We went out about 42 miles SSW of the Jetties yesterday for some deep reef scouting and had some of the best dives in a long time. We had flat seas nearly the whole way out and I called dibs on the first drop on what I deemed to be good "lobstery" looking hardbottom.
As the descent down the marker line past 50' vis went from 50 feet to to about 10 feet. This trend did not make me feel particularly great since I knew the bottom was 130-150'!!! Fortunately the vis opened back up under 80' and although darker, it was actually very nearly 60 feet of horizontal vis. The reef opened up below me and I found that the marker weight was about 10 feet away from two nice spiny lobsters. Lobster I spent the next few minutes coaxing out of their holes and into my lobster bag! I worked my way up the 15' ledge towards the shallow side and found another lobster, the biggest of the three, and he also hopped in my bag after some coaxing. As I crested the ledge (feeling really good about my dinner prospects) I found a 7' iron anchor laying exposed in the sand! Out of bottom time I had to go on up but I made a really good mental note of its location since vis was so good and I think I will be back for it 1 day soon!
Dive 2 was in what shall forever be known in my GPS as "OMG+++" and it was the most extreme amount of larger snappers in one place I have ever seen. red snappers from 20-30# (really, no exaggeration) and mangrove snappers over 10# were literal obscuring the 60' vis to less than 20' at times. A massive sea turtle (I'm no good on turtle species ID) joined us hovering over the scene in wonder from about 2' away for nearly a full minute.
Dive 3 was on a spot we have had for awhile (and a favorite) unlike these new spots we were checking out. Its a 30' limestone cliff in a bowl shape with a massive overhang that goes back into a cavern that larger groupers (goliaths, gags and blacks) often call home. Vis was less here, more like 25' Speadefish and jacks blocked our view of everything as we descended onto the top of the bowl and encircled us in a lazy tornado of aquatic life. I noticed a large 10' or so shark that most closely resembled a lemon shark but it moved out into the sand and deeper water before I could get a positive ID. Since this was drop 3 in more than 130' time was in short supply so I didn't give chase.
Of course the weather had deteriorated topside as the day progressed and was blowing pretty rough and we got to enjoy 3-5 tight period chop for all 40+ miles back but after the hot water shower and change of clothes. The gang just sat back and told their respective stories for the day. We got to the dock right at Sunset and enjoyed a lobster and mangrove snapper dinner at my place.
FYI temp was 62*F all day top to bottom and read 59-62 on the bottom machine the whole ride out. Thats alot colder than is the norm for out there even in the coldest days of Winter. Perfect Day off from working in a dive shop and finally doing some fun diving again!
Also I'm trying to get my male modeling career off the ground. I think the guys were calling this pose the "Blue Steel"
As the descent down the marker line past 50' vis went from 50 feet to to about 10 feet. This trend did not make me feel particularly great since I knew the bottom was 130-150'!!! Fortunately the vis opened back up under 80' and although darker, it was actually very nearly 60 feet of horizontal vis. The reef opened up below me and I found that the marker weight was about 10 feet away from two nice spiny lobsters. Lobster I spent the next few minutes coaxing out of their holes and into my lobster bag! I worked my way up the 15' ledge towards the shallow side and found another lobster, the biggest of the three, and he also hopped in my bag after some coaxing. As I crested the ledge (feeling really good about my dinner prospects) I found a 7' iron anchor laying exposed in the sand! Out of bottom time I had to go on up but I made a really good mental note of its location since vis was so good and I think I will be back for it 1 day soon!
Dive 2 was in what shall forever be known in my GPS as "OMG+++" and it was the most extreme amount of larger snappers in one place I have ever seen. red snappers from 20-30# (really, no exaggeration) and mangrove snappers over 10# were literal obscuring the 60' vis to less than 20' at times. A massive sea turtle (I'm no good on turtle species ID) joined us hovering over the scene in wonder from about 2' away for nearly a full minute.
Dive 3 was on a spot we have had for awhile (and a favorite) unlike these new spots we were checking out. Its a 30' limestone cliff in a bowl shape with a massive overhang that goes back into a cavern that larger groupers (goliaths, gags and blacks) often call home. Vis was less here, more like 25' Speadefish and jacks blocked our view of everything as we descended onto the top of the bowl and encircled us in a lazy tornado of aquatic life. I noticed a large 10' or so shark that most closely resembled a lemon shark but it moved out into the sand and deeper water before I could get a positive ID. Since this was drop 3 in more than 130' time was in short supply so I didn't give chase.
Of course the weather had deteriorated topside as the day progressed and was blowing pretty rough and we got to enjoy 3-5 tight period chop for all 40+ miles back but after the hot water shower and change of clothes. The gang just sat back and told their respective stories for the day. We got to the dock right at Sunset and enjoyed a lobster and mangrove snapper dinner at my place.
FYI temp was 62*F all day top to bottom and read 59-62 on the bottom machine the whole ride out. Thats alot colder than is the norm for out there even in the coldest days of Winter. Perfect Day off from working in a dive shop and finally doing some fun diving again!
Also I'm trying to get my male modeling career off the ground. I think the guys were calling this pose the "Blue Steel"
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red glowing eyes 16" apart staring back at you with bones laying all over the place. I can see where some people might get a bit ancy at these kinda situations for sure 
