Perfect conditions

[Ed Walker]

The nearshore visibility here in town went from lousy to top to bottom in just the past few days. On my fishing charter today we could clearly see the bottom all day, and it was dark overcast and drizzling! We never went more than 4 miles out, never deeper than 30 feet and we caught 13 keeper gags trolling plugs and lost several others. Several times we had gags following those on the hook all the way to the top. Water temp was 67.5. Does it get any better? I was wishin' I was shooting thats for sure. I simply drove from dark spot to dark spot and nearly every time the two lures we had out got hammered by the gags. Thought Id pass it along to the other freedivers. Im booked fishing for the next 10 days so Im pretty much out. I may shoot out after "work" a few days if it stays that clear.

[RichT]

Thanks Ed,
Thats the kind of report Ive been waiting to hear:D

[Spear One]

Lets hope those conditions hold up for the freediving tournament in Bayport! Its a lot more fun when the water is clear.

[Reel Cracker]

Went today off of clearwater and the viz was great. I soon as I jumped in you could see the bottom in 60 feet. Lots of mangos but the grouper were spoty.

[WreckDiver]

Slayem..... Ed

[Ed Walker]

Well after a very short notice charter cancellation Chad, Sneaky Pete, Travis and myself loaded up the 23 Dorado this morning but upon reaching the north end of Anclote Key we realized we werent going far in the heavy north winds and 3 to 4's. Not to be denied we ran to the Port Tarpon Marina, threw the gear into the 31 footer, and out we went. Seas were pretty bad but we were going in the water no matter what. First stop in 24 feet the vis was great and we were greeted with the biggest school of sheepshead I have ever seen. There were hundreds of all sizes. I was tempted to shoot a few of the big dogs but I didnt want my first fish with the new gun to be a sheepy. So I swam around looking thru the sheepshead swarm trying to find a grouper. Wasnt many of them there but I did find a nice 9 or 10 pounder that I dropped from a long ways off with my first shot. Boo Ya!.... right thru the head. The enclosed track gun is as accurate as they say. Shot another one a little smaller but didnt see many other good gags after that.
As I headed back to the boat I decided to let one of the big sheeps have it. Shaft went right thru and out the other side and the fish rolled over dead. By now I the vis had started to deteriorate and the outgoing tide was kicking in a little heavy.
We moved out a little deeper and Chad and I each whacked a few more gags right away then the tide just got to be too much, the vis was worse by the minute and the waves breaking over your snorkel werent helping any. . It was difficult to stay on a spot and when you got a fish you ended up way downstream and had to struggle to get it back to the boat. Soon it was just not worth it. We ended up with 7 or 8 gags and the big sheep before cutting it short. Was good to get in again and Im real happy with my new 50 inch "Florida Freeshafter".

[Chad Carney]

And here are a couple of the fish Ed shot.

The conditions went south pretty fast but Ed still blasted away with his usual style!

Chad