September 7, 2009

Got to see the goliath grouper again today with the Emerald
on the Zion-Esso drop and it was another world class dive. Finished
off with a few lobster drops to get some grub for dinner.

August 26, 2009

Jumped on the Emerald for the 3 tank with lunch and some mid-week aqua therapy. Fellow spearboarders Petra, Leeward Hunter and of course RJ were also on the boat. Water was nice and warm and the viz was great.

First drop was the deep ledge just south of the Hole in the Wall. I nailed a nice Hog which spooked a Black I hadn’t even seen. RJ brought up another Hog and Leeward Hunter found a few nice bugs. There were some nice Kings out there, but they weren’t having anything to do with us.

Second drop was Randy’s wrecks where the Goliath Groupers were stacked up, you get the picture. I gave a Black a nice haircut before Leeward Hunter finished him off. Petra and RJ ganged up on another nice Black, but when we got back to the boat there wasn’t much left of him. No one saw the guilty culprit, but Petra was left with less than half a fish

Third drop was Randy’s other wreck, which led to Randy’s reef  I think they were in Randy’s ocean too.  I put a nice Mutton in the boat and Petra cleaned up on lobsters.

And a big thank you to RJ for recovering my Riffe shaft that I embedded in one of his wrecks last week.

Sorry…no pictures of Petra

August 22, 2009

Peggie and i did a little paint work on Emerald thursday and decided to stowaway friday morning and go diving. oh man what a beautiful day........ but OMG it was cold in jupiter, burrrrrrrrr 64 and 66 on the bottom. we each got some bugs, nice ones , and dove with friends we haven't seen in quite awhile, Randy, Terry, Al and Andrew, and met some new friends it was a very enjoyable day.

Last drop was on a wreck Randy called the Emerald City-- what a treat it turned out to be. the Goliaths are back for sure. it was amazing to see so many large females, some inside the wreck lots outside swimming around with bait ball surrounding them, they were huge. they say that one of the females will change into a male in a week or so, called a hermaphrodite, and have one heck of a party, all to himself. that boy is gona be busy, so many girls so little time...............

thanks again Randy and Emerald crew it was a wonderful day at sea.

June 27, 2009

Did a four tank plus some wreck bounces on the Emerald Saturday and
got a nice black grouper and a yellow jack. We did three dives around the
Loran Tower with optimum conditions. Good Vis perfect temp of 72-74
on the bottom. Nice strong current. Current was out of the East on the
ledges and one had to face the ledge and swim at it to keep from getting
blown out into the sand. Strenuous dives and I'm feeling it today. Last drop
was on the tunnels.

June 18-19, 2009

What a great day on the Emerald. Had a few students, spearos, and photographers. The turtles were out and the fish were plenty. An Amberjack, Hog, and Cubera made it to the boat along with all of our students! A great time was had by all! Check out the pictures!

June 17, 2009

it's summer, oh yeah let's play.............. jumped on Emerald with my daughter and best dive buddy, best buddy ...............ever........
anyway........... jumped in to see if hole in the wall was still there, yep it's there with lots of magnificent bull sharks, no cobias riding with them, but no cold thermos, it really feels like summer, it sooo was a beautiful dive. I looked around and where's Maureen? .. baggin a mutton.

2nd dive, OMG........... i had this dream last night. kill a big black.........
Randy sets us up, hit the bottom, see him looking in this cave, i know if there is and entrance there is an exit and boom out he comes. put some power on and let it slingggggggggggg... can't tell i'm excited or nothing............. let out a scream and he was mine baby......... just a quiveren............. my personal best...ever. 30lb beautiful black grouper........... i want to have it mounted.............. anyway , i look around and there is aqua stringen up a nice hog............. is this still a dream... it gets better.... sent the fish up to our wonderful captain and what comes along, a huge tiger shark.......... HUGE.. vis was great and his stripes glistened in the sun and he was huge. absolutely beautiful.. just want to say thanks again, RJ, Emerald and Scuba Works.......... this smile is not coming off for a while.

June 14, 2009

Beautiful day to be out on the water. The 3 tanker did not disappoint. Deep ledge had plenty of nosy sharks, and huge schools of crevalles made for some cool swim throughs. On 3rd dive, Randy said he thought we could find some decent size triggers. He wasn't kidding. It was an old fashioned shooting gallery, with a ripping current and the biggest triggers I have seen. We filled the cooler!! Those are full sized stringers in the pic. Just got done with a fantastic fish fry. Outstanding!!!!!!!!!!

June 13, 2009

Went out on both trips aboard the Emerald with my good buddy RJ. I was desperately looking for something to take my mind off a hard week at work. 1st dive spot nice YT down in the rocks and stalk him down by creeping around and peeking over the boulders. Got him cornered and BAM on the stringer!!! On down the reef a bull shark came in to see about getting a free meal but no handouts here. 2nd dive I see a big AJ coming right at me when we hit the water. He swam almost between my feet and I pulled the trigger. Bad placement!!! Too far back on a straight down shot. He went apes#$%!I had to wrestle him after he wrapped me up in the line. It was quite a ride and very entertaining for the rest of the group. But he was in the boat at 48 lbs. At the end of thedive a pod of wild dolphin swam right by Jeff and me. There were 8-10 and some were 6ft+ You could hear them calling to each other under the water. It was amazing!!! Finished the day with 4lb YT 2 rainbow runners AJ and a small hog.

Another great day of diving on the Emerald!

June 3rd, 2009

Got my first 100 LB ,I mean 37 Lb Warsaw Grouper today,
heard there was another 100 LBr shot recently, wont go there.
Went out with what I would call the Traveling Woulburys of Diving and
Little Buck ,sorry Matt cant call you a Young Buck just yet. But by
the way you dive and shoot your not far off from being and old pro.
If anyone has ever met Matt ,all I can say ,GREAT KID.
Had a blast today with some really cool divers ,thanks again to Captain
Allen and RJ from the green boat(Emerald)

This is what a WARSAW looks LIKe ehhh .

May 26, 2009

Great day as usual with Capt Tony and RJ.
Decided to give the cursed hybrid one last chance with yet another bands - shaft size change up to try and correct aim issues (no luck)....
First drop the deep ledge, John from Scuba Works and I were the only two spearfishing as Randy has traded in his gun for a pony bottle.
Greeted with awesome vis and average current we spread out and I immediately saw 4 large cubera. They moved away slowly keeping their distance so I dropped deeper hoping to squeeze them toward John. Caught something large moving fast from the corner of my eye and managed to swing my gun, 4 large Permit. Took a long shot and it hit the front runner low, (something I'm getting used to)... When I saw it was a belly shot I humped to keep the pressue off the line but it was really dragging me and managed to snag the rock briefly twice but I quickly got it free and I was able to get on him. John came in for an assist and kept the sharks off while I bear hugged my new friend and started unraveling shooting line. Saw a few more nice fish but not worth chasing after my wraslin match at 148. Everybody saw lots of fish and sharks, sweet! Dive Two another nice ledge and Randy lent me his scooter (curse you man, I'm hooked) missed at a huge Mackeral but took another big Cuda for practice. Dive 3 the wrecks, saw some smaller Permit but really skittish and not much else, started deco and was headed up when I saw a large lump with eyes laying out in the sand, dropped back and tacked over to big a Cobia just lying there, took the shot and... high. After another short ride he tore off and adios...
So only one for three today but the Permit weighed 38lbs gutted and a Deathstick will be in my near future.

May 13, 2009

I ain't saying nothing.

May 11, 2009

Had a great time and the seas were flat.Made a bunch of new friends underwater, unfortunately they were from another boat that dropped a little too near. Swift current and all of a sudden we are all diving together. Pretty interesting to group hunters with a boat full of REEF fish counters. All went OK thanks to the excellent Captaining on both boats. Meanwhile, Colin in the picture, shoots his first Grouper a fat 36 pound Black. I don't even think he knows what a bid deal that is. In the morning treip, one diver shot a Trigger and set it down to retrieve something. A Goliath swam up and swallowed the trigger, a knife he stuck it with and his shaft. He was able to unclip his gun.We went back in the afternoon and sure enough, there was a 300pound GG swimming along with a shaft sticking straight out of his mouth. With the help of Ocean Ed, we chased her down. I stuck my arm down the gullet and extracted the shaft barb and all. I believe the GG belched up the Trigger because I didnt feel it. Good news , she swam off healthy. I'll post the video when I get it. Pretty wild ride!

May 4, 2009

Gorgeous day! Had 10 shooters on board and a deck full of guns. We dispersed out on the deepledge and came up on 9 Fat Gags and about 20 various sharks. Some shot, some missed and a couple landed gags. Vis and temp? 80/80. 80 degree water temp and at least 80 feet vis. We hit a couple more spots. INTERESTING POINT!. Look at the picture, the fish in front of Anthony were shot by 1 person. If this had been the SBO he would have had over 50 points! That would probably score in the top 25% or so. Robin, the lady in the photo proudly shows off a nice pair...of fish! Thanks!

May 2, 2009

Yesterday, the vis was 30 to 40ft and the water temp was 67 degrees. Today the water temp was 76 degrees and the vis was 60ft. Absolutely no current yesterday and today the Gulfstream finally moved in and produced a nice 1 knot current. I expect top to bottom vis tomorrow after this current flushes out the remaining residue.

Out on the deep ledge, Divertom nailed a Hogfish with a 12 to 15' shot. Very impressive. Death Stick, I believe. The Bulls were outin force and magnificent. I jumped in to Tom's space to send his fish to the surface. Tom said a big Bull came up right behind me and it reminded him of that T Shirt that says Last Great Act of Defiance. Tom added a beautiful 24" Black Grouper to his take home cooler. He'll probably post some pictures and his story later. I got a little Hog and a few others added some Misc. fish. Lunch was great,the weather was warm and sunny and I can't wait to get back out tomorrow.

April 29, 2009

Tuning it in for the SBO. That's what we call all of our hunting trips until May 16. Today the Emerald took a few hearty shooters out to explore. Seas were 2 to 4 and water temp was 74 with an occassional cold spot just below 70 degrees. We came up on several Grouper. Island Fever shot one out on the deep ledge and took him to the surface. Jeremy, who used to dive with me all the time, has been working the rigs in the gulf and hasn't picked up a gun in two years . He put 2 gags in the cooler and outshot me again! His family will be eating well this week. I was targeting trigger and found them in their usual hideouts. I took 2 and left the rest there for future use. I had a great second dive. A big hammerhead swam with me as close as 4 ft for over 5 minutes. I was on the scooter and felt like the synchronized team. I left him to chase a grouper. I nailed the grouper and sent it up. You guessed it!. On the surface, the boat was treated to a violent shredding of my grouper. Captain Tony tried to get between the Hammer and the Grouper and was outmanuevered. I was able to get 4 ounces of meat from the leftovers. Oh well, anyone get me that fish head soup recipe?

April 25, 2009

So the forecast said 6 - 8 footers. Guess what, they were right !! Who put heavy starch in the flags? Deep ledge drop greeted us with 5 groupers all in one spot and they scattered but RJnJupiter put one in the box. I only saw 3 sharks all day and viz was great at 60 feet. Current was only a knot and a half and bottom temps were 76.

April 13, 2009

Got a call from an anxious diver late Sunday. I noticed from my ID he had already called a couple of times while we were out. He wanted to dive Monday. I didn't have a trip scheduled so he private chartered the boat. What would cause this sort of angst? Leatherback Turtles. This photog took an award winning picture of a Leather 8 years ago and has not seen one since. On Saturday he was on the boat when Sharktale's Chip and John came back from the first dive with fresh video of a Leatherback with full entourage. I told Photog that I would take him out to see Leatherbacks or at least go to the area I call Leatherback Ledge. First dive, Nada. Captain Tony goes over to a bait ball and Two Leatherbacks break the surface. Photog slides in and gets some great shots. Second dive, we separate. Photog spends the dive shooting two other Leatherbacks and I get assaulted by a huge male. This Leatherback was so big, it had a 40# Cobia under him that I thought was a Ramora. I shot, no camera, so I used my Riffe. I sent the Cobe up after being threatend by a Sandbar Shark. When I got in the boat, I was happy to see my floats sticking out of the cooler. Captain Tony asked if I saw any sharks and lifted the cooler lid to reveal a Cobia head only. The sharks got my cobia and barely left me a filet!. Needless to say Photg was high as a kite with joy over his catch and I am looking for a recipe for Fish Head Soup.

April 12, 2009

We started our service on the deep ledge. Captain Tony took a day off and joined us underwater. He brought his scooter BOB (Battery Operated Boyfriend) and was quick to send up the first Fat Gag. His first of two for the day. What, you thought he could only drive? I ran along side on my scooter and was able to chase down a barely legal Hogfish. Donnie sent up a 4 pound Hog that I didn't even see as I whizzed down the reef, in my wetsuit ,of course. Pros and Cons of Scooters. The west coast guys and girls tore into a 40# reef donkey AKA Amberjack and enjoyed the fight all the way to the surface. Vis was in the 60 ft arena. Thank God, the water temp was 74 degrees all day. It was in the low 60s the day before. Everyone enjoyed the Easter Bunny Treats that Chef Tania packed in our already delicious lunch.

April 10, 2009

Every Friday is a Good Friday on Emerald, good buddies, good fish, good food, and great diving. Deep ledge was ripping. Rob Barker tried out his brand new riffe on a huge horse eye, took him for quite a ride, but he won. Brian Felter shot the 1st gag on the ledge, boy can those fish put up a fight, and floated that sucker with just a little line tangling, he won also. Char got her personal best gag and closely avoided a bull shark. Next dive Brian, pulled out the new riffe and shot his 1st gag. Nice shooting everyone!

April 1, 2009

As Captain Tony motored he looked back and saw a group of Cobia following the boat. He hit neutral and the madman, our deckhand, Christian grabs and loads a speargun, grabs a mask and jumps in to battle the beast. Now you have to picture ,Christian is about 100 #s wet. This 35# Cobia could have taken him down around or any direction he wanted. Christian fortunately stoned him dead flat in the head. Good shot man. Way to save your life

When the good doctor Stephen cut him open (the Cobia) he had a stingray, an octopus and 3 crabs in his belly.

March 31, 2009

A boat load of spearo's hit the Emerald today. No need for a fresh water hose as our gear was rinsed clean all day.

Everyone found the bugs today and just about everyone limited. Water temps were toasty at 77 degrees. Inside reefs had a mild 1 knot current but our first dive was screaming at 3 knots which had everyone covering alot of realestate. Viz was 50 feet on all the dives.

Lots of spearboard regulars on board, check out Lee!!

March 27, 2009

I went out with Randy on the Emerald last Friday, the worst day for this weather. We had very nasty seas that ended with a 10 foot set that closed out the inlet when we were trying to get back in and only Capt. Tony's experience pulled us out of the fire.

Through it all there were only 5 divers on the boat, two who were so seasick that they could not dive. The other three were Randy, myself, and Char.

I have known Char for a while and we have been diving together on different boats for sometime. I have never had a chance to see her in terrible conditions like this before. She was amazing. Kind of like a demented sea sprite on speed. She was smiling and moving about and diving like a true expert through all the big seas and bad visibility and raging currents. Meanwhile Randy has his camera in his hand and is waiting for me to puke all over myself so he can blackmail me on Spearboard.

When the going got tough, Char stomped on the accelerator, jammed it into t5th gear, and pretty much left me in the dust. My hat is off to you, Char. You were very impressive.

March 25, 2009

Went out today despite the bad weather report. Beautiful vis and blue water. Seas were 3 to 5 but no surge. More important, the water temp was 76 degrees. 3 Tanks ,3 Shooters ,3 gags and a couple of big Yellow Jacks. Great group and a couple of world class photogs, but no pictures of the kill today.

February 25, 2009

Took some sharp shooters out today and hit 3 very productive Gag drops. Only problem, no Gags. Until the last dive we only had a bunch of Lobster and a belly shot Porgy. Thank God, Fishhunta whacked a Black. I talked with a couple of fellow self proclaimed experts and the verdict is: the water temp was up to 73 degrees, too hot for Gags. They either went deep or North to get back to cooler water. I will hit the deep ledge on Friday and see if they are home. We did see a couple of nice Hammerheads. Seas were 3 to 5 and VIS was Top to Bottom. Expect great conditions all week into Sunday. See you out there

February 22, 2009

Weather turned out pretty nice this weekend, Sunday was warm and the seas were 2 ft or less. In the AM trip we headed out with a small group and came back with 4 gags, a 12# Mutton and a few lobster. Not bad. Sunday afternoon we came in with another gag and 2 big Cobia, Had the pleasure of having the Dickinson clan on the boat. They ran into something i shall not describe here. I'll leave that to John's post. There were pictures taken and hopefully they will follow up and post them. Back out on Wednesday to follow up on John's sighting.

Sunday afternoon we had 14 Handicapped Scuba Instruction Students on board. What an incredible course! We are looking forward to teaching wounded vets and other handicapped people how to dive. We asked our instructor if we could bring spearguns along just in case we saw something interesting to shoot. Boy did we..... Jonathan and I saw the biggest Southern Stingray we have ever seen. He had to be 15 to 17 feet across and at least 4 feet high. While that was cool the best part is that there was a school of 50 to 60 Cobia all over him. I only had my small Riffe so I shot a 40 lber and Jonathan shot a 35 lber. One of those sights we won't soon forget.

February 14-15, 2009 

There has been so much action by everyone, our expectations were high going out Sat AM. We got skunked! Brought back something like a trigger and a Porgy. We went back and got into a school of monster permit and then, on a tip from Chukitall, both John H and I bagged the gags. The permit pictured was estimated to be 40lbs plus. Don't know. I do know if I shoot another, I hope I stone it. Brian from Tampa got as determined as anyone I have seen and shot an Amberjack an undetermined number of times, with an underpowered gun, until he got him. Good job Brian!

Friday February 13, 2009

Seas Flat to 2 ft. Water Temp 72 degrees even on the deep ledge. Visibility Better than 60 out deep 40 to 50 inside.

First drop a spot we call Cave of the Bull Sharks. A little dramatic but accurate. There were several Gags up and down the reef. Island Fever was the only one able to pull the trigger. We were swarmed with Reef Donkeys the entire dive. In the crowd, I spotted a big Yellow Jack. I tagged it and floated it up. A second came over to get his share. I shot and 10 (I counted) Bulls shredded him off my line. Thankful they left me the gun and shaft, I left the scene.

Second drop, Jupiter Wreck Treck. Synopsis. 4 gags, 3 Cubera, 10 Permit, 7 Lemon Sharks, 4 Bull Sharks, 1 with 4 Cobia and a Hammerhead roughly 9 feet long. We put none of these in the boat.????

Third drop a, a little spot I call the Catecombes. Prop Man got 2 Gags, I put a nice 20'r in the cooler. Reef Thief went to my secret hole and pegged a 26# Black. Reef followed a Gag up under this ledge and was surprised to see 2 Blacks, a Gag and a small Cubera under there. He nailed the Big Black and we spent the next 20 minutes extracting him from the reef. Fortunately, we had a big green Moray helping us and keeping us on our toes.

Just another wonderful day to be a diver.