With Fall upon us and winter just around the corner, the water is cooling down into the mid- to lower 60’s. With less people on the water this time of year, you won’t need to hunt around as much for an open site to dive. Most of the popular fish like red snapper, trigger fish, and amberjack are all out of season. Now is the time to sharpen your spearfishing skills by working on controlling your breathing, moving, and making turns without using your hands so you are as stealthy as possible. You may also want to target practice using porgies (white snapper) because they don’t move much and they are smaller. They’re very tasty and there isn’t a size limit, and the bag limit is 100 lbs. per person. Grouper are still in the area so when you are target practicing, don’t forget to look for the grouper around you. Remember to look up from time to time because you never know what may be lurking just above you like wahoo and tuna.
This month’s safety tip is about wetsuits. By this time of year, I’m putting on my 5/3 suit. Yes, that’s right, call me what you will, I don’t like cold water! Wetsuits typically add about 4lbs of buoyancy depending on the thickness. The thicker the suit, the more buoyant you will be, so you will need to add weight to compensate for this added buoyancy. Also, remember, if you don’t dive in cooler waters much, it may be a good idea to add 10 feet to your actual depth that you are going to dive. This will keep you safer as your body is working harder than you realize just to keep you warm. This is also a good time to read all the notes on your decompression tables.
As always, PLAN YOUR DIVE AND DIVE YOUR PLAN!
Thanks for reading.
CAPT. JAMES TEW
Kitchen Pass Dive & Fishing Charters
850-896-6476