Guests
Another trip for Team Deep Penetration including members Trails End (Sam), Marty Martel, and Stu Daneman along with hook and liner Ricky Gauthier. Also aboard was a scaled down crew from the Ocean Explorer TV show (www.ocean-explorer.com) that broadcasts on Fox Sport Net Florida and the Water Channel who came to film the trip for their upcoming Fall season. Nonetheless show host Capt Ron Gauthier and videographer Dave Wilson who normally shoot a show with a crew of four but couldn't due to space considerations on the boat showed up at the dock with enough Pelican cases full of video gear to make Jimmy Z have a cardiac infarction on the spot . Luckily, he hadn't shown up yet, and we were able to get the stuff stowed away and out of sight before His Highness' arrival.

Thanks to Team Deep Penetration for bringing the A-list food on the trip. Dinner the first night was king crab legs so big that they looked like wiffle ball bats followed up by venison stew and pork tenderloin the second. Jimmy Z did eventually see the grain silo sized kettle the guys brought to steam the crab in that I stashed WAY below. He just about shit a live sea turtle when it was pulled out, but the complaints mysteriously ended as he was stuffing his gullet like a Neanderthal caveman .

Sea Conditions
Pretty much flat calm all trip except for the seas going 3' on the ride in. Water temps were 79*-80* with mild current. Vis varied wildly from top to bottom to literally 5'-10' in MG depending are where we were. It was HOT as f*ck out there.........love that night time AC.

Slay Report
After shooting some footage and intros at the dock we left earlier than usual passing the multitude of scallopers in the channel. First stop freediving on hard bottom in 35-40 fsw was followed by visits to select wrecks and rock piles en route the MG. Biggest scores the first day were on a bait show over pothole hard bottom we ran over that produced a boat limit of toad red grouper most over 10# for the dive teams, and a rock pile where Trails End and I got into the most gags of the trip. Once in the MG we were covered up in the usual mangos, scamp, big rock hind and red grouper (that we were already limited out on) with a few hogs and amberjack. Gags were MIA in MG. I don't know if it is the unusual tubular algae that is proliferating and absolutely covering many ledges out there that is driving away the fish but it bears notice. Dave the cameraman does work for Mote Marine Lab, and is going to show the footage of this growth to see if it can be identified and get some ideas on why it is growing out of control.

Want to be off your game on a dive? Just have a cameraman follow you around . On the dives when I was in the water with Dave and Capt Ron I might as well have been throwing rocks at the fish with some of the bonehead missed shots I had . I guess sheer will can't make a 20# hogfish swim up the ledge to you. Hey no problem, we'll get it dialed in once Discovery and ESPN start bidding on us. We'll be kind of like a combo between the love-hate yell fest of American Chopper, and the out on the edge adventure of Deadliest Catch......with gunnel hunching. Wake up Suarez, wake up.

Standing by.....
 

AJ Suarez
 

This is what happens when you dive non-stop, eat prehistoric sized crab legs slathered in melted butter followed by the subsequent massive release of morning ass gravy.
 

 

Testimonial

Another spectacular trip on the JRII with stellar crew, AJ and Jimmy. The numerous slay missions are starting to run together as we seem to be continually drawn to the growing metropolis of the hatch, the blockbuster stringers, and the great times and good ole fashion hospitality we receive on the JRII.

As we drove up the madman and myself realized we hadnt been spearing since our last trip in Feb to the hatch???? and here we are going to be on National TV… What is wrong with us…. A slight indication of how spoiled we have become by the "promise-land" is that we pass on local trips due to the constant comparsions of “we would have shot this much fish in one dive up there.”

The layoff showed some rustiness on a few of my drops and my shoulders are crying for relief from the non-stop load and shoot…meanwhile my brain says book another trip and lets do it again sooner than later!

Sam