Guests
A four man trip with plenty elbow room, and extra dive tanks. Frequent JR2 guest JaxReefSounder brought along his buddy Mike as well as Steve April and Mike both of whom flew down from New Hampshire specifically to spear on the JR2. They had all met a few months ago while diving the Tortugas on the Playmate.

Sea Conditions
Niiiice! The seas stayed around 1' the entire trip despite the forecast of sloppy conditions on Sunday which never materialized. Vis is still rocking at 80'+, no current, and 72* water temps.

Slay Report
We made a long run on Friday, and stopped on a set of rock piles just east of the MG after the first couple of drops nearby. Good move! The first set of divers came up with stringers of red snappers and gags, and reports that the scaleys were swimming in the column by the hundreds. The anchor was dropped, and a fast and furious bite ensued until the limit was on the boat in less than a couple hours. Onwards to the MG where the mangos went off in kind, and a topped off a very respectable pre-Saturday AM box.

We worked a different area than we normally do, and got into some nice hogs along with the usual MG suspects. What was unusual even for this time of year was the amount of sharks which were spotted on almost every dive. Steve had one charge him on his ascent that he was able to push off within touching distance. JaxReef and I had one cruise us on a safety stop which turned into around a dozen just below us as we got to the dive platform. A couple dives later, I got cruised hard by a couple of sandbars at the bottom of a break at 120 fsw, and circled by another always just out of speargun range on ascent.

Weird bird encounters too. Pelicans and ducks which I have never seen out in the MG in addition to multiple small finches that landed on the boat and on people, totally exhausted from flight.

The marathon continues with trips the next three weekends. Next up is Chum Bucket, Marty Martel, and their hardcore band of Sarasota steelslingers. You got that right, c'monnnn

Left - Six Species MG Slam=gag grouper, red grouper, rock hind grouper, mango snapper, red snapper, and grey triggerfish. Diversity slaying in the great melting pot of the Middle Grounds....

ML- Jax Mike with his best hogfish of the trip.

MR- Capitan Jaime Zurbrick takes a couple of minutes off from flapping his gums to shoot this snouter.

BL-New England Mike with a wicked awesome snappa! How 'bout them apples!

BR- There is nothing like seeing an alpha male hog underwater.....except for stoning one with your Spearfishing Specialties Rhino gun. Check out the shot placement right behind the eye. Thanks, I know, I know. I want to thank my producer, my director, my agent, my hair stylist and to you the fans who made this all possible ..........