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The Caribbean Spiny Lobster season will close in:

Tue8Jul2008

4th of July Week

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Bob Diaz | SpearBlog 2008 | July 08, 2008 | Print
grouper, mask, marathon, moray, flkeys, 2008

Winds: 15-20 S to  E
Seas: 5-8 feet (sloppy)
Surf Temp: +/- 80F
Viz: 40-50+ feet (depending on location)
This week we were able to enjoy some incredible viz even though the seas were as rough as I can remember. We had strong winds and seas as high as 8 feet for at least 3 days. Incredibly enough the viz did not suffer. The fishing wasn't easy, but we were able to get some picture-worthy fish in spite of the seas. Of course we did have to drive ourselves most of this week as none of the ladies were willing to brave the rough water enough to captain for us while we dove.

 There were also days when I should have stayed in the boat or back on the dock if I had paid attention to all the signs "someone" was trying to send me. For instance Tuesday morning we see the wind had not laid down so we decided to take out the big boat that morning. We transfer all of our gear over (or so we thought). Forty-five minutes of rough seas driving later we get to our spot only to find that we forgot one thing... our weight belts! So the one guy that had a weight belt and one of us gets in the water because we figure we aren't going to come back if we head home to pick up the belts. After about 15 minutes of bobbing around in the water, my brother-in-law decides he's had enough and kindly offers to get out so I can try my hand at this new top-water spearfishing sport we were pioneering that day. 

I should have known it wasn't going to be my day... I get in the water and my mask starts to fill up with water. So I clear it and there it goes again. I clear it once more and breath in slightly to check the seal. My eyes start to bug out of my head, so I figure the seal is ok and I just had some hair in under the mask. I go down once more and the damn thing fills up again! This time I blow out slightly and get to see some beautiful bubbles blowing out of the right lens of my mask. The frame was completely cracked and there was nothing to do... I tried using my friend's mask but it just didn't fit so I gave up for that leg of the trip... But wait, there's more!

So we head back to shore to pick up a spare mask (a ripped one) and something else, what was it... oh yeah, the weight belts. So we're off once again. The mask I grabbed leaked, but less than mine, so I figured I would just clear it every 10 seconds or so. I get in the water and as soon as I clear my mask the first time, I spot a nice black grouper  just starting to move away from me. I take the long shot, and hit him right behind the gill plate. He takes off and starts peeling line off my reel. I let him have at it because I am busy clearing my mask. He holes up about 25 feet away so I start reeling in the line and swimming up to the hole. I look down and I see his tail and my shaft sticking out of the hole. So I head down to grab the shaft and back him out, when WHAM! a cloud of dust appears out of nowhere and I get this sudden pain in my hand. As I am rising to the surface I inspect my glove and find a couple of razor sharp cuts between my index and second finger. I peel back the glove to find a couple of nice little cuts in my fingers. My middle finger was cut on the second segment and it went to the bone. I immediately realize that I have been bitten by a green moray. Like I said, I should have known it wasn't going to be my day...

There is a happy ending to this story, at least for me. I did get the grouper. And the moray? Well I figured he was only doing what comes naturally. Being a royal pain in my a**.

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