South FL reef hunting techniques - help!

Quote from Chase

Hello everyone,

Ive only been spearfishing for a few months now and am trying to develop my skills. I hunt around reefs a lot, usually doing shore dives. You know how it is when you start: Lack of dive buddies, experience, etc.. Any advice or tips on how to put more fish in the bucket will be appreciated. Since I am still trying to figure out what I can shoot and what is off limits, I have limited myself to snapper and hogfish for now. I feel that I can identify these species fairly easy, but sometimes feel like my body language may be too aggressive. I dont know really, I just need help with reef hunting..

Thanks,

Chase

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South Florida Reefs - Angelfishes - Butterflyfishes - Surgeonfishes

Study that site to get a good grasp on fish identification. Compare the pics with the species listed on the FWC website so you know what's good and what's off limits during certain times of the year.

Commonly sought after fish for our area include:

Snappers
Groupers (when in season)
Amberjacks
Yellow Jacks
Barracuda
Spanish Mackerel/Cero
King Mackerel
Hogfish
Gray Triggerfish
Porgy
Sheepshead

Quote from Hardline

South Florida Reefs - Angelfishes - Butterflyfishes - Surgeonfishes

Spanish Mackerel/Cero

Spanish Mackerel not to Fish?

Quote from Chase

Thanks man. Any tips on catching more hogs and snapper?

The most important key to getting fish is finding them.

Hogs....basically are pretty.....uhhhh....almost tame? If they've been shot at recently they may be more spooky but generally they're one of the easier fish to approach. You can even chase after them and many times they'll stop, broadside as if to ask, "what"?

Snappers are a bit more elusive. All are smart. If you see one, or a school. pretend you don't....see them. If they're educated, meaning they know you're dangerous, they will usually bug out really fast. If not, swim kind of away and dive to the bottom....NOT looking at them. Get down and hide behind any structure and wait. Sometimes they'll come right to you. Sometimes they'll laugh at your dumb ass and swim away.

And then, sometimes you're really lucky and you can swim right up and shoot them. It pretty much depends on how "educated" they are.

When you figure out the secret, please let me know. I'm still working on it. The good news is, it's fun work.

Quote from Josediaz

Spanish Mackerel not to Fish?

I'm not sure I understand what you are asking here?

Tossing some sand up in the water brings in mutton snapper too. Sometimes you won't see one from the surface but if you get down tot he bottom and toss sand, they'll come in.

Quote from Hardline

I'm not sure I understand what you are asking here?

What do you mean?: "Spanish Mackerel/Cero"

Quote from Josediaz

What do you mean?: "Spanish Mackerel/Cero"

They are different but similar species of fish. They are often confused for the same fish.

Quote from Hardline

They are different but similar species of fish. They are often confused for the same fish.

http://i31.photobucket.com/alb…/SnookMook/Mackerels2.jpg

Thanks for the clarification Hardline.

Quote from Josediaz

Thanks for the clarification Hardline.

Chamo! Le está diciendo al pana que los carites sí se pueden pescar.

If you ever find the answer to catching fish off the beach here consistently I would love to hear it :laughing::laughing3:

In my experience the biggest challenge with most of the diving here is finding fish to spear. Not actually spearing them. Stalking and hunting techniques, a longer bottom time, a good shot, more understanding of fish behavior etc will help you capture more of the fish you see, but I am going to assume you have a bigger problem of finding them then missing them.

Finding fish here is mostly a matter of hard but fun work. Going out exploring off the beach or even in a boat and finding spots that hold fish better then other places and maybe get targeted less is the key. Then when you find those spots you concentrate on them on other dives using the info you learned. If you combine that with doing a lot of hunting (swimming [covering ground] ) you're maximizing your chances as best as I know how. Then again im not a very good spearfishermen compared to many. Beach diving is difficult because you cant move around looking for fish and visibility in all different kinds of places. So you have to take a gamble on an area and get lucky to a certain degree. It also takes longer to explore an area, you learn less info about places you find. And the places are harder to find again without nav equipment pinpointing your spotz exact location.

Basically just enjoy the hunting and keep diving wherever you can the better you get from going diving and the more spots you learn from going diving the better you get at bringing home the fish. Enjoy taking a variety of fish besides the token snapper/hog if you always want fish.

Beach diving you'll learn more about a specific area and fish movement there than boat diving, you'll get to know it very well.

Very very true, I guess it was unfair for me to say you learn less. Instead the learning is more concentrated. You def do get to know the fewer places you visit like the back of your hand.

Quote from Chase

ReefChief,

I've been going mostly around the jax, so snappers and hogs are usually the main fish I see that are shootable. I do not think Ive seen any sheepshead or porgy's and certainly not any macks or anything of that nature on my ventures. Thats why I was seeking tips specifically for snaps/hogs. Some nice parrots around there though I'll tell ya. Too bad they're not on the menu, atleast for a season ya know. Strange that other parts of the world eat/catch them but we can't. Im doing a beach dive with my dive buddy on friday at dania pier if you feel like schooling me a bit, let me know. We are pretty lax'd when we dive and won't abandon you.

Chase

As far as I know Spearguns in John U Lloyd park are prohibited and they will give you a ticket if caught with it on the beach. I think the jacks youre talking about are north of the pier which is in the park.

You need to venture out to the reefs. You can pick almost anywhere and swim off shore and run into each reef line the further you swim. The first one is only a few hundred yards from shore and ive caught fish there even. The deeper reefs are where you will find a wider assortment of fish to shoot Mac's and triggers and yellowjacks passing by etc. Dont be afraid to just pick an area and explore it.

Quote from Chase

Ok cool, I will try to implement that into my dive plan for friday. Just a heads up though about John U. Lloyd, your absolutely correct about no spearguns within state park property. However, North of the pier the park doesn't start for maybe a few hundred yards until you see a big brown sign in a bush line that says "John U. Lloyd State Park" blah blah and thats where your gear can be confiscated by FWC and park rangers. Had a run in with one last time I was out there and an officer told us we were too far north and showed us the boundary we could enter the water from.

Later,

Chase

Yeah I wasn't sure exactly how close to the pier it started but it is pretty close. Only problem with launching so close there is if the current is heading north at a strong enough pace you might have no choice but to land in the park. Id rather just go more south or more north and not deal with the hassle of the park. Never found much fish there anyways.