keezdiver
05-01-2004, 10:16 PM
so yeah...18mph winds, 3-4' seas inside the reef
[phone call]
brian, i have some sweet numbers off bahia honda...wanna go?
"sure jeff, you crazy bastard...lets kill some fish...saturday afternoon"
well we watched the weather all morning and decided that we needed our fix and were feeling just crazy enough to venture out in near "small craft advisory" conditions for some fish.
well, we finally met up at the ramp, and brian decides to tell me that his GPS is actiing up...i'm like...all we need is it to work for a few minutes at a time. after multiple attempts to get it to work, it finally decides to quit completly :mad: we look at the map, and figure the place i want is basically a straight shot off of bahia honda bridge...we'll try dead reckoning!
we shoot behind a few islands, and cruise out under BH bridge, and get met by some very nasty choppy waves as the wind was against the outgoing tidal current. we were soaked before getting more than 1mi from shore. we slowly made our way out to the reef...dipping up and over 4ft swells in brians trusty 18' boat. as we get out to near the place i was planning, the water was still a nasty milky color, with blue water only hundreds of feet away. we roll out to the blue water and find it right in line with the 50ft depth droping to 85ft. we decide to give the ledge a shot, and anchor up.
we drop down the anchor line and get greeted by sparse soft coral and sand...AND the anchor already separate from it's "break away" attachment :mad: we assend and climb back in the boat and move a few hundred feet and try again.
this time we drop down to about 60' and are greeted by two grouper staring at us. we both extended and picked our target...and both missed. brians was a gag and mine was a nice black. we head down slope and the structure is beautiful and vis not bad. i spot a NICE mutton swimming along and drop down and pull. it was a good 1/4 away shot and he started swimming...with me in close persuit. after some evasive menuvers i managed to nab him and string him up. followed by a few minutes of relaxed breathing to calm down after sprinting in 80' of water.
brian connected on a fish or two, and there were plenty to shoot at...but we weren't too interested in moderate sized hogs ;)
as brian shoots at a fish i was standing at attention waiting for the curious onlookers to stick their head out...low and behold one did...a nice black staring right at me. i exhale and aim...creeping towards him, waiting for him to turn a little. he quickly realized the danger and took off...and i persued. i lost him in some coral for a second then i happen to see a moving fin and a dark head under a coral ledge. i aimed for the head and blasted him. he took off and wedged under a ledge, and as i realized he wasn't moving much so i started loading the 2nd shaft remembering Fishkillas advise "2 in the head..make sure he's dead". just then brian shows up with the assist and knocks more steel into him, and i string it up.
DIVE 2
we get back to the boat, both enjoying the fact we decided to come out in the weather. we relax, and recall the fun, then move to the next site a few hundred yards away.
we jump in, and brian yells "i can see the bottom" and we are in 70'....this is good.
i drop down the anchor line and halfway there i can see multiple large fish swimming on the bottom below me!! as i get to the bottom and start assessing my plan of attack i hear brian shoot. i look over and watch a nice black swimming away...and then the shaft drops out. the fish ducks behind a coral head and i anticipate his path and extend...waitiing...he pops out and i blast him through the head. returning the assist from earlier :cool:
after than we kindda split up as i chase after some fish. it was litterally a shooting gallery...target rich environment. muttons, gags and blacks all in one area and not really skitish. as i would chase after one nice fish, a larger one would pop out...i'd change course and then anohter even larger one would show up. it was mind boggling.
i managed to connect on 2 more nice fish, one gag grouper and one black. towards the end i decided to try for some more muttons but i couldn't seem to get close enough.
my head was hurting and i was pretty loaded with fish (on the stringer and what was iin the boat) so i decided to call it quits.
brian will have to tell his side of the story...or at least wait till tomorrow for me to.
the fruits of our labor:
[phone call]
brian, i have some sweet numbers off bahia honda...wanna go?
"sure jeff, you crazy bastard...lets kill some fish...saturday afternoon"
well we watched the weather all morning and decided that we needed our fix and were feeling just crazy enough to venture out in near "small craft advisory" conditions for some fish.
well, we finally met up at the ramp, and brian decides to tell me that his GPS is actiing up...i'm like...all we need is it to work for a few minutes at a time. after multiple attempts to get it to work, it finally decides to quit completly :mad: we look at the map, and figure the place i want is basically a straight shot off of bahia honda bridge...we'll try dead reckoning!
we shoot behind a few islands, and cruise out under BH bridge, and get met by some very nasty choppy waves as the wind was against the outgoing tidal current. we were soaked before getting more than 1mi from shore. we slowly made our way out to the reef...dipping up and over 4ft swells in brians trusty 18' boat. as we get out to near the place i was planning, the water was still a nasty milky color, with blue water only hundreds of feet away. we roll out to the blue water and find it right in line with the 50ft depth droping to 85ft. we decide to give the ledge a shot, and anchor up.
we drop down the anchor line and get greeted by sparse soft coral and sand...AND the anchor already separate from it's "break away" attachment :mad: we assend and climb back in the boat and move a few hundred feet and try again.
this time we drop down to about 60' and are greeted by two grouper staring at us. we both extended and picked our target...and both missed. brians was a gag and mine was a nice black. we head down slope and the structure is beautiful and vis not bad. i spot a NICE mutton swimming along and drop down and pull. it was a good 1/4 away shot and he started swimming...with me in close persuit. after some evasive menuvers i managed to nab him and string him up. followed by a few minutes of relaxed breathing to calm down after sprinting in 80' of water.
brian connected on a fish or two, and there were plenty to shoot at...but we weren't too interested in moderate sized hogs ;)
as brian shoots at a fish i was standing at attention waiting for the curious onlookers to stick their head out...low and behold one did...a nice black staring right at me. i exhale and aim...creeping towards him, waiting for him to turn a little. he quickly realized the danger and took off...and i persued. i lost him in some coral for a second then i happen to see a moving fin and a dark head under a coral ledge. i aimed for the head and blasted him. he took off and wedged under a ledge, and as i realized he wasn't moving much so i started loading the 2nd shaft remembering Fishkillas advise "2 in the head..make sure he's dead". just then brian shows up with the assist and knocks more steel into him, and i string it up.
DIVE 2
we get back to the boat, both enjoying the fact we decided to come out in the weather. we relax, and recall the fun, then move to the next site a few hundred yards away.
we jump in, and brian yells "i can see the bottom" and we are in 70'....this is good.
i drop down the anchor line and halfway there i can see multiple large fish swimming on the bottom below me!! as i get to the bottom and start assessing my plan of attack i hear brian shoot. i look over and watch a nice black swimming away...and then the shaft drops out. the fish ducks behind a coral head and i anticipate his path and extend...waitiing...he pops out and i blast him through the head. returning the assist from earlier :cool:
after than we kindda split up as i chase after some fish. it was litterally a shooting gallery...target rich environment. muttons, gags and blacks all in one area and not really skitish. as i would chase after one nice fish, a larger one would pop out...i'd change course and then anohter even larger one would show up. it was mind boggling.
i managed to connect on 2 more nice fish, one gag grouper and one black. towards the end i decided to try for some more muttons but i couldn't seem to get close enough.
my head was hurting and i was pretty loaded with fish (on the stringer and what was iin the boat) so i decided to call it quits.
brian will have to tell his side of the story...or at least wait till tomorrow for me to.
the fruits of our labor: