Guests
The JR2 Gold Club members of Team Deep Penetration consisting of
TrailsEnd, Gillfish, Hemroid, the Midnight Pass madman Marty Martel, and
one his employees and relatively new spearo Jason. We ate well this trip
with the guys bringing a seafood bisque base that we loaded up with
freshly caught Sarasota Bay shrimp along with scallops and crab. This
was followed up by a venison stew the next day on the way home. The
obligatory 1.75 liter jug of Captain Morgan came aboard although Jimmy Z
behaved himself much better than the last time . This time his screen
pool enclosure was not destroyed in the process of making a rum and
coke.....allegedly .
Sea Conditions
After three blowouts in consecutive weeks in January, nothing less
than a Bering Sea style winter typhoon was going to keep us from going.
A nasty forecast on the scheduled last day however forced us to knock
back our MG trip down to an overnighter off the Hatch. The ride out was
comfortable despite the 2'-4' ft following seas, and then progressively
laid out to calm by the the end of our trip. The 60* water temps
combined with the cold wind during the first half of the trip made for
some brutal conditions topside until the wetsuit could be peeled off,
and the hot water hose turned on full blast. Vis was just slightly below
top to bottom in very blue water with just a bit of suspended
particulate.
Slay Report
It's good to know that slaying fish is like the proverbial cliche of
never forgetting how to ride a bicycle. I can't remember a year with
such consistently unfavorable marine conditions when our first charter
wasn't until February, and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone among Gulf
Coast spearos shorebound with the lack of steelslinging opportunities so
far this year. Regardless we made full use of our two day window putting
boat limits of amberjack to 35# in the fish box, and just under on both
gag grouper to 20# as well as hogs to 5# along with good quantities of
mangos and sheepshead. Another great trip with Team Deep Penetration
whose rowdiness is matched by their hardcore spearing attitude.
Looks like we're tied to the dock until mid-March thanks to the NMFS ,
but the trips will be coming fast and furious as soon as the closure
ends. It's East Coast slingin' for the next weeks. Standing by.....
AJ Suarez
