# Saturday group diving. Mahi, almaco and lobster!



## AQUA HUNTRESS (May 23, 2008)

*Two Videos-Saturday group diving. Mahi, almaco and lobster!*

Helms Deep, Haulin' Ash and Diver Down met in the pass for a day of adventure! Each boat loaded with 4 divers and lots of guns and poles. Our first dive was the Avocet. There were crazy amounts of tiny jellyfish in about 10 to 30 feet of the water column and a good bit of current. Then as we headed off to our next dive something very cool happened. Clay says "whats that" and points over in the distance at a floating moss covered log. So I climbed into the tower with a gottcha lure and first cast a nice mahi! Lane and his crew came over to it to and hooked some nice ones while clay got suited up. So we draged Clay around like a lure for a while and then he headed over to the log and can you believe it he comes back with a nice mahi! Lane and I had to join the action but with no success. The fish had gotten a bit spooked. Then we made our way over to the Oriskany where we were greeted with a nice fat bull shark and a not so nice smaller shark that was feeling a little pissy. We were surprised with the lack of AJ. Then we took off to our last dive to round off the day with some lobsters and shell collecting. Awesome day with a great group of friends. The divers that I knew were Clay Doh, Diver Down, Ozenjager or Helms Deep, ADiver, Haulin Ash, Below Me and Zack.


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## coolbluestreak (Jun 27, 2011)

Cool, thanks for the report and pictures!
I love the pictures, I know I need to take more of them, we just always forget.


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## odb1877 (Jul 6, 2011)

nice pic.


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## Clay-Doh (Oct 2, 2007)

Was an awesome day! Thanx for letting me tag along! Nothing more fun than getting dragged around behind a boat like a lure! You guys made it happen, gettin me to them, and then casting on them bringing them around. Thanx! I tell ya, some days on the water are memorable because awesome stuff happens, and some days are memorabble cuz your with a great group of people. And then you get those days that awesome stuff happens, AND your with a great group of people! I laughed most the day.

Memorable times included..


The morning being very intense for me, scared poo-less. Long story. I stated at one point "This is all going to end horribly wrong", at which time Leo Steph and April burst into laughter, thinking I was kidding. But I was serious.
Diving the Avocet by myself, thinking I thought I was always the slowest one! 30 minutes into my dive, and wheres my boat people at?

Seeing the mossy log. Leo thought it was a manatee. AWESOME!!! IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GULF AND NO MANATEE POLICE AROUND like Crystal River to yell at us and threaten $40,000 fines?? Oh this thing is sooooo gettin rode like a jetski and booty slapped. Fortunately for dignity of manatees everywhere, it was just a log with a bunch of Mahi on it. Was Steph Leo and Lane on the other boat (all people who know how to use a rod and reel) start casting and catching them! Was real cool!

Learned that it really is important to do your "Hammer Time" Dance underwater for the sake of fellow divers before helping a good shark gone bad come to an understanding of why he should behave. Sorry Mr. Bad Manners Shark, you are NOT the top of the food chain when I'm in the water. Had you behaved more like your mentor the 8' bull shark, you would have got a hall pass. 

Leo swimming up with a handful of kicking lobsters clutched to his chest and a look on his face like Pooh Bear just discovered the honey hive. And Steph like "what the hell?" and taking off in the direction of Leo's lobster discovery, and April "stand" upright in the water column, and put her hands on her hips and make evil eye in a scowl of disapproval. Never seen that underwater before. Cool! 

Here's a few pics I pulled off video.

Steph casting on em to keep them interested, showin me where she spotted them, and pulling mine in after I shot it.
































Split second after moment of impact








Good Bull Shark (Kinda)








Bad Shark. Didn't even care about Lanes Almaco at the other end, kept relentlessly coming in at me and Steph, even after I chased him a few times.


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## Clay-Doh (Oct 2, 2007)

And here's the link to the video of shooting the Mahi.

*Mahi Mahi Easin'*

Hope you enjoy! Had a blast with everybody.


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## MillerTime (Jul 6, 2011)

Sounds like a great day except for the man in the grey suit. Awesome report.


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## Addict'd (May 17, 2009)

Awesome day! Shooting a dolphin would make my year, one day soon hopefully. How was the vis at the closer dives?


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## Haulin' Ash (Jan 4, 2011)

You said it clay. That was a great day of diving with a great group of folks. Cant wait to do it again.


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## Clay-Doh (Oct 2, 2007)

Bein with an awesome group like you guys that I've come to know Jeff, sure does make it a blast. There is never a disapointing time. Doesn't matter the viz, the weather, ruff ride, not shooting any fish...when your out in the Gulf with great friends...it's just :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Addicted, viz was crappy all teh way around. Out deep, and in closer on rubble. Actually, viz was worse out deeper at the Avocet come to think of it. Probably because it is the farthest wreck west we dove, and the wash out from mobile bay. But even the O was 30-40feet max I'm guessing. Other than when you hit about 115' deep, then you hit an ice cold thermocline, I mean ICE cold, and viz opened up to as far as the limited filtered light would allow you to see. Had it been brighter with the sunlight not getting stopped by the cloudyness of the water above, I would call it 100 foot easy. I could see across the flight deck and beyond tii it was just darkness. 

That water musta been pushed up from real deep off the edge, cuz it was a thermo cline like I haven't ever felt this time of year before. Everybody who went that deep shivered when they hit it.


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## SaltAddict (Jan 6, 2010)

We hit thermoclines also. It felt cold as all get out, but what made me laugh was my coldest recorded temp was 70 degrees. I caught myself calling me a wuss lol.


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## Haulin' Ash (Jan 4, 2011)

Yeah, the 110' mark felt like diving in the springs. That made the safety stop feel a bit warm.


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## below me (Jan 13, 2012)

it was a great trip. we should have dove the avocet again...but clay was crying about jellies and promised big AJ's on the O. man up next time, son!

i didn't know yall were donig a 3rd dive, steph. that was one hell of a day for yall. i was tired after our 2 dives!

yall would have enjoyed sunday. we swam with flipper!


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## Haulin' Ash (Jan 4, 2011)

below me said:


> it was a great trip. we should have dove the avocet again...but clay was crying about jellies and promised big AJ's on the O. man up next time, son!
> 
> i didn't know yall were donig a 3rd dive, steph. that was one hell of a day for yall. i was tired after our 2 dives!
> 
> yall would have enjoyed sunday. we swam with flipper!


Dude! you followed:

"clay was crying about jellies and promised big AJ's on the O. man up next time, son!"

With: "i was tired after our 2 dives!"

:no:


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## Clay-Doh (Oct 2, 2007)

Muhaa haa haaa!!!!


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## below me (Jan 13, 2012)

Haulin' Ash said:


> Dude! you followed:
> 
> "clay was crying about jellies and promised big AJ's on the O. man up next time, son!"
> 
> ...





Clay-Doh said:


> Muhaa haa haaa!!!!




did i say i wouldn't dive again? :boxing:


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## WhackUmStackUm (Jan 31, 2010)

LOL - Sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for posting your adventures.


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## Ozeanjager (Feb 2, 2008)

*Yeah baby*



haulin' ash said:


> dude! You followed:
> 
> "clay was crying about jellies and promised big aj's on the o. Man up next time, son!"
> 
> ...


bwaaaaahahahahahaahah

Dude , I was in a shorty and a jelly magnet.


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## AQUA HUNTRESS (May 23, 2008)

*Leos Lobster Video*

http://youtu.be/GCDxY1T38-8


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## AQUA HUNTRESS (May 23, 2008)

Those jellies were wicked! That saftey stop was almost as bad as the one where the ramora was trying to eat my hair!


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## below me (Jan 13, 2012)

i don't know about yall but while hanging onto the rope at the safety stop with one hand, i was pushing them away from my face with the other. i only got stung 3 times on that dive.


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## Clay-Doh (Oct 2, 2007)

I ever tell you the story about the papa bull and the young bull up on a hill Daniel? :laughing:

Awesome video Leo! Great "westside" exchange we have at the beginning


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## SaltAddict (Jan 6, 2010)

He broke out the bull story. Watch out... next comes the bullsh__.


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## below me (Jan 13, 2012)

you mentioned it, clay.

saltaddict...the think the bullsh____ came after "hey i'm clay"


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