Don't Stone Me Bro! Jolly Rogers 2


Guests
Veteran JR2 divers Ketchem and Luke along with newcomers Salt Creek Slayer and Vivalesteel. Thanks to Ketchum who brought some killer BBQ ribs and chicken wings from his catering business along with Luke who stepped up with bratwurst and sauerkraut. Do not however consume said Octoberfest delight with mass quantities of green tea because the ensuing gunnel gunch will exit with the force of a reservoir release from a hydroelectric dam. That's what I've heard at least .

Sea Conditions
The forecast Thursday night forced us to scale the trip from the Middle Grounds to a single overnighter off the Hatch. It was a good call because very heavy thunderstorms racked North Florida all day on Friday. Left the dock Saturday morning in 2-4's which laid down a little as the day progressed. The wind absolutely cranked overnight and we found overselves diving in 5-7's all day on Sunday. Just another day at the Magic Kingdom. Vis averaged 30' with 80*-82* water temps and no current.

Slay Report
I am cursed with cobia. Whenever I am fully involved with a fish is inevitably the time when my would be personal best cobe decides to buzz by to say hello. This time on the first dive of the trip over a sinkhole with my line shaft laid out in a snapper well in the cavern. By the time I scrambled to get myself set up for the estimated 80# class bruiser lazily swimming around me the entire time it decided to go pester someone else. What followed was a frustrating cat and mouse chase where the cobia sped up just enough to be out of range until it bolted into the blue leaving me screaming through my reg and pulling my ample hair out. Both Ketchem and Luke ended up with similar instances on subsequent dives.

Most of the rest of the day was spent on a couple wrecks and several hard bottom shows. One of the wrecks that we found a couple years ago just a month after it sank is progressing nicely with ample growth, resident snappers, swarms of bait, and thousands of cruising spanish macks. It has a very tall profile with the top of the wheelhouse only 40' below the surface. I ended up diving it on this trip with Salt Creek and Vivalesteel, and ended up getting some big jacks. The hard bottom spots were areas of scattered lime rock covered in growth ranging from twice the size of the boat to a football field. The key to success in these spots is to be ready to shoot as you are descending and to pick out an individual grouper from above. The goal is a stone shot or solid holding shot so you can reload to shoot your second fish prior to stringing the first. With no structure to hold the fish, any damage you do has to be done quickly before they move off into the sand. It also pays dividends to look into potholes and cracks for red grouper that can leave you wondering how they can fit into cracks seemingly to small for their stocky bodies. We finshed the trip the following day mainly diving on ledges where we found some good sized inshore hogs and supplemented our gag harvest.

Back to the dock Sunday early evening in rain only to discover that it was free chicken day at the marina. Slay by day, consume poultry by night. Standing by....