Conch Garden and the Drop off

Filed under Spearfishing Gear, Spearfishing Photos by on November 14, 2010 at 12:21 pm {no comments}

20101111_eastern-dry-rocks_2096 Some decent weather and decent fish this week. Went out Wednesday with Catherine and Andy, and visibility was pretty good. We dove a lot of shallower stuff due to the ripping current. Mutton snappers are here again, we shot 4 or 5 of them. Andy had the biggest one which was probably around 8 pounds. I shot a couple reds and also a few hogfish. Couldn’t really find the black groupers. I was starting to feel like I was getting good there for a bit getting a black every trip for a while, but now it’s been a few times out and I haven’t gotten any. We did some drifts in a grass area I call the conch gardens- there are conchs every where. There are also lots of hogfish and the occasional mutton snapper. I cut up up a small cero mackerel and we watched a jewfish and nurse shark argue over who gets it. We finished up on the bar where Andy shot a big mangrove maybe 5 pounds and both grabbed a trigger fish.

The next day Lou, Catherine and I went out and we did great. Well Lou did great.  Pretty much for every fish I shot he shot one of the same species twice as big. We did some shallow stuff for a bit. There were groupers in shallow water but they were very spooky. We also ran into a nice school of yellow jacks.  We both popped a nice one but staying with the theme of the day Lou’s fish was bigger.  Catherine followed us on some drifts, I shot a small grouper, small mutton, decent hog. Then Lou did a drift and shot a fat grouper and big mutton.  We finished the day by going out to the deeper water and we found some stuff. I could not believe how awesome the stuff I found on the drop off was, less then a half mile from spots I have dove a dozens times. A ledge starting at 70 feet quickly coming up to 50 feet with swiss cheese bottom and tons of fish. I was off my game a bit and blew shots on two nice groupers in a short period of time. Lou and I both shot dog snappers, he got another nice mutton and I shot a big yellow jack all in the space of 30 minutes, it was great. After that with the winds picking up and the day getting late we headed in.

Some decent weather and decent fish this week. Went out Wednesday with Catherine and Andy, and visibility was pretty good. We dove a lot of shallower stuff due to the ripping current. Mutton snappers are here again, we shot 4 or 5 of them. Andy had the biggest one which was probably around 8 pounds. I shot a couple reds and also a few hogfish. Couldn’t really find the black groupers. I was starting to feel like I was getting good there for a bit getting a black every trip for a while, but now it’s been a few times out and I haven’t gotten any. We did some drifts in a grass area I call the conch gardens- there are conchs every where. There are also lots of hogfish and the occasional mutton snapper. I cut up up a small cero mackerel and we watched a jewfish and nurse shark argue over who gets it. We finished up on the bar where Andy shot a big mangrove maybe 5 pounds and both grabbed a trigger fish.
The next day Lou, Catherine and I went out and we did great. Well Lou did great.  Pretty much for every fish I shot he shot one of the same species twice as big. We did some shallow stuff for a bit. There were groupers in shallow water but they were very spooky. We also ran into a nice school of yellow jacks.  We both popped a nice one but staying with the theme of the day Lou’s fish was bigger.  Catherine followed us on some drifts, I shot a small grouper, small mutton, decent hog. Then Lou did a drift and shot a fat grouper and big mutton.  We finished the day by going out to the deeper water and we found some stuff. I could not believe how awesome the stuff I found on the drop off was, less then a half mile from spots I have dove a dozens times. A ledge starting at 70 feet quickly coming up to 50 feet with swiss cheese bottom and tons of fish. I was off my game a bit and blew shots on two nice groupers in a short period of time. Lou and I both shot dog snappers, he got another nice mutton and I shot a big yellow jack all in the space of 30 minutes, it was great. After that with the winds picking up and the day getting late we headed in.

Slow Fishing

Filed under Spearfishing Photos, Spearfishing Reports by on October 22, 2010 at 12:22 pm {one comment}

pa201723_0329 Wind finally let up for a few days and was able to get diving. Went out two days this week with Andy, Brian, and on one day Chris went with us. Catherine’s work schedule doesn’t seem to mesh well with the occasional days of low wind. Hopefully she will make it out this next week.

The first day we went out it seemed like I couldn’t miss. I shot 3 groupers, the largest being around 15#.  I also shot a bunch of large bar jacks, not the biggest fish but a blast to shoot. Andy and Brian both seemed to have an off day but still pulled some fish. We moved around a bit but found most fish inside the reef.  The bar is a ghost town, nothing on it.

The next day with Chris joining us we ran further west out to Coal Bin rock and to tell the the truth it wasn’t worth the gas. The big ledges and rocks out there held nothing. Jewfish rock didn’t even have any jacks or anything on it. Checking my records from last year, the conditions were similar out there on the reef line. At the end of last October and the beginning of November last year, I saw a similar situation. No matter how far you ran west the reef line was just not holding the fish. All the fish seem to be inside the reef line on the patchier more live bottom. Some people like to always dive the patches because they always hold fish (although sometimes, just small ones), but (at least in my opinion) sometimes the big structures on the edge of the drop off holds sometimes bigger grouper and big jacks, and right now it is definitely NOT that time. Brian got the best fish that day with a large 18# yellow jack and 15# back grouper.

We went out to check a couple of the wahoo spots but the dirty water and west bound current made me think they would not be there. Every time I have seen wahoo it’s been in good vis with an east bound current. I don’t really know if there is an exact science to that but I will ask around.

We had ok luck chumming on a shallow patch reef.  Got a few fish but watching the nurse sharks and short grouper go nuts over pieces of cero mackerel was really fun. I shot some pics and video but nothing that amazing came in.  Vis ranged from a hazy 50 feet on the bar to about 25 on the patch reefs.

Catherine , Andy, Chris and I also did a half day inshore, which turned out to be really fun. The wind was blowing over 20 knots but we dove the shallow inshore reefs so it was ok. The stuff we dove was around 10-20 feet deep and had a wide array of coral and small fish. We shot some hogfish and a few snapper, we also caught some lobster. I actually saw a couple 10# cuberas or mangroves up in the shallows but they were very wary of people and I was unable to get one of them. Catherine had a ball photographing coral and sea cucumbers.  We saw a small shark and about a million tropical fish.

Wind finally let up for a few days and was able to get diving. Went out two days this week with Andy, Brian, and on one day Chris. Catherine’s work schedule doesn’t seem to mesh well with the occasional days of low wind. Hopefully she will make it out this next week.
The first day we went out it seemed like I couldn’t miss I shot 3 groupers the largest being around 15#, I also shot a bunch of large bar jacks, not the biggest fish but a blast to shoot. Andy and Brian seem to have an off day but still pulled some fish. We moved around a bit but found most fish inside the reef, the bar is a ghost town, nothing on it.
The next day with Chris joining us we ran further west out to Coal Bin rock and to tell the the truth it wasn’t worth the gas. The big ledges and rocks out there held nothing. Jewfish rock didn’t even have any jacks or anything on it. Checking my records from last year, the conditions where similar out there on the reef line. At the end of last October and the beginning of November last year, I saw similar situation. No matter how far you ran west the reef line was just not holding the fish. All the fish seem to be inside the reef line on the patchier more live bottom. Some people like to always dive the patches because they always hold fish(although sometimes, just small ones), but (at least in my opinion) sometimes the big structure on drop off holds sometimes bigger grouper and big jacks, and right now it is definitely NOT that time. Brian got the best fish that day with a large 18# yellow jack and 15# back grouper.
We went out to check a couple of the wahoo spots but the dirty water and west bound current made me think they would be there. Every time I have seen wahoo its been in good vis with an east bound current. I don’t really know if there is an science to that but I will ask around.
We had ok luck chumming on a shallow patch reef, got a few fish but watching the nurse sharks and short grouper go nuts over pieces of cero mackerel was really fun. I shot some pics and video but nothing that amazing came in.

Clear Warm water

Filed under Spearfishing Photos, Spearfishing Reports by on September 14, 2010 at 4:28 pm {3 comments}

20100910_60-day_0717 Went out diving a couple days this week, had a lot of fun. One day Catherine and I went out and practiced freediving on the wrecks out front. It was fun but we really didn’t see any fish; even the jewfish were missing. We came back in to the reef and I shot a black grouper and a mutton snapper. The water was clear with at least 60-70 feet of vis and around 85 degrees. Not a lot of fish but still a great way to spend the day.

Then one day I went out with Andy and his girlfriend Cally. We did some dives on the edge of the reef in 65-70 feet of water. I saw a couple nice groupers but couldn’t get them. We drifted in the shallows and I shot a 15# black grouper. He was just chilling in the sand in the middle of nowhere. I almost felt bad shooting him, I think he thought he was camouflaged.

We found a grassy garden in the shallows filled with conchs and hogfish, it was pretty neat. We also hit one spot where there must of have been 4-5 black grouper all in around 45 feet of water. We both took off chasing the larger ones of the group. We were then joined by a big nurse shark with a yj in tow, he surprised the hell out of me suddenly appearing at the tips of fins and then following me on my dives to look up in rocks. I poked him with my spear but he came right back. He kind of screwed up my dives but I already had a grouper so I really didn’t care. I wish I could have gotten a photo or video of how ridiculous this nurse shark was acting.

Both days we left around 9 and 10 am and were back around 5 pm. I think total amount of gas burned was around 25 maybe 30 gallons for two days. Pretty sweet really, dive in 70 foot vis 85 degree water and shoot enough grouper for a cookout and a bunch of dinners. People may get better bigger fish diving in the other places of the US, but it always seems to involve diving in cold and dirty water or driving really far, and sometimes both. I think I am going to stay right here personally.

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