5-20-00
We were watching the weather closely Friday night, and made the decision to dive by 9 PM. After a decent night sleep, we arrived at the boat ramp at 5:45 AM. The wind was coming in from the South East, not the South West, which was the forecast from the NOAA site. After careful consideration and a couple renegade waves, we altered our plan of attack. Nobody seemed to mind when I decided to steer a course for the ledge named The Pinch.
The Pinch is one ledge we dive every chance we get. The sheer beauty of this ledge is a sight you will not soon forget. If you could, imagine a rock the shape of Florida, fifteen to twenty ft tall. It is 1/8 mile long from Jacksonville (NE tip) to Miami (South tip), and another 1/8 mile to Crystal River. The ledge is 15-20 ft at Miami, and 4 ft at Jacksonville and Crystal River. The south tip has massive overhangs, and deep caves. Some of the overhangs were too large and at some point have caved in. At the sand, there are huge eels and turtles. Moving up the wall, you will encounter areas of lobster. Every hole in the wall has something in it. Usually there are a few jewfish.
Cary and I made the first dive. We noticed a stiff current through the
entire water column, and had to work to stay with the downline. A group of
amberjack met us at 20 ft and followed us to the reef. We landed on the top of
the plateau 60 ft from Miami. As we lined up compass headings and swam south,
the reef edge came into sight. We fell off the tallest part of the reef and made
our way south to a pile of rocks we call the Florida Keys. It was magnificent,
alive with swarms of fish and vis that was close to 40 ft. Cary and I stayed
within ten ft of each other the entire dive, and pointed things out to each
other.
I noticed file clams, tons of bridled goby’s, spiny lobster, slipper
lobster, mango snapper, scamp grouper, anemones, crabs, bait fish everywhere,
but nothing I wanted to eat. I enjoyed this dive as I do every time I dive this
ledge. I did notice the absence of Jewfish, which was strange. Cary ended the
dive with two nice mango snapper, and I came up happy.
Andy was the leader of the second group, so down he went. Conditions were
perfect for sight seeing, but the big grouper were too smart. He ended the dive
with a couple of nice snappers and stories of missed opportunities. It seems
that he and I are looking more at the little fishes than the big fishes, and
anytime you let you guard down a big grouper will appear and disappear in a
flash.
My second dive was another cool dive. We went north a mile or so and went
down on a four-foot tall limestone ledge with plenty of hiding places for big
fish and lobster. There were lobsters everywhere, but no grouper. I wanted
grouper. I have been eating snapper for months, and I wanted grouper. This ledge
was alive with more than anyone could ever see in one dive. I even saw cleaner
shrimp. Cary put a couple more nice snapper on the stringer, and I came up
happy. Andy continued the dive to the North where we ended. Plenty of lobster
was his report.
Our third dive was inshore a few miles, and I had crossed this spot
coming in from a day offshore on a previous trip. I thought it was worth noting
at the time, so we went to check it out. What a blessing. Cary is the proud
owner of his own ledge. This ledge was short, with no obvious continuations
North or South. Probably hasn’t ever seen a diver due to the curiosity of the
fish. As we slowed our descent, I looked up to see a huge grouper right in front
of me. I turned to Cary and he already had a bead on him. The shot fell short,
and my heart fell also. I really wanted Cary to have a wall hanger. We worked up
and back, and when we arrived back at the starting point, there were four or
five big gags looking at us. I collected one for dinner and ended the dive. Cary
had some snapper, and I was happy. Andy did another spot on the way in and took
a nice big amberjack. He is more daring than I am.
Every trip out is worth remembering.
Happy Hunting.
Capt Moose
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