Finally got my scuba (& nitrox) certification finished up last month and really wanted to give it a shot, so Gumshoe, Big Daddy, F’in Mike and I headed out to 90’ to see what we could find.
It’s really cool to see the bottom you’ve fished before from down there… this ledge is about a 1/2 mile long and drops from 3-4’ to over 10’ in spots, and has a huge overhang. I shot a scamp right off the bat from under the overhang, and BD hit a nice hog that unfortunately got away during the transfer to the stringer. The vis wasn’t great, and I spent the rest of my time chasing a few decent sized fish that stayed just out of range and just getting the hang of things. I wouldn’t call it a slam, but no skunk on my first dive over 60’ was good.
At one point, I felt what I thought was BD bump my tank, but when I turned around, he was about 20’ away and I saw him pop a 4-5’ shark. I later learned that that little bastard was what bumped me, trying to get the scamp on my stringer.
Gumshoe and F’in Mike didn’t have much better luck on the same spot, so we moved on to some low-relief live bottom a few miles south. I got one decent yellowmouth and a big BSB, but there wasn’t much going on there either. We dropped the other two on a little wreck in 60’, and they managed a few triggers.
No pics, mainly because none of the fish were very big. Ended up with one big flounder, two scamp, one yellowmouth, three triggers, one big BSB, one spade and two big slipper lobsters, and got back to the dock in time to make a 3:30 meeting in Myrtle Beach. All in all a very cool way to spend a July day.
It was rough, viz sucked compared to lately and we didn’t see the fish like we usually do.
Nothing like the optimism of a new diver to consider all this a fun day…I agree Although we could have seen more fish, it would have to REALLY suck bad to be a worse day than sitting at work on a Tuesday!
Plus, the thunder/lightning/rain storm dropped like 2 feet of rain on the boat not 5 minutes after we tied up - really helped to clean up the boat
Nice work Ryan. Don’t tell anyone how cool it is, though I suppose the shark encounter on your first dive, low viz, and thought of being 100’ underwater will keep most people away from the sport and we can have it all to ourselves. If you made it through all that, then chances are you will hang in there.
Did the shark get a PH or did it just get a shaft? Did it haul ass or did they kill it? Just curious. I would have shot his ass in a heartbeat.
BD didn’t have a PH with him, so he shot it freeshaft… when I saw the thing, it was trying to scrub the shaft out on the bottom, but it headed up soon afterwards. BD said he chased it until his computer yelled at him, but no luck. The shark wasn’t very big, and I really didn’t know it was after me/my fish until after I got back up. To be honest, I thought he shot a monster cobia at first glance.
I had a couple of good teachers with me, and that makes a big difference. Can’t wait to go again.
Although we could have seen more fish, it would have to REALLY suck bad to be a worse day than sitting at work on a Tuesday!