02:18So I would have to swim all the way back.
02:20And I didn't want to do that unless I got two nice size lobsters.
02:22And you guys see this guy was trying to defend himself with his spikes, but he was just so
02:26screwed.
02:26He was in a corner and I got him.
02:28And before I knew it, he was mine.
02:29He was freaking mine.
02:30Now, obviously it's one thing to grab a lobster with both hands, but to only have one hand
02:34and a live lobster in the other is a whole different task.
02:37So I'm going under and I'm just trying to snatch anyone I can.
02:39And I grabbed this one lobster right by his knuckle and I drag him out feeling like I'm
02:43the freaking undertaker.
02:44I start to ascend to the top.
02:45And honestly, I'm feeling like the man right now.
02:47I have two nice size lobsters in my hand and this guy decides he's not freaking done.
02:50But not only that, that he's going back to his home.
02:53And I was pissed.
02:53Honestly, I could not believe that I just let that happen.
02:56And maybe I'm the only person that this happens to let me know in the comments, but I get
03:00so competitive with animals.
03:02And right now I feel like that lobster is better than me.
03:04And oh my goodness, I hate losing more than I like winning.
03:07So I'm looking at this lobster.
03:08I'm like, is he of size?
03:09Is he not?
03:09I'm considering going in and then I'm like, no, I'm not going to settle.
03:12I'm getting a second lobster.
03:13I'm glad I did too, because right below me were two huge ones.
03:16And you can't see it, but behind this hole is a pretty much open area.
03:19And I need to push them out over to there.
03:21And this guy falls for it.
03:22He shoots out into the open and it pretty much signed his death wish.
03:25And I did a death grip on him.
03:26But then this other guy got away.
03:28Luckily, there wasn't a very deep hole for him to go into.
03:30So I was able to grab him and then we ascend to the top.
03:32And the sun is just hitting the lobsters like perfectly right here.
03:35It was so pretty.
03:36And I felt so accomplished and confident that these guys were actually legal.
03:39Confidence isn't enough though.
03:40So I found two lobster fishermen right on shore that actually had the tools to make sure that
03:44they were illegal.
03:45Once I found out that I was good, I put them on the beach towel and got right back into
03:48the warm bath water.
03:49Something to take note of is that this swim I'm doing is over 100 yards.
03:52So it's not like I just swim in two feet, you know, it was actually pretty exhausting.
03:56And I left my pole spear out here and I was super lucky to be able to find it.
03:59I totally forgot where I left it.
04:00I go to the bottom, start doing some recon again.
04:02And I noticed right in front of me is a school of three black drum.
04:06And one of them is way bigger than the other one.
04:07Honestly, they're all pretty solid size.
04:09But one of them was especially bigger.
04:10And I was like, okay, I need to go back to the top, take a deep breath.
04:13And these are the guys I'm going to hunt.
04:14Now, the reason I'm so excited about these fish is because they mainly eat barnacles
04:17and other crustaceans.
04:18And because of that, their meat is extremely sweet compared to other fish that are more
04:22mild that eat carnivorous meat.
04:24Whenever you're lining up a shot on a fish, you want to wait until it's completely sideways
04:27towards you so that you have more area to hit.
04:29And you see this guy, I absolutely stoned.
04:31I got him right.
04:32Well, okay, maybe I didn't stone him.
04:34He's still clearly swimming.
04:35Not to worry, though.
04:36That's why we brain the fish.
04:37We do that by sticking a sharp object into its head.
04:39And then afterwards, we want to cut its throat so that the meat doesn't get contaminated
04:43with the blood.
04:44So this is pretty much just bleeding the fish.
04:45After that, you start to gut.
04:47And I like to scale the fish in the middle of the water.
04:49Sometimes this does bring in sharks.
04:50If you are afraid of sharks, maybe don't gut and bleed your fish in the middle of the water
04:54with you.
04:54Get it out as soon as possible.
04:55I'm putting this black drum on a metal stringer.
04:57And this is going to act as a flasher and also just a ever going scent that's going
05:01to tell other predatory fish in the area where I am.
05:03Once he was secured, I went back down to the bottom because I wanted to make it look like
05:07I was small.
05:07And something I want to bring attention to here is I want you to notice how rapidly I'm
05:11kind of moving my head and swimming around.
05:13And this is me getting really competitive.
05:15But this is not good because it means my heart rate is increasing and I'm using oxygen
05:18a lot faster, which means I could black out a lot faster.
05:21So I stopped myself.
05:22I'm like, yo, I need to be safe.
05:24I need to go to the top for at least two minutes.
05:26And that's what I did.
05:27I just chilled at the top because I needed to rest.
05:29And if you guys want to make this content a little bit interactive, hold your breath
05:32while I'm underwater with me, because then you realize, whoa, this is actually very difficult.
05:36Finally, I find a hole that I think is going to be easy mode, right?
05:39I see these whiskers sticking out.
05:40And I'm like, you know what?
05:41I'm so over trying to go against all these strategies and angles.
05:44And I just reach in.
05:45And sometimes you just need you just need conus.
05:47You know what I mean?
05:47You just need to reach in and grab the freaking lobster.
05:49As I'm swimming in maybe 10 yards from shore, I see a giant school of ladyfish.
05:53And take note of the size of these ladyfish, because they are usually not anywhere near
05:56this big.
05:57I'm like scrambling to get my equipment.
05:58And on top of that, this is only like three feet of water.
06:01The biggest obstacle is definitely the lobster in my right hand.
06:03My thought process here is let me get the lobster in between my legs while I load my
06:06spear.
06:07And I don't know if it slipped my mind or what, but these are Florida spiny lobsters.
06:11That I serrated my entire leg when I did that.
06:13This school of ladyfish is doing their only defense mechanism called schooling.
06:16And the reason this is so effective is because it's so hard to single one of them out.
06:20They're going so fast.
06:21And it's extremely disorienting for any predator, including myself, to look at them.
06:24It's like you can't even pick one.
06:26Now, as this next school is swimming by, I noticed there's a blue fish.
06:28It's way bigger than all the other ones.
06:30And that was the guy I got.
06:31This is what stoning a fish means.
06:32You notice how it just completely stopped moving.
06:34That means I either disconnected its spine or went right through its brain.
06:37Either way, it's not going anywhere.
06:39Now, the problem with catching ladyfish is that they don't have a lot of area to hit,
06:42especially when you have a three prong that's so spread out like the one that I have.
06:45It's also crazy how many ladyfish are actually here.
06:47I have no idea.
06:48I couldn't even imagine how large the school is.
06:50It's actively circling me the entire time.
06:52So even though it looks like they're all traveling in a straight line, this is actually
06:56entirely around me.
06:57This shot that I took, I actually hit the ladyfish, but it didn't pierce the skin.
07:00And that's why it's so important to have a spear that you're comfortable with.
07:03The heavier the spear, the easier it is going to penetrate the fish.
07:05Right here, you can see my eyes following specific fish, trying to single one out from
07:09the school.
07:09And then this one just flew a little too close to me.
07:11And that's the one I targeted.
07:12I angle my spear up so that the fish isn't able to fly off, even though the three prong
07:16has barbs, making it so that the fish can't just get right off.
07:19It's still important to put that forward pressure so that that fish is pushed into the spear
07:23deeper.
07:23At this point, all of my equipment started beeping.
07:25The GoPro was telling me it was dying.
07:26So was the drone.
07:27So this was going to be my last couple of dives.
07:29I get down there and I see one of the black drums that I let go from earlier.
07:32And something I really try to take advantage of is when the fish is not in line of sight
07:36of me.
07:36So for instance, I won't really swim fast until a fish is behind a rock and can't see
07:40that I'm swimming fast.
07:41It just so happened that this guy totally caught on to me and did.
07:43One of my favorite fish to eat on this reef are mangrove snappers, and they're usually
07:47pretty abundant.
07:47So when I find this guy, I was like, okay, let me take my time, sneak up behind him.
07:50Obviously it's within range of my spear, but if it turns sideways, I'm going to have a
07:54lot more area to hit.
07:55What we could learn from losing this fish is that I didn't apply forward pressure after
07:58I actually hit the fish.
07:59So I bet you, if I were to push forward and really make sure that the water pressure on
08:03the other side of the fish made it go into the barbs more, it would have probably stayed
08:06on, but I didn't, I didn't follow up.
08:08When I looked down, I saw a shark, but luckily it was a little puppy dog of a nurse shark.
08:11And what he's doing is scanning the rocks, trying to look for lobsters because they mainly
08:15eat crustaceans.
08:15So seeing how many lobsters are on the set of rocks, I just knew he was having a hay day.
08:19After coming up where I was from the shark, I looked in the distance and I saw this eel.
08:22And usually these guys have terrible eyesight.
08:24Like you could be right in front of them trying to feed something and they won't even see
08:27it.
08:27So I started to go up to him and I thought I would be able to capture him on camera,
08:30but he, I don't even know how he saw me.
08:32Cause I swear these guys are practically blind right here.
08:34I see a sea urchin.
08:35And usually I like to crack these guys open and feed the fish around me.
08:38But as I'm playing with it, I see a perfect sushi grade fish, which is a Jack flying towards
08:42me.
08:42The reason it's good sushi grade is because it has nice consistent meat.
08:45So I quickly load my spear.
08:47And the way that I got this fish was wild because I saw that I only pierced its lip.
08:50And that's similar to how you do it when you're like fishing with a line and a hook.
08:53So the fact that I didn't penetrate the meat means it's even going to be better sushi grade.
08:56And I know what you're thinking, Nick, that's not a very big fish.
08:59And I know it's not the biggest, but my aunt told me she wanted sushi.
09:02And this is the perfect amount for one person in one sitting.