Home Tournaments Calendar Weather Merchandise Sponsors

Go Back   Spearboard.com - The World's Largest Spearfishing Diving Boating Social Media Forum > United States Geographical Locations > Florida Gulfcoast Spearfishing

Florida Gulfcoast Spearfishing Post here to discuss regional action or issues about spearing on Florida's Gulfcoast.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Rating: Thread Rating: 127 votes, 4.97 average. Display Modes
Old 04-08-2019, 03:58 PM   #3211
CuzzA
Registered User
 
CuzzA's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Palm Harbor, FL
Posts: 953
Re: Current Vis - Tampa Bay Region (Homosassa to Sarasota)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Seal Rock View Post
LOL, anytime a remora shows up and you are by yourself...

Great diving with you James! What an epic scene and you illustrate it here well. It almost reads like one of those early 1942 battles in the South Pacific where everyone walks away going WTF. Given that he covered 40-50' feet so quickly I am thinking he charged in initially based on the sound of the gun and then locked onto the snapper and shaft once he passed us. It sill leaves me wondering what would have happened had I missed.

We also went to "Turtle Ledge", there are probably 100 of those with different numbers. That being said I didn't do a lot of shooting. 40' vis, bright sun, white sand, purple, red and yellow corrals lit the bottom up like never before. It was incredible. We really do have some amazing backdrops.

Thanks Eric for another amazing day on the water and to Brian, who's marker buoy I chased all day. This guy can motor along a ledge! At one point I am in idle about 150' behind and hes pulling away from me against the current. I alternate between thinking I am chasing some Olympic swimmer or Jaws is currently towing the marker buoy now looking for Eric.

Great day. Gag opener is going to be epic.
Yeah, nothing like trying to focus on the target with a freaking remora trying to plant itself on your face like a scene from the Aliens movies. Not going to lie, my third least favorite fish.
CuzzA is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-08-2019, 04:04 PM   #3212
grey2112
Registered User
 
grey2112's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: New Port Richey FL
Posts: 1,984
Re: Current Vis - Tampa Bay Region (Homosassa to Sarasota)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Seal Rock View Post
LOL, anytime a remora shows up and you are by yourself...

Great diving with you James! What an epic scene and you illustrate it here well. It almost reads like one of those early 1942 battles in the South Pacific where everyone walks away going WTF. Given that he covered 40-50' feet so quickly I am thinking he charged in initially based on the sound of the gun and then locked onto the snapper and shaft once he passed us. It sill leaves me wondering what would have happened had I missed.

We also went to "Turtle Ledge", there are probably 100 of those with different numbers. That being said I didn't do a lot of shooting. 40' vis, bright sun, white sand, purple, red and yellow corrals lit the bottom up like never before. It was incredible. We really do have some amazing backdrops.

Thanks Eric for another amazing day on the water and to Brian, who's marker buoy I chased all day. This guy can motor along a ledge! At one point I am in idle about 150' behind and hes pulling away from me against the current. I alternate between thinking I am chasing some Olympic swimmer or Jaws is currently towing the marker buoy now looking for Eric.

Great day. Gag opener is going to be epic.
You are welcome, my friend. Always great to dive with you and James. And glad you loved Turtle Ledge - one of my favorite shallow ledges.

LOL - I thought it was funny when James asked me on my second or third dive if I was going to put on my Shark Shield. I looked at him and said, "After seeing how effective it is today with you wearing it, I think I'll leave it on the boat!"
grey2112 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-08-2019, 04:14 PM   #3213
CuzzA
Registered User
 
CuzzA's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Palm Harbor, FL
Posts: 953
Re: Current Vis - Tampa Bay Region (Homosassa to Sarasota)

Quote:
Originally Posted by grey2112 View Post
You are welcome, my friend. Always great to dive with you and James. And glad you loved Turtle Ledge - one of my favorite shallow ledges.

LOL - I thought it was funny when James asked me on my second or third dive if I was going to put on my Shark Shield. I looked at him and said, "After seeing how effective it is today with you wearing it, I think I'll leave it on the boat!"
Haha, you know I thought about that today. I'm not sure it ever hit the electrical field since it stayed in front of me and of course the SS trails way back behind you when in trim.

I do know it was operational since it shocked the hell out of me later in the day. I think I'm going to go ahead and drill a whole in my fin tip and secure a loose wire tie to keep it off me.

I think we should do some baited tests on the SS and see what we find.
CuzzA is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-08-2019, 04:56 PM   #3214
grey2112
Registered User
 
grey2112's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: New Port Richey FL
Posts: 1,984
Re: Current Vis - Tampa Bay Region (Homosassa to Sarasota)

Quote:
Originally Posted by CuzzA View Post
Haha, you know I thought about that today. I'm not sure it ever hit the electrical field since it stayed in front of me and of course the SS trails way back behind you when in trim.

I do know it was operational since it shocked the hell out of me later in the day. I think I'm going to go ahead and drill a whole in my fin tip and secure a loose wire tie to keep it off me.

I think we should do some baited tests on the SS and see what we find.
Should we use Rich as the bait? Or maybe my brother - yeah, let's use him.
grey2112 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-13-2019, 04:46 PM   #3215
dkay
Registered User
 
dkay's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Palm Harbor
Posts: 192
Re: Current Vis - Tampa Bay Region (Homosassa to Sarasota)

8-12 miles west of Anclote today had ttb vis in 30-40’. Got some nice mangos and hogs. Temp was 73ish. Nice conditions.
dkay is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-13-2019, 06:49 PM   #3216
sharpshooter
Registered User
 
sharpshooter's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: st. petersburg,fl.
Posts: 2,221
Re: Current Vis - Tampa Bay Region (Homosassa to Sarasota)

Quote:
Originally Posted by dkay View Post
8-12 miles west of Anclote today had ttb vis in 30-40’. Got some nice mangos and hogs. Temp was 73ish. Nice conditions.
How were the seas? Was blowing good on the beach in St. Pete..
sharpshooter is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-13-2019, 07:35 PM   #3217
Dbrown
Registered User
 
Dbrown's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: West Coast FL
Posts: 604
Re: Current Vis - Tampa Bay Region (Homosassa to Sarasota)

Went N today out of CLearwater pass. Up to almost New port Richey. Seas 2' to start. Built to 4'. First dive in 62'. Viz 40'. Temp 70. Bunch of ARS. Shot a 22" red grouper. 2 mango. 2 lion.
Then came SE. Dove in 42' much later in day. Viz 12-15'. Shot 4 sheep, 3 Hog, 2 mango. Was happy with that. Found a nice cowrie as well on first dive that octopus was nice enough to evacuate for me and leave in front of ledge.
Dbrown is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-13-2019, 07:52 PM   #3218
grey2112
Registered User
 
grey2112's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: New Port Richey FL
Posts: 1,984
Re: Current Vis - Tampa Bay Region (Homosassa to Sarasota)

22" red? In 62 feet? Wow - that is GREAT to hear. I miss reds in under 80 feet - good to hear they might be coming back
grey2112 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-13-2019, 08:06 PM   #3219
Dbrown
Registered User
 
Dbrown's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: West Coast FL
Posts: 604
Re: Current Vis - Tampa Bay Region (Homosassa to Sarasota)

I saw a few other shorts as well. Nice to see some reds again. Saw some keeper Gags, but not as many as earlier in year, so they are moving around. Hogs are still tough to come by. U did good grabbing 5 last weekend while I was in Atlanta. I got 3 today. Haven't got 5 to limit out for a day this year yet.
Dbrown is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-13-2019, 08:09 PM   #3220
dkay
Registered User
 
dkay's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Palm Harbor
Posts: 192
Re: Current Vis - Tampa Bay Region (Homosassa to Sarasota)

Quote:
Originally Posted by sharpshooter View Post
How were the seas? Was blowing good on the beach in St. Pete..
2-3 in 40’. Less than 2 in 30’. Wind was stronger at the dock than it was offshore.
dkay is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-13-2019, 11:06 PM   #3221
CuzzA
Registered User
 
CuzzA's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Palm Harbor, FL
Posts: 953
Re: Current Vis - Tampa Bay Region (Homosassa to Sarasota)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dbrown View Post
I saw a few other shorts as well. Nice to see some reds again. Saw some keeper Gags, but not as many as earlier in year, so they are moving around. Hogs are still tough to come by. U did good grabbing 5 last weekend while I was in Atlanta. I got 3 today. Haven't got 5 to limit out for a day this year yet.
Nice report D.

Last week we dove 50-60. No hogs. 30-40 one dive = limit of hogs. They seem to be holding in the shallows.
CuzzA is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-14-2019, 05:04 AM   #3222
grey2112
Registered User
 
grey2112's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: New Port Richey FL
Posts: 1,984
Re: Current Vis - Tampa Bay Region (Homosassa to Sarasota)

Weird thing I noticed about the hog I kept and filleted. James I don't know if you noticed this or not. He was about 17 inches and looked amazing - vibrant colors, just a beautiful fish. But when I filleted him he was very thin - not a lot of meat, and the fillets just looked and felt . . . . odd. Like what you would feel when you had left a fillet soaking in fresh water for hours. Kind of "mushy".
grey2112 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-14-2019, 10:37 AM   #3223
CuzzA
Registered User
 
CuzzA's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Palm Harbor, FL
Posts: 953
Re: Current Vis - Tampa Bay Region (Homosassa to Sarasota)

I didn't notice anything unusual with my fish. A few thoughts... I wonder if the meat ended up freezing in the cooler before you filleted it and the meat was damaged by ice crystals. Or when you bleed your fish cooler water was able to saturate the meat which turned it mushy. That's the only thing I can think of other than it being malnourished.
CuzzA is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-14-2019, 10:59 AM   #3224
dkay
Registered User
 
dkay's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Palm Harbor
Posts: 192
Re: Current Vis - Tampa Bay Region (Homosassa to Sarasota)

Glad you mentioned this. I’ve seen the same thing twice in the past couple of years. Instead of the filets being firm and semi translucent they were soft and very white, almost resembling filets that have been soaked in lemon juice. The first time I saw it, the fish had an old but healed wound that I attributed it to. The second time the fish looked completely normal. I didn’t eat either one and I’ve also wondered what caused this.
dkay is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-19-2019, 06:38 PM   #3225
Eibwen
Registered User
 
Eibwen's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Dunedin
Posts: 190
Re: Current Vis - Tampa Bay Region (Homosassa to Sarasota)

NW 8 and 25 miles out of Hurricane Pass on Wed the 17th. Water clarity was iffy around 10-15ft first stop in 35 feet of water. Previous strong wind days must have turned up the bottom some. Our first dive was a bust, only a couple small groups of fish over a prolific area of structure. It is south of Anclote and must have gotten killed by the red tide. Further NW in 50ft we had better results and took some mangoes and hogfish. Spotted a jewfish that was just enormous, largest I've seen by far. Vis was improved to around 20-25ft. Temp was mid 70's on bottom.

Have not run into mushy fish yet. They were great off the grill
Eibwen is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:00 PM.


The World's Largest Spearfishing Diving Social Media Forum Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2002 - 2014 Spearboard.com