Captain’s Corner: Bill Hardman

The Tampa Bay Times

Gag groupers, stone crab, and cobia are leading the hit list for both scuba and freedive spearfishermen and women.  The gags are still moving closer to shore as winter continues to drop water temperatures.  When the winds slow down both divers and fishermen have ventured offshore and in the bay for gags. The gag season closes at the end of the month, so only a few weeks left. Some of the best underwater visibility in the past two weeks has been in Tampa bay.  Some of our divers have speared very respectful gags around the big docks and submerged structure of the bay.  One of our divers was quick to bring his cooler to the dive shop to show us a 21.9 pound gag he shot in 12 feet of water by Port Manatee.  Stone crab claws and gags can be bay waters double header.  When our diver saw the big bay gag, he was looking for stone crabs.  The gag was trying to hide and blend in with the back of the structure, the diver backed out, then loaded his gun and stoned the gag.  When the water is colder the fish move less and are slower.  Smart groupers like gags are usually too fast and too wary for most divers in the late summer months, but the less experienced spearfishermen of late summer find the colder water to their advantage.  Cobias are still moving through our areas. We haven’t seen any real big brown bombers, but the quantity of these fish in our area has been outstanding.

Capt. Bill Hardman teaches classes and runs trips for Scuba, Spearfishing, Technical & Freediving 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