THE Random Chat Thread - AKA "The RCT" - No shirt or shoes required - Open 24 / 7

[Blak bart]

Nothing special....one 14k GF (gold filled), one 14k wedding band (a melter), one 14k earring (hollow), one silver ring with fake opal, one pandora charm in silver, and a gold plated earning with stones. Water was murkey, and I passed on everything from 28-33 on the nox.....these are pulltabs 99% of the time, and trying to find them is damn near impossible without great water clarity. Water temp was much warmer than expected. Got back to my home bay in time to watch the sunset with the family.

 

[Blak bart]

The strange thing with the nox series, and the manticore is that they are all very similar, and related. Im starting to think I'm the only guy that swings the equinox 700. There is a particular sound that this machine makes that has allowed me to call out my golds !! Ill get a certain tone and number and I'll say to myself that's gold....and it could be foil, lead, or gold almost every time. So ya I cherry picked good signals and picked only the best targets to dig. To I'd my targets in low vis is difficult....I have to get my face in the sand at about 6 inches from the bottom to see what's there.....then we do the brail hand search in the sand 1 handful of sand at a time !!

 

[fishstick]

Good morning y'all

 

[fishstick]

Just plain soggy here. No Jeepin, no biking, no swingin, 😡

 

[Blak bart]

The Florida keys is so magical that we often have sunset in the west, and another sunset to the east.

The typical west facing sunset.

The pink "afterlite" sunset looking south east !! Same sunset in opposite directions.....truly blessed at the simple things in life, and this ritual is one of the islands best....everyday there is a great sunset vibe that everyone slows down to enjoy.

 

[newnan man]

The strange thing with the nox series, and the manticore is that they are all very similar, and related. Im starting to think I'm the only guy that swings the equinox 700. There is a particular sound that this machine makes that has allowed me to call out my golds !! Ill get a certain tone and number and I'll say to myself that's gold....and it could be foil, lead, or gold almost every time. So ya I cherry picked good signals and picked only the best targets to dig. To I'd my targets in low vis is difficult....I have to get my face in the sand at about 6 inches from the bottom to see what's there.....then we do the brail hand search in the sand 1 handful of sand at a time !!

How deep is the water are you usually diving in?

 

[Blak bart]

How deep is the water are you usually diving in?

2 foot to 6 foot. White sand, clay mud, crushed shell, and sea grass mats.

 

[Blak bart]

Welcome to the islamorada sand bar....my favorite place to hunt....there are many such sandbars throughout the keys...this is the most well known. The combination of clear water, big party crowds, and waist deep depths, are ideally suited for the style of hunting I've developed.....the guys with scoops, and floating sifters, and all the gear won't make it hear....you will be beat up and driven off....the confines between boats and crowds are to small to have all this gear.....many of the better hunters on this site would be completely out of there element. This is the big time south Florida spot, and you will drown in the current with all that gear.....you will 100% be swept away, or loose your scoop. It looks easy, but I realize after years of doing it just how specialized my technique has become.....I've developed my skills to the point of producing 4X what the others produce in the same spot. Islamorada mark and another guy named pat are the only guys who have developed these specialized skills for this area. Just to get to most of these sand bars you'll need a specialized boat for the shallowest navigation possible......I ran the Dove key pass yesterday......it shallowed out at low tide to 6 inches for about a half mile.....I hit that patch at 68 mph with only the prop and skeg and a very small part of the boat touching water. So a flats type boat with lots of storage is the way to go !!

 

[Blak bart]

At the 735 mark in the video, you will see the host, put his hand in the water with his gold ring on.....I love seeing our Latin community ware there best jewels to the BAR !!

 

[Blak bart]

@Bamasteve this is where I'd like to take you and your wife when you come next....I have quite a few other secret sand bars like this one too !!

 

[pepperj]

At the 735 mark in the video, you will see the host, put his hand in the water with his gold ring on.....I love seeing our Latin community ware there best jewels to the BAR !!

Can you explain why the screen blocking of the exchange at 7:44 when he was at the burger station?
Is it a requirement of passing $$$, or was it getting some special condiments?

 

[Blak bart]

Can you explain why the screen blocking of the exchange at 7:44 when he was at the burger station?
Is it a requirement of passing $$$, or was it getting some special condiments?

I wondered about that too Maybe a copyright ©️ infringement?? I know it is usally just cheese burgers 🍔 but who knows !! I search all around the "pincho" barge as it's called. Lots of traffic to and from that barge....lots of change there, and I found 4 floating 100$ bills once under and around the barge. There burgers are stellar, and I can often smell them through my snorkel.....yesterday I was getting alot of pot smoke down the old snorkel at one point !!😆

 

[Blak bart]

I got home to lots of texts.....they all read the same way....what did you find at the sand bar ?? Hard to hide from the locals....eyes are always watching me now !!

 

[oldmxrat]

Good morning

 

[releventchair]

Tear

Stopped by the ship to say hello....hope all are well, and getting out to hunt. Everything is good down here in the islands, and I got some gold and silver yesterday..... I passed by one of the 1733 survivor camps, and was shocked to see tons of sand has been removed by this year's storms !! It will take a long special mission !!

Tear it up Bart!

News yesterday showed a grouper(?) puking up stuff.
A symptom sometimes among some critters of rejecting poison. But fish can cough up anything they eat under stress too..

Anyways I though oh crap that's around some of Bart's stompin grounds. Wonder what he's seen.

One of the rarest fish on the planet is dying in the Keys. Scientists are struggling to find out why

Sawfish, and about 30 other species of fish, are turning up sick and dying in the Lower Keys as questions mount over what's causing it. As word and worries spread, scientists are yet to find a smoking gun.

www.wlrn.org

 

[releventchair]

Mornin all.

 

[Blak bart]

Tear

Tear it up Bart!

News yesterday showed a grouper(?) puking up stuff.
A symptom sometimes among some critters of rejecting poison. But fish can cough up anything they eat under stress too..

Anyways I though oh crap that's around some of Bart's stompin grounds. Wonder what he's seen.

One of the rarest fish on the planet is dying in the Keys. Scientists are struggling to find out why

Sawfish, and about 30 other species of fish, are turning up sick and dying in the Lower Keys as questions mount over what's causing it. As word and worries spread, scientists are yet to find a smoking gun.

www.wlrn.org

Yes...I was once involved in tagging them with satellite tracking tags. I have caught thousands of them for science, and we made great discoveries about them.....scientists once asked me how big were the biggest I had caught, and I said 20+ footers !! He laughed at me, and ignored me for a couple days treating me like the dumb fisherman.....then it came time to catch them and first one was a twenty footer.....after he saw us manhandle and subdue this beast, and then deftly and carfully implant a sat tag he was overly intimidated by my knowledge of this species, and expertise in catching and handling this very, very, dangerous fish. I believe in the end there will be a bacterial, viral, or lack of proper oxygen in the water to blame. I have not been involved in the sawfish research since leaving the shark boat !!

 

[oldmxrat]

View attachment 2136101
Nothing special....one 14k GF (gold filled), one 14k wedding band (a melter), one 14k earring (hollow), one silver ring with fake opal, one pandora charm in silver, and a gold plated earning with stones. Water was murkey, and I passed on everything from 28-33 on the nox.....these are pulltabs 99% of the time, and trying to find them is damn near impossible without great water clarity. Water temp was much warmer than expected. Got back to my home bay in time to watch the sunset with the family. View attachment 2136102View attachment 2136103

Good stuff Bart, and good to see you checking in!

 

[Blak bart]

In the old days we cut the saws off and they were sold in the shell shops....when I was a kid this was very common....I still have a few saws left....this one hangs above the entry to my man cave !!

 

[Blak bart]

They are unbelievably sharp, and represent a brutal injury with the slightest mistake in judgements. I've only been hit once and boy was I lucky to only suffer a puncture wound....clean in and out of my elbow arm area !! Geez was I lucky that day !!