Hey Capt. Moose,
My schedule at work has not allowed me to do much spearfishing lately but on Friday the 8th my girlfriend Darcy and myself loaded up the boat and headed out for a day of spearfishing and fun in the Florida Keys sun. I headed out of the Key West marina about 8 am for some patch reefs about 5 miles off shore. Within minutes I noticed that a large lightning filled storm cloud obscured the horizon in the direction I had to go. The seas started to get rough so I had to resort to plan B, "I didn't have a plan B". I decided to head for the Gulf side of the keys where the skies were clearer and the seas were calmer. Within an hour we found two small islands separated by a channel that appeared to be deep. I immediately had a good feeling about this place. I moored the boat on a small beach on one of the islands, Darcy went exploring the island for a place to lay in the sun. I was cocking my new O.M.E.R speargun before I even had the motor shut down. As soon as I slipped into the channel I was greeted by a school of large Jacks. I took a good breath and dove toward the center of the channel, it was deeper than I thought. It was about 30' deep and the current was light. There was life everywhere, I shot a 26" Gag Grouper on my first freedive. I was soon surrounded by 5 graceful Eagle Rays who came to check out all the activity in the crystal clear water. To make a long story short we had a great day, I later shot 2 Hogfish and landed two large lobsters. We were home by 4p.m and by 6:30 we were eating a tasty seafood dinner. I can't wait to get out again.
Joe
southernphoto71@hotmail.com