Outdoors

Captain's Corner

By BILL HARDMAN, Times Correspondent
Published September 22, 2007

What's hot: Mangrove snappers have stayed strong in all depths. The water temperatures are still pretty toasty and this has caused many of the grouper species and other bottom fish to continue to stay in the deeper, cooler haunts. Mangroves Mangos have been plentiful in waters from inside the residential canals and bay waters all the way out to the ledges and wrecks in water as deep as 200 feet.

Fish behavior: Mangos are quick and they learn fast how to avoid a spear shaft. The elusive nature of mangos, working in concert with their jerky and erratic swimming style, makes it hard for a spear fisherman to land these fish. The time from the pull of the trigger to the impact of the spear shaft is short,but the jerky movements of mangos can sometimes cause the fish to move completely out of the way.

Tactics: Spearguns that use smaller diameter shafts are the best bet for these quick fish. Traditional quick reload and accurate spearguns such as Spearfishing Specialties and AB Biller guns are the most common used in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. If you own one of these guns, you can change out the traditional 5/16-inch diameter spear shaft for the faster 9/32-inch shaft, commonly called a speed shaft. It gets to the targeted fish faster. The only downside is you give up shaft strength and durability for speed.

Bill Hardman teaches scuba, spearfishing and freediving classes at Aquatic Obsessions, 6193 Central Ave. and can be reached at (727) 344-DIVE or bill@aodive.com

[Last modified September 21, 2007, 20:15:47]