Miami Last Week

[ucfreceiver]

Got some decent Mangroves last week off Miami.

[ucfreceiver]

Whoops...sorry bout the size of that last pic. I officially suck on the computer. This pic I made smaller. Me and a buddy shot 7 mangroves and 9 hogs that day. All around 16-18 inches. Small for most people on this board but they tasted good enough.

[Diverdown]

how deep were the hogs and what area your you diving?

[ucfreceiver]

All the hogs were in 20' or less. I was just south of Sands Cut on a string of patches. Pulled up to a marker and it marked the patches so I just towed south from there. Lots of Hogs to be found. The magroves were found in 4' of water in a secret spot that never fails (and according to Marine Patrol perfectly legal) :D .

[mushkee]

ucf...elliot key huh...no wonder i never spotted a big hog in less than 20 ft. of those patchs....some of those hogs look less than the 12' limit...punk...j/k...nice...best tasting fish ever...my technique now is perfected for elliot key...try going more north of elliot key to cedars creek...and got out to the 20-40 ft. range...free diving im guessing...and bring two guns...one which is a piece of shit and is totally buoyant...and your normal reef gun...and spear a hog around some holes...and a nice grouper will come out of those hard to reach holes to see what the deal is...but watch out b/c half the time there to small to shoot...be patient...also some parts of that area are protected...so be careful...

[ucfreceiver]

Yeah man...its hard to find decent size hogs there but there is a ton of em. I don't shoot anything under 14" as a rule but it wasn't too bad there that day. Got 2 18" and a few 16". Take whatever I can get in Miami. I'm from there originally but live in Orlando now and I go back there a few times a year to visit a buddy and shoot. I usually don't take dive gear cause his boat is 16'. Going to the Marquesas next weekend for a week so hopefully we will do better size wise. Its always interesting taking a 16" boat 25 miles over there. Hopefully get some dolphin too. One thing I notice is lots of sharks and big cudas there. Got attacked twice but huge cudas and had to shoot them...not a fun experience when using a gun made for medium size snapper and smaller grouper.

[mushkee]

yeah...for real...finding decent fish in elliot is hard..but its all about finding spots...i shot a big cuda in a small reef in elliott in less than 20' ft...and it took off with my shaft....arrrh....thing was pushing 30lbs...

[ucfreceiver]

yeah this cuda took my friends shaft and gun with it and was gone. He was real pissed cause it ripped right out of his hand. An hour later I saw a huge cuda trailing a speargun behind it so I got a kill shot on it and we got his gun back. It was a lucky break.

[Spearooo]

hey I don't want to sound like a pain but it looks like all those hogs look like females. I as a rule only shoot male hogs even if the female is of legal size I let her go bc. her reproducing is more valuable than a single fish sandwich. At first it sounds hard to tell them apart but after spotting them side by side it becomes quite easy. Males have a much darker black outline as apposed to a brownish outline of the female and the shape of the head is a bit diffrent kind of like bull and cow dolphin. If there are females in the area there is likely to be a male. I don't know if you guys were aware of this but I thought it would be worth telling you bc it sounds like you are conservation minded. I dive in Miami and am frustrated at the lack of fish in the area and try to do my part to be as selective as I can in the hope of saving some fish for my kids. . I urge you to do the same maybe next time you visit there will be more hogs rather than less. Hogs are super easy to shoot and present no challange whatsoever so they depend on our choices to survive Not to say you are responsible, we all are. Spread the word
Stop over fishing or fishing is over

[Rolo]

I agree with JC. I tend to favor male hogs instead although making a correct distinction is not always clear cut, especially if visibility is poor. I also would not shoot a Hog under 14". Don't get me wrong, I'm not an environmental freak, but we do need to comply with regulations and be responsible divers.

It's very depressing to kill a female hog and later find out she's near spawning. Unfortunately, I'm a bit more cynical than JC. I'm convinced that by the time my kids are of spearfishing age, there won't be much out there to shoot.

[Steel Shootin']

Hope you don't fault me too much for shooting this female. When the females get large enough, they get the brown snout and look like males:

http://www.chascoboatparade.com/ScottHog.jpg

[keyspearfisher]

Looks like a mercy killing! It was blind in the right eye.

[otter]

Looks like you guys are terrorizeing that poor reef. I have shot bigger fish in my mothers old fish tank:with an aqurium sling-(sewing needle,thread,thread spool,and rubber band). I get into the same smaller reef fish up here on the treasure coast first reefs,and this is what I do, practice on homemade targets, take in the senery. No quality fish for dinner, try local fish market or Mrs. paul's reef- g.p.s. #s located in freezer section of grocery store. Practice on homade targets they cost a lot cheaper than those fish in the long run. Spearfisherman are the closest link in reef conservation, we need to be stewards of the sea, not Buffalo Bill out there.