This is a first- I consider myself a novice spearfisherman. But, on a trip on Ken's new boat, I was slaying the fish.
He bought a fantastic dive boat for a project of his and wanted crew members for the move of the boat from Southport to Morehead city. And he mentioned that maybe we'd get some diving in.. was I interested? In a word...
Yes! The seas were beautiful but since it was a new boat, we took a very conservative path relatively shallow along the coast. We tried to hit a 'rock' but ended up in the sand. We were still getting the feel of the electronics in the boat. We then hit a wreck on the way in which was really beautiful- but devoid of fish.
We decided to hit a spot called Big 10 Rock, which is really a large area full of coral mounds. It reminded me a lot of the middlegrounds- except on this trip it was filled with fish! The depths were pretty shallow and the fish somewhat scarce, but I ventured over where we anchored to the right where there was more relief. The fish were a bit frightened so I decided to look under the ledges- bingo! A big grouper was mine. I put him down hoping to interest other fish, but he was the only one I brought back- 32", though I'm not sure of the weight. On the way back, we hit a scary inshore wreck- vis was 8' and the water was pea-green, but I shot a big sheepshead.
The next day we went to an area Captain Leroy said was a 'half-moon'. I think we found it, but we were on the down-current side.
I swam up and down this ledge, not seeing many fish, but then out in the sand, a big grouper shows up, but turns around. Since there weren't many fish where I was, I decide to follow him. He led me to fish-paradise! There were so many fish swimming around, I thought I was in an aquarium. I was a terrible shot, missing a lot of fish, but I knew this is where we wanted to dive. We did a second dive on it and I got two grouper, and thought I hit a third one under a rock, but it was silted up- and my spear was stuck. I sent up a marker on the spot so I could come back and get my spear. I had to meet up with the boat since I didn't surface at the anchor. A few mechanical issues later, I back-dove the spot to get my spear- and fish- but there was nothing but a spear there. It was a very successful trip, and looking forward to more.
