Spend the first half of the day today climbing off the jetty and cruising along the rocks of Seb. Inlet with my mask&snorkel.. what an awesome time.. visibility was great today, especially with the bright sun.

Saw some giant groupers, and probably the biggest snook I've ever laid eyes on under the bridge- thing was as big as me!

I love the drift dive you can get there- no swimming required.. just fly along like Superman

Had a blast

Edited: 08/27/2006 at 11:56 AM by paddleout

sounds like a good time.

Inside the inlet?

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Weren't you worried the fisherman might snag you?

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I like clam...

yup- inside the inlet directly along the rocks on the north side.

I climb down the rocks just about where the real jetty starts, so there's usually no fishermen in the area.. snorkeling around the tip of the jetty is the BEST, but there's always fishermen to contend with.. but oh man are there fish under there!

I do this when the current is moving into the river- so it just moves me towards the tidepool and I can either get out there, or cruise past the opening and get out further along in the sandy area.

There might be a fisherman here or there standing on the rocks, but I keep an eye on them and make sure they see me- they usually have their line out into the deeper water, and I go under near the rocks.

I cruise under the bridge between the rocks and the first piling- also usually no lines put in right there.. this time I managed to grab hold of the bridge piling and hang out under there for awhile- Smack- you got it right- some nice action going on under those fishermen's feet hahaha -huge schools of fish, and mega snook

havent seen a shark yet, but I'm expecting it to happen sooner or later


next time I will try to take some pics for you guys

Edited: 08/27/2006 at 02:44 PM by paddleout

We use to do it all the time as kids. Rangers never had a problem unless you jumped off of the jetty. Never saw any sharks, but lots of 'cuda. I think they scared us more than an idea of sharks. The other great thing about it was the ability to retrieve lost lures. We would come home with a dozen or so lures.

This only works with the tide rolling in. On outgoing tides, the dirt and muck from the river made it impossible to see.

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My mechanic said he couldn't fix my brakes, so he made my horn louder.

Snorkeling the Inlet

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$15 at a dive shop will get you a divers safety bouy/flag. I used to use it when snorkeling or diving near bridges or people. Too bad its illegal to spearfish close to the inlet given the huge numbers of big fish.

if you ever go down to the keys do it in the passes in between islands (slack tide!) and youll see biggins. thats how i always bag my lobster limit down there.

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Proud member of the ACP mafia since 1975

That clip of Josh's is one of my favorite little movies ever.. I'm stoked to have a copy of that on my drive.

That's another thing I forgot- sometimes there's manatees at the tidepool area opening. and Aeronut is right- you want the current going from the ocean TO the river- you get the best visibility that way

I didnt have my dive flag today- but I'm going to start bringing it with me- lots of random guys of jetskis cruising around

Edited: 08/27/2006 at 07:53 PM by paddleout

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Originally posted by: CaSurfer
I saw the bottom at Pipe. In fact, I grabbed a loose piece of the reef and kept it, even though I probably shouldn't have.

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Coral and sand: should be no problem! It's da (volcanic) rocks dat you no can take.

How big are those grouper?

I used to snorkel the inlet where I grew up.  There's nothing like seeing a wall of three foot plus snook in suspension, then swimming up to the school, and the whole school jets off all at once.  Like a mini- sonic boom under water.

I was always told that it wasn't legal to do so, but ... I'm not a lawyer.

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There's no surf on Wall Street!
One man's loss is another man's gold...Operating principal behind Wall Street, and sadly, to a large extent, America

dam i would like to try that sometime sounds really fun, bring an underwater camera next time if you can

I saw about 3 or 4 grouper- they hide in little "caves" between the rocks of the jetty.

The biggest one was probably about 3-4 feet long. Its mouth was about 18" in diam and he was making that noise they make when you freak them out.

Those "grouper" that you're seeing are Jewfish, aka Goliah Grouper. The one in Josh's video clip is probably around 45-50 lbs, a guppie in comparison to the adults that can be over 700 lbs.

The Inlet is a great place to freedive, there are some nice mangrove snappers there, just gotta be quick

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THE MORE YOU RUN OVER A CAT THE FLATTER IT GETS

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Originally posted by: paddleout


I didnt have my dive flag today- but I'm going to start bringing it with me- lots of random guys of jetskis cruising around

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I was going to say I thought I saw you yesterday morning.

There was a couple diving both sides of the jetty. They had a flag, though. Definitely don't forget it. . . lots of traffic!

It looked really clear on incoming. From the jetty, I saw the biggest 'cuda I've ever seen there.

Haven't done that this year but I usually snorkel around the inlet whenever
conditions are right. Sounds like you got it good.
Big snook stacked up like cordwood, lobsters, drum, snapper and
I've found lots and lots and lots of tackle!! Some in perfect condition.
I always use my dive flag, I'm surprised you didn't get dinged by a ranger, it's
illegal to snorkel in the inlet without a flag.


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Did you see any lobster, I have heard of bugs being very plentiful around there? To bad spear fishing is a no no in a state park.

Didnt see any lobster- i was looking though!

I usually out with a flag- this time i forgot it though, so i was hanging around some other guys with a flag for a bit, and then just hugged the rocks - im gonna remember to bring my flag everytime i go down there as a general rule.. i wish they had flags you could just use

what about pirates treasure or spanish gold? they found it before, ever see that stuff?

funny you should mention that- one of my dreams would be to find a piece of treasure down there- at one point i was running my hands through some of the sandy patches - no luck though