Got a late start leaving the inlet at 8am but making good time at 32 knots.
First dive Thom and I dropped down on the Northern part of the ledge. This area had 10 foot relief with deep undercuts. I dropped down in the warm 74 degree temperatures with no thermocline. I was greeted by a 40lb+ amberjack...since Moose was not on the trip I figures I could fill the cooler with some fresh filets for the beggars but as I let the shaft fly with a placement at the gill plates the 223 round exploded as expected the aj just gave a quick shutter and swam off as I just shot him with a BB gun. The bugs were thin apparently due to the 10 + nurse sharks that were lined up under all the deep undercuts. There were a few small red snapper a cruising blacktip but that was it. Dropped Tony and his brother on the ridge a few miles south and they broke the ice with 9 bugs and a few fish. The new hunter learned that if your going to bother with a trigger you better finish him off before you string him up.......those little bite marks will be a lesson well learned. Thom's and my second dive was on a the same ledge just going in a different direction. No fish but we pulled 4 bugs and Thom pulled 2. Tony's second dive produced a nice flounder and 2 bugs. Thom and my last dive was on a ledge called @&#*#'$ Ledge it had deep deep undercuts and looked very promising but the nurse sharks were like a parking lot and they were all in the 10ft range....Thom did happen to find a little hotel where he pulled 5 more bugs. I pulled one large and a small snapper only to get back to the boat and find the bug nibbling on my fish that were both in a mesh bag. Tony's last dive was a new area we found while running in to the &#$%^$%$@. It appears to have a lot of promise but after Tony had a misfire on a 20+ red and the sun was setting he was at a disadvantage. There were a few bugs in the 10+ class but to far back in the undercuts. All in all a good day for bugs not much with fish......
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All I can say is.... stop shooting those nasty worm filled amberjack. Leave those for the people who order fish at restaurants, they don't have any clue what they are eating.
Moose
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