South Carolina Revisited

[kitefisherman]

I left Charleston this morning, drove all day stopping on the way at my taxidermist, had dinner and drinks with a friend and just walked in the door. Instead of the story and then the pics, let's do it the other way around, so that I can go to bed. All pictures are from Sunday.

Here's one of Les and a hog. This was the smallest thing Les shot at Sunday. I'll let Les tell you about it. :cool:

[kitefisherman]

My personal best 15.25 pound red snapper from my first dive and one of my gags from my second dive

[kitefisherman]

On dive 2, I beat my former personal best lobster twice with the 8.25 pounder on the right followed by the 9.5 pounder on the left. I broke the 8.25 pounder's carapice forcing it into my lobster bag, so I had to end my dive after catching the 9.5 pounder. Both lobsters were snared on the knuckles using the technique that Shooter Dan taught me .

[kitefisherman]

On dive 3, I shot a South Carolina sampler of gag, sheepshead, hog and red snapper. I also snared 2 lobster including a 7 pounder.

[kitefisherman]

My lobsters put into perspective with a LP 95.

[kitefisherman]

and a Cressi Gara 2000 which I broke chasing down a big red snapper that ultimately threw my freeshaft.

[aue-mike]

Congrats.................bastards :)

[ScottZeagle]

Good stuff, Kite!!!

Congrats on a good fruitfull trip!!!

Scott

[dagodiver]

Well done.
Sweet.
Dago.

[biggsy]

Nice pics Kite. Looks like you guys had a great time. Congrats on your new personal best lobster and american red. Can't wait to hear the stories!

[Reefrat]

Damn Kite you got to wait till I finish my toll booth at the state line before posting those pics or I never get enough dough to but my 50'+ powercat!

;)


Awesome fish and pics as always.

[Stretcharmstrng]

John,

Had a blast hunting w/ you. Glad you made it back ok and hope you and your "friend" can come up soon.

Thanks again Slay Ride for an awesome day with a flat ocean and good friends.

The other John.

[Slay Ride]

The only reason I took a picture of the hog is to document how many have 4 ray fins on the dorsal. I've never heard about that until recently. Going back to previous pictures, I don't have any big ones with 4, all have 3. Just an interesting picture more than anything.

Nice couple days out there. Glad you made it up John. Congrats on a couple nice lobsters. That will make an awesome mount. Your taxidermist must love it everytime you come visit me. Few glitches this trip. 6 weeks of storms has left the boat and my trigger finger not knowing exactly what to do.

[Charlestondivin]

That late start on Sat kind of hindered us a bit too. We couldnt get the boat up to speed and it kicked our asses trying to figure out why. Finally figured out that all those weeks of not running had the props covered in barnacles! She ran like a champ after we scrubbed them off.

I screwed us up on our first deep dive, Sorry John. I didn't see the ledge in front of us. Only saw all the fish the other way.

Shooting was off too. Not sure if it was the lack of trigger time or getting familiar with the new gun. Gave a big hog a haircut and lost a real nice gag due to poor shots.

Good to shoot with you again John.

[kitefisherman]

Originally posted by Slay Ride
The only reason I took a picture of the hog is to document how many have 4 ray fins on the dorsal. I've never heard about that until recently. Going back to previous pictures, I don't have any big ones with 4, all have 3.

I went and looked, and my 23 pounder that's at the taxidermist had 4 rays. The fish is being molded so the mount should have 4 rays.

[Stretcharmstrng]

Ash posing w/ some of you alls bottom fish.

and of course my new masterpiece of a gun...we'll not speak about the line release as I fixed it today and will not have anymore problems with it on future trips...







everythings a learning curve.

John.

[kitefisherman]

I arrived at Les's home in Mount Pleasant early Friday evening. We met Rob and proceeded to load the Slay Ride with all our gear for the next day. We also solved a couple mechanical problems with the boat. Les and Rob are both very resourceful and adept at marine problem shooting and solving - much more so than I am. It is comfort to have them aboard. Les works and spends his ass off maintaining Slay Ride; even so, things don’t always work as you would expect them to - it is a boat. Les and I arrived home to a dinner of steak and fried shrimp that he had caught the night before. The shrimp were some of the best that I have ever had - moist, plump and flavorful.

Saturday, we (Les, Rob and I) did two deep (180 FSW) dives. We saw several gags and scamps around 20 pounds or so, but none of us shot as well as we usually do. On the first dive, I saw Rob freeshaft a 30 pound gag under a rock- an explosion ensued and Rob was left with a severely bent shaft. On the second dive, all 3 of us saw and were closing the gap the only alpha male hog we saw that day. Before Les and I could shoot, Rob gave the hog a haircut, and it ran deep into a cave. Of course, Les and I gave Rob a hard time, but the way we were shooting he may have done Les and me a favor by being the goat. :D The three of us shot a combined total of 2 scamps and a hogfish on our two deep dives with run times of over two hours about 70% of which was spent in deco. We had planned the dive as a team, descending, hunting and ascending a line together. In the poor vis and current, much of our attention was devoted to just keeping track of each other and much less on pursuing and shooting. We didn’t get many fish, but everyone got back safely and together. I also saw several lionfish which was a first for me. Fortunately, the fish bit well on rod and reel and we put a number of scamps and vermillion snappers in the boat that way during our surface intervals. Rob and I did a third dive in 130 FSW. Although there were a lot of fish, there wasn’t anything worth shooting. Not exactly the day we planned, but I had a great time with good friends. Plus, we had proven that we were compatible working as a team at depth under difficult conditions. There will be other days that the fish will be there. Les and I arrived home to dine on fried venison cube steak, spaghetti with a spicy ground vension tomato sauce, garlic bread and freshly baked bownies. We also sipped on some bourbon as our remaining energy ebbed out of us after dinner.

[kitefisherman]

Sunday was a new day with new faces. Les and I met John (Stretcharmstrng), his girlfriend Ashley and their three friends at the boat. It was John’s birthday, and Les was planning on putting John and his entourage on some freediving spots while Les and I scuba hunted nearby reefs. This presented a bit of a challenge given the poor visibility that we had encountered the previous day. Fortunately, Les was able to find acres of glass minnows being terrorized by spanish mackerel and birds and several weedlines. John and his crew couldn’t have been any nicer, and on the way out we talked guns, rigging and freediving. John also showed me the enclosed track bluewater gun that he had built utilizing Aimrite hardware. I was impressed.

Les put the three guy freedivers on a weedline and me on an underwater ledge/island in about 100 FSW. Meanwhile, the girls freedove and snorkled around the Slay Ride as Les kept watch from the fly bridge. A school of amberjack hung out around the boat and the girls were taking shots at them with John’s Biller. Upon my arrival at the bottom, I saw several gags of around 20 pounds and some nice red snapper. I quickly freeshafted and strung a red snapper. This was going to be one of those epic South Carolina dives. There were lots of worthy targets and the fish seemed to be cycling in and out giving me plenty of opportunities. I shot a gag, and he threw my freeshaft. I gave a red snapper a haircut. I shot a real nice red snapper that worked my freeshaft through itself so that only the sharkfin loading tabs stood between it and freedom. Fearing that escape was imminent, I spun and lunged at the fish as it swam in several circles around me just out of reach. Finally, the tabs slipped through the fish and it ran and hid in a deep crack. I was so pissed and frustrated knowing that I had more than enough time to pull my spare shaft from its quiver and put a second shaft in it. In fact the fish might have taken longer to pull off had I not been chasing it. Highly irritated with myself for having blown so many opportunities, I kicked off the bottom back towards the ledge and I heard a slapping sound. I looked down and saw that my Cressi fin had broken in half while I was pivoting on the bottom - just great. Kick, slap, kick, slap I went down the ledge missing at least a couple more fish as I went. I soon lost the ledge and the fish and was losing my remaining patience fighting the mild current with one and a quarter fins. Heart pounding and full of adrenaline, I surfaced with my one fish - a 15# personal best red snapper - but feeling like the world’s biggest under achiever. Les dropped me back on the spot to burn the rest of the 2/3 tank that I started with. I managed to ding and miss another three nice fish before I came up fishless. I needed to calm down and regroup.

Les and I traded places. I ran the boat while he back dove the reef. I saw Ashley descend and aim and shoot the Biller. She raced to the surface handing her friend DeeDee the gun as I watched an AJ circling below on a shaft. As I climbed down from the bridge, I saw the AJ tear off and escape through Ashley’s arms just as she was about to deliver it to me at the tuna door. Frustrated but undeterred, the girls asked me to reload the Biller and this time asked for a second gun so that DeeDee could put a kill shot on the next AJ. I happily complied loading both guns. These girls came to play! Back on the bridge, the girls told me that they heard a cannon go off underwater. As Les was on the bottom 30 yards away, I told them that it was either a big fish or a shark - and probably a big fish as I saw the look on the girls’ faces. Little did we know of the battle that was being waged underwater - but that is not my tale to tell.

[Undertow]

Little did we know of the battle that was being waged underwater - but that is not my tale to tell.

What a tease! I'm on the edge of my seat here :D

[kitefisherman]

Let’s just say that Les thought that there were still more fish down there, so back down I go on the same spot with Les’s fins on. Much to my amazement, it was almost like the movie Groundhog Day. The gags were back and the red snapper were cycling in just as before. None of the fish were sporting divots. I had switched to lineshaft to await the return of my freeshafting abilities. Quality of shots became far more important than quantity of shots. I tried to remember everything that Kevin Bruington had ever said or wrote about closing the gap. I stoned and strung one gag, and soon another joined him on my stringer. This was starting to be fun again. As I swam over a deep crack in the reef, I saw antennae. I removed my snare from my gun and bagged a 5 pound lobster. I went back and found a bigger one and pulled him from the deep crack by the knuckle at the base of the antenna that I had snared. As I grabbed the other knuckle, the lobster kicked hard and the knuckle broke off in my hand leaving the lobster free in front of me. Somehow, I managed to grab the bug with both hands and tried to push the what was easily the biggest lobster that I had ever caught into the round hole on my lobster bag, but it wouldn’t fit. Knowing that there was another large lobster in the crack, I didn’t want to ascend. I tried again and managed to force the lobster through the hole cracking his carapice in the process. I grabbed my snare and went back to the crack and found and snared another big lobster. This one was even bigger than the last! Knowing that I had no other option, I tucked my gun under my arm and ascended with a death grip on the big lobster in my hands. I felt somewhat redeemed.

After I was back in the boat, we ran over to the weedline to check on the guys. They had shot a couple small dolphin and saw a wahoo at close range. Unfortunately, it wasn’t close range to John and that cannon of his. However, John did manage to shoot a nice barracuda that I finally managed to gaff.

We ran to another reef that was shallower and where Les was marking fish at midwater so that the guys could freedive it. We put Les and a couple of the freedivers back in the water. John and Ashley stayed aboard and caught vermillions and porgies. The freedivers never found the fish, but Les came up with a nice gag and that four-rayed hog. Not satisfied with what he was seeing on the bottom, Les ran back to our original spot to backdive it for the third time and drop the freedivers on another nearby weedline. It was Groundhog Day again. A 20 pound gag swam up to greet me, and I put my lineshaft in its shoulder and out its neck. As the gag danced with half of the shaft protruding from each side, I could clearly see the barb extended. Not wanting to put any pressure on the line or the shaft, I swam hard on the gag, but somehow just as I got there he shook, the shaft fell out and he was gone. Groundhog Day indeed - even with a lineshaft. As the red snappers circled back in, I shot and strung a 21 incher. Swimming towards the crack, I snared a 3 pound lobster and found a 7 pounder which I managed to botching the snaring of. The hole was silted out, so I swam over 20 feet and shot a 6 pound sheepshead. As I was stringing the sheepshead, I saw a 17 or 18 pound alpha male hog shoot out from the ledge acting more like a spooked gag than a hog. The male disappeared out over the sand, and I knew better than to chase him. Most of the silt in the hole had cleared, so I went back and snared and bagged the 7 pound lobster. As I turned around, I saw an 11 pound female hog moving down the ledge away from me. As I gave chase, I gave her a haircut and she jumped over the top of the ledge and holed up on the other side. I reloaded and shot the motionless hog under the 1 foot ledge from 2 feet away - and missed. Frustrated, I grabbed the shaft and drove the point and barb through the hog’s head. After stringing the female, I swam back over the ledge and saw the alpha male circling just on the edge of my vision. I moved in his direction, and he was gone. I saw a 17 pound gag sitting just off the bottom off the ledge. I closed the gap and shot only to see an explosion of sand and a large gag bolting for the sand. I followed my line through the silt around one rock and then another and then deep under an 8 inch ledge. I could feel a fish struggling on the other end. I slowly and steadily pulled on the line and finally saw the end of my shaft. Grabbing my shaft, I muscled my gag out from underneath the ledge and onto my stringer. I looked at my pressure gauge and it was time to leave the only spot that I had dove that day. The alpha male and I will have to play another day. Les is saving the spot for the Spearboard Open, so we have a date and maybe he will calm down and fatten up a bit between now and then.

[PatMyGreen]

Awesome report man, those guy in the Carolinas seem to be sitting on some good stuff for sure. Glad to hear that Sunday turned things around for you too!

[kitefisherman]

Thanks Pat. I saw that you had a great second day too. It looked like you got into a lot more hogs. I think that I only saw 4 the entire weekend. It is amazing how many quality fish they have up there.

Thanks to Les and Rob for all the time, effort and planning that went into this weekend. I know that trips like these do not happen by themselves. Despite my frustration with my performance given the many opportunities that were placed in my lap, I had a great time and enjoyed diving and visiting with you once again. Thanks also to Les and his wife Jan for opening up their home to me, making me feel like family and feeding me like a king.

I can’t wait to come back!

Les, I think we are waiting to hear a story.

[Slay Ride]

I'm headed deer hunting right now and off to the Bahama's tonight. I guess it will have to wait...............

[SPEARIT]

Kitefisherman
I forgot to check how many of the 22 hogs they shot Sunday had 4 rays, but the 13lber I kept and had for supper last night did. We pretty much dissproved the "One Alpha Male on a spot" theory also, based on what came off that ledge.
If you ever want to travel about 3-4hrs farther, give me a call.
Tom

[Slay Ride]

The mojo was gone this weekend. 3 divers and two days, the training wheels needed to be put back on. The bike was getting squeaky. Rob (charlestondiving), John (kitefisherman) and myself were just "off" on our shooting. Fish were at the golfcourse but we couldn't get off the tee box. One amazing dive did occur for me. Cobia, cobia, cobia. Not 1 or 2, even a pod of 5-10. There were hundred upon hundreds. Circling me like a huge group of amjacks. I actually didn't even pay attention to them as my mind "assumed" they were AJ's. These were no ordinary Cobia's. They were monsters on crack. I'm probably a bad judge of size, but I would say none were less than 40 lbs, most going 60-80 with a few 100+ lb class mixed in there. A well placed freeshaft went to the head of one nice one. Not the biggest one as I was a little nervous with these big fish everywhere. I had lost a shaft earlier to a grouper, so now I'm without another load. For the next 12 minutes I huffed and puffed after him spiraling 6 inches from my hand. Just barely kicking his tail. Great shot, close to stone. I thought I might have a heart attack. 15 minutes. I look down and see my shaft from earlier on the rocks. Reload and yep you got it, he's gone. My frustration lead to an insertion of a Fred T powerhead. Being in federal waters I decided to shoot my first powerhead. Swack. Straight to the head. Nothing.....nothing.....nothing.... Swim towards the shaft and BOOM. I swam away. Leaving shaft and all. Throughout my ascent the cobia followed. Taunting me even more. Empty stringered, devestated, they mocked at my every kick of a my fins. LP 95 drained after 6 minutes of deco. My days were done. I could do nothing right. I can't wait for hurricane season to be over. It's wearing on my every nerve!!!

[biggsy]

Damn Les. The rust has been shaken off, you will get your game back on. The swarm of cobia sounds pretty sweet! I have never seen anything like that.

[Mobile Diver]

Great trip. Great stories. I need to dive up there sometime.

[Spearo_Fla]

Nice bugs! Nice Hogs! Nice Story! But Damn those Cobia, wish I was there!