# TRIP TO THE MASS" ON FRIDAY THE 14TH



## dkdiver (Oct 15, 2007)

Well, we finally got one trip in this week and the vis and the "Mass" was awesome. 80-100' vis up high and a little less as you got deeper in the water column. I had two rec divers, John from Clearwater and Brett from Indiana, and a tech diver Kip, from Largo. The dive plan was to put John and Brett in, then Kip since his dive plans were either 85 or 94 minutes. Here are some pics from the first dive.














This is John, our photographer. Clay-doh, at least he kept his reg in his mouth.














Kip on his way up from the deep depths.














Wally diving with John and Brett



When the first dive was over, I headed down to check on Kip, timing the drop to get to the flightdeck (did I say Mass?) when Kip was coming up from the hangar catwalk. As I am leaving the boat I think, "there are no other divers here, I will take a gun, I might as well use the permits." I grab a gun and drop over. Kip is already up at a 130' and doing well. I look under the aft radar platform and see a jack tail heading for the starboard side of the island. I go after him and find four bar jacks at about 130'. As I take aim, this guy swims over the edge of the flght deck rail.














I took the shot and immediately thought (what the %$##^% did I just do)? More on that in the lessons learned a little later. The shot was a little low of where I had aimed so I only nicked his spinal cord. He was stunned initially but that didn't last long. After putting on a really good show for Kip, who got to see another "Kung Fu Fish Fighting" episode live, I got the fish under (somewhat) control and started back to the boat. He said he had never seen anything quite like that, especially when the cobia started heading back to the sand. I will add the lessons learned later in the post but I wanted to get this up before the games started. It was a great, fun day,a lot calmer than I figured it was going to be and the water was beautiful. Thanks guys!


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## JoeZ (Sep 30, 2007)

Cobia on the MASS!!!!

Time to climb the tower?


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## Skippy (Sep 18, 2008)

Not the "Mass" if he was at 130' down, I would say the "O", just a guess, especially as one of them has 2 pony tanks strapped on.



Darned nice Cobia though, sure would have liked to see that when I was last out there, although, a Cobia that size would normally call for a 2 diver shot, not into deep water wrestling myself.



Skippy


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## JoeZ (Sep 30, 2007)

No. It's definitely the Mass. The last storms moved it out a bit. oke


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## Clay-Doh (Oct 2, 2007)

Sweet job Teacher!!!!! That there is a beauty!!! Wish I could a been there with ya for kung-fu fightin part 3! 

Ummmm...can you ask Michelle when is dinner? :letsdrink

And yes..the Mass has definately changed a bit from the storms!!!


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## GrouperNinja (Oct 30, 2007)

Great Cob Dalton! Yeah that last strom has scattered the " MASS " all over the gulfcoastoke

My scales are drying out!:reallycrying cant wait to get back down.


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## need2fish (Oct 2, 2007)

Wow - great report and pics.Wrestling that cobiamust've been something to see.


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## FishinFL (Sep 30, 2007)

Very nice fish Dalton!!!

The Oriskany sure has yielded lots of fine fish!!!!

Did you make any other dives?

Thanks, Reese


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## FelixH (Sep 28, 2007)

Great Cobe Dalton!!!!!!


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## Murphy's Law (Sep 27, 2007)

Good job on the kill :clap


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## dkdiver (Oct 15, 2007)

> *GrouperNinja (11/16/2008)*Great Cob Dalton! Yeah that last strom has scattered the " MASS " all over the gulfcoastoke
> 
> 
> 
> My scales are drying out!:reallycrying cant wait to get back down.




Ninja, I have to confess, it was your gun. :bowdown:moon I couldn't find my detachable head so I grabbed yours out of the back bedroom. I will save some for you.



Reese, that was the only dive I made. I came up after I had the fish under control and was sure the tech diver was fine. I had three logs circling me and no equalizer so discretion was the better part of valor. There is a school of small Mingos building back in so I would expect to begin seeing some more jacks.



Thanks for compliments guys. It has been a while since tagged a fish that size (been too busy driving) and it was a pretty interesting ride at that depth.


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## Telum Pisces (Sep 27, 2007)

Great job Dalton. My little cobia that I tagged over the summer gave me a fit. I can only imagine what that rodeo ride felt like. They are such lathargic fish till you stick some steel in them.:letsdrink

What size gun did you take him with? I ask because that's about the size of the cobia that I lostbecause my shaft didn't get through his thick head.:banghead 

Enjoy them cobia steaks.


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## jlbdvm (Nov 12, 2007)

good job, Dalton!

Hey when any of ya'll need diver from defuniak, let me know!!

JAY


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## dkdiver (Oct 15, 2007)

> *Telum Piscis (11/16/2008)*Great job Dalton. My little cobia that I tagged over the summer gave me a fit. I can only imagine what that rodeo ride felt like. They are such lathargic fish till you stick some steel in them.:letsdrink
> 
> 
> 
> ...




That would have been GrouperNinja's old, full of water, aluminum JBL Competition Magnum with a JBL detachable tip. 2 5/8" bands from MBT. You are not kidding about lethargic until the shot, but that goes back into tomorrow's lessons learned. It was a near thing for a moment there.



Thanks DR. Jay, haven't seen much of you since H2Arman went south. I still think she is teaching him how to spearfish :looser


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## chuck86 (Nov 17, 2008)

Great job Dalton. Someday when Kevin and I are back down there we will have to do some of that. Appears to be a lot of fun but could be pretty dangerous too.

I Like It


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## Telum Pisces (Sep 27, 2007)

> *jlbdvm (11/16/2008)*good job, Dalton!
> 
> Hey when any of ya'll need diver from defuniak, let me know!!
> 
> JAY


Dr. Jay,

I think I lost your number or didn't have it to begin with. Shoot me your number to add to the folks to call. I tried to get out last Sunday, but couldn't find a diver within a 100 mile radius of Pensacola that could get out with me.


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## BlueWater2 (Sep 27, 2007)

Sounds deep to be at the Mass ????


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## GMan (Oct 17, 2007)

Great job DK! That was a huge cob even in the cooler it was massive. Cant wait till this weather clears up...


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## KeyLargoKip (Nov 17, 2008)

So its my first dive on the Mighty O! My dive plan was to go the the hanger deck and poke around there for a bit then check out the superstructure. I cut tables for 170' with a 40 min bottom time and a total run time of 97 minutes and a contingency for 180' with a bottom time of 35 min and a total run time of 85 min. I'm running a 19/17 tri-mix in my back gas and deco'ing on 50% and 100%. Conditions were great, 2' light chop with an occasional 3 footer. Viz was probably 35-40 horizontal. The descent was smooth - no current. I hit the hangar deck at 175 - so I guess I'm on my contingency. I can't see the other side of the hull - all I can see is the outline of the large opening for the elevator on the port side - with the eerie blue light coming through it reminds me of the entrance to "Turtle Cave" in Sipadan.



I'm headed back from the hanger deck to check out the superstructure. Capt. Dalton comes up next to me, gun in hand, and we exchange the "OK." I turn my head to take in the sights and turn back to Dalton but he's now 25 feet below me and making a bee-line for the flight deck, can't really see what he's going after but he's clearly interested in something. So I'm thinking, "okay, this could get interesting." I come around pri-fly ( which contained three very large barracuda supervising flight operations) and now I see Dalton making a bee-line for the surface. Or - more accurately - I should say a gigantic cobia is making a bee line for the surface and Dalton is along for the ride, trying valiantly but with limited success to put the friggin' brakes on. Once again, I think: "Ok, so we're around 125' here, a quick trip to the surface and I'm picturing Dalton's lungs coming out through his nostrils. Maybe interesting isn't quite the word I'm searching for here."



The next time I see Dalton I'm not sure if he's trying to wrangle the cobia or is engaged in conduct un-becoming - he' s standing on one of the catwalks with the cobia between his legs and at this point its still not clear who's winning. And I'm trying not to spit the regulator out from laughing so much.



I guess in the end, it was a good day for Dalton and a not-so-good day for the Cobia. And a great day for me: how often do you get to do a great wreck dive and get treated to great entertainment to boot!


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## HateCheese (Oct 2, 2007)

A cobe at this time of year, and a horse to boot. Nice job Dalton, and good post.:clap:clap Good thing you brought the gun down. 

Thanks for the other perspective Keylargokip. Sounds like it would have been a great one to have on video. 

'conduct un-becoming' ...... :letsdrink


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## H2OArman (Oct 7, 2007)

I Leave and Now you start Spearfishing

Great Job My Friend and Many More to come.


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## Clay-Doh (Oct 2, 2007)

Welcome Kip!!! You have no witnessed your first "DK Kungfu Fightin" adventure underwater!!! You shoulda seen the 2 of us on my very first dive after being certified...I got a new BC, and learned the hardway that you should get thestraps wet before adjusting them to your tank.

I'm absolutely gaga at sein these beatiful big AJ for the first time ever, and going after one. Shot, and broke my shaft off in his head. While reloading, I feel something bouncing on my back ankles, and wonder why my reg is pulling in my mouth. After figuring out that my tank was no longer attached to my BC, and carrying it, I find Dalton doing roundhouse kicks on a very much alive AJ. While holding my tank, I pull out my knife and give him a hand, then he helps me get tanked back up...wild first certified dive!

Dalton....thinkin bout that riding rig and kill spike now????oke


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## jspooney (Oct 2, 2007)

hmmmm....wednesday night supper....fish? Great job.


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## dkdiver (Oct 15, 2007)

Sorry Jeff, had to work too hard for that. You'll still like dinner though. 



Clay, I have to see the riding rig in action for that. I like keeping my gun from free floating to the surface :doh The spike may be a whole different thing though.


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## Clay-Doh (Oct 2, 2007)

Oh you had to go there Dalton!

If you clip it off to you as soon as you reload, you can forget about the gun....I just have a semi-slow learning curve...and was getting used to it! It hasnt happened since. Thank goodness for mike with an eye close to the water!:shedevil


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## dkdiver (Oct 15, 2007)

I thought about it some more last night. It really would be good to have with big fish, getting the gun out of the way completely. I had no tether on the gun so I had to hold on to it while I was reeling the fish in. Real sloppy and inefficient. :hotsun


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## KeyLargoKip (Nov 17, 2008)

Yeah, the Kung Fu Fightin' was definately worth the trip. Too bad I couldn't stick around long enough to sample the fruits of Dalton's labor!



I haven't done much spearfishing here in the Keys but after that display of raw courage and fierce determination in the face of insurmountable odds I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to give it another try!


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## Clay-Doh (Oct 2, 2007)

Dont worry Kip! I'll make sure I definately get over to Dalton and Michelles to "sample the fruits"!

More later on riding rigs and kill spikes


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