Guests
Speargun, Gradyman, Ironhed, Eric Sullivan, and his buddy Jeff. I am happy to report that the Gradyman curse has been lifted!! After five blown out trips in the past year and a half Len finally got to dive with us. Also big thanks to Ironhed for jumping on at the last minute when one of the guys couldn't make it because of military duty.

Sea Conditions
Ahhh, there is nothing like a 220* heading when the wind is blowing 15-20 knots out of the SW especially when the forecast was for 5-10 knots. The ride out to the MG was brutal heading straight into solid 5' seas of the tightest small period slop imaginable with plenty of 6'-7' rogues to keep everything bouncing in the cabin like we were in pinball machine. We were only able make two drops along the way when normally we make 4-6. By the next afternoon it laid down to what was forecasted the day before, and the final day was glass. Vis varied from 30-80 ft, and currents were very light.

Slay Report
Maybe this should be titled Hurl Report. The new all-time JR2 hurl crown unequivocably goes to "Hurley" Ironhed . Never, and I mean never have I seen anybody blow as much chowder as Ironhed did on the way out. Even after it calmed down the following day he would still hurl after every dive with as much flourish and style as possible. I got to give it to the guy because he never mised one dive. You know the bumper stickers frequent blood donors have that say 2 gallon donor, 3 gallon donor etc? He needs one that says 5 gallon hurler....and that's not all. Ironhed performed a feat of dexterity that would normally be reserved for trapeze artists of the Moscow Circus. That being the only authenticated bow rail gunnel hunch performed in the Western Hemisphere this century. Amazing!

Spearfishing? Yeah we did some of that. Apart from gags which were scattered and amberjack which are still MIA, there was plenty of action the entire trip. Scamp grouper are everywhere, and red grouper are to the point where they have become pests. After the boat was already limited out on reds by mid-day on the second day I dove on a spot with Gradyman, and had filled up my stringer with grovers and pie plate triggers when it was time to head to the roof. Looking down the jug line I could make out no less than a dozen 8#-15# toads that had been swimming around us the entire time we were shooting fish. On other dives red groupers would attack fish that we had just speared like a pack of piranhas. One red grouper bag limit? Nice joke NMFS. Mangos were on every stringer on every dive as is to be expected in summer, almost everyone got at least one big male hogfish with several personal bests, and we put a good ass kicking on the red snappers the second night for those that had the energy left to hook & line fish. The end result was another solid fish box, another solid trip, and the best puke/bottom time ratio in the entire Gulf of Mexico. Standing by.....   AJ Suarez


Speargun with a great dive to start the second day in the MG. He also had an opportunity on the second to the last dive of the trip to shoot a 40# gag or carbo but could not get a clear shot in the system of caves and cracks that it was swimming through.

 

Ironhed takes a break as an All Pro liquid chum dispenser to slay these two fine hogfish.

 

Congrats to Speargun for his second alpha of the trip, and personal best hog to date

Jeff poses with another male hogfish while Ironhed is pictured just moments after releasing at least a gallon of liquid laughter.
 

Gradyman with the photographer's stringer on the left and his own on the right.

Gradyman was getting ready to suit up for the final day of diving when he realized that his spandex style shorts that he wore under his wetsuit was eminating a very evil odor. He vigorously hosed it down with the saltwater washdown, meticulously scrubbed it with a deck brush, and even poured bleach on the shorts but to no avail. With a sigh, he cast his diving britches that had served him well into the briny abyss, a sacrifice to the ocean gods. Pictured here is the offending clothing article moments before slipping down into Davy Jones' Locker .

 

A Thank You from Gradyman

Wow...I made it out on the famous Jolly Roger II...couldn't believe it when we got to the dock and there it sat...while loading we realized why she looked so good...Capt Jim keeps a meticulous eye on her from the moment you get there...especially with MG greenhorns like myself and Ironhed. She handled that nasty ocean Friday like a fullback plowing through the line...I'm grateful to Capt Jim for "keepin on" through it.

A great learning experience once again...freeshafted almost all my fish and if it wasn't for one dive on Sunday with many miss shots I would have to say I did pretty well...it really is tough to descend in 50ft vis and have to play what I call the "MG game" for the big ones...shoot the little guys so as to draw in the big guys, reload while keeping an eye on the big guys, then shoot more little guys and don't get over anxious about the big guys coming in to check you out...then when they finally get close enough "place" that shaft right behind his eye and stone him from 15ft while he's lurking around you. Works best with two spearos executing it together! I need more time on the grounds! All in all an exciting trip with cool places to dive.
(Just a side note: I always thought the Red Grouper Limit was strange, but living on the East coast we don't seem to have as many so I thought maybe it's got "some" merit...What the hell was the gulf council thinking & where did they get thier info???? Red grouper everydive, everywhere, all sizes!!!)

And Finally A Tribute to the Jolly Dog