Pelagics

[drunkinbda]

This isnt a tip, nor training, but it is reef related so i hope i can post it here.
Just a question to see whats goin on in the world. Have anyone who hunts around coral reefs ever seen a predominantly pelagic fish(ie wahoo, tuna, amberjacks, dolphin) near those reefs?? if so..please do tell!! I know its possible for them to stray off and close to reefs, just dont know how often or if anyone's ever caught or just seen an amazing fish that wasnt supposed to be there!! If you got pics then thats even better!

If you caught one..can you explain how?(did it just come near you while at the surface, did you hide amongst the corals.. yada yada? There now its a tip thread)

As for me ive never seen any...sadly, but i always end up diving on inner reefs not the outer ones, at least not yet.

[Bill McIntyre]

Originally Posted by drunkinbda

Just a question to see whats goin on in the world. Have anyone who hunts around coral reefs ever seen a predominantly pelagic fish(ie wahoo, tuna, amberjacks, dolphin) near those reefs?? if so..please do tell!!

Its not all that unusual. I've seen wahoo over a 40 foot reef in Hawaii, dolphin (aka dorado, mahimahi) over a 30 feet reef in the Gulf of California and up in a sandy bottom cove about 40 feet deep at San Clemente Island, California, and amberjack in similar spots.

[drunkinbda]

wow!! now when you say 30 or 40ft reef, does that mean the bottom next to the reef is that deep? or the top of the actual reef itself is that deep? im assuming its the later..but just checking.

[Bill McIntyre]

Originally Posted by drunkinbda

wow!! now when you say 30 or 40ft reef, does that mean the bottom next to the reef is that deep? or the top of the actual reef itself is that deep? im assuming its the later..but just checking.

I meant the top of the reef.

I guess there are even better examples of pelagics over shallow reefs, depending on your definition of reef. For instance, there is a sea mount locally known as El Bajo off of La Paz, Baja California, that comes up to around 55 feet at the top if my memory serves me right. That is a very popular spot for pelagics, and the world record wahoo, 125 pounds, was speared there. I have only been there once, but I saw yellowfin tuna, wahoo, amberjacks, schools of scalloped hammerheads, and most impressive of all a black marlin that probably weighed between 300 and 400 pounds and swam by me slowly at a range of about 10 feet.

I believe I've read of marlin in shallow water over the Great Barrier Reef and over coral reefs out in the Coral Sea off Australia.

So its not at all unusual for pelagics to be in relatively shallow water, particularly is it is adjacent to deep water.

[drunkinbda]

ah..gotcha. Ill have to look ya up if i ever head to that side of the country. In bermuda where im from id have to say the deepest crown of a reef can get to like 30ft, but thats contained within the barrier reefs. On average our reefs are maybe 10ft from the surface, often shallower. I guess my best bet would be the outer reefs and even perhaps the ledge around bermuda. Granted, this is just to see them. Im not too hopefully of actually being able to spear one with just a polespear. Guess ill just have to get my capt(whoever's boat it happens to be since i dont have one) to head far out to the barrier. Heading out there would open up a whole new set of challenges liek sharks and such, but i do want to try it.

[Oldsarge]

A reef coming up "close" to the surface near deep water is exactly the kind of "structure" that fresh-water anglers know to look for. That's where big fish hang out in lakes and where'd I'd expect them in the ocean. Hardly a surprise.

[dru]

there where a pair of dolphin fish off the vixen all last summer, and i have heard of a small blue fin tuna in mills creak from the captian of the mako (relable source).. they around, but in bermuda most of them stay in the deep water because its so accessable to them.. 400meters you go from 60feet to 3 miles of water thus we dont get the same kinda fish just chillin in the shallow water as much.
hope it helps
dru

[island_sands]

hi there
i wasn't spearing but night diving... i was in grand cayman diving off turtle reef and when we came to the end of the dive in a cove approaching the ironshore to get off, a HUGE African pompano appeared, i thought it was a shark at first it was so massive.. he inspected us for ages and and was a little dazzled by the lights.. i looked a little closer and he was injured, possibly by fishing or an attack by another marine animal.

Was very cool to see a pelagic up so close...

Also we were snorkelling a reef in Maldives once and a whale shark appeared.. i guess you don't get more pelagic than that... needless to say I nearly sh@t myself when I first saw it!

Originally Posted by drunkinbda

This isnt a tip, nor training, but it is reef related so i hope i can post it here.
Just a question to see whats goin on in the world. Have anyone who hunts around coral reefs ever seen a predominantly pelagic fish(ie wahoo, tuna, amberjacks, dolphin) near those reefs?? if so..please do tell!! I know its possible for them to stray off and close to reefs, just dont know how often or if anyone's ever caught or just seen an amazing fish that wasnt supposed to be there!! If you got pics then thats even better!

If you caught one..can you explain how?(did it just come near you while at the surface, did you hide amongst the corals.. yada yada? There now its a tip thread)

As for me ive never seen any...sadly, but i always end up diving on inner reefs not the outer ones, at least not yet.

[drunkinbda]

sandy.. wow.. that is def somethign you wouldnt expect!! let me guess.. didnt have a camera with ya? i know everytime i see somethign in teh water that i want to rememebr, i just happen to not have a camera!!! Murphy's law blows

Dru... holy crap, dolphins at vixen!!! well that def gives me hope of seein something by some reef. i def wanna try the blue water, but our gear isnt the most effiecient for that. guess we just gotta go bigger!

[island_sands]

i didn't that time... but with the amount i was fumbling i couldn't have taken a picture anyway!

hey when are you off to Bermuda...? we expect to see photos!

[drunkinbda]

yup..im here in bda now!! very excited to be home! i have a couple panoramic pics ill put up when i get my windows machine back up and running.

so where are you and sands? every time i read a post it seems youa re travelling somewhere new and exotic!! and yeah..i know where you're comin from with the fumbling. i once was diving and all of a suddne a huge school of horseeye jacks came flyin past..i just didnt have time to get the camera up and take the pic...i guess partly becuaes i didnt want to look away from the fish to get my camera ready!

[sf_surfr]

In reference to the whale shark. I have seen whale sharks right outside the surf break in Costa Rica twice. It was at Ollies point up in northern CR. Both times were in the summer and the 2 sightings happened a year apart. That would lead me to believe that it is a fairly common thing over there. The water wasn't more than 30 feet to the bottom. Scary at first when you don't know what the big black thing is that's swimming around out there but once we figured out what it was we paddled back to the boat and got out masks. The thing let us swim with it for a bit. Kinda cool.

Dave

[earl campbell]

Hi drunk

Like you, I live here in Bermuda. Where abouts do you go out? One of the places I go to is out to Northrock. Depths there are around 50 feet to the bottom. Lots of rockfish right at the bottom...lots of bottomtime to find them though!!

[dru]

where about around northrock? kinda illegal to be spearing out and around there for a mile.
i never get out that way to far east
lol
dru

[sf_surfr]

i dont spear near north rock. never even heard of it to tell u the truth. i was talking about costa rica in central america. sorry about the confusion.