Well, July went about as expected. I’ve been doing this long enough to know the in’s and outs of my business very well. July we had many great weather days on the water. That hot calm weather and clear beautiful water cut through my customers like a hot knife through butter. Totally manageable. Every year I write the words designed to help my customers have the best trip possible. Every July, August and September my customers get blindsided my not investing in their trips, not following simple directions, not preparing for being in the sun(aka outdoors) and not knowing anything about what you hired me to do. That’s all fine. I have become comfortable watching trips that start as 10’s and should finish as a 10 finish as a 3 and my guests still seem to be thrilled. It is confusing, but I accept it. Please understand, I have a pretty solid program that produces good results when the recipe is followed. That’s the direction I have always gone and the game I like to play. Having a fun and safe day on the water is my main goal now and we will see what else comes along with it.

July 14 Local 1 Day Opener

Lobster Update: This is the topic that dominates my life this time of year. Before I get into it, let this be engraved in your mind. The less you know, the less you prepare before your trip and the less you can do in the water is strike 1,2 and 3 for having a fun, successful and relatively easy day in the water. Your opportunity to digress (in the “notes” section in your booking and the discussion we have during your check in phone call) who and what I am working with will aid me in how your trip operates. Luckily, I offer lobster trips to all skill levels and we can be on a level 1 or a level 10. That will look like 2 entirely different trips and will yield 2 completely different results.

I did offer 1 trip only for the newly created “local” pre mini season 1 day season. We did very well and limited out. The conditions were not ideal and it was not crowded at all on the water. Mini season saw a good amount of participants, but not near the numbers we have seen in the past. Conditions for mini season were borderline, which made challenging conditions for everybody and many areas were not touched because of lack of visibility. That’s good and bad news. Good news is not as many lobster were caught for the opening mini seasons. Bad news is conditions have been challenging. That is where you come in as a prepared diver or somebody that is overwhelmed by everything that is a normal part of lobstering.

I would encourage you to expect and prepare your group for dirty hot water, heavy current and generally challenging diving conditions. I believe we had 8 foot visibility on average for my first trip and averaged a legal sized lobster or 2 for every 4 holes we hit. That means we need to process as many holes as quickly as possible to expect any quantity of keeper lobster. Simple understanding: the faster you can clear a hole and get back on the boat, the more holes we hit, the more opportunities we have to catch lobster. Everything will be thoroughly explained before we leave the dock, but how you use your time on board is up to you. I will adapt to your pace.

I always get plenty of comments about every aspect of lobster diving as we are doing it. I do understand your perspective. I am taking you to areas where I believe we will be successful. I can make some adjustments to try to make it easier, but the easier areas are often shallower, which means they get hit much more. I am doing my job. I do not control the weather, the visibility, the current and anything you may struggle with. For the activity of lobstering, you have to do your job to have success. For these reasons and more, please arrive early to find me, check your gear, put your sunblock on and pay for the trip in full before we leave the dock. There will be no hard feelings if you wish to return to the dock early because of whatever. Also, should you wish to convert your lobster trip into a fishing trip during your check in call or BEFORE the day of your trip, I will be happy to do that. The day of your trip is too late to change anything.

Weather will ALWAYS affect your trips

Fishing on the reef has generally not been good. It happens this time of year. The mangrove snapper spawn is over and the average summer size yellowtail is 11-13 inches. Lots of fish, but not the quality we see in the cooler months. It’s hot, so not been the fishing we want. Wrecks have been slow. There are a few quality fish out there if you put your time in. Bonitas, amberjacks and a few mutton snappers has been the order of operation on catches.

A Great Offshore Catch

Offshore dolphin/mahi fishing has been pretty good. All schoolie sized fish. I did have one trip that there was nearly nothing out there. We caught a few dolphin and bonitas and jacks, but it was waaaaaaay off from what it normally is. If you have a reef trip scheduled and want to switch your trip to an offshore trip I will offer that for a minimal fuel upcharge, maybe $75-$100 depending on fuel prices and how much I burn. I would recommend that for August. Electric deep dropping is closed unfortunately.

The last Snowy Grouper of the Electric Deep Drop Season

Snorkeling on the reef has been great. We have had near zero rainy season rains to turn the reef water green. Been many days of 80′ perfect blue water. I see we have a tropical system coming in (Debbie) and that will screw everything up. After this passes, we will see what we have, but typically we have 30′ vis this time of year when we have a stable weather pattern.

Cooling off at a deeper sandbar and collecting sand dollars

That’s all I have for now. Please don’t make all of the same mistakes that many of my July trips made. Use the information on my website. If you don’t know anything, look it up on YouTube. Tell me in your booking notes all about your group, what you want to do and what you need. All this makes our trip go well. it’s not complicated

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