Spearfishing to Survive Gone Wrong: 12 Days Living Off the Ocean In California (EP 1)

This trip started as a solo spearfishing catch & cook on Catalina Island with limited supplies and no real plan beyond living off the ocean and seeing how far I could take it.

For the first part, it was simple: spearfish, eat what I caught, move on. Most of my food came from yellowtail and reef fish.

Along the way, I met a guy and ended up hitchhiking with him to to San Clemente Island for a chance at bluefin tuna. That decision changed the direction of the whole trip. Weather moved in, plans fell apart, and what was supposed to be another stop turned into a situation I didn’t expect.

There was no backup plan, no safety net, and no schedule to fall back on. It quickly stopped feeling like a spearfishing trip and started feeling like a survival experience where adapting day by day was the only option.

If you’re into spearfishing, survival, catch and cook, or raw ocean trips where the outcome isn’t scripted, this video is for you.

In the video:

Solo spearfishing in California

Catch & cook living off the ocean

Yellowtail hunting

Hitchhiking to San Clemente Island

Chasing bluefin tuna

12 days with limited supplies

P.S. Larry, if you happen to see this video thank you so much for an amazing trip. You were a truly great host, and any moments where I was worried about you were honestly just my imagination running wild.

0:00 The Plan – Surviving 2 Weeks Living Off the Land
0:35 Catalina Island – Living Off Spearfishing
0:58 Hobo Camp Cooking Show
2:39 Heading to Shark Alley
3:09 Yellowtail Hunting in Shark Alley
4:48 The Turning Point Grocery Store Encounter
5:40 Trip to San Clemente Tuna Grounds
7:18 We Get Stuck in Bad Weather
7:32 Catching Flying Fish
9:34 Tuna Lures in My Hair – Cutting It Out
11:32 Dropped Alone in the Kelp Bed
12:18 Fish of a Lifetime – California White Seabass
13:34 Coast Guard Gets Called
13:57 Pummeled by Storm Swells
14:45 Back to Catalina Island
15:18 Back in the Water – One Last Mission
16:14 The Biggest Yellowtail of My Life
17:17 What’s Next – Puerto Rico Cubera Spearfishing (Episode 2)

#spearfishing #survival #catchandcook #spearo #california #sanclementeisland #yellowtail #bluefintuna #livingofftheocean