For me, it was just another job. Little did I know what was about to happen.
Our first stop was behind a shrimp boat; and we were looking for blackfin tuna. Between fighting off the bonito, the pelicans and the sharks, hooking up was tough. We managed to put 2 tuna in the boat before heading off to some deeper water.
For the rest of the day, we fished with manual reels doing the new technique, slow pitch jigging. Talking about a workout! Try dropping a 1-3oz lead jig in 300-500' of water all day and winding in 15 different species of fish. We caught African pompano, red grouper, goliath grouper, mangrove snapper; and a bunch of fish I have never seen before. Kozu, our SPRO boss, caught 2 goliath grouper back-to-back; and that was a workout in itself. You need to keep in mind that we never used any live or cut-bait. Another impressive thing was SPRO's new line of saltwater braid and fluorocarbon. This stuff is just indestructible! Kozu caught the biggest goliath of the day; and it had him pinned down under a reef for over 10 minutes. The destruction this line took and never broke was insane.
African
Another secret weapon that SPRO makes is the Spro 125G Cannonball Tai Rubber Jig. This thing catches everything, especially those fish you want to bring home for the family to chow down on for dinner.
Even though I was the photographer, occasionally there were breaks where the Spro team just had enough. That's when I got an opportunity to take a break from photography and catch some fish. The incredible captain we had also had a few minutes to fish; and after just one drop in 350' of water, he hooked up with a massive pelagic animal. Goliath grouper have a very particular way they pull; so when you hook one, usually you know within just a few seconds that it most likely is a goliath. Since golaiths are on the endangered species list, they are a huge waist of time to reel in; and nobody wants to utilize their energy to bring in a fish that you can't bring back to the dock. Having said that, the captain looked over at me and said, " hey photography-man, you want this one"; and of course I said, 'heck yeah!" Nobody knew what was about to happen that surprised us all. As I took the rod in my hand, all I knew was that this fish was strong, angry, and wanted to show me that he was superior. After about a 30 minute fight, I heard these words, " we have color and it's red." The captain said holy crap it's a record red snapper! I was like is it a big one? It would be like taking someone bass fishing on Lake Lanier in Georgia; and on their first fishing trip they catch a 10 pound largemouth or a 7 pound spotted bass, and turning to you and asking, is that is a big one. When the words came out of the captain's mouth, " it's a cubera," the folks on-board went nuts; and I had no idea what was going on with this catch. I had never even heard of a cubera. As we put it in the boat, all I saw was teeth, big teeth! I mean this thing would take your hand off in a heart-beat! The cubera weighed 68 pounds and is the largest ever caught on the guides boat in 25 years. These fish usually only eat at night; and it was early afternoon when he bit. The cubera is the largest of all of the snapper species. They are known to live up to 50 years; and this fish was easily 50 years old. For me, the fresh water guy, this was a lifetime catch; and I will be making a replica. We all took quick photos and released it.
One of the most memorable opportunities came next, when we camped on the Dry Tortugas.
Courtesy of NPS
Almost 70 miles (113 km) west of Key West lies the remote Dry Tortugas National Park. This 100-square mile park is mostly open water with seven small islands. Accessible only by boat or seaplane, the park is known the world over as the home of magnificent Fort Jefferson, picturesque blue waters, superlative coral reefs and marine life, and the vast assortment of bird life that frequents the area.
Courtesy of Wikipedia
The first European to see the Dry Tortugas was Juan Ponce de León, who visited on June 21, 1513. Ponce de León caught 160 sea turtles there and subsequently referred to the islands as the "Tortugas" (turtles). They are called Dry owing to the absence of surface fresh water on the island.[17] The name is the second oldest surviving European place-name in the US.[18]
The Dry Tortugas was also a prison for Union deserters during the Civil war.
As we pulled up to the dock, the first thing I see is a 300 pound goliath grouper, a very large nurse shark and a ton of bait swimming around the dock. This place is jurassic!
After a very long day of fishing, we get ready to camp; and unfortunately none of us could figure out the tent. We decided to sleep on the dock; and that would have been a great idea if someone had not forgotten their CPAP machine. Being that far from civilization and light pollution, it was amazing to see a comet shower and even what some would call a UFO.
Just before the sun rose on day two, all of our alarms went off alerting us that it is time to go one more time. We are about to catch 12 new different species of fish on our last day. We knew we were headed into a huge day of fishing; but what we didn't expect was all the thieves of the ocean. After a beautiful sunrise, we started catching fish once again. Dolphins ( porpoises ) and sharks are the most opportunistic fish and mammals in the water. They are smart! We ran into countless times of getting good eating fish in the boat; and the thieves ate them before we even got the option of boating them. They are so intelligent in that they never grab the head, which is where the hook is located; so they never get hooked.
After having our hearts broke over some good eating fish and dealing with the thievery, we manage to boat a few more species. We boated few queen snapper at the end which made our SPRO and Aftco rep very happy. With a four and a half ride back, we loaded up and head back to the ramp in Key West.
This trip with SPRO Fishing Lures will never be forgotten!
]]>The World Record shoal bass was caught by Darrell Trawick up on Lake Harding, which weighed 8.12. Unfortunately in Alabama, if you catch a shoal bass, you can't even put it in the boat or weigh it, because it is considered an endangered species in Alabama. However, in Georgia, the shoal bass is pretty plentiful and thriving. Here are a few photos what we collected over the last few days.
When the creative juices start to flow, I sometimes get carried away. Taku had hundreds of rods in the corner of his man-cave; and I saw that as a really cool photo-op. I wanted to do an artistic shot that shows his contagious and happy personality but with the seriousness of an Bassmaster Elite angler.
Shane Durrance Productions was booked by GLOCK to shoot at a tactical training facility known as T1G. T1G is dedicated to providing the highest level of training across the operational spectrum. They combine the synergy of real world experience, institutional knowledge, and purpose-built facilities to exceed the demands of our clients. T1G continuously anticipates the next evolution of conflict and adapts our core competencies to meet this ever changing operational landscape.
Below are a few of the images from SHOT that we captured at T1G. I can't tell you how humbling it was to walk into a convention and see your images 40 feet tall. For me, it was breathtaking!
At T1G, we utilized a few retired Navy Seals as talent. I will never forget when they approached me and said, "Hey Durrance, we have a great idea, we are going to place you in this tiny room and throw in some flashbangs, then we will rush in will weapons drawn, this will make for some great footage." I thought to myself, I do not want to be a woosie; so of course I said yes. This was one of the most exhilarating moments of my entire career.
That was me in the corner when my life flashed before my eyes, literally. Either you live to work, or you work to live, no matter which you choose, always appreciate the ones that have influenced your life and career.
]]>The absolute worst thing a photographer could ever do is use a on-camera flash outdoors to fill in shadows. Even though we had a few clouds, I chose to go with a broad diffuser that is about one-stop, which means the material on the scrim cuts down the light by 1 stop. Quite often I have the talent bring family and friends to make them feel more comfortable; and for me to have free assistance. LOL. I am using a longer lens than normal, Canon 70-200, 2.8; but my 24-70, 2.8 was in the shop.
We had the pleasure of Daniel May_Applegate, owner of Gear Monkey Racing, to come out and create a stir. To be more detailed, he stirred up a whole bunch of dust to make for an incredible background.
The scrim jim is my go-to piece of equipment that is not only awesome for diffusing on bright sunny days; but also great for using it as a bounce when the clouds do finally roll in on set.
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I recently got booked to shoot a senior portrait session with a special request. Because of my background, the family asked if I would be willing to travel to Arkansas to shoot their son in his environment, which was duck hunting. Well, I think you know the answer to that request, YES SIR! Here is what we got in just 2 days.]]>If you are looking for fun time out on Lake Lanier during this time off, give Andrew a call. (404)803-8608
Oh, and here is the catfish bubble gum story with a dear friend of mine, Dewrantz. https://www.facebook.com/dewrantz/videos/2323398711298297
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Sunsect sun block and bug repellant photo shoot in Georgia with horses, cows and fishing. ]]>
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