by Tom Campbell

  Things don’t always turn out the way you expect them to. It was dark on the horizon as we motored north last Sunday on our way to what we thought was going to be a tourist dive on the beautiful and continuous Delray ledges. What looked like a squall line turned out to be fog and we started smiling when we realized that this could be a great dive day.

  The Sand Dollar cut through the 6" seas like it was nothing and it was soon time for Sheri Daye and I (Tom Campbell , The Sand Diver) to hit the water. On the first dive we saw a 20# Grouper that I chased and lost when I nearly collided with a 50# Jewfish, and got discombobulated . We covered over a half mile of ledges and break off swim through sections with lots of fish all over the reef but none in our bag. I ran out of air first as Sheri was diving her tech tank and doesn’t breathe much anyway. Next it was Jerry and Louise’s turn and since Sheri and I saw the grouper Jerry and Louise wanted to cover the same area. About 25 minutes into the dive, a lift bag floats to the surface attached to Jerry’s speargun. I was sure that they got the grouper but I was wrong . Swimming actively on the surface was a cobia. Jerry and Louise surfaced and suggested that I gaff the fish which I did.

  Once it hit the boat the cobia went wild and Sheri and I kept out of the way. Jerry climbed in the boat and Louise wisely stayed in the water. Jerry used his knife and the fish slowed down enough to put him in the cooler but it did not fit all the way in as its tail stuck out of the top of the cooler. Jerry told us that he shot the smaller of two cobia he had seen; I didn’t need any more encouragement than that so we decided to go back to the same place again. Sheri and I entered the water with determination in search of the big Cobia. The reel on the flag tangled, then we lost and found each other and then drifted over the sand. So far the cobia was safe but not for long. We had the boat re-drop us on the reef and this time we knew Mr. Cobia was behind the next rock or over the next ledge as we stealthily glided over and under and through the formations. Sheri saw it first and then I did ,but it wasn’t the cobia . Sitting in the soft coral was a fat grouper.

  All of my stealth left me instantly and the grouper was starting to sense an aggressive Cosmo Kramer of a diver barreling towards him in a cloud of bubbles. He started to run and I remembered what Frank and Bruce had taught me ; "Use the Force Tom". So in a move inspired by Star Wars, I raised up in the water column over the fish and he quit running. I slowly descended and took a shot about 10 feet away and hit the fish with my new specially designed spear tip that lodged in the side of the fish. The special design accommodates bad shots and gets stuck in the fish . The grouper took off dragging me along the reef for about 25 feet until he broke the line . He stopped to look at me as if to say " Goodbye sucker ,I got your spear and you ain’t got ......" fwwwwwp!!!! Sheri nailed him from the other side and we sent him up with a lift bag.