Offshore Panacea 8/2

[Vitz]

Headed out about 6:45 Saturday morning for a fish/dive combo trip. The weather looked terrible when we got on the water. We ran to the flats to catch a livewell full of bait and to decide whether to brave the elements or not. After filling the livewell and noticing the line of storms getting closer and closer, we had to make a decision. A quick radio call to the marina informed us that the weather looked alright if you could clear the first line of storms. So after some debate, we picked the clearest spot in the storm and headed for it. Of course, the clear(er) spot was further than it appeared and we chased it east for several miles. We had planned to fish S to SW of Panacea so when I looked inshore and saw that I was due south of the St. Marks lighthouse I decided it was time to stop chasing the clear spot. We turned due south into the mess and hunkered down. The storm lasted about 10-15 minutes but there was no lightning and so we never really felt threatened. Once we cleared the storm, it was blue skies the rest of the day.

First stop was some live bottom in 45' of water that I had stumbled across a couple of weeks ago. We drifted it 2 or 3 times with several short grouper to show for it. We picked up a ran to an unmarked wreck so we could get our dive in early in case we got chased in by storms. I'd never been to this particular spot, much less dived it. It was in 75' of water South of K. It looked great on the bottom machine. At least 10' of relief with fish stacked all over it. We anchored on it and my buddy and I started gearing up. Before we could even get started, the other guys in the boat were hauling fish in. A nice 26" gag went into the box. When we got to the bottom, the vis was probably 40-50 feet. Small AJs everywhere. The structure appeared to be the diesel engine of an old boat. It appeared that it was standing on its end and the fish had wallowed out a hole underneath it. A 7-8 foot nurse shark called it home. We shot a nice gag, red snapper, and hogfish. I believe there was also a large jewfish on some surrounding structure as I could just barely make out a large fish swimming at the edge of visability. All in all, a cool dive.

Headed on out to Bryson and caught a few amberjack. Hit a few patches of live bottom a few miles east of Bryson and then hit a couple more spots on the way in. Back to the dock at 7 pm. Long but very fun day. Glad we braved the early morning weather. Total tally- 6 grouper, 2 red snapper, 1 AJ, 1 hogfish.

[dstockwell]

WTG.. Sounds like a good trip after dogging them storms.