1st New England Freedivelist Meet

The First New England Meet of the "Freedivelist" members took place in New Hampshire and Rhode Island on the weekend of 20-21 September, 1996. The locations that were visited included the breakwaters of the Little Harbor in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on 20 September and Sachuest Point, Newport and Beavertail, Jamestown in Rhode Island on 21 September.

On Saturday, Roger, Rene, Tom and I tried the jetties at the entrance of the Little Harbor. It was a cold day (around 45 degrees F) with cold water temperatures. The visibility was fine. I came accross a monster (over 40") striped bass right at the end of the deeper jetty. It was swimming towards me in 4 meters of water. I took a shot from above when it was passing below me. The spear hit it right after its head. It turned 180 degrees and rocketed away from me and after taking 5-6 meters of line from my reel, it freed itself. I found out later that the barb on the shaft did not engage because it was not angled enough at the tip (it was a new shaft used for the first time. You should always check everything after the purchase). Swearing like crazy, I found out later that Rene, who was right in front of me, also took a shot at the same fish while it was getting away from me but that his spear fell short. Later, Rene and I spotted other schools of stripers but they were all undersized. Anyway, the only fish speared that day was Roger's big tautog. At the end of the day, my hands were so frozen that I was unable to operate our boat.

On Sunday, Sewon joined us. It was a warm day with temperatures around 65 degrees F. We first tried Sachuest Point in Newport, Rhode Island with not much success. The visibility was bad and it was not fun at all. We only saw small tautogs and occasional baitfish. Tom, Sewon and I left the spot early to try Beavertail in Jamestown. Rene and Roger stayed a little more and for good reason. The biggest fish of the meet, a striped bass of 35", was caught by Rene at that same location.

Beavertail offered better visibility and fish. Rene, Roger and I got our limits of 5 tautogs in about 45 minutes. Sewon speared a tautog also. "White chinners" were all over the place and they were real big. After getting our bag limits, we all looked for stripers in the surf zone, off the lighthouse. The only spotted ones were the schoolies. No legal ones passed our way. We met the sunset in the water.

Thanks to everybody who participated. Thanks also go to Jose Fernandez from Rhode Island for providing us with water condition info acquired from his dives the previous day. I hope you'll be able to make the next meet, buddy!.

Overall, it was a great weekend. See you all next year, in springtime!...

The following are some pictures from the meet. Next time, we'll be more prepared so we can bring you some U/W pictures also. Click on the picture to see a bigger version and enjoy!...

Me, Roger and Rene trying to fix a reel problem that Roger had at Sachuets Point. (jpeg, 59.8k)

Me, Sewon, Rene and Roger setting up equipment before the dive at Sachuets Point. (jpeg, 89.8k)

Sewon, Roger and I laying down our catches in Beavertail. (jpeg, 138.8k)

Rene, Roger, Tom and I after the dive. (jpeg, 98.2k)

Sewon, Roger, Rene and I at the end of the day at Beavertail. (jpeg, 128.6k)

Sewon, Roger, Rene and I with the fish caught during the day after the dive at Beavertail. (jpeg, 126.6k)

Fish caught on the second day at Rhode Island locations. (jpeg, 26.5k)

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