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Old 07-05-2006, 11:50 AM   #1
JLittle44
John Little
 
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Location: Houston, TX
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Freeport 7-1-06

Hey everyone,

Well, we were back at it this weekend. NOAA called for 2-3’s with 10-15 gusts out of the north. The radar looked like hell, but hey, we’re optimists!

We planned to head out early and get back in early. So I’m sitting at the dock at 6am and my boys are late. WTF? They finally show up with a story about how they left the house without the GPS. This is an essential piece of gear for us, so I was more than happy they had taken the time to add another 20 miles to their trip turning around to retrieve it.

The ride out was smooth. 2-3’s? Heck, more like 1-2’s with occasional glass and hardly any wind to speak of. The sun busted out and promised to deliver a perfect day. We passed maybe a half-dozen rigs with brand new shinny “Do Not Tie Off” signs. Finally we tied off and dropped the safety line. Water vis was easily 60’ from the surface and there wasn’t any current to speak of. Grab your guns!!!!

We decided to dive in two’s and leave someone on the boat at all times. Nice huh? We think of everything…

I roll off the back, swim to the rig, and drop. I load both bands on the old 54” Biller and as soon as I look around, there is a nice mangrove coming up. Being the old pro that I am (yeah right) I cowboy the bad boy off the hip and nail him solid. I thought. He goes nuts and starts yanking every which way but up. I was still in a great mood at this time however, so I pull to him and decide to end the struggle quickly with my trusty stiletto. No more fighting for mister fishy! That bad boy is destined for the deep-fryer and I’m stoked. I check my computer and see that I’m not even at 30 feet, dropping slowly, haven’t used much air at all and I’ve already got a great fish on my hip. Life is good!

Okay, no more cowboy stuff, it’s time to level off and dive properly. I load both bands again and drop a little faster down to about 85’. Whoa!!! It got a little chilly. “I’m happy at 75’,” I think to myself, “there’s plenty of fish there.” Plus the visibility dropped to shit at around 90’ or so. Well, in truth, there weren’t a lot of fish there. There are thousands of fish everywhere, but nothing I really want to shoot. For me, that translates to “no fish.” I draw a bead on another nice mangrove and drill him with my very first perfect shot. Stoned him!!! Life is good!!! He’s on the stringer as well and I’ve still got loads of bottom time. The next #1,200 of air was spent clumsily trying to stalk the best snapper at that depth. I never got a shot at her. That craggy b*tch would swim up, drop down, disappear, change directions… it was a mess. I’d wait for her to pop out on one side of the rig leg and she’d show up behind me laughing. Okay, so maybe I still need practice… Oh well, still a great dive and I’m back on the boat with two in the box listening to tales of a giant Warsaw I never saw.

Drop number two: I’m thinking to myself that I need to drop down fast, shoot the biggest fish down there, and then grab a few more snaps on the way back up with a slow ascent. Good plan right? I drop to 105’ and damned its cold. The vis was a lot better, but still maybe 25’ or so in any direction at that depth. I nail the biggest snapper down there, a nice red and another great shot! As I’m pulling the stoned fish back to me, he suddenly starts to get smaller… and smaller… and WTF!!!!! I was pretty disappointed in myself. Legal, but still a small fish that I could have caught with a Zebco, and that ain’t why I’m down here. To make matters worse, there is a nice grouper heading up a leg to my right and I’m stuck dealing with this little b*stard. The rest of the dive was pretty much spent some terrible shots and clumsy and unsuccessful stalks. Michael swims over with a nice AJ. “That’s odd,” I think, “is he gloating?” Michael didn’t have a stringer with him so he puts this angry fish on my stringer live and it immediately starts slapping me in the face with his tail… Well, my computer is flashing red anyway. It gets a little pissed off when I’m at 100’ in Deco, and only have #700 left. I guess every dive can’t be perfect. It’s time to head up and shake it off. During my deco/safety the AJ seems to sense the two-dozen 4'+ cudas checking us out and goes nuts again. It occurs to me that I could just settle him down with the trusty squeezelock, but after shooting that little b*stard and missing a few others, I get an odd sense of satisfaction from being able to occaisionally punch down at the AJ.

Back at the boat, the weather has turned to cr*p. Big lightning bolts start to cut the post dive conversations a little short and Mother Nature seems to be saying that it’s time to head home. I’m up at the bow ready to untie when Michael yells to let out more line and just tie off.

The storm blew over and the sun broke out, so the two Michaels decide to drop back down and make their second dive. I stay up and start organizing the boat. Mike senior is first to pop back up with a few fish, so I grab his gun and stringer then lean back over to grab his BC. My right foot goes out from under me as I’m leaning over the side and my knee starts screaming like a mad banshee. Well hell… now I can’t walk.

It was a long trip in. Two more thunderstorms turned the 1-2’s to 4-6’s. Everyone was tired and each of us was nursing various injuries. I can not wait to get back out again!!!

Thanks again to MichealBarranows for another trip where everyone came in safe and we had fish to boot. You guys are great to dive with, and I'll be back out with you anytime I can.

Well, I’m back at work now and can look forward to a week or so of limping, but stay tuned! On the 13th… PCB here I come!!!
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Old 07-05-2006, 12:13 PM   #2
Seahuntress
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Re: Freeport 7-1-06

Great catch John Little...

Tell Michael congratulations on the A.J. maybe we can all go together soon. And I'm sure you will run into me offshore diving alone...also...LOL....
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Old 07-05-2006, 07:21 PM   #3
Scubaru
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Re: Freeport 7-1-06

Nice report J. Good to hear about more grouper sightings on our rigs.
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