Took Zech out with Captain Jeff Steele on the Spair Time today. Planned to do the palm island ferry and tremblay reef. The wind's been stiff for the last couple of days, so I was hoping to get any kind of decent vis. Turned out we were lucky, had 50'+!
Got out to the ferry, and someone was already fishing on it, so we anchored a short distance away on the Spider boat.
It's a 110' pontoon boat and used to have a large deck that the jewfish would hang out under. I last dove the spider boat a couple of years ago, and saw 8 good sized jewfish then. Well, this time, the platform had collapsed, and we only got a glimpse of a jewfish. Lots of other fish on the wreck, though. Saw some gags (too small to shoot, though), sheepshead, and lots of snapper. I was hoping Zech would see some good stuff, but was disappointed by the dive, although I did pop a good sized sheepie.
Just after we came up, the fishermen pulled anchor and motored off, so we went over to the ferry, dropped anchor and did our SI.
Man did this dive make up for everything. Dropped down the anchor line, so we were about 50' off the wreck. The entire wreck was engulfed by a baitball that extended all the way to the surface (we were watching the barracuda hit the bait during our SI).
As we approached the wreck, a small Jewfish (around 75#-100#) noticed I had a speargun, and came over and gave me a very thourough check out. He reminded me of a dog trying to steal a sandwich out of your hand. Zech's eyes were as big as saucers (this was his second dive after cert). AS soon as I could get his attention off the Jewfish that was checking us out, we swam around the stern of the wreck, straight into 10 LARGE Jewfish, running from 100# up to 3 that were 600#. I had thought Zech's eyes were big before
. I've never seen so many large fish on one spot. Visibility was at 50', but the baitfish were so thick that it was dark, and frequently vis was reduced to feet. Really awesome.
As we circled the wreck, I just unloaded my gun. There were upwards of 20 Jewfish on the wreck, and they had cleared the area of any decent sized fish, except for the barracuda that were feeding on the baitfish. We checked out the interior of the wreck to find even more Jewfish and some smaller gags and some reds. Others on the dive reported seeing cobia, but I missed them
When we got up on the boat, Zech looked at me and said "Dad, we've got to get a boat". I think he's hooked
Water was 68 degrees, air temp was 85 and not a cloud in the sky. Seas 2'-3'. Couldn't ask for a nicer day.
Got out to the ferry, and someone was already fishing on it, so we anchored a short distance away on the Spider boat.
It's a 110' pontoon boat and used to have a large deck that the jewfish would hang out under. I last dove the spider boat a couple of years ago, and saw 8 good sized jewfish then. Well, this time, the platform had collapsed, and we only got a glimpse of a jewfish. Lots of other fish on the wreck, though. Saw some gags (too small to shoot, though), sheepshead, and lots of snapper. I was hoping Zech would see some good stuff, but was disappointed by the dive, although I did pop a good sized sheepie.
Just after we came up, the fishermen pulled anchor and motored off, so we went over to the ferry, dropped anchor and did our SI.
Man did this dive make up for everything. Dropped down the anchor line, so we were about 50' off the wreck. The entire wreck was engulfed by a baitball that extended all the way to the surface (we were watching the barracuda hit the bait during our SI).
As we approached the wreck, a small Jewfish (around 75#-100#) noticed I had a speargun, and came over and gave me a very thourough check out. He reminded me of a dog trying to steal a sandwich out of your hand. Zech's eyes were as big as saucers (this was his second dive after cert). AS soon as I could get his attention off the Jewfish that was checking us out, we swam around the stern of the wreck, straight into 10 LARGE Jewfish, running from 100# up to 3 that were 600#. I had thought Zech's eyes were big before
. I've never seen so many large fish on one spot. Visibility was at 50', but the baitfish were so thick that it was dark, and frequently vis was reduced to feet. Really awesome.As we circled the wreck, I just unloaded my gun. There were upwards of 20 Jewfish on the wreck, and they had cleared the area of any decent sized fish, except for the barracuda that were feeding on the baitfish. We checked out the interior of the wreck to find even more Jewfish and some smaller gags and some reds. Others on the dive reported seeing cobia, but I missed them
When we got up on the boat, Zech looked at me and said "Dad, we've got to get a boat". I think he's hooked
Water was 68 degrees, air temp was 85 and not a cloud in the sky. Seas 2'-3'. Couldn't ask for a nicer day.
