Hetland
Contributor
MrXRay met my brother and me at my brother's condo in Orange Beach at about 6:00 this morning, and we left the dock 30 minutes later. We were in my little 20' Sea Hunt, but the forecast looked good, so I considered our options as we topped off the gas tank at SanRoc Cay. I had originally planned to start us off at the three mile barge, but the water looked a little dark just outside the pass, so I decided to hit the Allen Liberty Ship instead. Seas were manageable, with mostly ones and twos, but there was an occasional 3 here and there, that rattled our teeth at 20kts. We saw dolphins, blue runners, and flying fish on our trip out.
We anchored up at the ship, and I lucked out, hitting it on the up current side amidships. My brother had never been spear fishing before, so I sent him with Barry on the first dive, so he could pick up some good habits. John and Barry reported seeing a 5' bull shark haunting the wreck, along with blue angelfish, spades, undersized aj's, red snapper, butterflyfish, damselfish, and juvenile grouper. Barry salvaged a nice anchor and chain, but sadly, there were no shootable fish to be seen. Viz was maxed out at 35.
Rather than relocating, I decided to hit the ship for my dive. I took my camera for possible shark video, and took my gun in case I spotted a flounder that Barry and John overlooked. I saw everything they saw, except for of course, the shark. I swam to the stern, then turned, and swam to the bow. On my way back from the bow, I spotted a huge slipper lobster hiding against one of the support ribs of the hull. I swam in, and snatched that bad boy up, he escaped, and I captured him again, and began the process of squeezing that monster into what was an inadequately small catch bag. That's when I noticed that he was a she, and a preggo to boot. I took Ms. lobster to a safe spot on the hull, and let her go about her business of making more lobsters. Max depth was just less than 100'.
Back on board, we discussed our dive options. Barry and John defaulted to my judgment, so we headed several miles away to a spot I had wanted to try for a while. We arrived to see a sport fisherman type boat pulling in lots of red snapper, in the 16"-20" range. Barry jumped first, and followed the anchor line down to the structure, which was mostly disappointing. In exploring the area, he found that all the action was actually directly under our boat, and not at the anchor. Hundreds, yes Hundreds of snapper were swimming in the area. They started at about 40', and got bigger as you descended down into the mid-90' range. Barry did not have much time left because he was locating the good stuff, but he still came back to the boat with a keeper trigger fish, which quickly went into the ice box.
John and I geared up, and splashed down. We followed the anchor line down to 20' to get past the ripping surface current, and then descended straight down, and found our spot almost directly under the boat. Barry's navigation instructions were right on the money. I immediately spotted a 6' shark loitering near the sand. I believe it was a bull, but I never got a perfect look at his face, so I'm basing my id on the tail and dorsal fins, and the impression of a short, stocky face. I saw a shark about three times during the dive, but I could not be sure if it was the same shark or not, one passing seemed to be of a bigger shark, but I can't be sure as I was drooling over the hundreds and hundreds of snapper. I'm not kidding, it was stacked up. I ended up shooting the twin brother of Barry's trigger fish, but also spotted a single (probably) legal black grouper, and all the usual tropicals. PLUS, I saw my first ever, true queen angelfish. She was strikingly beautiful and colorful among the blue angelfish she cavorted with. This was like icing on the cake of a great set of dives, and was a real treat for me. John and I did our ascent, then we hauled anchor, and hauled @$$.
These were two great dives, with great friends. I look forward to hitting the reefs again once snapper season opens.
We anchored up at the ship, and I lucked out, hitting it on the up current side amidships. My brother had never been spear fishing before, so I sent him with Barry on the first dive, so he could pick up some good habits. John and Barry reported seeing a 5' bull shark haunting the wreck, along with blue angelfish, spades, undersized aj's, red snapper, butterflyfish, damselfish, and juvenile grouper. Barry salvaged a nice anchor and chain, but sadly, there were no shootable fish to be seen. Viz was maxed out at 35.
Rather than relocating, I decided to hit the ship for my dive. I took my camera for possible shark video, and took my gun in case I spotted a flounder that Barry and John overlooked. I saw everything they saw, except for of course, the shark. I swam to the stern, then turned, and swam to the bow. On my way back from the bow, I spotted a huge slipper lobster hiding against one of the support ribs of the hull. I swam in, and snatched that bad boy up, he escaped, and I captured him again, and began the process of squeezing that monster into what was an inadequately small catch bag. That's when I noticed that he was a she, and a preggo to boot. I took Ms. lobster to a safe spot on the hull, and let her go about her business of making more lobsters. Max depth was just less than 100'.
Back on board, we discussed our dive options. Barry and John defaulted to my judgment, so we headed several miles away to a spot I had wanted to try for a while. We arrived to see a sport fisherman type boat pulling in lots of red snapper, in the 16"-20" range. Barry jumped first, and followed the anchor line down to the structure, which was mostly disappointing. In exploring the area, he found that all the action was actually directly under our boat, and not at the anchor. Hundreds, yes Hundreds of snapper were swimming in the area. They started at about 40', and got bigger as you descended down into the mid-90' range. Barry did not have much time left because he was locating the good stuff, but he still came back to the boat with a keeper trigger fish, which quickly went into the ice box.
John and I geared up, and splashed down. We followed the anchor line down to 20' to get past the ripping surface current, and then descended straight down, and found our spot almost directly under the boat. Barry's navigation instructions were right on the money. I immediately spotted a 6' shark loitering near the sand. I believe it was a bull, but I never got a perfect look at his face, so I'm basing my id on the tail and dorsal fins, and the impression of a short, stocky face. I saw a shark about three times during the dive, but I could not be sure if it was the same shark or not, one passing seemed to be of a bigger shark, but I can't be sure as I was drooling over the hundreds and hundreds of snapper. I'm not kidding, it was stacked up. I ended up shooting the twin brother of Barry's trigger fish, but also spotted a single (probably) legal black grouper, and all the usual tropicals. PLUS, I saw my first ever, true queen angelfish. She was strikingly beautiful and colorful among the blue angelfish she cavorted with. This was like icing on the cake of a great set of dives, and was a real treat for me. John and I did our ascent, then we hauled anchor, and hauled @$$.
These were two great dives, with great friends. I look forward to hitting the reefs again once snapper season opens.
Yeah, they are getting pretty thick, so it is a good thing the season opens soon. 
