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Written by DiveGal
Short Story
Charter: 2Shea 3 tanks Date: 7/2/11 Time: 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM Where: Clearwater (West Coast) 15 miles out Weather: Sunny and hot Air Temp: 88* Winds: S 5 knots Who: Sandy aka bosoxdiver, Judy aka spearitPBC, Jack aka jupdiver, Bobby aka Dodge, Laura aka PrincessSlayer!, John aka kitefisherman, Captain TJ and me. Drops: Everyone got 5 or 6 drops Depths: 50 fsw – 60 fsw Water Temp: 84* – 87* Vis: 20’ hazey green Seas: Less than 2 Current: very mild Catch: Limit on hogs – 30 total, 1 yellow jack, 1 trigger, 4 red grouper, 2 sheepshead Saw: Big gags, lobster, lots of short red grouper, spotted eagle ray, nurse shark Special Surprise: Private tour of the new 384′ luxery dive live aboard – Fisherman’s Paradise Long Story Bobby and I headed over to Clearwater Friday night for a Saturday dive. We stayed at the Comfort Suites – just 3 minutes from the boat. We met up with the rest of the group on Saturday morning at the marina on Seminole St. The day was warm and sunny. Seas were less than 2’. We did so many drops that they all kind of run together in my brain. On my second drop, I came right down on a bunch of hogs. I lined up and hit the biggest of the group. He tore off and I swam after him. He buried his head into a crack and, I guess, he figured he was hidden (kinda like how an ostrich does his hiding. LOL) I grabbed him and hung on while getting my stringer through his eyes. By the last drop, I had only shot 2 hogs. Bobby had 3. I dropped down and hit the bottom right beside the ledge. TJ has got these drops down. While loading my gun, I see a nice hog. He hung around just waiting for me to line up and stone him. As soon as I reloaded, here comes another hog zipping up the ledge. He sees me and heads up and over the top of the reef. I was able to take a long shot and after a few quivers, he was on my stringer. Laura swims up to me and looks at the fish. It already had 2 shots on it before I nailed him. Turns out, Laura shot him and he tore off. She reloaded and shot again. But it was a low shot and the poor guy’s guts were hanging out. I HAD to put him out of his misery. Laura looks at the fish and then flips me the bird! Hehehehe Love you girlfriend! I stayed in the same spot for about 25 minutes picking off the wounded warriors. I look up under a break off and see just a fin fluttering on the ceiling. I also see the pinkish-orange color of a hog. I line up the shot and miss. We limited the boat out with hog fish and picked up a couple of red groupers, sheepies, yellow jack, and triggers – it was a nice mixed bag. Lunch was waiting for us after our last dive (thank you Sweetie). There’s nothing like fresh fish grilled on the water. It doesn’t get any fresher than that! TJ had a special surprise waiting for us. There is a new live aboard dive boat anchored off of Clearwater. It is a 385’ luxury live aboard. This ship is HUGE! The ship is equipped with a place for 4 30’ boats to pull in and ‘dock’. They have a swim up pool bar, a full gym with sauna, a huge galley, a huge salon, a theater, and the rooms, OMG the rooms look like something out of a luxury resort. Every room has large plush beds and its own private bathroom with a whirlpool bath. Words can’t describe it so I took a bunch of pictures. They are planning trips to the Middle Grounds, the Tortugas, Panama, Cancun and Louisiana, to name a few. They have a heliport on the top of the ship. Guests will be choppered to the ship. Cost (here’s the gotcha) is $600 a day per person (that includes everything except alcohol). They expect to start taking customers in a couple of months. Check ‘em out: http://www.fishermansparadise.com We got back to the dock around 6:00 with lots of fish to clean. It was just another typical day with Captain TJ. Great diving, great food, great friends and great fun! If you haven’t had a chance to check him out, I highly recommend that you do so: http://www.fishanddivetampa.com |
WTF! My shaft went all the way through the hole and came out the other side. I swam over the break off, picked my spear up out of the sand and push it back through the hole and then swim back to my original position. This time, I dropp 2 bands and take better aim. WACK! Got him! I pull him out and see that he had already been shot. Jack claimed that it was the one that got away from him. Score for me! I surfaced with my limit of hogs, a yellow jack, and red grouper.
