Hetland
Contributor
Met up with MrXRay, Recharge, Brandon, and UnderWater Angler for an early start Saturday morning. Our first stop was a natural bottom site I've been holding in reserve for the height of Snapper season. Recharge, XRay and I splashed on a buoy while Brandon and UWAngler kept the boat a safe distance away. We found the first 30-40 feet of water very clear, but everything below that was dark and hazy. We found the limestone shelves heavily populated with life, and it was a safe bet that the numbers remained secret (from divers at least). While there weren't any trophy fish spotted, there was a nice mix of edible, legal fish, and since none of us cared about trophies, we happily went about the business of filling our stringers. I missed four shots right away. The fish on this reef seemed to slam on their breaks every time a trigger was pulled, so my shots were buzzing right in front of the fish. I did manage a trigger before my bottom time ran out, so I made it back to the boat without embarrassment. Recharge and Barry made it back with several nice fish each, and Recharge had a very nice trigger that I coveted for most of the trip. It was possibly the largest trigger I've seen this year, and it made a fine addition to the fish box.
We surfaced to find the storm of the century bearing down upon us, so we worked quickly to head South. About halfway through our efforts, the storm appeared to both veer away from us, and dissipate to something much lesser than it's former self. Brandon and UWAngler decided they wanted to try their hand on the reef, so they splashed once we were confident that the storm would miss us. While they were down, a small bull shark decided to challenge them for their catch. With viz the way it was, Brandon decided it was wise to tie off their stringers to the buoy. Happily, both divers, and their stringers full of fish, made it back on board without any tooth marks.
After the appearance of sharky, we decided to head a few miles off and dive another spot. We hit a section of bridge rubble not too far away, and found one boat cutting their anchor line. Apparently they had become entangled in the rubble, and had given up any hope of recovery. We anchored up nearby, and splashed in. I was quickly separated from the rest of the group, but found nice fat snapper over the center of the reef. It had been a few weeks since I had spotted such nice specimens, but I was not destined to take any of the fat boys home. All of the big fish were wary of divers. I did manage to take two decent red snapper, and popped a very nice black snapper, that pulled a Houdini as I was reaching for my stringer :cussing:
After a short surface interval, I swam over to another boat, and freed their anchor. They too had become entangled. It cost me a nice flounder helping them out, but I saved them a few bucks in replacing their anchor, and I made a few karma points in the bargain. The big fish I spotted on the first dive were even more skittish on the second dive, but I still enjoyed being underwater.
Final count was seven red snapper, two triggers, and a few other reef fishes big enough for the grill. Barry recovered an anchor, and we all had a great time on the water.
Video is nothing special, but here it is:
More Spearfishing in Pensacola 8/1/2009 on Vimeo
We surfaced to find the storm of the century bearing down upon us, so we worked quickly to head South. About halfway through our efforts, the storm appeared to both veer away from us, and dissipate to something much lesser than it's former self. Brandon and UWAngler decided they wanted to try their hand on the reef, so they splashed once we were confident that the storm would miss us. While they were down, a small bull shark decided to challenge them for their catch. With viz the way it was, Brandon decided it was wise to tie off their stringers to the buoy. Happily, both divers, and their stringers full of fish, made it back on board without any tooth marks.
After the appearance of sharky, we decided to head a few miles off and dive another spot. We hit a section of bridge rubble not too far away, and found one boat cutting their anchor line. Apparently they had become entangled in the rubble, and had given up any hope of recovery. We anchored up nearby, and splashed in. I was quickly separated from the rest of the group, but found nice fat snapper over the center of the reef. It had been a few weeks since I had spotted such nice specimens, but I was not destined to take any of the fat boys home. All of the big fish were wary of divers. I did manage to take two decent red snapper, and popped a very nice black snapper, that pulled a Houdini as I was reaching for my stringer :cussing:
After a short surface interval, I swam over to another boat, and freed their anchor. They too had become entangled. It cost me a nice flounder helping them out, but I saved them a few bucks in replacing their anchor, and I made a few karma points in the bargain. The big fish I spotted on the first dive were even more skittish on the second dive, but I still enjoyed being underwater.
Final count was seven red snapper, two triggers, and a few other reef fishes big enough for the grill. Barry recovered an anchor, and we all had a great time on the water.
Video is nothing special, but here it is:
More Spearfishing in Pensacola 8/1/2009 on Vimeo
