Check out the monthly dive/fish report...

[Capt. Jay]

If anyone is interested in the fish/dive report for the west coast area just click on www.rwhs.com and click on scuba central, then click on my boat "Awesome Angler" and read the updated report I do for this web site monthly.. it has pics and details about my trips I take in the Gulf.. enjoy;....Capt. Jay...

[Steel Shootin']

Or, you could cut and past the report here.

[Capt. Jay]

Tarpon Springs Dive Report



Awesome Angler
Plant City, Florida
DIVINNUT@aol.com



10 / 6 / 02



Ahoy there, this is Capt. Jay with this month's Dive/Fish report. The biggest Issue for boaters has been the Weather the month of August. If it wasn’t for just your usual rough seas from thunderstorms it was Tropical Depressions in the gulf making things rough and Dirty for diving.



Well this weekend (10-04-02) The weather finally was good. I loaded the "Awesome Angler" and headed for my Favorite Grouper digging area, which is "Bayport." We launched at about 5:30 a.m. and headed out the channel. When I got to the last marker I noticed something that I am not use to, and that is SLICK, CALM SEAS !!! I have to tell you that Saturday was the calmest I have seen this season. It was slick from morning ‘till we got back to the dock !! As you can see in the pics I sent in, the weather could not have been better.


Well, let’s get down to the report. My first spot I hit as rock piles about 24 miles offshore. We found it no problem with the GPS and put our "Sure Marker" on it to mark it. I anchored on it and with in "10 Seconds" we had a Big Gag on. I mean to tell you a nice 14 pounder !!! Then I lost several more to the rock within the next several minutes. Fred Thomas also lost his first two he hooked. These fish we lost were in the 25 pounds class, at least they felt like it. I landed a 22 pounder this day and the ones that broke me off were pulling harder that this one did !!! We ended up for the day hitting several rock piles 24 to 29 miles offshore and caught 11 keeper grouper, several Spanish Mackerel (*On the bottom*), caught lots of Nice Big Key West Grunts, and 4 or 5 Nice Mango Snapper.


Rod and reel action is GREAT, and it looks like the Grouper this winter should be hot to say the least. These fish I caught were in 40 feet of water, and I believe that they are in closer to shore than that. Next weekend I am going to try 30 to 35 feet of water, so look for my report on that depth next month.




Now lets get to the Diving part of our trip. We geared up and headed down not knowing how the "Vis" would be with all the weather we had. We hit the bottom in 40- foot and we had a good 25 foot "Vis." Not bad and all, and in fact I prefer that vis for spear fishing. I think you can get closer to the fish without them running off like they do with the vis is 60 foot or more. The bottom was loaded with fish. In two dives we ended up with our limit on Hogfish, which was 15 keepers, and speared several Nice Mango Snapper. I speared 2 nice Red Grouper. We seen about 5 or 6 Big Gag's but could not get close enough to spear them I saw about a 25 pounder, but when I saw him he noticed me and "Bolted" out of sight. What a fish that was !!!


There was also Tons of Mango's, Big Triggerfish, a few smaller Amberjacks, lots of nice size Key West Grunts, Lots of Tropicals everywhere and Lots of Spanish Mackerel. These "Spanish" were coming all the way down to the bottom and hitting the baitfish that was all over the rock piles. If there is One Type of fish that is everywhere right now in the Gulf that would be Spanish Mackerel. You get about 8 miles or more offshore and they are Jumping Everywhere. We noticed on this trip that every direction you look you could see Spanish Mackerel jumping. If you wanted to catch them just put a little jig or spoon out and troll, you will get a limit in no time. The limit on Spanish now is "15" per person, so that would be worth your time to go get them while they are so thick out there.

Well, that about wraps up this month's Dive/fish report, but I will be back next month for another full report.



This is Capt. Jay with ...



"Full Tanks and going down,"

Captain Jay Serio,
Aboard " Awesome Angler "

Come visit us at http://members.fishingworks.com




Tip of the Month !

This Tip of the Month is about what you do when you hook a Big grouper...I can say that I loose several fish just about every trip because they get me in the rocks. Here are a few tips that I use when I hook those 20-pound plus fish.


Once you hook, the fish DO NOT DROP YOUR ROD back down to crank line. If you do that it gives the fish slack for a second or two and they will most likely head for the rocks and brake you off.


Make sure your drag is not too loose. You don’t want these fish to pull line off your reel and head back to the rocks. Make sure its cranked down when the line almost has to brake before anything pull off the reel.


Don’t use any less then 60-pound line on your reel. Yes, you can get the fish up with less pound test, but if you want to land more of the 20-pound plus fish it will help you turn him before he head to a rocker area.


If you hook a "big boy" and he does get you in the rocks be patient. Just wait a few minutes. If you try to pull him out with the strength of the rod, you will more than likely brake the line off. Simply put the rod in a rod holder and wait. I will grab another rod and start fishing again, and more times than not the rod will all the sudden start bending down again and pulling which means he has come out and is swimming away. Pick it up and "Stick it to him hard" so he does not head back into his hole again.


The last tip helps also. Once you bait up and drop down go all the way to the bottom, then CRANK UP 2 TURNS. This helps because the bait it not right on the bottom, but it close enough where the Grouper will come several feet up to hit it. The advantage is when he comes up he will hit the bait then turn to head back down. That is when you raise the rod tip and hold it there. You have already moved that fish several feet up because he came up, and you pulled up. It just gives a little advantage to get the fish off the rocks... Well I hope you can get offshore and catch these powerful good eating fish. Good luck if you do.





Capt. Jay with "Full tanks and going down"....






Order Your Dive NUMBERS TODAY !




Additional Dive Articles


" Full Tanks and Goin' Down " - August
" Full Tanks and Goin' Down " - July
" Full Tanks and Goin' Down " - June
" Full Tanks and Goin' Down " - May
Diving Artifical Reefs

Diver Down Flag

Florida's Interactive Dive Sites


BACK TO TOP

MORE DIVE REPORTS

[Capt. Jay]

It worked, but the pics did not come out that is on the report. Oh well.. I learned something new.. thanks Scott..

[inletsurf]

Nice fish Jay. Stoked. Nice report.

This is what works for me, learned it from the bottom fishing expert here at Sebastian...

Don't set the hook with the initial pull, instead...IMMEDIATELY start reeling him upwards as quick as you can to get him out of the rocks. Get 10-15 on him and usually that will do it. Circle hooks work great for this method, although regular hooks work well, too. First response is start pulling him up before they hit the ledge, because they always hit the ledge if they feel something wrong...

[Steel Shootin']

Thanks, Jay. Good report, and nice photo.

[dabulltrouble]

hey jay.where you,d get those shorts at.i have the exact same shorts.wait a minute,you havent been over my house visiting my girlfriend while i,m out of town working have you.when i get home friday night i,m gonna see if my swim shorts are still in my dresser.nice fish.you slingin this weekend.looks rough according to the forecast.sunday looks ok.i might hit some rocks out of homosassa,so just keep scaring those big boys up my way and i,ll take care of them for you...dave

[dlock]

nice ****ing grouper Capt. Jay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[greyface]

Nice job, Cap't.!:cool:

[Capt. Jay]

Big dave.. Im planning a dive trip sunday.. Im taking out the owner of the Lakeland 'Off the wall Divers" dive shop.. he has been itching at the bit about going with me, and wont let up until I take him.. so I figured I better take care of his needs.. He does fill my tanks everyweek end, and does a great job of that... Watch for a full report sunday night after the bucs game about how we did.. We plan on just diving and going out of Tarpon springs, so we probally wont load up on Gag's, unless they are there to spear.. Talk to you soon.. Oh yeah, plan on the spearfishing contest next year.. the wives want to go, so maybe we can get another boat hooked up, and end up with about 8 divers going to the Grounds!!!! Capt. Jay

[Capt. Jay]

Big dave.. Im planning a dive trip sunday.. Im taking out the owner of the Lakeland 'Off the wall Divers" dive shop.. he has been itching at the bit about going with me, and wont let up until I take him.. so I figured I better take care of his needs.. He does fill my tanks everyweek end, and does a great job of that... Watch for a full report sunday night after the bucs game about how we did.. We plan on just diving and going out of Tarpon springs, so we probally wont load up on Gag's, unless they are there to spear.. Talk to you soon.. Oh yeah, plan on the spearfishing contest next year.. the wives want to go, so maybe we can get another boat hooked up, and end up with about 8 divers going to the Grounds!!!! Capt. Jay