Guests
Frog Legs, Ex Frog, Scott McCory who owns The Dive Shop which has multiple locations in the South (can you say SBO sponsor ), and his buddy Kevin. It was good to finally get Frog Legs in the water after two of his trips getting blown out along with Ex Frog, an ex-Navy Seal who has defended our country, and has gotten permanently injured doing it.

Sea Conditions
As close to perfect for mid March. Flat seas for most of the trip, no current at all with the half moon, 60-80 foot vis in the MG, and water temps in the upper 60's. Air temps were COLD, but nothing that a TruWest parka, and a hot water deck hose down the wetsuit couldn't handle.

Slay Report
We got an early start, and were able to get a couple rounds of local dives in before heading to the MG which produced the normal (for the Hatch) nice stringers, and left us itching with the hundreds of out of season red snappers we saw on every spot. The area off Steinhatchee has an amazing fishery, and if you can get over the fact that you won't shoot a monster hogfish, or carbo, there is no reason to head all the way out to the MG to get a very repectable catch. You should expect gags to about 30#, hogs to 9#, and amberjacks to 50# all in much greater quantities than you find in the MG, plenty of mangos not to mention red snappers (in season) out the ass. Most of the spots are limestone rock piles and wrecks where all the action is compacted in a small area which avoids the marathon swims that you sometimes need to do in the MG to be successful. Don't get me wrong, I love diving the MG, but there is something to be said about diving an 80 fsw rock pile in summer with 100 good sized gags zipping in all directions.

After a half hearted attempt to fish because of everyone coming in from out of state, and the extravagant Jolly Dog feast, most people were in their racks dreaming of the HOD's soon to come. Being that this was a four man charter, Saturday allowed for some serious dive rotations facilitated by Jim Zurbrick only doing only one dive. We were in an area that typically produced mangos and gags, and it did not disappoint although this was where I nabbed my biggest hogfish year to date pretty early into the trip.

It's mid day Saturday, I'm tooling along the ledge loving my new triple freeshaft gun, and wearing out the mangos. A gag appears on the low side, and I launch a mid range shot that strikes, and lodges in its skull. Knowing that the fish wasn't going to shake off, I leisurely swam to it when out of the corner of my peripheral vision I see the Boss Hog swimming down the ledge. You know he's a mack when he has a hump on his head, and some of his teeth are missing or chipped from being around so long. I left the grouper on the shaft along with my stringer right there on the bottom, and after a quick pursuit, let fly with a shaft that hit the hogfish in the lateral line mid body. The sucker was toast, but was still trying to swim rapidly upwards to the surface with his unstoned back half. I was able to grab the end of the shaft like an umbrella in a thunderstorm after it was bird dogged by Frog Legs who was up the ledge 100' from my original position. Thank you sir, I owe you one. After seeing this blacksnouter on the deck, the call was for more big hogs! Ex Frog came all the way from Philly just for an MG alpha male, and we weren't going to let him down.

We left fish to find fish (something that you should never do under most circumstances) in order to move into a more productive hogfish area, and I guess in retrospect it was the right thing to do. Everyone got at least one nice hog. Scott McCrory eclipsed his personal record twice, and yes Ex Frog, albeit late in the trip got what he was looking for.

Saturday night was so calm that the boat literally did not rock or move one iota on the stern anchor the entire night. The mangos and gags went off on hook and line highlighted by Kevin nailing two beautiful gags back to back. I'm looking forward to the all night mango showdowns as the water warms up along with some freeline slamming kings and blackfin tuna.

Sunday was more of the same with the cherry on this steelslinging sundae being provided by Jimmy Z dropping Frog legs, Ex Frog on myself on a commercial fishing boat wreck just east of the MG. With only 1300 psi to start in 120+ fsw, I had just a few minutes to bust up a nice gag twenty feet off the bottom with the lineshaft on my Rhino gun, but what was remarkable about this dive was the amount of red snapper on this wreck. Thousands of them, milling about knowing damn well they are as safe as a cow in India...at least until April 21st. Any idea where Jimmy Z's hook and line charter will be that weekend ? My ass will be on the reefs of steel in LA with Don B, Kitefisherman, and Bubblejunkie looking for those Cajun snapper HOD's.

This was another great trip with plenty of elbow room that is normal on a four man charter. Lots of laughs, and SERIOUSLY GOOD Arkansas ribs brought by Frog Legs. I hope Ex Frog finds his sea pussy (if you weren't there then..... awww forget it )

Slaytistics- based on a six man double rec bag
*One diver less than normal. Jimmy Z only dove a couple times, and Kevin did not dive on Sunday.

Gag Grouper=30
Red Grouper=13
Mango Snapper=86
Amberjack=3
Hogfish=19

AJ Suarez