07-01-00
MOOSE
We left the Inlet at sunrise with smooth seas, and a west wind in our backs. We were exploring new spots for Mini season. We found our first ledge in 73' to 89' with a chilly surface temp at 72F.
I did the first dive. I was not surprised when I hit the bottom, and it got colder....66F! The vis was not bad around 10' to 15'. Big undercuts on this new ledge with lots of sea life. A few large bugs were spotted along with a large spotted eel. More sea bass than I could imagined covered the bottom. A large anchor was found on the end of the dive. A nice red snapper found his way back to the surface with me.
The rest of the crew had found a spot to the east on the same ledge with lots of bait, so we anchored up and did some bottom fishing. Rod caught a large red snapper that went straight to the ice. Tom and I managed to catch plenty of sea bass, 18" red snappers and small red grouper.
We headed inshore a little, and before we got to our # a nice ledge cams across the bottom machine. We anchored, and managed to catch lots of bait but nothing else. Tom and Rod suited up for the next dive. They hit the bottom and headed N. I followed finding that the ledge was getting bigger, but then ended about 100 yards N. of the jug. They never made it to the end/beginning. They surface with a 20llb grouper, and stories of Large lobster everywhere...
I was anxious to see it for myself so I dove the jug, and went South. Large undercuts went back farther than I see with my light. I found a nice Hog snapper, and many lobsters to. This was a good find for us, even if the water was still 66F degrees with 10' vis..
We headed in to some favorite inshore sites. The surface temp was 78F with great vis. Tom went 85' just to come back to the surface with tales of zero vis. He was untangling a sabaki rig from the prop only to see a Large spotted manta ray swim under the boat with cobia in pursuit. The bottom temp was 68F with no vis from 70' to the sand. So we called it a day, and headed home. We had a great day of hunting and exploring the reefs off Daytona Beach. Call me and I'll hook you up with those numbers.
Tony
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