Thanks everyone. Yes it was a fun day Larry.
The sea was glass with zero current. Visibility was around 20-25', at those depths I had to dive to spot the fish. It was somewhat overcast which didn't help. The nicer moments were when the sun came out. Today (see pic) could have been an even better day to dive as it's sunny although it was even flatter yesterday.
The swim was easy as we didn't have to fight current nor make any direction adjustments. I was wearing a 1mm top and bottom and didn't feel cold. I was slightly too positive at the beginning of the dive as my belt was adjusted for diving with a rash guard top, and had to hold on to the bottom on the shallower spots. After about an hour however I became correctly ballasted <img src= " height="23" srcset="https://spearfishing.world/forum/images/smilies/emojione/1f606@2x.png 2x"> We spent a couple of hours on the first reef then crossed the sand to the second. We were finding fish consistently along the way. The muttons weren't their usual frisky selves and allowed getting close to. The hogs were tame as usual. There were a few moon jellies around but not enough to cause inconvenience. The unusual thing was these little crabs in mid water and on the surface. Some looked like they were feeding on the jellies. I've never seen these crabs before. At one point I surfaced from a dive and when my head broke the surface I felt a crab jump into the water off my head.
We went as far as the outer edge of the second reef. I found some nice relief on the bottom but it was a little dead as far as shootable fish. We chummed and waited. The only thing that showed up besides a couple of baby grouper was a nurse shark. I poked him very hard numerous times to keep him away from the fish carcasses on the bottom. Anyone that thinks a simple poke will deter these guys when their appetite is aroused is in for a surprise.
I think the FWC guys came by to check out compliance with the fish regulations. The reason I think this is because they were very quiet in their approach. Not as quiet as another experience I had where I was swimming and all of a sudden heard a voice right above and there he was. He had already passed my stringer and checked it out. Apparently they turn off the engine a distance back and let the boat run by momentum the rest of the way. This time however I heard the boat and when I surfaced from the dive saw them pretty close.
The two officers were cool and asked the usual questions about fishing license and what fish we had and if we had any shorts. I don't mind at all talking to them so everything was friendly. They were waving us farewell and since we were just about to turn back at that time anyways I said half joking "What are the chances of getting a ride with you guys?". To my surprise the one driving the boat asked if we want to go now. To make a long story short they brought us almost exactly to our entry point at the buoy line 100 yards from the beach. On the way they were interested in the fish and the water conditions in general. The boat was very powerful, you could feel it during the acceleration. It was my first time on such a powerful boat. They saved us a long swim and we thanked them.
How did you strung the fishes? attached to a bouy?? What kind of equipment do you usually use to do so
This is the board I use http://spearfishing.world/divi…iving-board.html#post3496 It works very well with very little drag. I was impressed by Larry's Aimrite float. It's huge and looks very strongly built. The thickness on the stainless steel hardware is almost overkill.
BTW Larry you should consider a different float line made of simple polypropylene. This will allow you to use a spool which in turn will allow you to control the length of the line. Having the float trailing not too far behind you depending on the depth you're diving.
