Snapper opening day, grounds run

[diverclint]

Hello,

Assuming that the weather is nice, I will be making a grounds run for the opening day of the red snapper season. That is on Tuesday, June 1st. We would leave from Hudson, probably late morning, stop at some numbers on the way out, troll quite a bit (picked up a bunch of kings and a few dolphin and tuna last year), arrive in the MG before dark, anchor up, fish all night, do a few dives and then return the next day, probably late afternoon.

So, we leave Tuesday, return on Wednesday.

If they are calling for seas more then 3', then I will be waiting for another day.

The usual spots that we go to are about 85 at the top and 120-130 at the bottom.

If all you do is dive/spear then this is not the trip for you. I would say if we get in 3 dives it will be pushing it, but sometimes we have gotten in 4.

OTOH, if all you do is hook and line, then you would probably enjoy this trip. I carry spare batterys for 12V and 24V electric reels and this would be a good trip to use them.

I can take a maximum of 6 including myself. Most of my normal crew has wimped out. My boat is a totally open (no head, no cabin), 34' go fast center console with twin 300 E-Tecs and a 25HP kicker. So, privacy is non-existent and it will be hot out there.

Absolutely, no glass or drugs on the boat. Experienced divers only with all their own gear. Computers are required and if I think you have no clue what you are doing, then you will be staying on the surface. If you come up in the red, you are done for the trip. No arguments.

Absolutely no smoking on the boat. I will need to carry extra fuel on the deck and we cannot afford any mishaps out there.

Cost will depend upon how many people go, but whatever the fuel, oil and bait costs is divided amongst the crew and myself. So, figure somewhere between $100 and $140 each +-. We will settle when we get back to the dock in Hudson, so, please bring cash with you.

PM if interested. Let me know your experience level, your contact phone number and personal email.

Thanks,

CJ
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[diverclint]

I had a few people ask me some questions. So, here goes the synopsis:

As far as equipment, I have full Coast Guard safety stuff, plus an EPIRB w/GPS, 2 Garmin MFD displays (2010 and 3010C), redundant GPS antennas, radar, sat weather, and VHF/DSC. So, being prepared is not really an issue. We will be about 85-90 miles slightly southwest of Hudson at the maximum, but will be hitting spots about the same distance slightly north on the way in and out. My boat has full flotation, so, even if the boat splits in half, it will still float. If you have a personal epirb, then bring it.

So far I have 3 and a possible 4, so need 2 to 3 more.

Please no newbies unless you want to fish only. The grounds are no place to get in some practice dives.

[sharpshooter]

So, how did your trip go?

[diverclint]

We did OK but not great. The red snapper were not as plentiful and big as they were last year, but, we got some decent sized ones. Also got a mix of nice mangos, gags, hogfish, red grouper, limit of king fish, a bonita, permit and some other misc fish. The seas were like glass.

definitely still wet suit conditions in the grounds. There was a very noticeable thermocline at about 80'.

We hit the RJ Thompson on the way back in and it was loaded by just undersized AJs. Hundreds of them. Also saw a nice a cobia. Lots of undersized gags, decent mangos and scamp on the wreck and some decent gags, just out of range on the sand. Viz was close to top to bottom. Lots of bait over the wreck.

Kings are plentiful from about 100' to 50' depth range. Did not get anything trolling any further out or closer in. We trolled at 8.8 MPH, anything faster or slower was not as effective.

Found a new, decent ledge at 51' on the way in that I filed away for a future trip.

[sharpshooter]

Thanks for the report. I only had the 3 day weekend off. Glad you at least got out with perfect weather conditions.

[captron]

thanks nice report.