Wreck Bonanza off Barnegat NJ

Amazing surface conditions!

Anthony C. and I hit three wreck sites today (7/3/12) since we both have some time off.  His friend Rob Captained the boat for us so we could dive as he fished.  Too bad Jeremiah Hupka had to work!  Surface conditions couldn't have been better.  The weather report was calling for 1' seas every 10 seconds.  It was a clear sunny day which began pleasant enough, since we left the dock in Barnegat before 7:00 am.

Once we got out of the bay, the seas sat down to 0' waves.  It was Lake Atlantic!

Anthony and me on the surface

Dive #1 was on the Yellow Flag, which is an unidentified wooden schooner, sitting in 82' of water.  Anthony and I each brought our JBL pole spears with paralyzer tips.  The fish-finder/depth finder showed a load of fish over the wreck...or so we thought.  We entered the water with no current and 10+ feet of viz on the surface.  At about 25', it dropped to 5' viz. and the temp dropped from 70 degrees at the surface to 54 degrees on the bottom.  What the fish finder thought was fish was actually a dense thermocline, which lasted for about 20'.  Once we dropped through it, at about 50' depth, the wreck and the sand, which was still a good 30' below us, was clearly visible.  Thirty feet of viz on an in-shore wreck!  Amazing.  We had no current, no surge, great visibility, and full tanks.  We set off hunting, but didn't find too much.   Clearly this wreck was hit recently and someone cleaned it out. I didn't see a single flatty.  Anthony and I bagged one bug as a team near the end of the dive, and I hit one black sea bass.  Anthony hit four keeper sea bass.  He also played with a few other lobster, but only one came to visit us on the surface.  After a 38 minute runtime, the dive was over.  Stats: 82' max. depth, 38 minutes, 54 degrees bottom temp, 70 degrees surface temp.  At the surface, I realized I lost my spear tip.  Luckily I had a spear gun as a backup on the boat for dive #2.

Dive #2 was on the Brick Barge.  This is an old broken-up barge in 71' of water.  Our intention was to go down the anchor line to the hook and turn right to the main section.  We entered the water to find the same conditions as dive #1, and where we hooked was a great spot.  We spend our entire dive in this one area.  I brought only one sea bass to the surface, but Anthony cleaned up with six.  Stats: 71' max. depth, 36 minutes runtime, 54 degrees on the bottom, and 70 on the surface.

Anthony on the bottom of the Brick Barge

Dive #3 was on a clammer that sunk many years ago.  Actually, this dive was on the dragger that came off the boat as it sank.  It is nearby, but not with the clamming boat.  I brought my spear gun down, and once I got to the hook, I noticed that the tip on my speargun was gone!  I lost two tips!  I left the speargun at the hook and became Anthony's light & bag man.  This was one of the best fishing spots I've ever seen, and we cleaned up!  I lit up where he wanted to hunt, he shot, and I bagged.  We had to keep this one short since Captain Rob had afternoon plans.  Viz. on this dragger was only 20', which is still great for an in-shore wreck.  Stats: 71' max. depth, 55 degrees on the bottom, 71 degrees on the top, 20-20' viz, a slight current, no surge, and lots of black sea bass!

We ended up with sixteen black sea bass and one lobster.  Not bad for a few hours of fun.

 Logged dives #426, 427, & 428.

Here is the YouTube link to the edited video from the dive: