Anybody collecting their own fish?(Florida)

[moorea]

Hi
I have been collecting/keeping freshwater fish here in the states and recently switched to saltwater.
I will be collecting my own fish in Florida in 3 weeks.I can't wait.
(I follow all Florida regulations regarding species and sizes allowed).
Anybody into that?
Thanks
Patrick

 

[coop21]

The only thing we have in our streams in Wa. is brown trout.......wait, that's not a stream!!!!
Man, I wish I lived in Fla.

 

[evad1029]

That is a good idea if you can do it just be carfull of desise when adding new fish and you should be fine.

 

[pufferlover]

My son who lives in the Tampa area has done that a few times with what I guess they call a drag net. He has got some interesting fish and had good luck with them.

 

[ken00]

I have been collecting my own fish in Florida ever since i have lived here and that has been 20 years now. The one thing you need to do is get a fishing license. As crazy as that sounds you have to have a saltwater fishing license to collect. They just revised the laws again and i think the limit on angels is 6. You can get a copy of the laws where you get your license or a dive shop. You can catch a variety of fish from queen,blue,french,gray and pygmey angels to butterflies to cuban and spanish hogs. I have not taken any angels lately because my queen has been with me for 5 years now. Hope that helps and good luck.

 

[rglenn828]

What Part of Florida (Gulf of Mexico or Atlantic Ocean) do you plan on collecting from? I have collected fish and inverts from Tampa Bay and the Gulf beaches in the past. I just started my SW tank up again after 7 yrs without one. I use an 8 ft cast net to catch bait for fishing and when I catch something interesting I take it home. The Florida Sportsman website has the Florida saltwater regulations with links to the government websites at Http://floridasportsman.com/regs.html.
Regards,

 

[moorea]

Hi Glenn and everybody else
I am going to collect in the Panama City/Destin area.
I have been there 3 times and saw so many cool fishes while snorkeling and caught a lot also on hook and line that this vacation i am taking some home.
I use fish traps, a 6 ft cast net, 3 dip nets,a seine and my fishing pole.
I know i am going to catch a lot since i have a lot of experience doing that in freshwater but will only bring home about 4 fishes (Only the best will make it).
I will use these new bags to keep them alive and bring them home that don't require oxygen or anything but covering the fish with water.
Any spots and tips you might have are welcome.
Thanks for the regulations but i had them already.
Thanks
Patrick
varois83@netzero.net

 

[moorea]

Ken00 where are you in Florida?
Drop me a line if you want.I am interested in meeting people to collect SW fish together.
Best regards
Patrick
varois83@netzero.net

 

[grouperhead]

trey i believe the pier bilings you are talking about is the old crystal beach pier. i have caught many cool fish in they grayton beach are in sargassum floats. caught sargassum fish,planehead tile fish, coool crabs, and other stuff. you could probably get some beau gregory damsels. one fish i love is the atlantic spadefish. it looks alot like an angel, it is truly beautiful. you would need a large tank 200+ to keep one though. other cool fish in that area i have seen are lots of gobies/blennies, pigfish&pinfish(which i think are cool), oyster and gulf toadfish, needlefish(i have always wanted a needle fish, wouldnt that be cool), squirrelfish(not the red ones, aka sand perch), maybe some puddingwifes, slippery

[hr]
, and other wrasses(trey, do blueheads get up here?), toungfish and bay whiffs are cool, if you find some good grassflats definatley check them out. i always get cool stuff in there. oh yeah lizard fish are really cool, just look out for thier teeth. later, bo

 

[moy]

Hey guys, i live in Cape Coral (next to Fort Myers). East side of Florida, right on the Gulf of Mexico.
Me and my buddies even took a trip one weekend all the way to the keys trying to look for cool little fishes for our SW tanks.. But no luck what so ever.
It would be a awsome experience to do that, so if any of you guys can tell me where to go and what i need to get this accomplished it would be greatly appreciated.. We only have snorkling grear.

 

[liongirl]

Anyone who lives in Florida, feel free to collect some fish for me. Because i am not going in that water!

 

[moorea]

Trey & Grouperhead
Trey i have a few questions about getting busted while collecting.
Prior to that i have to admit being checked by a marine patrol officer two years ago on a Panama City pier.He drove by slowly and saw our Georgia plate and made his move sure he would nail us because we were fishing without license.Wrong since we had them,i can tell he felt stupid.
Ok questions now.
Why would i get busted if i am in full compliance with the law?
Is it prohibited to collect Burrfishes, Slippery

[hr]
and Toadfishes?
Fishermen throw toadfishes on the pier to die in Panama City.
I ain't talking Nassau grouper or Jawfish here.
Are you talking mostly about St Andrews park and shell island?
Where is Shalimar and Greyton beach, is it west of Destin and are there any patrols overthere?
Is that current real dangerous in the Destin pass?
Is the sargassum around all year or just at specific times?
A friend of mine that lives in Key West has told me several times about killer collections in sargassum.
Do you just snorkel when in Panama City and don't collect?
I want to thank-you about warning me about the problem and preventing me a possibly ruined vacation.Even if i comply with the laws, i understand that they can find you a detail to fine you if they really want.
Maybe i will just place some (legal size) traps at night in the Panama City area and will keep the nets for other places.
Feel free to send me an E-mail if you want.I love the subject.
I apologize for all the questions.
Hey i hear Busters in Destin has 99 cents dozen oysters at happy hour,any truth to that? ;-)
Thanks a bunch!
Patrick
varois83@netzero.net

 

[moy]

Hey guys where's Sargassum?? I live in Cape coral; would love to go snorkling over there, really wanna catch some neat little fish for my SW tank!

 

[panchito]

Hey ken00 where do you live in FL? I will be doing some diving this summer and would like to hear of some good spots now that I have a sw tank. I live down south Miami area

 

[grouperhead]

trey, i was wondering if the beau gregory and cocoa damsels are the same species? alos can any pancake batfish be found in the area? ive always wanted to find one of these but never have? where should i look for one? later, bo

 

[surfthearth]

Commercial Pier in ft lauderdale is really nice, huge assortment of fish to choose from, and the reef is 2 1/2 miles long. It is about 100 yards off beach, and you have to stay 300 yards from the pier. the reef is a U shape that extends around the pier. check it out when you get a chance.

 

[moorea]

Surfthearth
I think i know where you mean.At least i have heard of it.Last time i heard around the pier that they had spotted blue sharks close to the pier.
It kind of scared me.Now can you snorkle to that reef from the shore or is it strictly scuba?
Also how deep is it at the shallowest?
I am going to the keys in September to collect and snorkle with a friend.
He has been down there for 14 years and knows all the good spots.I might fly straight down but if i drive i might stop to your Fort-Lauderdale pier.
Moorea

 

[surfthearth]

You can either snorkel out to it or do a dive if you wanna catch stuff. At low tide, If I remember right, it was about 7 feet deep.. mid hi tide, and it was about 12 feet deep. On any given weekend that I go down there, there are about 6-10 people snorkeling/diving, you can see all their flags lined up out there, helps if you aren't really sure where to dive at. Hope this helps.

 

[moorea]

Surfheart
That is a great tip you just gave about the diving flags.
Anybody else doing some collecting?
Let us know about it please !
Thanks a lot
Moorea