Todays plans involved going a little north (off Bayport), and hitting wrecks and rock piles. We met up at 5:00AM, and shoved off 45 minutes later after loading. Our spots today were 30-40 miles offshore, in only 50-60 ft of water. On this trip were a couple of other guys on Scubaboard, including Shooter Dan, Dive4Blood, and myself.
The scoop:
Water temp: About 53-55 degrees, which was five degrees colder than I was expecting.
Weather: Horrible. Wind, rain, hail, cloudy, and cold. Extremely raw all day out there. The seas were 3s early on, building to 5 in the afternoon. A total butt whooping, with seas quartering most of the day. It was one of those days that was impossible for anyone to get warm. The fact that I was MOST comfortable when at depth in 53 degree water makes the point.
Visibility: The silver lining. Top to bottom.
Fish: Given the conditions, I thought we did well. It was really bad out there, and tough to dive in. Nonetheless, the spots were holding fish, and heavy stringers were brought to the boat. I didnt want to come up from my last spot because it was holding so many fish. I was happy I took my line gun on this wreck because it would have been a nightmare without it. As it was, even with the line gun, it was an effort avoiding tight quarters and snag hazards retrieving several fish I shot.
Gag Reflex loaded and ready to shove-off. Deepfish finishes hooking-up the electronics.
Deepfish and Financial Advis on their first drop. Four nice gagsters, with some hogs thrown in for good measure.
Summary: Giving the conditions, a good trip. I was just noticing how this trip was the opposite of the last. In the Middle Grounds last week, we had beautiful weather with warm sunshine, but very disappointing visibility. Today, horrible weather, visibility top to bottom. Go figure .
P.S.: I did my first hard core diving in my new FredT BP w/ Halcyon 36# Pioneer Wing, and this set-up is friggen AWESOME. Although it was my first dive shooting with this set-up, and getting used to a cleaner configuration, I have to say that the logic of the layout is intuitive enough that it was like second nature by my second dive of the day.
The scoop:
Water temp: About 53-55 degrees, which was five degrees colder than I was expecting.
Weather: Horrible. Wind, rain, hail, cloudy, and cold. Extremely raw all day out there. The seas were 3s early on, building to 5 in the afternoon. A total butt whooping, with seas quartering most of the day. It was one of those days that was impossible for anyone to get warm. The fact that I was MOST comfortable when at depth in 53 degree water makes the point.
Visibility: The silver lining. Top to bottom.
Fish: Given the conditions, I thought we did well. It was really bad out there, and tough to dive in. Nonetheless, the spots were holding fish, and heavy stringers were brought to the boat. I didnt want to come up from my last spot because it was holding so many fish. I was happy I took my line gun on this wreck because it would have been a nightmare without it. As it was, even with the line gun, it was an effort avoiding tight quarters and snag hazards retrieving several fish I shot.
Gag Reflex loaded and ready to shove-off. Deepfish finishes hooking-up the electronics.
Deepfish and Financial Advis on their first drop. Four nice gagsters, with some hogs thrown in for good measure.
Summary: Giving the conditions, a good trip. I was just noticing how this trip was the opposite of the last. In the Middle Grounds last week, we had beautiful weather with warm sunshine, but very disappointing visibility. Today, horrible weather, visibility top to bottom. Go figure .
P.S.: I did my first hard core diving in my new FredT BP w/ Halcyon 36# Pioneer Wing, and this set-up is friggen AWESOME. Although it was my first dive shooting with this set-up, and getting used to a cleaner configuration, I have to say that the logic of the layout is intuitive enough that it was like second nature by my second dive of the day.
