Today was a mixed bag in terms of weather and fish. A cold front drove in the clouds early on, but that didn’t stop teams from competing heavily in the tournament. As the boats rolled in, the divers touched land, strung up their fish and called it a party. The beers opened, the music started and the fun began.

And then, the weighing began. Most teams brought sizable catches to the table, stringing up reds and hogs and mackerel. The largest catch weighed in at nearly 47 pounds, the smallest, at just a pound. We may be talking fish but there was a lot of ribbing going on around the scale; at one point, someone slipped the judge a twenty and called out “twenty pounds!

Once the judging was over, the band started up and the smokers opened. There were ribs and dogs and rice and beans. There were beers too. Lots and lots of beers.

Once everyone had eaten, it was time for the awards to be handed out. And here’s how that went down:

• In the gun category, individual, the winner was Adrian Mederos with 32 lbs.
• In the gun category, team, the winner was Triton with 36.38 lbs. average for the individual team members.
• In the gun category, team, Muff Divers won 2nd place with 16.38 lbs average weight for the individual team members.
• In the gun category, team, Speton took home 3rd place with an average weight of 13.5 lbs. for the individual team members.
• In the sling category, individual, Joe Fernandez took home the proverbial gold with 15 lbs.
• In the sling category, team, The Slingers won 1st place with an average of 7.75 lbs. per individual team member.
• In the sling category, team, Prince of Tides won 2nd place with 7.67 lbs. average per individual team member.
• In the sling category team, Robalo 1 won 3rd place with 3.75 lbs. average per individual team member.
• In the professionals category, individual, Harolf Dean won with 46.75 lbs.(A true professional, Harolf Dean represents the US in the world championships of spearfishing.)

There was a cooler strictly for donated fish, with those fish going directly to a local food bank (after being cleaned, of course.) Fish that weren’t donated headed straight back to their captor’s coolers. Because to the victor go the spoils.

Of course, the real winner is the Miami Children’s Hospital, the reason for the tournament, and the recipient of any funds raised from the silent auctions and raffles. Still no word on how much was raised. We’ll have those numbers, as well as lots and lots of party pics, for you in the morning.

And now the slow process of weighing in has begun. The three teams that did not make it back by the deadline were disqualified, but that still leaves more than a dozen teams left to be weighed.

Teams can only catch 2 of each species. Attempting to weigh-in more than two of each species is grounds for disqualification.

But nobody's been disqualified so far!

The weather has cleared and the teams have returned. More than 11 coolers are stacked two and three high full of fish. Beautiful, beautiful fish. The party's already started. But the weigh-in is yet to begin.

We've got a team back from the water! The guys on Los Cojos just hopped back onto the dock. Henry, one of the divers, put it simply: "It was bad out there." They returned with two Snapper (competitors are allowed two catches per species), two Grouper, and a Hogfish, but said It was a struggle to return with even that. "Usually I hit the limit on Snapper realy easily, but no, not today."

Heavy winds kept the water choppy, the fish were scattered, and visibility was poor - essentially creating the trifecta of a poor day for spearfishing. But the guys came out here knowing the day would be a challenge. They use a smaller boat that accentuates each roll of the ocean, which can prevent them from hitting deeper waters (and more fish).

But at the end of the day, did the team still have a great time? Of course they did! Henry's brother, Carlos, looked at the beer in his hand, smelled the meat on the grill, and remembered the energy and camaraderie of the day. Smiling, couldn't help from busting out the famous fishing quote: "A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work."

There's been some more action on the radio, but not by RumBum. We're sharing the radio channel with the Miami bridge openers, and since they're helping navigate a bunch of freighters, especially now we need to keep radio shatter to a minimum.

We can gather, though, that Joe Fernandez in Robalo I is "going to pick up diver." According to Harris, the avid fisher working with RumBum in the radio tower, Fernandez's phrase means he's doing drift dives - in other words, he'll drop off divers, they'll drift with the current, and then he'll pick them up.

Harris mentioned that during drift dives, the guys in the boat typically watch the divers underwater as the current drags them so the boat can pick them up when they're ready. Drift dives, then, become more challenging during overcast weather. The guys in the tower remind that lack of sunlight above water greatly impacts visibility below the surface as well. Beyond 30' on a cloudy day like today, it gets exceptionally more difficult to spot a Snapper or Spearfisher. Then again, this isn't their first time at the rodeo! These pros have it all under control...

And we've got some updates! Baxter, a master fisher and one of the RumBum Boat Captains, says that the camera guys caught some spearfishers bringing in more Snapper and even a Black Grouper. Nothing to really write home about (according to Baxter, at least), but he also mentioned the conditions are steadily waning on the water. They're at 1'- 3' seas right now, which is not very problematic, but the overcast skies make it tough to video. And, since it's Miami, the skies could open with a deluge at any moment. But the RumBum camera guys are stickin' with it!

The weather could have already sent a team back to Cocoplum. A captain radioed the tower saying they're on their way in. Their name came in fuzzy on the radio, but they did say they've got some Snapper, Grouper, and "Hogs" (Hogfish). We look forward to welcoming them back in! Go Team!

The RumBum vessel is roaming the water from Haulover Inlet to Whistle Buoy to catch any action on the water. Back at the Cocoplum Captain's Tower, we're checking in with the boat for updates via radio. We hear that the divers are down and hunting, but no big catches to report. Yet.

A couple of boats have been seen with snappers, but other than those and some jumping Kingfish breaking the surface there doesn't seem to be much to report. Keep in mind, though, this is a competition and with competition comes strategy! If a boat reports some good catches over the radio, evry boat gets wind and could want to high tail it to their sweet spot. Even if someone already nailed the Godfather of Groupers, we may not know untill the boat returns. Mum's the word till the big reveal at weigh in.

The streets of Miami were practically vacant at 7am this surprisingly sunny Saturday morning, but at the Cocoplum Yacht Club in Coral Gables the spearfishers were out in droves. As the sun rose, 71 aquatic sportsmen congregated in 21 vessels at Cocoplum's marina to kick off today's Jack Kearn's Spearfishing tournament. They trailed in and out of the docks and buzzed around the marina like a team of Alaskan Huskies waiting to hear "MUSH!"

The spearfishers bustled to get their spears, guns, fins, masks, snorkels, belts, and beers in the boat in time for the invocations scheduled at 7:30am. They bantered in Spanish, in English, and all in the language of diving. Memories of last year's tournament bubbled through the competitors, and the comaraderie and mutual respect - no matter age or skill level - of the freediving culture presented in friendly hand shakes and laughter abound.

Spearfishing legend, Capt. Carl Starling, arrived with slings in tow as he boarded Bonanza. World-renowned pro, Tony Miranda, settled in his boat, Hunt with Honor, as another one of the best diver on the world, Harolf Dean, prepared to depart in his craft, Speton. South Florida freediver, Manuel Menendez, and his dive partner, Manny Chica, will hit the reefs in Mojo, and Joe Fernandez, Chairman of the South Florida Freedivers, will fish the day in Robalo.

At 7:30am (well, 7:30ish... These guys do run on boater's time, after all), Fernandez, also a tournament officia l, called the swarm of boats to turn their radios to channel 9 for the tournament invocation. The energy simmered for just a moment as the competitors hushed in a respectful silence. Delivered by the applauded Robert Quintana, President of the local Ocean Safari Dive Center, the invocation called for sportsmanship, safety, enjoyment and gratitude of the natural splendor God has provided, and naturally, that competitors push themselves to the best of their capabilities to being in the catch prize of the day.

Then, it was "START YOUR ENGINES!" In a flurry of fumes, over twenty boats simply flew out of the marina - somehow managing to achieve single file formation in time to pass through the inlet - and marched into the South Florida waters. Within a remarkable span of about three minutes, they were out of sight.

With such a great start to the Jack Kearns Spearfishing Tournament, the only downer of the day so far is - No Jack Kearns! The general consensus of his whereabouts: "He's probably already beaten everyone to the fish!"

RumBum is live blogging from the marina all day, so we'll let you know when he arrives. In the meantime, stay tuned for updates on the competition from the Cocoplum Radio Tower.

The divers got an early start this morning at the Cocoplum Yacht Club in Coral Gables, Florida, coming in on boats around seven to get some breakfast and meet their competitors.

Some of the first divers to arrive at the Cocoplumb Yacht Club came very early. What is it they say about the early bird?

Divers congregate along the docks for an informal meet and greet.

And show off their boats...

Want to dive in deeper? Check out some of our recent diving coverage, including profiles of some of the hottest divers in today's competition.