Vis Report (2/2/03): Off Pinellas

[SM Diver]

In a nutshell:

Location: Gulf of Mexico, 27 miles off Tarpon Springs (240 bearing out of Pasco), in about 70 feet of water, on a 4 ft ledge.

Water temp: About 58 degrees.

Visability: Visability was surprisingly very good. I was concerned that it would be poor because it wasn't good in the Middle Grounds on Thursday, but I made a point of looking at my dive computer as soon as I saw bottom on the descent, and it said 40 ft. So, I had 30 ft vis and could see everything well.

Weather: Very nice. About 68 degrees. Sunny. 1-2 ft seas. No current on the bottom.

 

[Roland_C]

What about the fish?

 

[SM Diver]

I was actually disappointed in the fish. Winter in Florida means good size grouper closer in, but I didn't see it today. I only did one dive today, since I was with my wife and son, and wanted them to have the chance to fish, but I did manage three good grouper (2 gags and one red), and a stringer full of hogfish, but nothing too spectacular. The mango snapper were real scarce. Saw only a handful, and they were too small to shoot.

Who knows why the fish are moving around like they are? This time last year we had a Gulf temp of 72 degrees. It was 56 at Clearwater Beach this morning, and 58 where I dived off Tarpon Springs. I've logged a lot of water time this past week trying to figure it out, but I don't yet have the answer. A friend of mine is convinced the bigger fish have moved to the real deep stuff to avoid the surge of the strong cold fronts blowing through.