PDA

View Full Version : Where do the bugs go at night?


DiveGal
07-27-2006, 03:32 PM
diverik scared me out of diving Ft. Pierce and we went to West Palm. I really wanted to start diving at midnight, just to have done it. Well, like I've seen from other posters, the bugs all go somewhere at night and aren't in or on the reef. :confused: Apparently, everyone else in WP knows this. We were the only boat on the water all night!

In the Keys, I understand that they go out on the grass flats to feed. But we don't have grass flats around here. Are they just out in the sand feeding or is there some special night time lobster party going on somewhere?

Between midnight and 5 am, 3 divers each doing 3 dives caught a whooping 3 lobster. We entered the water for our 4th dive around 5:30ish AM and could tell when the sun was coming up. It was so cool. Everything on the reef was coming to life and the lobster were walking from the sand to the reef. I limited on this one dive. WOW!!!

I went down on the next dive to 'observe' the other two divers. They limited out on the second morning dive. By this time the bugs had made it back to the reef but were just sitting in their holes watching the world go by - easy pickins.

Many were still carrying eggs, but none were short.

Never saw an FWC boat, never got checked, had no line at the ramp, yada, yada, yada... Unbelievable.

I still enjoyed the night diving, but no bugs. Where DO they go?

BTW, we had less that 2 foot seas all night. We were in 50 foot of water with 50 foot of vis and 78 degree bottom temp. Great day!

Dive Safe! Dive Often!

Gators2001
07-27-2006, 07:43 PM
nice, wish i had your luck

Marcus
07-27-2006, 07:48 PM
"Where do the bugs go at night?"

Scampering around like the little sea cockroaches they are.

mjphawk
07-27-2006, 08:14 PM
Well I wish that I had gotten the news letter that there were no bugs at night. You weren't the only boat out there. I was out there also along with 5 other people. We got 19 total all night and everyone except my buddy and I were ready to call it a day even though we still had one more tank to go. That last tank would have happened right at daybreak. Really wish we would have been able to get it, sounds like it would have changed our luck. We did ok but not really good. Got 19 for the whole boat. Oh well at least now I know that night diving for bugs is a BAD idea!

DiveGal
07-27-2006, 08:26 PM
Oh well at least now I know that night diving for bugs is a BAD idea!

Unless we can find where the secret special nighttime lobster party location is, I'd say stick to dawn and dusk on the ledges.

Dive Safe! Dive Often!

inletsurf
07-27-2006, 08:43 PM
You need Jerry Lancaster, aka bubblejunkie, aka "the bug whisperer" to call them in for you.

DiveGal
07-27-2006, 09:11 PM
Ah, so that's the trick.

Flafishn
07-27-2006, 09:38 PM
Have you ever got up in the middle of the night and turn the lights on in your kitchen and Bladow the roachs are running. Its the same with the bugs at night.

DiveGal
07-27-2006, 09:51 PM
Have you ever got up in the middle of the night and turn the lights on in your kitchen and Bladow the roachs are running. Its the same with the bugs at night.

My exterminator took care of THAT problem! :thumps:

I'm thinking that they MUST be somewhere out in the sand. Maybe real far away from the reef. I tacked against the north current back and forth east to west across the reef and checked the ledges when I got them. Nothing. We even got blown off the reef on a drop from a weird west/east mid level current and did a short sand dive - Nothing. I don't have a clue. They definitely are NOT on the reef at night!

Lessons Learned: Next year I'll get some sleep first, get up early and make sure I'm on the water by 5:00 AM for the first light dive! That being up 32 hours straight sucked.

Dive Safe! Dive Often!

LONERANGER
07-28-2006, 02:43 AM
I got my education in bug diving, severeal years ago. We went out at midnight to catch 2 bugs between 3 divers. About 2 o'clock several boats started to stack in about 15' of water off the beach. We went in to check it out. I spoted several in the sand with my light. They roam way off the reef at night to return right before sun up.