Ed Walker
08-12-2007, 02:46 AM
Ventured out off Little Palm Island today with family and some of my wifes friends to hunt a few bugs outside the masses snorkeling range. I brought along the guns thinking we may score a few hogs or maybe a grouper. As expected there were 15 boats lined up on the easy to see coral heads in 10 feet of water. The vis was pretty decent so I climbed into the tower and followed the lighter bottom out as far as I could still see it. Ended up being 25feet. I hopped over and saw thru 20 foot vis saw lots of huge coral formations and quite a few fish. Grabbed the gun and started looking around.
One of the first coral heads I saw was hollow underneath so I put my mask into the opening beneath it to check for bugs. Way in the back I saw a big eye looking at me. Pushing in further I saw that it was a nice black. Had to do a thumbshot and even then wasnt sure exactly where Id hit him. When I pulled the trigger it was like a bomb went off. I went topside and watched as tons of sand pumped out every side of the coral head. Hmmm...looking good so far. After multiple dives and some deep crawling in I got hold of a nice 30 inch black. Sweet. Next I bagged fleeing 6 pound cero in mid-column from about 12 feet which I was kinda proud of.
Didnt see much else so I moved over a few hundred yards to a decent rise rise on the meter. Dropped in and saw a bunch of fish, small hogs, a decent mutton and a short black. I opted to follow the black. Sure enough he led me to the dillyhole. 100 feet up current there were grouper all over the place. Gags and blacks. There were at least 10 shootable blacks lurking around this big coral patch. As I found out after a while, there was a dense swarm of pilchards holding tight to the rocks and it had drawn the groupers. I lost one in the 35 pound class after he ran my gun thru the rocks and hung it up, pulling the shaft out. Next I shot a 29 incher a tad high and he too tore off. As he did, a monster black moved to my right and swam off. I hadnt seen him in time. Eventually my bro-in-law saw a black go into a hole in a rock. I looked way back in the hole and could just barely make out 3 big ones in there, one of which had a fresh haircut which was easy to see. Without being able to see much, I aimed an inch below the wound and fired another thumbshot. As I did 2 big blacks bolted out the back. Then....nothing. Hmmm... Next drop I pulled out my shaft with a stone dead black on it. My brother in law scored another black and the girls started getting antsy so we called it a day.
One of the first coral heads I saw was hollow underneath so I put my mask into the opening beneath it to check for bugs. Way in the back I saw a big eye looking at me. Pushing in further I saw that it was a nice black. Had to do a thumbshot and even then wasnt sure exactly where Id hit him. When I pulled the trigger it was like a bomb went off. I went topside and watched as tons of sand pumped out every side of the coral head. Hmmm...looking good so far. After multiple dives and some deep crawling in I got hold of a nice 30 inch black. Sweet. Next I bagged fleeing 6 pound cero in mid-column from about 12 feet which I was kinda proud of.
Didnt see much else so I moved over a few hundred yards to a decent rise rise on the meter. Dropped in and saw a bunch of fish, small hogs, a decent mutton and a short black. I opted to follow the black. Sure enough he led me to the dillyhole. 100 feet up current there were grouper all over the place. Gags and blacks. There were at least 10 shootable blacks lurking around this big coral patch. As I found out after a while, there was a dense swarm of pilchards holding tight to the rocks and it had drawn the groupers. I lost one in the 35 pound class after he ran my gun thru the rocks and hung it up, pulling the shaft out. Next I shot a 29 incher a tad high and he too tore off. As he did, a monster black moved to my right and swam off. I hadnt seen him in time. Eventually my bro-in-law saw a black go into a hole in a rock. I looked way back in the hole and could just barely make out 3 big ones in there, one of which had a fresh haircut which was easy to see. Without being able to see much, I aimed an inch below the wound and fired another thumbshot. As I did 2 big blacks bolted out the back. Then....nothing. Hmmm... Next drop I pulled out my shaft with a stone dead black on it. My brother in law scored another black and the girls started getting antsy so we called it a day.