10/10/08 La Santa Fe - goat fish ...salmoneta.

I hear the red ones are better than the yellow. Did you get the yellow ones or both?

See any lobster?

You going out tommorow?

I like the ones that look like Yellowtails. Good to see you diving again!

It was good to see Sergio in the water finally.

Crew - Sergio, Alan, Roberto, Myself and a little later a fellow we picked up who was beach diving by the name of Slava.
Location - North of the inlet. Initially we went south but water was very green. Sergio checked the current which was going north to south and decided to try the vis in the other direction which paid off.
Sea surface - Almost flat.
Temperature - Rashguards.
Current - Strongish north to south early on diminishing a little towards noon. Made deep diving difficult due to having to kick all the way down.
Visibility - Greenish 30' on the shallow reef and a stunning blue 60' on the deep wrecks. Could've been much better if not for a hazy top layer of about 3'. Lots of particulate near the surface looking like tiny brown sticks. Some of this stuff was stinging and causing rashes.

I was finishing off a new float last night and working on the one float flag I had. Trimming it down to minimum size I messed it up and consequently was diving without a flag on my float. At one point I got pretty far away from the boat. Because of the current I didn't want to spend my strength swimming back. All of a sudden I see a jetski coming right at me. I waved to make sure the driver saw me and realized he was aiming for me. Turned out to be a lifeguard and the ski had a rescue sled attached. He warned me about the flag and I was out of excuses. Fortunately they don't ticket and I got a ride on the sled back to the boat. This seems to be happening to me on a regular basis

Other than that nothing noteworthy, just another productive day with the Santa Fe and crew. I was looking for lobster but saw none. I too found the goat fish to be skittish. I don't remember them being that way in Cuba. I had to hurry home so I didn't take any pics other than my booty later in the evening. The guys had a bunch of fish too.

Congrats Sergio! :thumbsup2: What a great day to break the proverbial cherry. Looking foward to diving with you guys again.

WTG guys :thumbsup2: sounds like the conditions were great

muy buenas las cojinuas,uno de mis favoritos pescados para comer.

Nice outing and a nice bunch of fish to go with it.

Sergio, I'm glad you're finally in the water again and I like your approach to get back. BTW, I tasted goatfish for the first time some months back and if I see a nice sized one it's going to get a shaft through it (if it gives me a shot). They are very good eating and yield a lot of meat for their size. I remember seeing a lot of them in Florida but I didn't think they were legal to spear.

I was in Varadero once in a 5 star hotel. For dinner there was a buffet with a fish section. One of the trays I recognized to be full of salmonetas. They were cross section cut to 1" pieces.

Can somebody post a picture of a goat fish? I dont recognize that name. Thanx

Nice haul guys.
Gonzo-

Thanx for the pic, I recognize those. Common in the 10" range?

yes toledo, i believe they are part of the mullet family.

fast little fuckers, hard to shoot:frustrated1:

Now for those fish you need a light maneuverable pipe gun with a 6.5mm shaft. You can get yourself a stringerfull of them and have a nice dinner. Good way to perfect your aim too. Yeah it's quite a change when a fish is actually aware of you and takes evasive action Makes me wonder if they're pressured over here as I didn't expect that to be part of their natural repertoire.