Guests
Nathan Florian, JD Odom, Ketchum, Blueblood, and Big T. The plans for this trip changed literally every day the week prior with people dropping in and out while trying to figure whether to go to the MG or stay shallower. As it turned out all five of the original guys ended up going, and we opted for a single overnighter off the Hatch since spearfishing in the MG has been as slow as I have ever seen it this past month.

Sea Conditions
Flat calm until departure with one overcast day and one roaster. Vis varied from 20'-40' with the exception of one area in 60 fsw where we had 5' at best. The water there was clean without suspended particulate, but so hazy it was almost like your mask was badly fogged up. Water temps were 85*-87*......almost like bathing in your own urine.

Slay Report
As if dealing with Jimmy Z isn't already a handful. Now I have to come to terms with his newfound and powerful psychic abilities. En route to our first spot of the trip he had mentioned how we hadn't really discovered many new wrecks this year, and not less than FIVE MINUTES later the depth finder lit up with a massive bait show over hard bottom. I dropped with Jason Ketchum to check the spot out, and to my suprise saw a 30' wreck sitting bolt upright with anchor line and anchor still off the bow. Oh, there were around 50 8#-30# gag grouper staring at us as we swam to the sunken vessel. For the first ten minutes it was an absolutely chaos of shooting fish, retrieving fish, stringing fish, and reloading until the action shifted to the surrounding hard bottom. For the rest of the dive it was a cat and mouse game of slinging steel at wary grouper. This wreck located fairly shallow is going to be an absolute off the chain freedive spot this winter.

The rest of the trip proceeded normally with gags, red grouper, scamp as well as some very nice inshore hogfish coming off the rock piles and ledges. We pulled a blank on the amberjack although honestly we never hit a wreck or area that normally holds them, and our typical no-brainer red snapper bite at night was nonexistent on this trip. Everyone got along, had some laughs, we all shot fish, and came back safe...... that's the formula for a successful spearfishing trip.

After sixty five dives since the start of June this cat is going into the basement to dry out. The only time I'm getting wet until I meet up with Kitefisherman to go dive South Carolina with Slay Ride and Charlestondivin a couple weeks from now is in the shower or in the pool. 

AJ Suarez