MichaelBaranows
09-03-2006, 10:13 PM
Saturday we ran out of Matagorda to see if we might be able to spear a few fish. The boat didn’t have any real trouble to speak of running out the jetties. We only ran out to rig I dove a few months ago and shot a small grouper figured I would try it again and see if there were any bigger grouper on the rig. As I was dropping down on the rig I noticed that there where huge schools of bait fish up current of the rig. I was watching the bait and they where being chased but mostly my small AJ and snapper. The water wasn’t too bad until I got down to 90’ were the murk started. I decided to stay just above the murk to see what I might find. As I am move up current I look behind me and notice a snapper. So I turn around and it seems to be a descent side Red Snapper. I raise my speargun at the snapper and it is looking right at me and didn’t give me a great shot so I wait until it turns a little so I can make a shot. Once it turns I squeeze the trigger and hit the fish. It swims down but I feel like I made a good shoot. I pull the fish up with and it is pretty much died with the spear sticking out of the Red snapper eye. I start making my way back up and I don’t see any other fish to shoot. I saw a few smaller grouper that were probably legal size but I figured I would wait until a grow a little before I shoot them. But I got that rig maker for future reference. I also so a fish that looked like a baby Jewfish.
Back on the boat I take a few pics of the Red Snapper I shot. Talk a little trying to figure out which rig we were going to make our next dive on. Made up out minds to head in a direction of two rigs were have dove before and I shot my first fish last year and if someone is on that rig we would go towards another rig we saw a big grouper two months ago. I crew boat is coming to the rig to drop a few guys off so. Dad unties the rope and I slowly motor the boat towards the west since the rig is about 5 miles and the next about 8 miles. I figured the were no need to hurry since we need to do a little off gassing. The first rig had a boat so we continued on to the other rig. No boats are at the second rig so we get up to the rig and tie off. I place a few pig-in-blankets we got at the baker in the motor box so we would have warm meal after our dive for lunch.
Flip over the side of the boat to make our second dive. The plan is to drop to the bottom go around the rig and see if we can find the grouper. I drop to the bottom but the murk is so bad I decide to stay above the murk and see what I can find. I watch dad’s bubbles as he slowly move along the bottom in the murk. He gets to the other corner and then comes out of the murk and didn’t see anything. Not anything really to see on that dive but I decide to shoot a nice size Mangrove Snapper since I am still trying to learn to shoot my new gun. When I hit the snapper it goes crazy. I put the on the stringer and start up towards the boat. Back on the boat we eat lunch and then I do a little snorkeling and take a few pics.
Since we didn’t see much on that rig we plan to head over to another rig that have had a few nice snapper over the last few weeks. Untie the rope and start heading to the West again but I hear an alarm goes off. I shut the motor down and when my dad opens the motor box the is oil going everywhere. A bolt of a handle on the motor boxes has knocked a hole in the oil filter don’t understand how this hasn’t happened before cause the it has been set up like this since the engine was installed 4 years ago. Didn’t have an extra filter so we start to think how we can fix the hole. Dad placed an extra fin strap over the hole and tightened it down with a hose clap which stopped the leak. But the oil was still to low and we didn’t have enough extra oil so we slowly drove towards an anchored shrimp boat to see if we could get some oil. We flagged a placing boat to see if they might have oil or be able to go over to the shrimp boat to get us some oil but everyone on the shrimp boat must have been asleep. I would like to thank the guys on the boat to checking to see if the shrimp boat might have oil. So we slowly motored to the shrimp boat and tied off to the boat of the shrimp boat and wait until the crew woke up to see if they would have so oil to give us. After about three hours a crew member woke up and they were happy to give us a gallon of oil. We gave them a few Gatorades for there kindness. Once we had enough oil we headed about in to port and made it half way back in before our repair began to leak. So then my dad sat in the back of the boat caught the leaking oil in a water bottle encase it started to really started to leak and we needed to recycle it. I had a little bit of a problem running the cut in the jetties but after a minute we were thru the cut and ran back to the harbor. A little after 700 we had the boat in the trailer and heading back home. All and all it was good trip.
My Snapper weighted 18#. Today we got the boat cleaned and new filter and oil so we could try it all again in the morning. We got the boat ready and plan to run out of Freeport in the morning so we don’t have to worry about shallow cut in Matagorda.
Back on the boat I take a few pics of the Red Snapper I shot. Talk a little trying to figure out which rig we were going to make our next dive on. Made up out minds to head in a direction of two rigs were have dove before and I shot my first fish last year and if someone is on that rig we would go towards another rig we saw a big grouper two months ago. I crew boat is coming to the rig to drop a few guys off so. Dad unties the rope and I slowly motor the boat towards the west since the rig is about 5 miles and the next about 8 miles. I figured the were no need to hurry since we need to do a little off gassing. The first rig had a boat so we continued on to the other rig. No boats are at the second rig so we get up to the rig and tie off. I place a few pig-in-blankets we got at the baker in the motor box so we would have warm meal after our dive for lunch.
Flip over the side of the boat to make our second dive. The plan is to drop to the bottom go around the rig and see if we can find the grouper. I drop to the bottom but the murk is so bad I decide to stay above the murk and see what I can find. I watch dad’s bubbles as he slowly move along the bottom in the murk. He gets to the other corner and then comes out of the murk and didn’t see anything. Not anything really to see on that dive but I decide to shoot a nice size Mangrove Snapper since I am still trying to learn to shoot my new gun. When I hit the snapper it goes crazy. I put the on the stringer and start up towards the boat. Back on the boat we eat lunch and then I do a little snorkeling and take a few pics.
Since we didn’t see much on that rig we plan to head over to another rig that have had a few nice snapper over the last few weeks. Untie the rope and start heading to the West again but I hear an alarm goes off. I shut the motor down and when my dad opens the motor box the is oil going everywhere. A bolt of a handle on the motor boxes has knocked a hole in the oil filter don’t understand how this hasn’t happened before cause the it has been set up like this since the engine was installed 4 years ago. Didn’t have an extra filter so we start to think how we can fix the hole. Dad placed an extra fin strap over the hole and tightened it down with a hose clap which stopped the leak. But the oil was still to low and we didn’t have enough extra oil so we slowly drove towards an anchored shrimp boat to see if we could get some oil. We flagged a placing boat to see if they might have oil or be able to go over to the shrimp boat to get us some oil but everyone on the shrimp boat must have been asleep. I would like to thank the guys on the boat to checking to see if the shrimp boat might have oil. So we slowly motored to the shrimp boat and tied off to the boat of the shrimp boat and wait until the crew woke up to see if they would have so oil to give us. After about three hours a crew member woke up and they were happy to give us a gallon of oil. We gave them a few Gatorades for there kindness. Once we had enough oil we headed about in to port and made it half way back in before our repair began to leak. So then my dad sat in the back of the boat caught the leaking oil in a water bottle encase it started to really started to leak and we needed to recycle it. I had a little bit of a problem running the cut in the jetties but after a minute we were thru the cut and ran back to the harbor. A little after 700 we had the boat in the trailer and heading back home. All and all it was good trip.
My Snapper weighted 18#. Today we got the boat cleaned and new filter and oil so we could try it all again in the morning. We got the boat ready and plan to run out of Freeport in the morning so we don’t have to worry about shallow cut in Matagorda.