KJNDIVER
06-21-2004, 03:37 PM
FINALLY!!!! Poisedon finally showed some favoritism my way. After much wind blowing and scheduling conflicts, I was finally able to get wet for the first time since October and I had been itching to try out the new Metal Tech 3 I had gotten for Christmas. Although the trip was mainly a rodnreel adventure with my mom and some of her friends along, I did manage to round up a dive partner and we made two dives.
Our first stop was at WC 171 about 28 miles
out. Water was a dark green with about 4-5 visibility. But to
our surprise we caught some nice snappers right off
the bat. Nothing huge, but we didn’t have to measure
them. Picked up about 5-6 then we overstayed our
welcome as the hardheads and sharks moved in. Went on
out to 222, nada. On the way out we had been
passing some good patches of grass and had mentioned
that we would try them on the way back in .
In route further south we ran across the Mac Daddy of
rips. Grass, trash, boards, trees, you name it, it was
in there. About 20 yds wide extending as far as you
could see in both directions Water was bluer and
clearer on the south side, but not by much. . Said
this was too good to pass up. Started dragging
baits. Pulled baits on that rip for the better part
of an hour with only 1 king to show for our efforts.
WTF ? I remember that we used to always catch ling
and dolphin everytime we ran across these rips and
half the time they weren’t as well defined as this
one, but the last 2-3 yrs, everytime we find one, we
don’t catch anything on them. Not even see anything on
them.
Headed on out to 240 about 45 miles out, started catching some snapper
again, not many keepers, but better than hardheads.
Could have loaded the boat with kings off of the drift
lines. Biggest went about 35 lbs. Decided we couldn’t
take it any longer, had to strap on the dive gear.
I started to chime in on the thread a while back about the currents on the rigs. I started to say that the west side of LA (area I dive on the TX-LA border) doesnt have the current problems that the boys in Venice do because of the Mississippi River and deeper water. Boy would I be wearing egg on my face if I would have said that, as this was one of the more tricky dives I have ever been on.
Current was very tricky as there were 3 distinctly
different currents depending on your water depth
extending all the way to the bottom in 75 ft of water,
and each was equally strong. It was all I could do to
swim against it toward the rig. Visibility was about
20 ft, perfect for hunting conditions. But I had
technical difficulties and fighting the current I only
managed to miss a gag and snapper about 10 lbs
each. My partner (Scubafeet) was able to get 2 snappers, one went 17
lbs the other 15 lbs. Came up, corrected my technical
difficulties and headed further south.
Continued on out to WC 269 about 54-56 miles out. Me
and Dave were dropped on the up current side of the
rig and proceeded to dive. Water was beautiful blue,
visibility was 100 + ft, and after 10 ft down there
was zero current. Forgot to check the water temp, but it must have been around 80 or better cuz you couldnt tell a temp change while in the water. Awesome dive as there were all sorts
of pretty aquarium fish, mangrove snapper and many
other snapper, all keepers, but not worth pulling the
trigger under water. Wasn’t in the water a minute when
ole mister ling come swimming by. I popped him with my
shaft that missed “the spot” by about an inch and me
and the fish proceeded to play out a WWF match under
water and round and round the well stem. Dave came
over to offer assistance only to get his masked
knocked off by the tail whip. Wasn’t long after I
pulled the knife and we cut his gills that I was able
to put him on the stringer. 38 lbs. Dave managed to
get another 15 lb snapper. I capped it off with a
small Graysby grouper about 20 inches long. There
were many large snapper, but with the vis, they were
all hanging just out reach, about 50-100 ft away from
the rig. Tried to swim out to them, but they didn’t
get to be big by being stupid.
Overall, there was 6 of us went out, we ended up with 19
of our 24 fish snapper limit, 6 of our 12 fish King
limit, 1 Ling and 1 grouper. Although we didn’t limit
out, we had to stand on the lid to the fishbox to
close it. If we had kept anymore, we would have had to
find more room. Not exactly a spectacular trip, but
still way above average and a good trip. Seas were
about 2 ft when we left and settled to just barely a
foot the rest of the day.
Waiting for pics to be emailed and sent to me, when I
get them Ill pass along.
Our first stop was at WC 171 about 28 miles
out. Water was a dark green with about 4-5 visibility. But to
our surprise we caught some nice snappers right off
the bat. Nothing huge, but we didn’t have to measure
them. Picked up about 5-6 then we overstayed our
welcome as the hardheads and sharks moved in. Went on
out to 222, nada. On the way out we had been
passing some good patches of grass and had mentioned
that we would try them on the way back in .
In route further south we ran across the Mac Daddy of
rips. Grass, trash, boards, trees, you name it, it was
in there. About 20 yds wide extending as far as you
could see in both directions Water was bluer and
clearer on the south side, but not by much. . Said
this was too good to pass up. Started dragging
baits. Pulled baits on that rip for the better part
of an hour with only 1 king to show for our efforts.
WTF ? I remember that we used to always catch ling
and dolphin everytime we ran across these rips and
half the time they weren’t as well defined as this
one, but the last 2-3 yrs, everytime we find one, we
don’t catch anything on them. Not even see anything on
them.
Headed on out to 240 about 45 miles out, started catching some snapper
again, not many keepers, but better than hardheads.
Could have loaded the boat with kings off of the drift
lines. Biggest went about 35 lbs. Decided we couldn’t
take it any longer, had to strap on the dive gear.
I started to chime in on the thread a while back about the currents on the rigs. I started to say that the west side of LA (area I dive on the TX-LA border) doesnt have the current problems that the boys in Venice do because of the Mississippi River and deeper water. Boy would I be wearing egg on my face if I would have said that, as this was one of the more tricky dives I have ever been on.
Current was very tricky as there were 3 distinctly
different currents depending on your water depth
extending all the way to the bottom in 75 ft of water,
and each was equally strong. It was all I could do to
swim against it toward the rig. Visibility was about
20 ft, perfect for hunting conditions. But I had
technical difficulties and fighting the current I only
managed to miss a gag and snapper about 10 lbs
each. My partner (Scubafeet) was able to get 2 snappers, one went 17
lbs the other 15 lbs. Came up, corrected my technical
difficulties and headed further south.
Continued on out to WC 269 about 54-56 miles out. Me
and Dave were dropped on the up current side of the
rig and proceeded to dive. Water was beautiful blue,
visibility was 100 + ft, and after 10 ft down there
was zero current. Forgot to check the water temp, but it must have been around 80 or better cuz you couldnt tell a temp change while in the water. Awesome dive as there were all sorts
of pretty aquarium fish, mangrove snapper and many
other snapper, all keepers, but not worth pulling the
trigger under water. Wasn’t in the water a minute when
ole mister ling come swimming by. I popped him with my
shaft that missed “the spot” by about an inch and me
and the fish proceeded to play out a WWF match under
water and round and round the well stem. Dave came
over to offer assistance only to get his masked
knocked off by the tail whip. Wasn’t long after I
pulled the knife and we cut his gills that I was able
to put him on the stringer. 38 lbs. Dave managed to
get another 15 lb snapper. I capped it off with a
small Graysby grouper about 20 inches long. There
were many large snapper, but with the vis, they were
all hanging just out reach, about 50-100 ft away from
the rig. Tried to swim out to them, but they didn’t
get to be big by being stupid.
Overall, there was 6 of us went out, we ended up with 19
of our 24 fish snapper limit, 6 of our 12 fish King
limit, 1 Ling and 1 grouper. Although we didn’t limit
out, we had to stand on the lid to the fishbox to
close it. If we had kept anymore, we would have had to
find more room. Not exactly a spectacular trip, but
still way above average and a good trip. Seas were
about 2 ft when we left and settled to just barely a
foot the rest of the day.
Waiting for pics to be emailed and sent to me, when I
get them Ill pass along.