The Karcher brothers have never blacked out, but they've come close. During the tournament in Cape Hatteras, Noel speared the African pompano late in his dive. He was 98 feet down. He says the average dive lasts a minute or so, but he's been submerged as long as three. "I wasn't even paying attention," he says. "I was wrestling him on the line and then it's like, 'What the hell am I doing down here?' I looked up at the surface. It was a long way. Still, you gotta stay calm and steady. I continued fighting him on my way up, but I almost fainted."
Noel sees the glint of silver and figures it has to be the Cubera snapper in one of the murky corners of the wreck. He stays out of visual range so he won't startle the fish. Here's where strategy comes into play. He doesn't want to shoot from too small a hole; that'll make it hard to get the fish out. He needs a good, clean shot to the head. So he approaches from another angle, spots the tail, then a little bit of the head. He waits, waits, fires. Textbook head shot.
Noel lunges at the fish. The previous spear is jammed between two pieces of metal, effectively trapping the snapper. It takes a bit to free his catch. The fish still has some tussle left, but Noel manages to yank it out of the wreck. Holding the spear, he steers the fish toward the surface, then grabs it by the gills for the rest of the way up.
When Rod Karcher met Liz Keeton on a blind date in 1971, it was a little slice of destiny. He was 22, working as a block mason for his uncles. She was 17, a senior at St. Pete High, where he'd graduated four years earlier. Rod asked Liz to marry him on the second date. They tied the knot three-and-a-half months later, when she was 18.
Bonded by love. Bonded by water. They both grew up fishing and diving, and it carried over to their married life. "I couldn't get her out of the water," Rod says. "I liked that. Who wants a girl who's always saying, 'Let's get outta here.'"
Rod quit his job and started a construction company, Rodan Builders, which the couple still runs.
Soon they were bonded by children. Daughter Nichole ("Nackie") came first in 1973. Soon after, Liz got pregnant again. Two months before her due date, she and Rod were diving in Key Marathon. On the way home, her water broke. When Dane was born they said, "This is a keeper."
Noel came a couple of years later.
The kids took to the water as infants. The family swam, dove and fished together, but for the boys it became an obsession. Liz remembers Noel catching a fish and then tearing it open, covering himself in blood, just to see what was inside.
Nackie was appalled when her brothers would catch small sharks and have sword fights with them, leaving teeth marks on each other. Rod once saw Noel jump off a boat driven by Dane and catch a shark by smothering it with a towel. He told them to be careful.
The family started spending a lot of time in Key West, where they built a small compound that still acts as an aquatic retreat.
When Dane was 20 and Noel 18, the duo rented an ancient Aerostream trailer on the Atlantic Ocean at Big Coppitt Key, 10 miles east of Key West. When the weather was good that winter, they speared and netted fish, selling their catch to local markets and restaurants, making as much as $400 a day.
Eventually, the brothers drifted to the family businesses. Dane works for Rodan Builders and Noel runs Rodan Real Estate Services. They go spearfishing every chance they get, but rarely on weekends when all the boaters are out.
"I worry sometimes, but I know they've got level heads on 'em," says Liz. "I really feel confident that they know their limits. And I can say this without a question in my mind: If I was in a difficult situation, in or out of the water, I'd want one of my two sons there. They would blow those people on Survivor away. They'd have a three-story condo built, fish jumping out of the water into a pond. It would be unfair."
Noel pops to the surface and the Cubera snapper soon follows. Dane gaffs it, holds it up to show folks in a nearby boat, then shovels it onto the back deck. Thing is huge. Barely fits in a king-size cooler. Noel guesses 47 pounds. I say 57. Dane ventures 62.
