Captain’s Corner: Bill Hardman

The Tampa Bay Times

Gag groupers and hogfish have been on the move.  From one day to the next, the concentrations are moving as close as 10 miles offshore to finding them two days later 25 miles offshore.  The one common denominator is baitfish.  The bottom temperature is almost identical in all these depths.  Finding the groupers and hogfish is not a matter of water temperatures but is a matter of finding ledges and reefs that are holding a lot of bait.  The best plan is to drop down and look for fish concentrations as you move farther offshore.  The old saying is very true, “don’t drive over fish to find fish”.  If you have a diver who can freedive down and take a quick look at the fish on the bottom, you can save a lot of time while locating the fish. It’s always best to put two freedivers at the same time for safety. Once a freediver finds concentrations of fish under the bait pods it’s time to put divers in the water.  Other important rules when freedive scouting is that the captain must put all motors in neutral while the freediver(s) are not seen at the surface because the freediver(s) can go in any direction on the drop and there are no bubbles to show their location. More than a few freedivers have been seriously injured by the boat propellers when the captain ignored this rule. Also, the freediver needs to be prepared to safely spear on the scouting drop and have a knife with him in case he shoots a fish and needs to cut away from the line.

Capt. Bill Hardman teaches scuba classes and runs trips for Scuba, Spearfishing, Freediving and Technical diving courses at Aquatic Obsessions, 6193 Central Avenue, St. Petersburg, FL  33710.  You can reach Capt. Hardman at (727) 344-3483 (DIVE) or CaptainBillHardman@gmail.com