SEBASTIAN INLET, Fla. – Commercial spear fisherman Ben Bencivenga is often greeted with only an empty expanse of clear blue water when he ascends from his dives off Sebastian Inlet.
So it was a welcome surprise Monday when an 80-pound wahoo swam by close enough for a clean shot as Bencivenga was about to surface.
"I was finishing my first dive of the day and I was 15 feet from the surface, slowly coming up," said the 30-year old Bencivenga, who lives in Melbourne and grew up in Satellite Beach. "I saw the wahoo swim right by me and keep going."
Bencivenga, who spearfishes full time, watched the 6-foot wahoo swim away.
"I thought, 'There's no way I'll get that fish, he's gone,'" Bencivenga said."
But his luck changed in an instant as the curious wahoo made a big mistake.
"That fish turned around and came straight at me," Bencivenga said. "My gun was still loaded, so I took the shot at his head when he was less than 10 feet away, and he was dead instantly."
Local 6 News partner Florida Today said his choice of gear made it a quick kill. Bencivenga and other commercial divers opt for power heads while spearfishing larger fish such as grouper, amberjack and cobia. The device, attached to the head of the spear shaft instead of the typical sharpened point, contains a chamber that holds a waterproof bullet and a firing pin. Upon contact, the bullet is fired directly into the target without wasting energy traveling through water.
Power heads, which are legal in federal waters,can do the job faster and safer than the line-and-shaft setup typically used by spear fishermen. If a fish speared with just a shaft is not hit in exactly the right spot to cause instant death-or stoned, as the lingo goes- then the diver must contend with a wildly thrashing fish that could entangle the diver or cause him or her to ascend too quickly.
Bencivenga has speared amberjack up to 75 pounds, but said the wahoo, which weighed 77 pounds gutted, was the biggest fish he's ever speared.
"I couldn't believe it," said Bencivenga, who was working with his friend and boss, Jeff Marinko, captain of the Get Gone, a commercial vessel based in Sebastian. "We've seen wahoo before, but never been close enough for a shot. It was sweet. A fish of a lifetime."
Bencivenga and Marinko were diving at 90 feet, a few miles east of Bethel Shoals off Sebastian Inlet.