Today we got off a little late but was soon back out on flat seas back in the bay area of the Gulf. We were some six miles out from Charlie's home in his Mako. At one point while diving I had a large tiger shark come in on me in fairly shallow water over the grasses. Charlie spotted him from the boat and told me to get in as I was shooting snappers and not thinking much about sharks in 6' deep water. Charlie took a photo of him as he came over the place where I had been snorkeling. From there we went on and I kept getting into lobsters a few at a time and we were all but getting ready to come in as Charlie's son is suppose to come down here sometime this afternoon. Charlie decided that he would pull me behind the boat over some shallow spots he had marked and if I saw anything then I would signal. It wasn't long before I let go of the rope and yelled to him to throw out a marker which is something we use all the time in the current.
When I got back to the boat I told Charlie that I had spotted three ledges absolutely loaded with lobsters, and that many of them were very large. We anchored up and I put on a tank in the 7' deep water I began to methodically "herd" out the individuals with a tickle stick and then net them and them place them in another dive bag that I carry. I took several pictures of the lobsters that you can see in this grouping and Charlie took some photos of me as I was catching the lobsters and coming back on the boat. After I had caught my limit Charlie said he wanted to quit and save this spot for his son in the morning so that we would have a great place to bring him to right on the get go. I agreed but added there was the good chance that all of them might decide to move away from their positions during the night as often lobsters once molested will decided to move out and find some place they feel is safer. All fingers are crossed that they will be there when we go back out tomorrow. Charlie and I pulled their tails and de-veined them and have them all back in the deep freezers--and I added the fillets of three more red snappers. I think we will be eating snapper, grouper and lobster tonight (again) and that's what we will likely have for breakfast and lunch tomorrow---although Charlie is likely to add country ham to the list as I brought him down three nice sugar cured hams and 2 gallons of moonshine--That's my poor toe that got destroyed during today's lobster assault. Today the water was again calm and visibility good. We went back to the place where we quit yesterday and got more lobsters off the one spot. After that we came back to Charlie's and fixed some sandwiches and then went back out. Most of the new places we went to looked like they had already been "hit" by other lobster hunters as the pickings were slim. But we did get a few more before calling it a day, bringing us up to our lobster limit for the day. Charlie's son, Mark was with us and you can see him in the photos. He and I worked as a team in getting all the lobsters. I did manage to take a few underwater photos of some fish; queen angel, scorpion fish, and a red grouper that kept hanging around me as I was pulling lobsters out of one hole. That's my scratched up arm you see in one photo, results of reaching back into holes to pull out lobsters. We had another shark come up on us today, a hammerhead. I never did see it but Mark complained that it came in very close on him while he was carrying the bag full of lobsters. I was too busy diving to pay any attention to some old shark. Four of us ate lobster until we hurt last night and for desert we had snapper. Later on, Charlie fixed us a real Key Lime pie using real Key Limes which are NOT green. I made a comment about the pie not being green and that was what he said he expected from an ignorant Kentuckian. Later, he confessed that he and Carol had once bought a home in Boca and that they kept getting their limes off the tree against the house and squeezing them and using them in their alcholic drinks. Some time later he learned that those big green limes were actually unripe oranges.
Blessings. . Today Charlie and I got a late start as he had to go into Key West this morning to see if he had been selected to be on a jury---fortunately he got out of it. We hit the water around 1 PM and went about 8 miles out to a place called CUTO Key, a tiny island in the middle of nowhere. In due time as Charlie was dragging me behind the boat with a rope. I spotted a good place that I thought held lobsters. After finding a few there Charlie located another place not far away and within another 2 hours I caught a few more, a couple being 2 ponds each. While I was diving alone I had two different sharks come at me as I was catching lobsters, one being a small hammerhead and the other a black tip. I saw another shark earlier and we saw several turtles in the water today. I continued concentrating on catching lobsters as the sharks swam around me and I kept wondering f they were around then sooner or later bigger sharks would appear. But none ever did. Charlie and I have finally pulled the tails off this last bunch and now have all of them in the freezer---a very large deep freezer that is now completely full of nothing but lobster tails.
A photo of the snappers we caught last night and cleaned this morning. Also, we went out scouting for lobsters today and here are some of the photos I took. Weather holding excellent, flat seas and decent visibility--although the water is quite warm on the Gulf Side. The Coast Guard wound up with the bail of marijuana that was recovered. They estimated a $100,000 street value. It was a bail that was wrapped tight and sealed in plastic and tape--had been afloat for some time with barnacles--guessed to be part of an old air drop. When the bail was cut open the marijuana was in excellent condition.
Today was opening day of lobster season. At daybreak we went head on into a horrible storm out at sea . Visibility where I dove was nil--less than 3 feet and for a large part of the day I was diving in very hot water with lots of green algae in he water and all over the reefs. We had to work extra hard today to get lobsters. Reports from other divers are that the numbers are down and so is the size. Last year's lobster harvest in Florida was an all time record low. The sun came out at about 10:00 AM and the diving went well after that. We moved out of the algae area and got back in better water later in the day.Chesteen and Lance are flying in on Friday. Also, Mark's son and his son are driving down here on the same day. On Sunday, Chesteen, Lance and I will be going out through the Dry Tortugas, some 70 - that is 70 miles south of Key West out in the ocean and also now a national underwater park and also where a civil war fort is located where Dr. Mudd, the Doctor that assisted John Wilkes Booth, was imprisoned. We cleaned all the lobsters this afternoon and are calling it a day as both of us are worn completely out.
We got out a little late this morning. Dove mostly in shallow waters out back in the Gulf. Of the first lobsters I caught this morning I had to throw every one of them back as they were just barely illegal in size--a real heart breaker. But we got the limit and I got one lobster that was really nice weighing about 2 and one half ponds which is big for the Keys. I swam over a big turtle under one coral head and at another coral head I found 7 queen angel fish of all sizes playing around with each other. You'll see in one photo where Charlie's pet iguana is saying good bye to us at the ck in front of his home--on the canal. I have a "trap line" going right now to catch some iguanas when Lance gets here--baiting it with cantaloupe. The lobster hunting thus far has been much tougher than last year as I am having to work hard to find lobsters that are legal size. There appears to be less boats out looking for lobsters but there also appears to be many more traps that have been set than I have ever seen in my life. We are planning to eat a bite just now and will be back out on the ocean possibly Th's afternoon. You can see in one photo what the sunset looked like last eve--I took that photo from the apex of the SEVEN MILE BRIDGE that runs between Marathon and Big Pine. I found one spot today that looked to be holding some lobsters of which possibly a few were legal in size--but only marked the spot with Charlie's GPS as we intend to go back to it when the kids get here--hopefully the lobsters will not move from there or any other diver finds it during the time period.
|
No SweatThe adventures of Categories
All
Archives |