Fish on the fire

[Okanagan]

My grandsons have gotten into diving and spear fishing.  Yesterday a grandson and son went out and brought back 15 fish, including several black rock bass.  We cooked four of them for supper.  Not sure their official name but they are a near black colored salt water fish that look like freshwater bass.  They are aggressive biters on rod and reel, scrappy for their size and excellent on the table. 

We have experimented with different ways to cook them and our favorite for taste is grilled on an open fire, either whole or slab sided with skin on, like these in the pic.



Fire box on our paving stone patio.  I built a coals fire of small alder, set up a couple of paving stones on edge with a grate on them and raked coals under the grill.  A larger fire of fir chunks on one side of the grill supplied fresh hot coals as needed.  Old Bay seasoning, which I learned about from Dave, here at Fins and Fur.

Grandson Cody free dived to 100 feet yesterday, holding breath, no SCUBA, and grandson Zay dived to 80 a couple of days ago. 

[Hawks Feather]

Looks really good.  I really enjoy fresh fish, but have never tried them cooked over an open coals.

[KySongDog]

Grandson Cody free dived to 100 feet yesterday, holding breath, no SCUBA, and grandson Zay dived to 80 a couple of days ago.

That is deep for free diving. They will want to be careful of shallow water black out especially if they are hyper ventilating before the dive.  I scuba dive quite a bit but never got in to free diving more than 20 ft or so.

Here is some info:

https://www.shallowwaterblackoutprevention.org/how-it-happens

[Okanagan]

Wow!  That is good info I did not know, re shallow water black out.  I have been uneasy about their deep diving.  They get  most of their fish in less than 30 feet.

I broke all of the rules when I was free diving for halibut and lobster in southern California.  That was years ago.  I hyperventilated before every dive, dived alone most of the time, etc.  I burned a few tanks but never SCUBA dived much and never got certified. 

Re diving alone, I figured that free diving, I would either have solved my problem or be dead before anyone  beyond arm reach knew I was in trouble.  Not a good idea to pass on now that my grandkids are diving.

Most halibut water had six feet or less visibility.  Lobster was winter diving and often had 20 feet and sometimes 60 or more visibility.  Sure was pretty to be at 40 feet in clear water and have a formation of big sting rays "fly" over you six feet under the surface.

Most of my diving was less than 30 feet though I did quite a bit at 45 in one halibut spot.  I went down in clear 60 foot visibility water at least 80 feet one time off Santa Cruz Island.  A partner was SCUBA diving that day near me and told me that he was at 120 feet when I went down pretty close above him.

Grandson Cody is certified SCUBA, but I will talk to him re the black out thing. 

[KySongDog]

I didn't mean to hijack your thread with that but thought I should pass it along.

I am a PADI Dive Master and SWB is one of the things I cover with new SCUBA divers and free divers.

[Okanagan]

I didn't mean to hijack your thread with that but thought I should pass it along.

I am a PADI Dive Master and SWB is one of the things I cover with new SCUBA divers and free divers.

No hijack. Your info is vital life and death stuff.  Thank you for posting it. 

Wish you could join us for fish some evening.  We keep getting better at how we fix it. 

[nastygunz]

Good info!

[Okanagan]

Re deep diving and shallow water blackout, for the curious among us, here is an update from grandson Code.  He takes serious safety precautions.

Code has done many hours of research on deep diving and shallow water black out.  He says that most problems/fatalities occur on the way back up to the surface, at shallow depths near the surface.

He said that they do it with at least two divers, and run a line from surface to bottom first.  The deep diver goes down the line, and when he turns to go back up, he gives two big tugs on the line.  At that point the top diver starts down, meets him about halfway up and goes the rest of the way up face to face  with him with while watching his face and eyes for any sign of trouble.  If there is trouble or a black out, the second diver has specific training on what to do, how to resuscitate him at the surface, etc.

I had no idea they were doing all this safety stuff but am glad to hear it.  It is more dangerous than I realized.

One other caveat:  I did not hyperventilate so much as I did deep hard exhales to rid my lungs, wind pipe and snorkel tube of as much used air as possible before taking a big breath for each dive.  Usually three exhales, blowing out hard and then an intake and dive. 

[KySongDog]

Re deep diving and shallow water blackout, for the curious among us, here is an update from grandson Code.  He takes serious safety precautions.

Code has done many hours of research on deep diving and shallow water black out.  He says that most problems/fatalities occur on the way back up to the surface, at shallow depths near the surface.

He said that they do it with at least two divers, and run a line from surface to bottom first.  The deep diver goes down the line, and when he turns to go back up, he gives two big tugs on the line.  At that point the top diver starts down, meets him about halfway up and goes the rest of the way up face to face  with him with while watching his face and eyes for any sign of trouble.  If there is trouble or a black out, the second diver has specific training on what to do, how to resuscitate him at the surface, etc.

I had no idea they were doing all this safety stuff but am glad to hear it.  It is more dangerous than I realized.

One other caveat:  I did not hyperventilate so much as I did deep hard exhales to rid my lungs, wind pipe and snorkel tube of as much used air as possible before taking a big breath for each dive.  Usually three exhales, blowing out hard and then an intake and dive.

Excellent!  Your grandson is doing the right things. The biggest pressure change is between 33 ft and the surface with the last few feet being most critical.  Diving with a safety diver buddy is absolutely the best practice. 

edited: to keep closer to the subject and delete my ramblings 

[coyote101]

The fish looks great, and the diving info was very interesting.

Pat

[FinsnFur]

Why is this dated July 2021? Did I miss something?

[Okanagan]

Why is this dated July 2021? Did I miss something?

This thread was a long time ago, so I assume the year old date is correct.  I miss stuff every once in awhile and notice it months later.

[nastygunz]

I free dive in the Brook out behind the camp but it's only 6 inches deep

[Okanagan]

I free dive in the Brook out behind the camp but it's only 6 inches deep

Good 'ol boy swimming hole.  In a stream like that you gotta flatten out that dive the instant you hit the water.

[nastygunz]

Yessir! lol. We call them fish Tautog.