Freediving Louisana 5/10/08

[olecajun3]

(Sorry about the length, just go ahead and read it, it's worth it.) Well the weather finally broke this past weekend 5/10/08 and I was able to take my parain (Cajun for godfather) and a few buddies on a freediving/fishing trip out of Cypermort Pt., La out into the rich and plentiful Gulf of Mexico. We left Friday about 5:00p.m. and headed south with intentions to reach 250+ft. of water to try for Amberjack and Grouper. We ended up in 280ft. of water, 120 miles from the camp and dropped down at proably 20 different rigs. We tried everything from: live bait, to diamond jigs, to Butterfly jigs which are usually are most productive, you name it we tried it, and were not able to land a single fish. I headed back in to about 150 ft. of water and by this time it was around midnight, we tied up to a double platform with a single leg flare and began free-lining for mangroves, we were able to only put 5 fish in the box which might I say were some "tuckdrivers" averaging about 10 lbs. We watched as the sun began to rise and decided are best bet would be to get in the water and load the box with the good ole faithful spearguns. We hit somewhere between 10 and 20 different rigs which were very plentiful with fish. The lemon fish were thick along with the usual mangroves and triggers, boy but it tore our hearts up to see the numerous amounts of nice sized red snapper just hanging out at 60', only 18 days and 6+ hours until they will all disappear and we will be able to add a "whopping" 2 more fish to our limits. Let me not get started on that, but anyways back to the trip. By 1:30 p.m. we were wore out from battling the current, reloading our guns every five minutes, and not to mention the 0 hours of sleep we all got the night before. So we made a few cocktails and headed back in very pleased with the day's harvest. Check out the pictures. Freediving/Fishing 2008 pictures from friends & fun photos on webshots. It would not allow me to post them as attachments on here so I created an album on WebShots to share them with you guys. The final tally was 9 cobia (The average was 30lbs. and had one that went around 60lbs.), 30 mangrove, 30 triggerfish (Might I add that they might be tough to clean but are one of my favorite eating fish.), 2 grouper, and 1 amberjack. Remember all of the fish besides 5 mangrove were shot. I have free-dove in other areas as well and in my opinion we have some of the best varieties of rig/structure fish out there. If you ever get the chance to experience it; whether it be out of Venice, Fourchon, Cypremort Pt., or anywheres in the North-Central Gulf take my word for it you will not be disappointed. Best of luck to everyone I'll be back at it as soon as the weather lays down. This is my first post in this cataegory so let me know if you like it, if you do let me know and I'll keep them coming! I enjoy reading hearing about other peoples stories as well so keep posting.
-"May the wind always be at your back, and the sun always upon your face."
-Olecajun3

[fridaysoff]

Way to go guys!!! Great story and awesome pictures. It always pleases me to see young guys and girls enjoy the water and fishing as much as you seem to in your pictures. We're still waiting for the fish to move in or the wind to lay down up here in North Carolina. Thanks for the pictures. Keep them coming and be safe out there.
John D.

[MolarBoater]

Those couldn't have been red snapper you saw as they are almost extinct, especially in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Have your eyes checked and just call them SUO's. (Snappers of Unidentifiable Origin's)

nice catch, Molar

[glehav]

they seem to become extinct after the season comes in.... before they are everwhere.. you cant keep them off your hook

[wpschaef]

Wow, nice catch!

[ReelDive]

Nice!!!! We didn't see hardley any coob of Panama City this year. Guess they all headed to LA

[olecajun3]

Yeah, on that trip we saw 2 or 3 at every rig, and only saw 2 that were undersize! But apparently we caught the migration at the right time cause we went back the next week and didn't see one shooter. Guess they all moved on.