Belated follow up:
Chris and I had a great time diving with Jeff Kelly and Sean Meehan out of Little Torch Key in June.
We dove Looe Key Reef for a warm-up with Jeff, and dove outside the protected areas for spearfishing most of the trip. We got enough fish the first day to last us for the week and spent the rest of the trip enjoying the plethora of life on the reefs and looking for trophy fish. It was luxurious with just Jeff, Chris and myself on a 42-foot boat. We did not get blown out one day, and dove with Jeff every day except two. We had over 8 hours IN the water on two of those days, barely managing to fend off the face-plant-in-the-dinner-plate those nights. Hey, any day I can wear ou an 18-year-old varsity lacrosse player is a victory!
I got a photo series of Chris catching a 100 pound plus Tarpon by the tail on the only day we dove scuba. It was a quick catch and release. We also did one night dive on Looe Key Reef and saw more tarpon, a carribean reef shark, and the rest of the normal reef dwellers.
We tried tarpon fly fishing out of Key West one day and wished we had been diving instead. We did see some other boats hooked up and got to watch their show, and we did get a fly in the strike zone a couple of times with no eaters. We also got a few barracuda on fly and spinning gear at the Marquesas. Fishing just can't match the excitement of diving, though, IMHO.
Maryland Hump was the highlight. It rises to 60 feet or so with deeper water surrounding it. It reminds me of Frying Pan Shoals in NC. We saw a protected 60 pound grouper, lots of larger Mangrove Snapper and a carribbean reef shark that had apparently been killed by fishermen preceeding us.
Sean Meehan was kind enough to pick us up in his flats boat one day to dive outside the Looe Key Reef protected area and then in to some his more shallow but very lively reefs. We actually saw more fish on those reefs that those that everyone must pass by to get out to the deeper and less productive reefs. Just goes to show you to look under the anchor line and in your own back yard first.
Jeff is interested in doing more freedive charters and keeps his boat right at this back door. Very convenient and a good operation. He is a diver of some experience and is excellent company. PM me if you need contact information.
To those that replied privately to my original post on this thread but couldn't make it, I hope to catch you next time.
Dive Safe. Really.
Mark
