The Fishbox of a Thousand Corpses:Steinhatchee Offshore Jolly Rogers 2 SLAYpril 12-13 - Spearboard.com - The World's Largest Spearfishing Diving Boating Social Media Forum

Dive4Blood · 04-14-2003, 11:06 AM

The wind and seas finally laid down to start our trip at noon Saturday albeit 24 hours later than originally planned. The crew consisted of Capt. Jim Zurbrick, Reef Raider, Bubblejunkie, Speargun, Poorshot, Sprocket-Man, John Riddick who is the retired ex owner of the Tavenier Dive Center, and myself. Our plan was to dive out of Steinhatchee up to 50 miles offshore and SLAY!!!

We shortly arrived in 60-70 feet and dove on two separate ledges with most pulling up nice stringers of gags and hogs. RR scored on a couple 9#-10# mangos on the second drop which he shot beneath a deep undercut. Sure enough the dive of the day came next on a wreck in 80' when of course it was my turn to run the boat. The divers found the wreck so thick with aj's that it obscured vision, and made it difficult to see the multitude of gags hanging out in the sand just off the structure. Reports tell me that it sounded like a US Marines vs. Fedayeen al-Saddam militia firefight with all the powerheads going off. ALL came up with monster stringers, and Capt Jimmy Z provided an extra entertainment bonus by laying out a 12' dusky that was sniffing around a liitle too close. In addition to some very large gags, the dive limited us out for the trip on aj's (16). Congrats go to Speargun who came up with 5 aj's first time using a powerhead, we'll be expecting that smoked fish dip any day now.

We then a made a pretty sizable run to a spot 50 miles offshore in 85', stopping along the way on a rockpile given to Jimmy Z by a commercial hook and line buddy that had lost an anchor there a week ago. We did up the dusk gag grouper bite there, and winched up a few honkers before moving on. Our ledge 50 miles out was lit up on the bottom finder, but unfortunately when we commenced fishing we starting catching red snapper over keeper grouper at a ratio of 10:1. In about a week all those released red snapper will be over the rail and into the pail to prepare for muscle tissue removal therapy (aka-filleting). We hung up the rods at midnight for R&R to prepare for the slay festival awaiting us the following day.

First spot Sunday was on the ledge we fished on. Vis was a very murky, green Ft Pierce-like 5' although I did manage to bag a few grouper including a 15# that holed up so deep that I had to take off my rig, and crawl in there cave diver style to shoot it with my line shaft. We moved on to a wreck a few miles away where oddly enough the vis was 50' plus, and divers came up with NICE stringers reporting thousands of mangos still milling about. Hearing that, it took about 30 seconds for Capt Jimmy Z and myself to suit up while John Riddick commandeered the JR2 . The reports about the mangos were dead on, and we proceeded to score more than a silverback gorilla in a monkey whorehouse with a bag full of bananas. When the battle fog finally lifted, 30 plus previously living mangos lay on the deck. The marquee dive of the trip came next at the Dept of Defense SM-1 Tower which sits in 100' and rises close to 200' above the surface. The supports spread out like a cone u/w with many struts connecting them giving it a mini oil rig like appearance. Everyone except for Captain Jim scrambled to get gear ready making the deck resemble one large Mongolian cluster f#ck. The Tower was bursting at the seams with aj's (who almost seemed to know we couldn't shoot them), mangos, barjacks, and gags. Steel rained in every direction as divers staggered the supports from the bottom to as shallow as 30'. After a 45 minute slay session the deck was almost not visible through the fish, and dive gear. I swam over with rope tying off to the Tower, and the orders were then given to dive at will. Most backdove getting stringers as large as their original. We finished the trip diving the rockpile we fished the night before (thanks Speargun for helping retrieve the anchor) as well as AJ Rock in 70' which topped off the fishbox. Another fantastic trip, I hope everyone had a great time. My next MG weekend will be a few days after the Spearboard Open with Fishhunta' and his band of SoFla hard core slayers. I'm already bulking up on protein shakes and creatine to get ready for that bloodbath.

The only regret was that because of our weather shortened trip we were not able to dive the Devil's Ledge. However the publishers of Advanced Diver magazine have chartered the JR2 here in the next couple weeks to conduct a technical cave exploration into Devil's, complete with trimix doubles, stage bottles, scooters, video etc. It will be interesting to see just how deep that spring goes down.

Let me know when you want to dive the fabled Florida Middlegrounds. We're booking weekends into August now, but we can probably slide you in on a midweeker earlier if we can get the five guys. Standing by.

SLAYTISTICS (Just Capt. Z and myself)
150# mangos
189# gags
30# hogs
31# barjacks
100# aj-estimated
Reef Raider, Sprocket Man, and Bubblejunkie each had at least one 120 qt cooler each stacked top to bottom.

www.jollyrogersii.com

Dive4Blood · 04-14-2003, 04:54 PM

No digital camera on board. Speargun said he was going to scan his roll of film and post it up soon.

inletsurf · 04-14-2003, 05:14 PM

Damn that's awesome. Good report, D4B!!

Steel Shootin' · 04-14-2003, 05:59 PM

The Hemmingway of Spearboard! I'm starting to understand why Capt. Jim moved up north. If I had the $$, I might do the same damn thing. Thanks for the report.

fishkilla · 04-14-2003, 07:09 PM

slay on my brothas...... slay on!!!!

hey d4b is that spline still stickin in the pool cage. just doing a quality control check fo ma nigga.

peace

dlock · 04-14-2003, 08:33 PM

a serious slayfest indeed!! That's cool having the ADM crew coming aboard. I read that mag whenever I can snag one from the dive shop. It usually kicks ass, always a good read.

f94gator · 04-14-2003, 08:39 PM

Good report, D4B? We had a pretty good time in the Grounds ourselves. Of course, until Hector had the audacity to get attacked by a shark!

Speargun · 04-15-2003, 03:12 PM

This was my first trip on the JR II, but it won't be my last!
Dive4Blood covered all of the high points with much more style than I could ever hope to achieve, but I will do my best...
This trip marked several firsts for me.
First time on the JRII. If you haven't been, GO!
First time out with my new 52" S.S. commercial gun. Thanks for making such a fine product Kevin.
First time using my .223 power head. And I shot my first AJ.
Capt Jimmy Z told us that there would be plenty of AJ's on the barge and said to slay at will. Not being one to disobey a direct order from the Capt., I started my descent to 78 FSW and was soon surrounded by more AJ's than I had ever seen. I picked one out of the mass, activated my waterborne fish tracking radar and squeezed the trigger. The 60" stainless steel intercept missile, with the .223 B&B nuclear warhead, left the gun and began tracking the doomed AJ. He didn't stand a chance against his technologically advanced foe. Impact came a microsecond later hitting the sweet spot just behind the eye. The top half of his head exploded, like a frog with a firecracker in his ass, as the concussion rang my ears. DAMN! That was awesome!
It was all out battle then. Dive4Blood said it best it sounded like a US Marines vs. Fedayeen al-Saddam militia firefight The next few minutes were a haze of shoot, string, reload, accompanied by the sound of rapid-fire power heads.
By now, my tank was starting to get low, so I had to leave the rest of the fish for another day. I ascended to the boat with a stringer of around 100 lbs of fish, grinning like a retard at Disney World who just met Mickey Mouse.
The entire trip was excellent and thanks to Capt. Jim, John, & Dive4Blood. After having this trip pushed back several times, it was well worth the wait. If you haven't booked your trip on the Jolly Rogers II yet, you had best hurry. I hear they are booking into August now.
I will post some pics in the next couple of days.

Jeff

fernandezh · 04-16-2003, 09:53 AM

I can't say I am the least bit disappointed that somebody busted a cap in that shark's dumper.

Best news I have heard all day. My face still hurts from Sunday.

Hector

*Spear One* · 04-16-2003, 04:28 PM

Rogers on the gun!

Speargun · 04-17-2003, 10:05 PM

I borrowed my buddy's underwater camera to take on this trip & it crapped out on me. All I got was a roll of blank film!
Fortunately, I took along my trusty little throw away camera that got a few pics on the trip. So without further adue, here's what I got...

Speargun · 04-17-2003, 10:10 PM

//

Speargun · 04-17-2003, 10:12 PM

My Kills

Speargun · 04-17-2003, 10:16 PM

JRII SEAL Team ready for deployment


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04-14-2003, 11:06 AM	#1
Dive4Blood The Wizard Of HOD Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Gulf of Mexico Age: 46 Posts: 2,488	The Fishbox of a Thousand Corpses:Steinhatchee Offshore Jolly Rogers 2 SLAYpril 12-13 The wind and seas finally laid down to start our trip at noon Saturday albeit 24 hours later than originally planned. The crew consisted of Capt. Jim Zurbrick, Reef Raider, Bubblejunkie, Speargun, Poorshot, Sprocket-Man, John Riddick who is the retired ex owner of the Tavenier Dive Center, and myself. Our plan was to dive out of Steinhatchee up to 50 miles offshore and SLAY!!! We shortly arrived in 60-70 feet and dove on two separate ledges with most pulling up nice stringers of gags and hogs. RR scored on a couple 9#-10# mangos on the second drop which he shot beneath a deep undercut. Sure enough the dive of the day came next on a wreck in 80' when of course it was my turn to run the boat. The divers found the wreck so thick with aj's that it obscured vision, and made it difficult to see the multitude of gags hanging out in the sand just off the structure. Reports tell me that it sounded like a US Marines vs. Fedayeen al-Saddam militia firefight with all the powerheads going off. ALL came up with monster stringers, and Capt Jimmy Z provided an extra entertainment bonus by laying out a 12' dusky that was sniffing around a liitle too close. In addition to some very large gags, the dive limited us out for the trip on aj's (16). Congrats go to Speargun who came up with 5 aj's first time using a powerhead, we'll be expecting that smoked fish dip any day now. We then a made a pretty sizable run to a spot 50 miles offshore in 85', stopping along the way on a rockpile given to Jimmy Z by a commercial hook and line buddy that had lost an anchor there a week ago. We did up the dusk gag grouper bite there, and winched up a few honkers before moving on. Our ledge 50 miles out was lit up on the bottom finder, but unfortunately when we commenced fishing we starting catching red snapper over keeper grouper at a ratio of 10:1. In about a week all those released red snapper will be over the rail and into the pail to prepare for muscle tissue removal therapy (aka-filleting). We hung up the rods at midnight for R&R to prepare for the slay festival awaiting us the following day. First spot Sunday was on the ledge we fished on. Vis was a very murky, green Ft Pierce-like 5' although I did manage to bag a few grouper including a 15# that holed up so deep that I had to take off my rig, and crawl in there cave diver style to shoot it with my line shaft. We moved on to a wreck a few miles away where oddly enough the vis was 50' plus, and divers came up with NICE stringers reporting thousands of mangos still milling about. Hearing that, it took about 30 seconds for Capt Jimmy Z and myself to suit up while John Riddick commandeered the JR2 . The reports about the mangos were dead on, and we proceeded to score more than a silverback gorilla in a monkey whorehouse with a bag full of bananas. When the battle fog finally lifted, 30 plus previously living mangos lay on the deck. The marquee dive of the trip came next at the Dept of Defense SM-1 Tower which sits in 100' and rises close to 200' above the surface. The supports spread out like a cone u/w with many struts connecting them giving it a mini oil rig like appearance. Everyone except for Captain Jim scrambled to get gear ready making the deck resemble one large Mongolian cluster f#ck. The Tower was bursting at the seams with aj's (who almost seemed to know we couldn't shoot them), mangos, barjacks, and gags. Steel rained in every direction as divers staggered the supports from the bottom to as shallow as 30'. After a 45 minute slay session the deck was almost not visible through the fish, and dive gear. I swam over with rope tying off to the Tower, and the orders were then given to dive at will. Most backdove getting stringers as large as their original. We finished the trip diving the rockpile we fished the night before (thanks Speargun for helping retrieve the anchor) as well as AJ Rock in 70' which topped off the fishbox. Another fantastic trip, I hope everyone had a great time. My next MG weekend will be a few days after the Spearboard Open with Fishhunta' and his band of SoFla hard core slayers. I'm already bulking up on protein shakes and creatine to get ready for that bloodbath. The only regret was that because of our weather shortened trip we were not able to dive the Devil's Ledge. However the publishers of Advanced Diver magazine have chartered the JR2 here in the next couple weeks to conduct a technical cave exploration into Devil's, complete with trimix doubles, stage bottles, scooters, video etc. It will be interesting to see just how deep that spring goes down. Let me know when you want to dive the fabled Florida Middlegrounds. We're booking weekends into August now, but we can probably slide you in on a midweeker earlier if we can get the five guys. Standing by. SLAYTISTICS (Just Capt. Z and myself) 150# mangos 189# gags 30# hogs 31# barjacks 100# aj-estimated Reef Raider, Sprocket Man, and Bubblejunkie each had at least one 120 qt cooler each stacked top to bottom. www.jollyrogersii.com Last edited by Dive4Blood; 04-16-2003 at 05:16 PM.

04-14-2003, 05:59 PM	#4
Steel Shootin' Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 6,836	The Hemmingway of Spearboard! I'm starting to understand why Capt. Jim moved up north. If I had the $$, I might do the same damn thing. Thanks for the report. __________________ Notice: If you see me participate in the "longest thread ever" thread, please rush to my location and beat the living hell out of me.

04-14-2003, 07:09 PM	#5
fishkilla Slayographer Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Seffner, FL Age: 33 Posts: 2,331	slay on my brothas...... slay on!!!! hey d4b is that spline still stickin in the pool cage. just doing a quality control check fo ma nigga. peace __________________ www.fishkillaproductions.com

04-14-2003, 08:33 PM	#6
dlock Subaquatic Assassin Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Clearwater,Fl Age: 50 Posts: 792	a serious slayfest indeed!! That's cool having the ADM crew coming aboard. I read that mag whenever I can snag one from the dive shop. It usually kicks ass, always a good read. __________________ ...yesterday don't mean shit...tomorrow's the day you have to face... Exercising obsessive pelagiac assault

04-14-2003, 04:54 PM	#2
Dive4Blood The Wizard Of HOD Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Gulf of Mexico Age: 46 Posts: 2,488	No digital camera on board. Speargun said he was going to scan his roll of film and post it up soon.

04-14-2003, 05:14 PM	#3
inletsurf Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Melboring, Florida Posts: 7,353	Damn that's awesome. Good report, D4B!!

04-14-2003, 08:39 PM	#7
f94gator Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Tampa - one of the Brothers Hermes Age: 40 Posts: 5,337	Good report, D4B? We had a pretty good time in the Grounds ourselves. Of course, until Hector had the audacity to get attacked by a shark!

04-15-2003, 03:12 PM	#8
Speargun Sheepdog Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Ocala, FL Age: 44 Posts: 1,865	This was my first trip on the JR II, but it won't be my last! Dive4Blood covered all of the high points with much more style than I could ever hope to achieve, but I will do my best... This trip marked several firsts for me. First time on the JRII. If you haven't been, GO! First time out with my new 52" S.S. commercial gun. Thanks for making such a fine product Kevin. First time using my .223 power head. And I shot my first AJ. Capt Jimmy Z told us that there would be plenty of AJ's on the barge and said to slay at will. Not being one to disobey a direct order from the Capt., I started my descent to 78 FSW and was soon surrounded by more AJ's than I had ever seen. I picked one out of the mass, activated my waterborne fish tracking radar and squeezed the trigger. The 60" stainless steel intercept missile, with the .223 B&B nuclear warhead, left the gun and began tracking the doomed AJ. He didn't stand a chance against his technologically advanced foe. Impact came a microsecond later hitting the sweet spot just behind the eye. The top half of his head exploded, like a frog with a firecracker in his ass, as the concussion rang my ears. DAMN! That was awesome! It was all out battle then. Dive4Blood said it best it sounded like a US Marines vs. Fedayeen al-Saddam militia firefight The next few minutes were a haze of shoot, string, reload, accompanied by the sound of rapid-fire power heads. By now, my tank was starting to get low, so I had to leave the rest of the fish for another day. I ascended to the boat with a stringer of around 100 lbs of fish, grinning like a retard at Disney World who just met Mickey Mouse. The entire trip was excellent and thanks to Capt. Jim, John, & Dive4Blood. After having this trip pushed back several times, it was well worth the wait. If you haven't booked your trip on the Jolly Rogers II yet, you had best hurry. I hear they are booking into August now. I will post some pics in the next couple of days. Jeff __________________ ------------------------------------------------ ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ The Newbies Guide to Spearfishing "Nitrous Oxide is like a hot girl with a STD... ...you want to hit it, but you're afraid of the consequences."

04-16-2003, 09:53 AM	#9
fernandezh Homicidal Brown Monkey Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL (Heaven and home) Posts: 2,934	I can't say I am the least bit disappointed that somebody busted a cap in that shark's dumper. Best news I have heard all day. My face still hurts from Sunday. Hector

04-16-2003, 04:28 PM	#10
Spear One Retired Comm. Shooter Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Largo, Florida Posts: 4,570	Rogers on the gun! __________________ Ocean Rhino Spearguns: Designed & Built By Commercial Spearfishermen *Manufactured By: Spearfishing Specialties (727)-548-7686* E-mail: oceanrhino@gmail.com Web: OceanRhino.com

04-17-2003, 10:05 PM	#11
Speargun Sheepdog Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Ocala, FL Age: 44 Posts: 1,865	$%@#!! CAMERA I borrowed my buddy's underwater camera to take on this trip & it crapped out on me. All I got was a roll of blank film! Fortunately, I took along my trusty little throw away camera that got a few pics on the trip. So without further adue, here's what I got... Attached Thumbnails __________________ ------------------------------------------------ ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ* The Newbies Guide to Spearfishing "Nitrous Oxide is like a hot girl with a STD... ...you want to hit it, but you're afraid of the consequences." Last edited by Speargun; 04-17-2003 at 10:07 PM.

04-17-2003, 10:10 PM	#12
Speargun Sheepdog Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Ocala, FL Age: 44 Posts: 1,865	// Attached Thumbnails __________________ ------------------------------------------------ ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ The Newbies Guide to Spearfishing "Nitrous Oxide is like a hot girl with a STD... ...you want to hit it, but you're afraid of the consequences."

04-17-2003, 10:12 PM	#13
Speargun Sheepdog Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Ocala, FL Age: 44 Posts: 1,865	My Kills Attached Thumbnails __________________ ------------------------------------------------ ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ The Newbies Guide to Spearfishing "Nitrous Oxide is like a hot girl with a STD... ...you want to hit it, but you're afraid of the consequences."

04-17-2003, 10:16 PM	#14
Speargun Sheepdog Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Ocala, FL Age: 44 Posts: 1,865	JRII SEAL Team ready for deployment Attached Thumbnails __________________ ------------------------------------------------ ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ The Newbies Guide to Spearfishing "Nitrous Oxide is like a hot girl with a STD... ...you want to hit it, but you're afraid of the consequences."

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