We headed out to the Marquesas Keys to do some yellow tailing in the morning. We had calm seas and light north bound current with tide. We set up at a couple different depths and it appears that 100 feet plus is necessary to keep from getting smothered in 14 inchers. We had a recreational limit at about 2 ‘o’ clock, and had released about at least 10 legal but smaller fish. We caught one 24 inch and two 23 inch snappers and a bunch in the 19-20 inch range. I was going to release the 3, 12 inchers I had in my live well, for more eating size but a big storm packed with lighting was on us.
On the way home we drifted some baits over the sub, but no luck. Marked tons of fish, have to go back there when I get a new anchor rope.
After that we headed east away from the storm, once got a bit east of Satan shoal we saw the blue water was at the edge of the reef so we jumped in with spear guns. The visibility on the bar south of main reef was pushing 60 feet, and there where tons of fish, but being relatively new at free diving, the 50 feet to the bottom was a bit much. We drifted for awhile hoping for a shot at some pelagics passing thru but all we saw where smaller bar jacks.
I did see some massive schools of mangrove snappers swarming on the bar a little west of western dry rocks, 100s possibly thousands of tthem balled up in about 50 feet of water. We would have fished them but we already had a limit of snapper. We spear fished for awhile at western dry rocks, but didn’t see much legal to kill. The groupers we saw where undersized, saw some mackerel but they took off before I could get a shot.
Also went out tarpon fishing 2 nights ago and it sucked, wind and storms made me head in, but I did get a preview of mini-season watching 2 people run aground in the span of an hour and a half, one guy was in like 30+ foot triple engine who tried to run full speed from the end of calda to the tip of flemming by heading due west from the mouth of the channel, another was this guy. Apparently the thing to do when you don’t know your way around is to go fast and just ignore those channel markers.
