Sasquatch
08-27-2007, 11:17 AM
Went out with Leroy of Discovery Diving out of Beaufort on Sunday. Did two back-to-back trips making it a long day.
A real treat was meeting up with Caloosa who was passing through on his trip from Florida to NJ. He'll post up pictures and his own report later, but I get the feeling he was pleased.
Leroy's 'rocks' trips mean anything other than a wreck, which is what most NC charters do. About once a month he schedules a trip specifically for spearing and has some really good numbers.
Our first drop was to 125', where we expected to find some gags. Asked about hogfish, Leroy said they weren't common in this spot. Regardless, Caloosa and I manage to take home person-best hogs, just under 10#.
http://www.spearfishingplanet.com/photopost/data/500/medium/franks_trip_to_nj_august_033.jpg
The next drop was 95' or so, which was a more experimental spot, and after a bit of searching, I managed to get a nice gag. Since I was diving air, I didn't have a lot of bottom time, yet still managed to break my break-away tip and chase a few more fish around.
We had to head in because the other people on the boat (who got grouper and snapper) were only for the first dive, and others had signed up for the later dive. It was a lot of boat riding- we go in, get my tanks refilled, grab a bite to eat and head right back out.
We hit the same general area as before, end up anchoring in sand, but I swim around to the west and came upon a goldfish bowl full of gag. One of them turns around to look at me, and he becomes my biggest gag yet (18#). Another wants to see what his buddy is doing and helps fill the cooler as well. At this point, I'm lamenting doing both free-and line-shafting as I'm tangled up in lines and fish. I get a shot off at another, but just nick him (still getting used to the gun). I head up and ended up being the only one with fish. The other guys didn't find the ledge, and just swam around.
The fourth drop is further inshore, with an area going from 65 to 85'. It looked like it would be a productive area, but it was late in the day, vis was only about 15', and I only managed a snapper. I could have shot a lot of spadefish, but don't know if they're worth shooting. The interesting part of this was the half-dozen or so big barracuda who were very interested in my fish. Interested enough that I poked one with my speargun. What's the best way to deal with them?
I'm trying to figure out how to schedule this with Leroy again, but making it a single three-tank trip instead of a pair. That's a lot of boatriding just to go back to the same spot.
Conditions were really good. Vis was 80' for most of the day. Temps were 83 on top to 77 on the bottom. The current was pretty harsh a couple of times, but it would go on and off.
It was a big success for me- my personal best grouper and hog. I also had a contest with some friends who were on a headboat in Beaufort too- and brought back more fish-per-person than they did.
http://www.spearfishingplanet.com/photopost/data/500/IMGP1663.JPG
It was a treat meeting Caloosa too. :beer:
http://www.spearfishingplanet.com/photopost/data/500/medium/franks_trip_to_nj_august_034.jpg
A real treat was meeting up with Caloosa who was passing through on his trip from Florida to NJ. He'll post up pictures and his own report later, but I get the feeling he was pleased.
Leroy's 'rocks' trips mean anything other than a wreck, which is what most NC charters do. About once a month he schedules a trip specifically for spearing and has some really good numbers.
Our first drop was to 125', where we expected to find some gags. Asked about hogfish, Leroy said they weren't common in this spot. Regardless, Caloosa and I manage to take home person-best hogs, just under 10#.
http://www.spearfishingplanet.com/photopost/data/500/medium/franks_trip_to_nj_august_033.jpg
The next drop was 95' or so, which was a more experimental spot, and after a bit of searching, I managed to get a nice gag. Since I was diving air, I didn't have a lot of bottom time, yet still managed to break my break-away tip and chase a few more fish around.
We had to head in because the other people on the boat (who got grouper and snapper) were only for the first dive, and others had signed up for the later dive. It was a lot of boat riding- we go in, get my tanks refilled, grab a bite to eat and head right back out.
We hit the same general area as before, end up anchoring in sand, but I swim around to the west and came upon a goldfish bowl full of gag. One of them turns around to look at me, and he becomes my biggest gag yet (18#). Another wants to see what his buddy is doing and helps fill the cooler as well. At this point, I'm lamenting doing both free-and line-shafting as I'm tangled up in lines and fish. I get a shot off at another, but just nick him (still getting used to the gun). I head up and ended up being the only one with fish. The other guys didn't find the ledge, and just swam around.
The fourth drop is further inshore, with an area going from 65 to 85'. It looked like it would be a productive area, but it was late in the day, vis was only about 15', and I only managed a snapper. I could have shot a lot of spadefish, but don't know if they're worth shooting. The interesting part of this was the half-dozen or so big barracuda who were very interested in my fish. Interested enough that I poked one with my speargun. What's the best way to deal with them?
I'm trying to figure out how to schedule this with Leroy again, but making it a single three-tank trip instead of a pair. That's a lot of boatriding just to go back to the same spot.
Conditions were really good. Vis was 80' for most of the day. Temps were 83 on top to 77 on the bottom. The current was pretty harsh a couple of times, but it would go on and off.
It was a big success for me- my personal best grouper and hog. I also had a contest with some friends who were on a headboat in Beaufort too- and brought back more fish-per-person than they did.
http://www.spearfishingplanet.com/photopost/data/500/IMGP1663.JPG
It was a treat meeting Caloosa too. :beer:
http://www.spearfishingplanet.com/photopost/data/500/medium/franks_trip_to_nj_august_034.jpg