After work shoredive....almost didn't go

[apexpredator]

Weather has kept us shorebound around here. Today was no different. Wind was really howling. But my wife wanted to try out her new fins. I just bought her a new pair of sporasub variants. Great fin at a super good value (only paid $90 on closeout). Decided to do a shoredive and hit the protected coves and spillways in Biscayne Bay.
Drove the car for a while and checked some new zones looking for acces to some promising areas I spotted on a aerial photo. New areas were a bust. Every acces road has been blocked by the county with gates or boulders stacked to prevent access. Glad to see where my tax dollars go :( . I trust most of it has to do with the A-holes that dump on these desolate spots so I guess the county shares the blame with the retards that have ruined it for the rest of us.
Anyway, I finaly decided around 4pm that my old standby would just have to do. Got to the spot and the wife and I started to get our gear on. "How's the water honey.......Cold!!" she responded. "I think I'll wait here for you if you still want to go." "OK maybe for a quick look...and if there isn't anything interesting we'll head back" I answered.
Well that quick look turned into a quick hour. The longer I stayed in and put in my time the better the fish got. Started shooting everything that looked big enough to satisfy my itch but progressively I got more selective.
Finally when I really got relaxed and started to feel at one with the environment it happened. "Is that what I think it is....is it?.....no.....couldn't be....maybe......yes......YES!!.....relax....relax ....little closer........SSSHHHHHHHHHHNK......the shaft sunk home.......and the flopper engages......I know this because I am moving fast but I am not kicking my fins (RIICUUUUUUUUURA!!!!!!!).
Well here she is.......best cubera I've ever shot. Maybe it's a mangrove.....if it is that is "JUAN BIIIIG DUUUUDE!". Anyone who knows how to tell the difference please advise.
Thanks in advance! Like a good buddy of mine once said to me: "you would be surprised how much your chances of killing something will increase if you get your sorry a$$ off of that couch and go every once in a while!!" It an axiom that never fails to prove itself true. Happy Hunting!!

[apexpredator]

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[apexpredator]

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[ajwaverider]

That's a pretty good sized cubera or mangrove.(I CAN'T TELL THEM APART EITHER) I wish mangroves got that big up here!Did you get that freediving?

[apexpredator]

freediving...on a shoredive. It wasn't very deep but I had been down a while on the bottom looking for a fish I had stoned earlier but slipped off the shaft as I reloaded. It was a big mullet. I figured his scales might catch some of the abient light if he were laying on the bottom but vis vas poor and light was fading. I made repeated long pases on the bottom as it was one of those places where sometimes the top of your head tells you where the bottom is. Torwards the end of one of those dives I spotted mr toothy. He was slipping about, looking around...much as I was. A predator looking for some sign of weakness in his prey. I was in shock for a nanosecond before instinct seem to take over. Still replaying it you know...just shot this fish a little more than two hours ago. Spot is very close to home.

[Mobile Diver]

Nice fish, Apex. We'll have to go in my boat when it finally gets fixed.

[deepdown]

Nice fish Emil. Good to see you don't let the weather mess with you to much. Take care,

G

[biggsy]

Nice Cubera. I hope I get mine someday!

[apexpredator]

Guys...thanks for the responses. By the way I found out how you identify cubera snapper versus mangrove snappers. This is the definitive test. You have to inspect the vomerine teeth on the roof of the mouth of the fish. You must be like WTF are vomerine teeth. These are the rough little basslike teeth that occur in a small patch on the roof of the mouth of both of these species of snapper. The difference is that in the cubera the patch of vomerine teeth are assembled in a inverted "V" like shape whereas the gray snapper (mangrove) has a similar patch of vomerine teeth but these are arranged in a spearlike pattern that is similar to the inverted "V" shape but also have a spearlike shaft extending from the vertex of the V torwards the throat. Probably more than you needed to know about snappper identification but there you go. BTW this dude would have been a record grey but as luck would have it it was a cubera. This however does not diminish it's trophy status to me as it is my personal best snapper to date. Happy Hunting!!

[biggsy]

Good information and congrats on your trophy!