The Tampa Bay Times
The off-shore underwater visibility has been quite stellar for the past few months, but since the summer rains have finally arrived and brough plenty of land run-off to the Gulf waters, the visibility has suffered. In some areas there is very little visibility. In some areas the water is very clear at the surface, but as the diver descends to about 20 to 30 feet off the bottom the water turns almost black. It is very dark under this layer and sometimes too dark to effectively spear fish. Amberjack season just opened this past Tuesday. Amberjacks are usually in deeper water. So heading farther off-shore is a good plan to find amberjacks and hopefully find better underwater visibility. Red grouper and gag grouper season is closed. Black grouper and scamp grouper are still open. Sharks have populated many of the off-shore wrecks and they make it a little hard to spear in their presence. The good news is, if you are comfortable spearing around sharks the reward could be your chance to spear a cobia. Cobia are staying around the sharks as they swim around the wrecks. Keep your eye out for the cobia; however, be aware that if you don’t make an instant kill shot on a cobia and it fights, it’s struggling can trigger the sharks to turn around and fight you for the cobia. Sometimes it’s safer to just let the cobia swim away than tangle with an over-stimulated bull or dusky shark.
- Jay Mastry - March 26, 2024
- Captains Corner, Gorta - March 23, 2024
- Dave Zalewski - March 12, 2024
