I'm almost at a loss to figure out how to begin this story.
Do I begin with the diving or the start of the tournament?

The Stickmen began to gather on Wednesday, April 28th,
at the Wade Hostel. Matt Rytting arrives to new dive gear
piled up in my living room. He had a new Rob Allen speargun
shipped to my house and was expecting a new suit. Meantime,
his wife sends a small packet to go with his suit. The first
thing that came to mind was a purple speedo. I promptly
emailed her and warned that if in fact there was a purple
speedo in that small envelope, Matt would reap many wise
cracks as this was the south and a red neck tournament to
boot. We make fun of weenie bikini's. She returned mail
saying to be "very afraid" when he puts it on.

The Stickman team for this tournament included Jack deVilliers,
Don Cooley, Matt Rytting, Sid Smith, Les Sage, Ashton Blessey
and me. We have a strategy meeting at my house (headquarters)
at 7:00 p.m.

By Thursday night everyone was prepared to get up early the
next morning and hit the seas. Mother nature had other plans.
Friday morning, the seas were 4-6 feet with a 25-30 knot gusts.
Our boat Captain, Nathan (Nate) Friedlander calls at 0430 and
advises us that it would not be wise to dive in those conditions,
so we heeded his advice and put our tournament on hold.

My phone rang off the hook all morning with divers calling for
me to scrub the tournament. While it didn't look good, I couldn't
in good faith cancel the event. I was aware that divers had made
it out of Destin, Florida and had divable conditions. I hoped for
better weather on Saturday. So now the first day of the tournament
turns in to a dive shop shopping day and working on gear. We
played darts and ping pong to pass the time. Even that was
mundane considering what we would have and should have
been doing.

We modified our plan to hit the beach since we couldn't get
out on our boat. By 7:00 p.m. we were in the water on two spots
at my favorite flounder hole in Orange Beach. Don Cooley dived
one side of the pass while Jack, Matt and myself dived the other.
It didn't look good. The visibility was a murky 1 foot and worse
the deeper we dived. Suddenly, I am on top of a flatboy. I shined
my light away and cocked my pole spear. Tune back in and he's gone.
While this was disappointing, at least I knew they were here.
I concentrated harder and moved slower. Another one glides up
and gets spooked before I can get off a shot. I locate Jack and he
is ready to pack it in. "Bear with me, while I hunt a little longer"
I said. "All right" came his reply. I slowly covered the area one
more time. In the shadow of my light I see the outline of a flattie.
Without hesitation I cock and shoot. "Got 'em" but it wasn't a good
shot. I hug it like baby as I swim it up and promptly stick him on
my diaper pin (fish clip). Mission accomplished. Matt hunts a little
longer but just sees small ones. It's getting late so we get out and
drive back to Mobile. It is 11:00 p.m. before we crash.

The next morning (day two) the phone rings again at 0430. It's
Captain Nate with a new report. "Looks like there is a lull in the
seas... it's calling for 2-3 feet". We make a plan to meet up at the
dock by 0600. I get up and go through the house knocking on doors,
"Get up, it's a go". Five minutes later the Stickmen were eating a
quick breakfast and ready to go in 20 minutes. We had packed our
gear and loaded the ice chests the night before. Taking two vehicles,
we drive to Dauphin Island. By 7:00 a.m. we were motoring out to
sea. It turns out to be a beautiful smooth ride and a prayer answered.
On board were Don Cooley, Matt Rytting, Sid Smith, Les Sage and myself.

We were chomping at the bits to get in the water. This was going to be
a one day tournament for us and we needed to get busy. We would be
diving about six spots before the day was done. It would be impossible
to properly chronicle the dives. The Stickmen were hot today. Our first
spot was a Godsend. We probably could have limited out on red snapper
on this spot alone. We shot amberjack as well and I shot a cobia that
pulled free. I get the 3rd place red snapper on my first dive of the day.
Who says it doesn't pay to be first in the water. We took turns throughout
the day playing deck hand and first in. I got to dive with everyone on board.
The visibility was 20-25 feet and a little murky; perfect.

Matt was a killing machine with his new Rob Allen and reel setup. Don was
bringing them in with his Riffe's and I can't complain about the performance
of my Riffe either. Not a missed shot all day and only two pull offs. I watch
as Sid shoots his 3rd place barracuda and Matt puts his 2nd place red snapper
in the boat. The rest of the day was filled with nothing short of spearfishing
heaven. We boated many, many fish. At one point Matt and Don are in the water.
Not having time to take pictures all day, I tell Sid to sit on the side of the boat
so that I can make his glamor shot for our meet the Stickmen web page. Before
I can get my camera out, I hear Don yell out "Get in! I'm looking at six cobia".
A minute later, I'm in the water, Sid right behind in hot pursuit. Before I
could see a cobia, a lone amberjack swims by and I can't resist the shot.
I swim him to the boat and head back out to dispatch my assigned cobia.
Matt swims up with a 55 lb. cobia of his own... then came the command
I have never heard before. Capt. Nate yells out "Don't shoot any more cobia,
our fish box is full". I almost cried. The 28' Cat was not a small boat, so you
know we have done some shooting. "Let's head back in and finish limiting out
on red snapper". Nathan breaks out a Fish King cooler bag. Before long, it too
was full.

On our next to last dive, Matt looks for a flounder and grouper while I hunt
for the rest of my limit on snapper. My first dive down puts me on a snap and
I nail it and start up. I look over to my right and see an 8-10 foot bull shark.
On alert, I watch my fish bleeding and crapping all the way to the surface while
I scan below me for the beast. I hand my fish up and inform the crew of what I saw.
Don says, "go tell Matt, so he'll know it's there". I swim over to Matt as he is
coming up with a grouper. "I'M ON FIRE!!! Matt exclaims with a grin from ear to ear.
"GREAT, way to go!", I respond. "Hey, I saw a big bull near the bottom, so be aware",
I say to him. "No problem, thanks", he says. We continue to dive. I go over to the
area where I saw the bull and dive down figuring he would be gone from that spot.
I was right and shoot another red snapper on the way up. Meanwhile, Matt swims
over to me and says that he was on bottom looking for a flounder when he looked
up and saw the big bull. I reply that since we are having a conversation about it,
maybe we should head back to the boat. He agrees and we drag up.

By now it is getting late and we have to be concerned about making it to the weigh
in. Matt wants to find a flounder so we put him out on a shallow rig. 15 minutes
and we have to go, I remind him. He hunts for a flounder the whole time to no avail.
I give him the Lets go signal. He swims to the boat and request a bigger gun. "I'll be
back in one minute, I see a big snapper". We comply and sure enough he bobs up with
fish in tow. On the ride in Matt tells me that this was the best day spearfishing he
has ever had. With that I felt a Stickman sense of pride. I'd like to add at this point
that Don Cooley made a remark that I totally agree with. Don said that just watching
our buddies shoot fish and handle them is just about as enjoyable as actually doing
it yourself. I'm sure a lot of us concur with this statement.

We planned on diving from Dauphin Island to Orange Beach, then boating in to the
weigh station at Tacky Jack's Marina before it closed at 6:00 p.m. We made it by
5:30 p.m. cutting it close. Captain Nate waits as we weigh our fish and reload in
the coolers. Don and Sid ride back to Dauphin Island with Nathan while Matt and
myself stay for the awards ceremony in case we win any trophies and I attend to
my tournament duties.

At 7:00 p.m. the Stickmen were awarded as follows: Matt Rytting, 1st Place
Amberjack and 2nd Place Snapper. Mike Wade, 2nd Place Barracuda and 3rd
Place Snapper. The Stickmen win Team Award by 1 point. A long overdue
accomplishment.

After the Awards Ceremony, Matt and myself find ourselves stranded without
a ride since the rest of our team has gone back to the Island to their vehicles.
I talk to my friend and opponent, Norborne Turner who agrees to give us a ride
home. Norborne and his son Shon are a hoot all the way home as we share stories
while Matt gets his beauty rest. We get to my house around 11:30 p.m. Don, Sid
and Les are sound asleep. Matt and I stay up to clean our gear at which time a
thunder and lightening storm breaks loose. We had planned on cleaning our fish
but the storm wouldn't let up. Matt watches as I hose down our gear with lightening
cracking nearby. "Aren't you afraid you'll be struck", Matt asked. "Matt, after a
day like we've had do you really think God would let that happen to me?", I said
with a wink and a smile. The gear got washed and stowed and the rain came down.
We decide to get up early clean fish. Let's get some shut eye. By this time it is
after 1:30 a.m. The last thing I remember is seeing the clock strike 2:00. Matt
had to be at the airport by 9:00 a.m.

A few hours later, I could hear Don and the guys moving around. I continued to sleep.
After six hours of sleep, I get up to find that Don, Sid and Les had cleaned ALL of our
fish. Man! How could you ask for a better group of guys. It was bagged tagged and iced.

I walk outside to find our Stickman buddy, Charlie Carr has driven over from Gulf
Breeze, Florida to see how we did. Matt gets his stuff loaded into my van and I take
him to the airport. I was sad for the weekend to have to end but we'll be doing it again
in June for the 29th Alabama Open. I hope we stay blessed.

Soon after, Don and Les were headed to their perspectives homes and Sid, Charlie
and I to a local seafood restaurant for some chow, after which we went our separate
ways. In closing, let the record reflect that Matt did not have to wear a purple speedo...
it was black.

Check out the results at: http://www.flounderwear.com/rnrresults.html

Mike Wade
Stickmen Freedivers
Mobile, Alabama