The calm weather and lack of fish in the freezer conspired to force me to head out to the reef and look for dinner. I was suited up and heading out by 8 am; the ocean looked like a mill pond with nary a ripple to be scene.
I had taken the first cut to the south out into the ocean and then turned south down to a spot I've hunted with Dejarlo several times before. I entered the water, checked the anchor and then the hunt was on.
Initially I sort of hovered over some 12 to 15 foot deep heads just checking out the scene. After 10 minutes or so, a matched pair of hogfish swam by. Hmmm. I took a breath and slipped below the water.
The pair noticed me, but didn't seem too worried. I crept to within 6 feet and then WHAMMO! Hogfish #1 sank to ocean floor without a twitch. I grabbed him and my spear and headed to the surface. I quickly tossed my catch into the bucket in my dink and dove back down reloading my spear along the way.
Hogfish #2 was right where I left him and he too suffered a similar fate. Score two for the home team!
I'll save you the rest of the play by play for my fishing session, but thanks to global warming and my new wetsuit, I was able to hunt for almost three hours before I finally succumbed to the cold and returned home. Final count was 1 Nassau grouper, 1 yellow grouper, 2 hogfish and 5 small snapper panfish.
Starvation has once again been averted.
After hunting, we moved the mothership back over to the eastern side of the harbour as the winds are forecast to return to their normal upright and seated position sometime tonight. By tomorrow morning we are supposed to be up to 20 to 25 knots out of the east and we will once again be hiding from imminent death and destruction.
in other news, the FreeBirds (Jon and JoAnn) left this morning to start their way back to the states. It sucks to see them go and now we have almost no friends left in the harbour. You didn't hear it from me, but Amy spent most of the afternoon fighting off the gloomies.
With all the aquatic activities this morning, fish is definitely on the menu tonight. Talk to you soon. Remember, be safe, it's stupid out there ....