10/18/08 La Santa Fe - Shitty vis

    Nice day on the water with you guys, and lots of good laughs as well. It had everything you guys like; fish, laughs, screwing dolphins, feces.... the list goes on.

    Davie Peguero

    Thanks, guys.


    The report.


    Crew: Sergio, Rolo, Davie, Jim and yours truly.
    Location: South of the inlet.
    Sea: Almost flat.
    Temperature: A little too cold for rashguards. I switched to a two piece 1mm top and bottom and was comfortable. There was a note worthy thermocline, cold on the surface and warm 15' down.
    Current: Slight south to north.
    Visibility: The poorest vis I've seen here yet. Green water with the bottom not visible at all from the surface in 30'. On the bottom maybe 20' horizontally and later in the day down to 15'.
    Tally:
    2 Red grouper
    A few mangroves two of which were very nice size by Jim.
    A few muttons one of which was notable.
    2 Yellojacks
    A few hogs
    3 Mackerels one of which was notably small by me. The vis was so bad that when I finally saw the fish due to being very close they appeared much bigger. When I saw the mackerel I thought it was big. When I got it in my hand it was 12" long. It was also disappearing into the murk as I took the shot, a perfect mid body shot. When I saw how small it was I couldn't believe I hit it.
    1 triggerfish
    A few good size lobsters all by Davie.


    A decent haul for four people especially considering the vis. Pantoja was still H&L. Other than what was caught I only saw a good number of juvenile hogs and a few juvenile red groupers. Despite the poor vis I felt very relaxed and was diving well. Was able to locate bottom structure in spite of diving blind. It felt like a very relaxed day. Maybe surrendering to the conditions instead of feeling bad about it was a contributing factor.


    Jim's tall, in reality the two mangroves were hefty.


    Guillermo Batidovarilla - To turd, or not to turd (from Scamlet)


    To turd, or not to turd: Is it out of the question?
    Whether 'tis painful in the bowels to suffer
    The aches and pains of mexican ribs;)
    Or to take Tums against my peristalsis troubles,
    And by defecating end them? To shart: to bloat;
    Once more; and by a sphincter squeeze we end
    The colon-ache and the thousand putrid farts
    The brown flesh is heir, 'tis not constipation
    Proudly to be pinch'd. To squeeze, to release:
    To squeeze: in open ocean: oh, there's the turd;
    For in pressing of ass what turds may come.


    :@

    Edited once, last by Rolo ().

    :laughing:


    The sky was blue, the water was green.
    The turd fish were frolicking in the autumn sun's sheen.


    After an early morning discussion of healthy eating habits which promote good bowel movement Rolo showed us all how it's supposed to be dung. Here is a series of pics commemorating the event for posterity. What you see here is Davie swimming directly behind Rolo following his float line. Unbeknown to Davie, Rolo has forged ahead and pinched a few loafs. The dexterity of this man is to be commended as he didn't seem to break stride, diving in biking shorts sure is advantageous :D On the boat Sergio and I were alerted to the presence of the flotsam by Rolo and were anxiously watching it and Davie's trajectory. Here you see Davie swimming into the turdfish and taking evasive action.





    Rolo proud of his accomplishment.



    Davie reaching the boat relieved to have escaped certain doom.


    Quote from Dan

    Rolo showed us all how it's supposed to be dung.

    :laughing3::laughing3:


    That sequence is classic. It looks like it even captured Davie giving us the finger just as he sidestepped the turd. Classic for sure.


    My post above is in reference to Dan who treated us to his Hamlet impression on the boat. It was quite impressive as he remembered the entire "soliloquy" or was he responding to his inner voices? Who knows? Dan made a mention to his favorite meal; Mexican ribs from a nearby Mexican restaurant. Tums was referenced too.


    It was a fun time even though a pounding headache inhibited most of my diving in the afternoon. We still got great fish despite poor viz. Usually I make the drive down in hopes of getting improved visibility to my home waters--it was not to be:D. Davie is a riot, funny as shit. I can't believe that when I first met him I thought he was shy a bit too reserved. Jim is a fantastic individual. Great diving with you all again. Thanks Sergio and Dan.

    Edited once, last by Rolo ().

    Dan was diving on a lobster hole in about 40ft and we were taking turns diving on it to see if we could extract some huge bugs we saw in it. Vis was probably 10-15 ft, it was under a big pipe about 3 ft diameter that runs along a reef.


    Dan went down and I followed him but I went to the other side of the pipe where he couldn't see me. I slid my hand in a hole and was trying to get a bug I saw. Dan was poking my hand with his tickle stick from the other side of the pipe. It occured to me he didnt see me and probably thought my hand was a lobster since he kept poking it. So I grabbed the tickle stick and shook it as hard as I could, I felt him immediatley let go and I peeked over the side of the pipe and saw him ascending with a confused look on his face.


    The second he saw me smile he put it all together and we had a good laugh .

    Davie Peguero

    One day I'll get you for that and it won't be with an innocent turd fish :D I knew there was nothing in there but lobster and when I felt the stick shake I was startled and almost dropped it. I thought impossible that the lobster grabbed it with his mandibles. As I started to surface I already was thinking how I'm going to describe it to Davie and then I saw him ascending, singao'! The vis was so bad at one point I saw what I thought was a big fish and it turned out to be Jim's fin.

    Quote from seahunter49

    The vis was so bad at one point I saw what I thought was a big fish and it turned out to be Jim's fin.


    I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and looked behind me only to see Dan. He was stalking me like some of the men that live in his neighborhood (Rolo can clarify).


    The vis was bad in some spots, I thought I saw a giant black grouper surface below me - It was just Davie.


    I had a lot of fun meeting and diving with everyone. I was lucky not to swim in Rolo's "brown eel" because I was swimming back to the boat at the same time as Davie.

    I agree, I found the fish to be spookier yesterday, but that was on shallow reef maybe 30'. Maybe it gets more pressure. Generally though people say that in bad vis you get more fish, but I don't have enough personal experience to agree or disagree. Rolo dives in Port st. lucie and vis is often bad there so maybe he can say. Do you get more fish than us Rolo? I think hunting in really bad vis is more difficult. You have so little time to react when you finally see a fish. It has an element of fun in it but I always prefer good vis.

    Looks like another great trip! I hope I can get down there one day.


    Quote from Dan

    . . . I think hunting in really bad vis is more difficult. You have so little time to react when you finally see a fish. It has an element of fun in it . . .


    You know that I agree! Every situation has something to teach us, right? I am often surprised at how the lessons of a completely different experience can make me a better hunter in the now.

    Yeah you're right, that is definitely the positive way of looking at it. For me coming from the clear Cuban waters to SE Florida was traumatic, but I'm doing it. I think maybe yesterday was the first time I ever relaxed in bad vis here. But I don't confuse this with not disliking it. Although there was a point there that the bad vis was having a putting you to sleep effect, like a security blanket or something. I suppose that can help you relax.


    It's also the difference between freediving and scuba. We have so little time down there that it's hard to work it properly. It can be pretty miserable actually to the point of making me quit. It's hard to work an expanse of reef when every drop is just luck. You can't even dive on the same hole twice. You can only see it on the bottom and most times you will drop away from it and spend some more air getting to it. It's my idea that on days like this it's best to dive an artificial structure. Drop a marker on it and work it effectively that way. The key is to find those hot spots and only work them when the vis doesn't allow covering a reef. Yeah a different kind of diving. I think to me the best thing about yesterday is that it wasn't shitty as other times with bad vis have been. I'm crossing my fingers for it to clear up however and have a nice clean water winter with some good fish movement.

    Quote from Dan

    I agree, I found the fish to be spookier yesterday, but that was on shallow reef maybe 30'. Maybe it gets more pressure. Generally though people say that in bad vis you get more fish, but I don't have enough personal experience to agree or disagree. Rolo dives in Port st. lucie and vis is often bad there so maybe he can say. Do you get more fish than us Rolo? I think hunting in really bad vis is more difficult. You have so little time to react when you finally see a fish. It has an element of fun in it but I always prefer good vis.


    I'm not sure what your question is, but it is all relative. If I were to shoot a big grouper and a nice snapper up here, I'd likely would not be compelled to shoot alot more fish, unless a trophy like fish comes along like the occasional Kings or Permits we can get up here. I hate the thought of having to filet alot of fish at the end of the day, particularly when I take my boat out. On Saturday, I shot 9 fish, which is likely to be a good amount anywhere. Up here, the chances are greater that one would shot a fish over 10 pounds. In the winter, we can likely shoot as many sheepshead as we like, I don't particularly care to filet too many of them, so I may shoot 3-4 on a slow day.


    The conditions on Saturday were bad for the area. That being said, we would have loved that day up here particularly off Ft. Pierce. A 20' visibility with next to nothing current bodes well in our waters. The other element we have off here is large and aggresive Bull sharks. Diving 60'-70" in poor viz with sharks in the immediate area wrecks (no pun intended) havoc on the psyche and relaxation.

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