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Alchemy partner David Ochoa, along with friends Fawaz and Rui, recently completed a - not too easy - spearfishing trip in the Azores and Portugal. Here's the second episode of what happened out there!
After a promising shore dive from the previous episode, we were now ready to get the boat in the water and go visit some of my favorite spots. Today, the conditions are not the best but luckily we're on the island, so we're gonna move to a sheltered place, where there are some beautiful structures with big caves and some deep water pinnacles. In the Azores, it's quite difficult to get something really big and today the goal will be hogfish.
This is the most beautiful reef fish in the Azores in my opinion, and it's a species that we target carefully. They can be quite sedentary fish and once you find a good place for them, it’s common to consistently find good-sized fish but we're not going to shoot more than one. Usually, this is how we manage these places and then once we hit one area and we get one fish, then we don't touch them for a long long time. These areas are also quite interesting because usually if you find hogfish they are associated with a bunch of other species. In a good area for this fish, you will also find groupers, lots of sea breams, just a lot of bottom fish, and that alone makes for some awesome footage. These dives are always very enjoyable and if you can get a nice one at the end of the day, sweet!
We opted for a deep area, so Fawaz chose to go with the scooter one last time during this trip. We would then commit to only spearfish without any assistance. After a few dives looking around and not shooting any of the several bottom fish we saw, I finally spotted what we were looking for; a big size hogfish. A fish rocked up at depth is one of the most dangerous situations, in my opinion, with all the adrenaline is easy not to prepare to dive that well. Then, using strength while having lines around you at the bottom, these are all things to have in mind when dealing with these situations. I think having a good diving body is a must in spearfishing but especially in these situations, it is mandatory. If you're not feeling comfortable for any reason, don't force the issue. Luckily, Fawaz managed to do everything safely and landed this amazing fish.
We were so stoked to land such a beautiful fish this early on the trip. The initial goal was achieved and we would shift our focus to the shallows in an area with beautiful caves that holds a variety of species. We found the big cousins of the little creatures we harvested on the mainland; the Azorian Slipper Lobster. These guys grow huge and they're quite common if you know where to look. Fawaz got quite excited and grabbed this massive one, however, it was full of eggs and even if it wasn’t, it was out of the season, so we are not allowed to take them. If you're traveling to the Azores, don't forget to check the seasons and protected species.
This little spot was actually full of them and it's quite rare to see them outside like this. So we did a few more shots and moved on to a different area, where I was hopeful to find the iconic white trevally. A few years ago, you would find lots of those in pretty much every cave, but they're getting less and less, so even when you know exactly where to look, it can take time to find them.
We switched it up with a speargun and pole spear, bouncing from place to place, and eventually one of the spots held a lot of life outside the caves. So, it should be just a matter of time until we found a big one. With yet another new species for Fawaz, we spent the upcoming days diversifying techniques and species, while diving into the vast amount of different spots the islands have to offer.
One of the highlights was a great amberjack that came in hot, after throwing a spoon. This is a technique I've had great results with, and I will get more into these kinds of techniques in future videos. So, if you haven’t, please subscribe to my channel to keep updated. I did get the spoon back by the way! This might not be a massive fish, but for the European reality, they are very good catches. Each place has its own challenges and we cannot compare amberjack here with the same species in Florida for example. We appreciate spots for what they bring, even if it means that sometimes you can get just enough for dinner. It was awesome to share all these places and different techniques, but the conditions deteriorated throughout this last day, so we decided to change it up and go explore what there is on land.