did some snorkeling this weekend...
 

Daugher's first birthday this weekend, so the festivities left very little time to fish. The family was hanging out on the beach yesterday in Rkpt so I did some snorkeling in a very rocky area off the beach that always has awesome visibility.
Came up on some lobster pots in about 10 feet of water and out of the shadows comes a wolfpack of striped bass, biggest looked about 20 pounds (but not sure how accurate that is looking under water)

It was a surreal experience to be swimming with the fish that I spend so much time targeting! I felt like Mike Laptew! They didn't seem to mind at all that I was there and were just milling around. They were suspended mid water column then drop down to investigate the rocks occasionally.... I stayed with them for a good 10 minutes until they move on.. It was so damn cool, just thought I'd share.

I'd love to see that! Watching them from that perspective is awesome.

So....are we fishing Rockport this weekend :hee:

Funny how your mind plays tricks on you when you are unable to go fishing. Obviously this was all a mirage as everyone knows there are no fish in Rockport! :rotf2:

alls ya need now
is the underwater camera :uhuh:

don't worry, even if 50's were beaching themselves, you couldn't find a place to park to go pick one up! :D

seriously though, I usually pick up schoolies in this spot but nothing else, before I went out there was a guy fishing off the rocks for about an hour with nothing to show for it, interesting to see what is lurking below the surface...

I actually ordered one last week! I'll be back :uhuh:

nice...!

water really seemed to warm up this weekend...

crack open some crabs , they will come out out of your hand..... used to love doing that scuba diving

....OR fishing FOR Rockport? :biglaugh:

But seriously, seeing the fish in their natural environment is awe-inspiring.
I get the same feeling when I snorkel up in Winninpesaukee.
People swim at a beach area and have no clue as to how many fish swim WITH them and hunt around them.

I wish I could snorkel as much as I did when I was younger, but unfortunately inner ear issues effects how long and how deep I can go. Maybe I could go more often if I used earplugs?

had the wife snokiling around telling me where to cast. Is that cheating?

I can hear it now: "A little faster, deeper, harder, that's it, you got it baby!

Maybe if I troll these around I can get him to bite....:hee:http://www.jerrysoutdoors.com/images/BC108274440.jpg

I used to spend more time diving than fishing and have spent lots of time kneeling on the bottom watching stripers. I got to hand feed one a lobster tail once. I first tried to feed him a small live lobster by holding it up in it's field of view and letting it swim away. The bass was like a lighting bolt after it as soon as I let it go. It must have been too big because it puked it back out and looked at me like a dog that just dropped a ball for another toss.

I grabbed the lobster and broke the tail off and held it out for the bass. It circled me for about 5 minutes getting closer each time and finally it came in within a foot or so and seemed to sniff it like a scared dog. Finally it darted in and sucked it out of my hand. After that, it wouldn't leave me alone. It would try to steal lobsters out of my hands before I could get them in the dive bag.

One of my best diving experiences.... except the time I had a fist fight with a seal that was trying to steal the bag of flounder off my waist. I was diving alone on that one...

hey guys, had no time to fish this weekend, but took another short swim to test out the new camera, it works great!

nice pic matt!

Very cool shot! I have been thinking about snorkling some spots I fish just to check out the structure. Now, I'm definitely going to do it. Thanks for sharing.