Mistakes, Recoveries and Conservancy

Last year on October 25, my good friend Ezra and his father took me out to scout some new diving zones after a productive day of fishing. There was a 20-foot, 19-second period swell that morning, so finding anywhere with good visibility was the goal. We came across some 40-to 60-foot bouldery grounds that were holding good-sized uku and mu. We hopped in. After we drifted for an hour or so, out from under a shelf came an estimated 70-lb, bright white ulua.

Ezra started shouting to catch my attention because he knew I wanted to test my brand-new slip tip on a good-sized fish, particularly an ulua. I dropped down, approached the fish, lined up a perfect stone shot and pulled the trigger. The shaft embedded into the ulua’s brain and I expected