JoeK, Andre, Wil and I left Shields around 7:30. The plan was to run offshore and dive. We brought rods but no bait. Easy day, leisurely diving. As we approached the SW water buoy we decided we would run to Marker 24 and see what the wind and seas would do, then make a decision on what to do. Seas were 1-2 with an occasional roller thrown in.
We got to 24 and decided to run to a number Joe had not too far away. As we got close I asked Joe if he wanted to troll the last bit just to get a chance to warm up before diving. I still had a stretch 25 and a CD14 tied on from my last offshore trip and we decided to put them out about .75 miles from the spot. As it turned out this would be a good move.
The baits were out maybe 2 minutes before one hooked up, as I reeled in the other I hooked up as well. 1 short and 1 keeper. Not bad. For the next 30 minutes we continued to double up several times and ended up putting 10 in the box before 9 am. The CD 14 was the hot bait but the Stretch caught the bigger fish. That is until something decided to tear it up and rip the back hooks out. The whole time 3-5 fish would follow the hooked fish to the boat so I'm sure we had 2 fish on this bait when it broke.
We put some nice fish in the boat before then though...
Wil with a hefty gag...
Andre with a good fish, me with Chalk hair...
After the tide started moving the bite quit. We made our way to the original spot a 1/4 mile away and Joe and I were the first down in 28 feet.
Lots of fish and some big gags. Plenty of big sheeps as well. More hogs and grunts than I have seen in a few years.
I did ok with 2 sheeps, a hog and 2 gags 1 going almost 29"...
Joe did ok as well with a grouper and 2 hogs. The current was kicking good and the vis was not the best but it was very shootable.
Andre and Wil decided they would like to dive the spot we caught the fish on trolling and how could you blame them. We got anchored up and Andre was back to the boat in 10 minutes with 3 nice gags. He dropped them off and went back for more. Wil was rusty from his 2 year diving hiatus and came back empty handed. I took his place and joined Andre.
Lots of small scattered undercut rocks in this area and the gags were swarming. During the dive we were visited by a pod of 6 dolphins that swam circles around us a few times.
Andre was still hammering them and ended up with the big fish of the day at 33 inches. I ended up with 2 more nice gags and a decent hog from this spot.
Andre after his second trip...
We had to get a final carnage count and decided to pose as well.
20 gags in the boat and it was just noon. We decided we had quite a lot of fish cleaning ahead of us and called it a day. Back at the dock at 1:30 and had the fish and boat cleaned before 3.
Super day on the water and kind of bad thing since there is really no where to go but down. But hey, I can't complain a bit.
Final Tally
20 gags to 33" average 25"
4 hogs to 17 inches
2 big sheeps
1 great day with great friends.
I'm available for that trip to the East Coast if Chalk gets too mouthy Tom. 
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