snappers on the busch

[Shooter]

Managed to get away for a few days for some warm water diving. We stayed in summerland key which is only a few miles away from the artificial reef the Adolphus Busch. Uncle Ben hooked us up with a place to stay and a boston whaler 320 outrage boat at our disposal.  8)

unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate as much as we would have liked. Still managed to get 8 dives in on the wreck with visability from 20-50'. Scored mutton snapper and yellowtail for table fare. Grouper was closed, so of course they were everywhere >. I have been diving nitrox for quite awhile so wasn't used to the narcosis. Diving on air and somewhat chilled, I found myself hearing the bells ringing loudly and rather stoned with narcosis  :-[. Rather than the comfotably numb song by floyd, I kept hearing "hello darkness my old friend"  ;D but had no snappy comeback lyrics  ???. I attributed my missed shots to the narcosis but it turned out that my spear shaft was bent.

Had an encounter with the taxman that I will elaborate more on when I can use my voice typing program  :o

[Shooter]

The last time I ago the Busch I also dove a reef that is really close to it. It drops off about 25 feet and has some awesome structure and is usually loaded with fish. I convinced the captain to drop me solo on the reef to see what was there. He said as long as I was towing a float he was okay with it. It is now close to 5 PM or later. I dropped in with approximately 20 foot of visability. As I was cruising along the reef in about 90 feet playing hide and seek with nice sized snapper, I got somewhat of an uneasy feeling. With the fading light it was very "mookey" (murky and spooky) I had taken a shot at the snapper and missed. I did everything right but still no joy! I now realized there is probably something wrong with the gun. I checked my computer and have two minutes of bottom time left and 1200 PSI. the float line has tangled up a couple of times, and is tangled again. In the process of untangling the float line, I had caused somewhat of a commotion and stirred things up. Just enough to arouse the curiosity of the 18 pound snapper I had been playing hide and seek with. I still have that  un-easy feeling, like someone or something is watching me. I catch the snapper out of the corner of my eye and slowly start to turn, he casually ducks behind a large coral head. Instead of chasing him I position myself on the other side, lying in ambush mode. As he comes around the corner I let the shaft fly and am close enough to score the hit! It wasn't a stone shot and the fight was on! I wrestle him down to the sand and pound my dive knife into his head! My computer is freaking out because I have stayed past the limit. Now that un-easy feeling is magnified. I look off to the edge of the visibility and see a large dark shape cruising by! The tax man has come to collect his dues  :o! It is now getting pretty dark and I do not want to be with him on my own in this low visibility. I reached the back of my backplate for my trusty Anchor Stringer. The fish is still on the shaft which is attached to the gun. I clip the lift bag to a solid point on the gun and give it a blast of air. As it starts to take off its snags on to the float line and gives me a quick 20 foot ride. I get free and now my computer is really unhappy with me. I ascend slowly to 50 feet into my one minute deep stop. Another slow ascent to 20 feet in my computer gives me a 10 minute deco stop. The visibility in the water column seems very low. I am constantly looking for the tax man and a very glad I don't have bloody fish with me. This is a good time to have a buddy with you as you can cover 360° of incoming taxman. I shivered through with seven minutes of my 10 minute deco stop and headed to the surface. As I hit 3 feet my computer locked up and read error. I was just glad to be out of the water and on the boat!

[billatlake]

I hope the rest of the dives were as fruitful and less exciting!