Tessunderwater
Contributor
First boat dive of the season started off great! I met up with three buddies of mine and we headed out of billy goat hole at 8am to do som rig diving and possibly catch some cobia with the rods. We started off trolling a couple of the container ships anchored inshore but didn't get the first bite. Marine conditions were a pleasant 1 foot or less all day with an occaisonal two footer.
The first dive began at 961 about 12 miles south of Dauphin Island. The water was still a bit brown on the surface but we hoped it would open up further down. Upon descending the first 8 feet were a murky brown but then it opened up to 30 feet all the way down. There was a 100+ school of spade fish between the 30 an 60 foot mark, at times they were so thick they blocked some of the sunlight. As always, there were a couple of 25 pound to 30 pound snapper which will probably be gone when the season starts soon. Several juvenile AJs and a couple of triggers were present. Unfourtunately, we also had four lionfish on this one rig which were killed and fed to the snapper. The max depth was 70 feet with a water temperature of 70 to 72.
The second dive was done at the triple rig. We had a smaller school of spades on this one with some more snapper, saltwater catfish and AJs. I did not see the first flounder, they could have been very covered and I just past over them. We had a couple of large queen angels on both rigs, always a favorite of mine as they seem social. The triple rig also had a couple of lionfish as well, both dead now. There is no telling how many more we will see later in the summer. However, it was a great dive to start off the summer season. There was a good bit of current at depth and at around 30 to 40 feet on both dives. The triple rig had a max depth of 60 feet with 40 feet of visability, just a green halocline the first 8 to 10 feet, and the same temperature wise.
For those of you that have been on hiatus through the winter, it's all warm water from here so let's go diving!
The first dive began at 961 about 12 miles south of Dauphin Island. The water was still a bit brown on the surface but we hoped it would open up further down. Upon descending the first 8 feet were a murky brown but then it opened up to 30 feet all the way down. There was a 100+ school of spade fish between the 30 an 60 foot mark, at times they were so thick they blocked some of the sunlight. As always, there were a couple of 25 pound to 30 pound snapper which will probably be gone when the season starts soon. Several juvenile AJs and a couple of triggers were present. Unfourtunately, we also had four lionfish on this one rig which were killed and fed to the snapper. The max depth was 70 feet with a water temperature of 70 to 72.
The second dive was done at the triple rig. We had a smaller school of spades on this one with some more snapper, saltwater catfish and AJs. I did not see the first flounder, they could have been very covered and I just past over them. We had a couple of large queen angels on both rigs, always a favorite of mine as they seem social. The triple rig also had a couple of lionfish as well, both dead now. There is no telling how many more we will see later in the summer. However, it was a great dive to start off the summer season. There was a good bit of current at depth and at around 30 to 40 feet on both dives. The triple rig had a max depth of 60 feet with 40 feet of visability, just a green halocline the first 8 to 10 feet, and the same temperature wise.
For those of you that have been on hiatus through the winter, it's all warm water from here so let's go diving!
