kyle191
Registered
I was diving the Spiegel ship wreck in the Keys with my wife and son. For those who don't know about that dive. It is about 130 feet with a thick ascent/decent line going from the surface to the ship. The dive ops want divers to go up and down the rope when diving.
The dive area is buoyed off at the surface to keep fisherman out of the diving zone. In reality...the area isn't nearly big enough......as you will soon see.
The bottom time was finished and I was working my way up the ascent rope with my son. There was a diver on the rope between my son and I. We had just got on the rope and were at least 100 feet when out of the corner of my eye I see a big commotion and a change in bubbles right behind me. I'm still holding the rope.
When I turn around, the diver behind me has crazy panic eyes and was in a weird position while holding onto the ascent rope desperately with two hands. He looks down at his BCD and gives me the "Help Me!" look. I look at where he is looking and I see a pretty respectable sized fish hook in the shoulder strap of his BCD. He looks weird on the line because a fisherman thinks he has a whopper on the line and is probably pulling for everything he has on the surface.
By reaction (Could have been a fatal mistake) I grab the fishing line and pull some slack with my left hand. With my right hand I am working the fish hook free from this poor guy's BCD. I have my ankles wrapped around the ascent line for stability. It takes about 10 seconds and I get the hook free. But now I have the real problem.
I have the line with a big sharp hook in it under tension from the fisherman on top. Think a sling shot that has been pulled and held in a firing position. Now I am thinking more clearly and realize that if I let that hook go, it will literally be like a bullet going through the water. If it catches me or someone else...We have SERIOUS problems now. And now I am getting pulled on so I can't let go of the ascent line.
I put my hand with the hook and line in it as far from me as possible, duck my head, and just let go. You could hear that hook "ZING" upwards as all the pressure and tension from the fisherman and his rod were released in an instant. Luckily that hook missile didn't catch me or anyone else.
At he surface I found out what happened. A big fish was hooked and the fish wrapped around the diver blow me to try and get free. So the fisherman was outside the restricted area...but the fish didn't get the memo and swam to a place where it could try and free itself. Literally one in a million.
My mistakes were:
1) Reacted instead of thinking.
2) I didn't carry a knife or line cutter. This would have been just a funny story if I had either
3) The diver I helped had a knife..but he was too panicked to get it. I too didn't even think to see if he had a cutting instrument on him
I carry a stealth line cutter now. Because many places we dive do not allow knives. So I hope my near miss helps someone else.
The dive area is buoyed off at the surface to keep fisherman out of the diving zone. In reality...the area isn't nearly big enough......as you will soon see.
The bottom time was finished and I was working my way up the ascent rope with my son. There was a diver on the rope between my son and I. We had just got on the rope and were at least 100 feet when out of the corner of my eye I see a big commotion and a change in bubbles right behind me. I'm still holding the rope.
When I turn around, the diver behind me has crazy panic eyes and was in a weird position while holding onto the ascent rope desperately with two hands. He looks down at his BCD and gives me the "Help Me!" look. I look at where he is looking and I see a pretty respectable sized fish hook in the shoulder strap of his BCD. He looks weird on the line because a fisherman thinks he has a whopper on the line and is probably pulling for everything he has on the surface.
By reaction (Could have been a fatal mistake) I grab the fishing line and pull some slack with my left hand. With my right hand I am working the fish hook free from this poor guy's BCD. I have my ankles wrapped around the ascent line for stability. It takes about 10 seconds and I get the hook free. But now I have the real problem.
I have the line with a big sharp hook in it under tension from the fisherman on top. Think a sling shot that has been pulled and held in a firing position. Now I am thinking more clearly and realize that if I let that hook go, it will literally be like a bullet going through the water. If it catches me or someone else...We have SERIOUS problems now. And now I am getting pulled on so I can't let go of the ascent line.
I put my hand with the hook and line in it as far from me as possible, duck my head, and just let go. You could hear that hook "ZING" upwards as all the pressure and tension from the fisherman and his rod were released in an instant. Luckily that hook missile didn't catch me or anyone else.
At he surface I found out what happened. A big fish was hooked and the fish wrapped around the diver blow me to try and get free. So the fisherman was outside the restricted area...but the fish didn't get the memo and swam to a place where it could try and free itself. Literally one in a million.
My mistakes were:
1) Reacted instead of thinking.
2) I didn't carry a knife or line cutter. This would have been just a funny story if I had either
3) The diver I helped had a knife..but he was too panicked to get it. I too didn't even think to see if he had a cutting instrument on him
I carry a stealth line cutter now. Because many places we dive do not allow knives. So I hope my near miss helps someone else.
