|
Dead Fish Tell No
Tales. Jolly Rogers 2 FL Middle Grounds |
Guests
An all Arkansas crew organized by the owner of The Dive Shop in Little
Rock, Scott McCrory along with Spearboard member Frog Legs, David, Franklin,
and Dennis. In addition to Little Rock they have locations in Memphis
Tennessee, Joplin Missouri, and Marietta Georgia outside of Atlanta. Check
them out online at www.diveshop1.com. Major props to Frog Legs for bringing
the BBQ rib feast that we ate for two days from the famous Little Rock BBQ
joint, the Cross Eyed Pig !
Sea Conditions
Except for the ride out to the MG, and the night of the second day the
seas pretty much stayed at 2'-4' the entire trip. The water temps have
warmed up to 66*-67*, and the vis is a rocking top to bottom. Upon entering
the very blue water you were able to make out the bottom structure.
Slay Report
We did our usual itinerary diving the entire way out to the MG although
at a much southerly heading than normal, picking up our amberjack at a few
wrecks along the way. Me being the HNIC had to multitask my fish slaying
duties by also extracting anchors tangled up in shrimp nets on wrecks that
charter boat friends of the JR2 have lost in the recent past. Right at dusk
just east of the MG we ran across a large rock plateau with a huge Ed
Sullivan (a REALLY BIG SHOW) on the bottom recorder. Hook and lining
immediately produced big red snapper followed by more and more snapper which
were all vented and released. After thirty minutes of this agony, the spot
was noted for a revist after April 21st, and we progressed onward to the MG.
The following two days produced you typical catch of hogs to 18#, gags to
20#, and big mangos maxing out in the 7#-9# range. With the fantastic vis we
were able to really appreciate the awesome structure and the
coral/invertebrate growth in the area of the MG that we were in. A couple
the guys who had only spearfished in fresh water showed some definite
improvement in their steelslinging between the start and end of the trip.
We'll be seeing the Arkansas boys again later in the summer...bring more
ribs. Standing by.
AJ Suarez
And the winner for the MG
Humanitarian Award goes to....the Jolly Rogers 2! The VHF had
crackled with the call of the Middle Grounds Madman himself, Screen Name
who, with his hand picked band of young whipper snapper slingers wanted
to tie up to us for the night. Remembering the plight of the Cambodian
boat people many years back, we could not turn a deaf ear to these
steelslingers in an open fisherman exposed to the elements, and diving
all weekend in moderately sloppy seas while we dined on a BBQ feast in
warm, dry comfort . The following morning prior to diveable light
conditions, they noted that several of the red grouper they caught on
hook and line had rib bones in their gullets. Not wanting them to resort
to gnawing on partially grouper-digested BBQ, we sent over a care
package of sausage (authentic Steinhatchee road kill), and egg biscuits
. Hard core kudos to Screen who goes at it in conditions that would make
Bering Sea Alaskan crab fishermen crawl into the fetal position and
whimper for their mommy!
|
 |
|
