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Old 01-24-2011, 09:39 PM   #1
El_Duderino
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Best place to rent kayaks and hunt?

Hey guys, my buddy and I are planning a trip down to the Keys to do some spearfishing. We live in Orlando and normally go spearing around Vero or Venice(depending which one has better vis at the time). We normally just go off the beach, since neither of us have any kind of boat.

After doing some searches/reading I've come to the understanding that there are no beach dives in the Keys with the exception of the quarry by Bahia honda bridge(which apparently sucks)?

So I figure we can rent kayaks somewhere and just paddle out to a good spot. So here's my question:

Where is the best place in the Keys to do kayak freediving? Preferably in 20-40 FSW.

And does anyone know a good place to rent some kayaks in that area?
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Old 01-25-2011, 04:43 PM   #2
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Re: Best place to rent kayaks and hunt?

OK... how about a GOOD place to go kayak freediving? haha
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Old 01-25-2011, 05:28 PM   #3
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Re: Best place to rent kayaks and hunt?

No place in the Middle Keys for sure.
20 - 40ft water is too far from shore for a kayak.

Can't tell you about Upper or Lower Keys, but do believe it is the same.
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Old 01-25-2011, 05:43 PM   #4
smilinmatt
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Re: Best place to rent kayaks and hunt?

It's going to be a pretty decent paddle to get anywhere to spearfish. Probably the closest reef access would be East Washerwoman shoal. Putting in at Sombrero beach, it would be about 1-1/2 miles. There's a marker on it, and you can see it from the beach. The shoal runs out a pretty good ways to the east. As best I remember, it drops off to about 25', then comes back up to about 15'. There were always a lot of hogs and some muttons in that area.

It's not a very productive area, but the main reef is only about another 1-1/2 miles from East Washerwoman. Another 1/2 mile after that and you start getting into blue water. All depends on how much paddling you want to do.

You can also spear the west end of the 7-mile bridge after the fishing pier portion. That's probably less than a mile from where you would put in at.

There is (or at least was) a kayak rental place in Marathon just after MM51 (just past IHOP, on the gulfside). It's right on US1, you can't miss it.
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Old 01-25-2011, 06:20 PM   #5
El_Duderino
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Re: Best place to rent kayaks and hunt?

Thanks for the info! Definitely going to check into it. How much does the vis fluctuate in that area? 10' for us is awesome(we dive in Vero, haha) so anything more than that would be wonderful. How choppy is the water down there this time of year?
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Old 01-25-2011, 07:39 PM   #6
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Re: Best place to rent kayaks and hunt?

El Duderino,

My friends and I had a similar idea but when we looked into it further we found there is nowhere within kayak range for spearing in the keys. ( unless your down to paddle 6 miles out). If you have your heart set on going out in the keys then give James and call at spearcrazy charters. He is a real cool guy and can put you on fish. http://www.spearcrazy.com/ He is located in Marathon.
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Old 01-26-2011, 12:15 AM   #7
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Re: Best place to rent kayaks and hunt?

Another option to consider is the Big Pine Key Lodge & Campground. They have a mixture of camping, Motel Rooms, Trailers & RV Spots. They rent sit-on-top Kayaks you can easily paddle onto the Gulf or Atlantic side from their location. If you paddle along the Atlantic side and go 1/2 -- 1&1/2 miles out you can find rocky areas and coral heads from the Kayak if the viz is good. Not great diving, but you do have the chance to shoot some smaller Hogs, Mangos, etc., and, find some Lobsters.
The Big Pine Key Lodge and Campground Personel are very friendly and their prices are about the most reasonable I have seen in the Keys. You can check them out on-line and give them a call to get more detail. Having good weather is the key to having fun. It is nice to have the option to go either Gulf or Atlantic since sometimes the wind can adversely effect one much more so than the other.
Good Luck.
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Old 01-26-2011, 09:05 AM   #8
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Re: Best place to rent kayaks and hunt?

The oceanside of Big Pine has a lot of coral heads and a reefline about 1 mile out. You can see it on Google Earth. Starting about 3/4 mile offshore, you'll see a hazy white area. Another 1/4 mile from that you'll see a sharp white line with small white spots offshore from that. It runs parallel to shore. The sharp white line is the sand between the reefline and grass bed. The reefline is the inside edge and about 20' deep. If you have a handheld GPS, you shouldn't have any trouble finding it. The big coral heads can be seen on Google Earth, inside the reefline. They're mostly around 1/2 to 3/4 miles offshore in 8-12'.
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Old 01-26-2011, 09:26 AM   #9
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Re: Best place to rent kayaks and hunt?

to get in 20-40ft of water with any viz down here in key west-big pine this time of year would be on the reef you couldprolly find some better viz in 5-15ft of water that holds fish closer to shore try boca chica beach or off white st peir or rend yaks at hurricane hole on stock island and work infront of samthers beach

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Old 01-26-2011, 06:09 PM   #10
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Re: Best place to rent kayaks and hunt?

Thanks for all the info guys! As of now it looks like we'll be staying at Big Pine key campground. I'm also in the process of finding someone who rents sit on top kayaks(sit-in side wouldn't work very well, would they?)

We aren't deadset on 20-40ft of water... just want somewhere with decent vis and some decent size fish(that aren't sheepshead). If thats in 15ft of water thats okay with us.

To be honest neither of us have used kayaks before to spearfish with, so this should be fun. I figure we'll anchor them and then just do our normal thing once we get out there. Any advice on the matter would be greatly appreciated!
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Old 01-26-2011, 06:44 PM   #11
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Re: Best place to rent kayaks and hunt?

Quote:
Originally Posted by El_Duderino View Post
Thanks for all the info guys! As of now it looks like we'll be staying at Big Pine key campground. I'm also in the process of finding someone who rents sit on top kayaks(sit-in side wouldn't work very well, would they?)

We aren't deadset on 20-40ft of water... just want somewhere with decent vis and some decent size fish(that aren't sheepshead). If thats in 15ft of water thats okay with us.

To be honest neither of us have used kayaks before to spearfish with, so this should be fun. I figure we'll anchor them and then just do our normal thing once we get out there. Any advice on the matter would be greatly appreciated!
and don't forget some dive flags!
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Old 01-26-2011, 07:33 PM   #12
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Re: Best place to rent kayaks and hunt?

Actually, I was planning on dragging my awesome floating fish cooler contraption out there behind the kayak and using that to keep the fish in. That has a dive flag on it
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Old 01-26-2011, 09:22 PM   #13
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Re: Best place to rent kayaks and hunt?

I think the Big Pine Key Lodge/Campground has some sit-on-top Kayaks for rent, I would try calling them first as their prices are so reasonable. They may even have a double (not sure, I thought some Guys told me they were in rentals, but we took our own). We took a dive flag on a float and just tossed it over everytime we went in the water. If your Dive Flag is on the Kayak I think it has to be the larger size one, if it is in the water it can be the 12" x 12" (I think, need to confirm w/Regs). Plus this gives you the added benefit of towing it with you to enhance safety if you get along way from the kayak.

You might want to plan on anchoring sometimes (small anchor with a few feet of chain or cable on the end -- in case it makes contact with reef/rock for an extended period of time), and, have a length of rope that you can tether to yourself for areas where you want to move along while in the water.
My Wife and I went a few months ago and we had a great time and will definitely be going back.

That was excellent advice from Smilin Matt above. When you look at Google Earth, also check out the area back toward the Gulf side about 1/4 mile past the bridge and you might be surprised.

On dragging the floating fish cooler, this may or may not turn out to be a good idea. If the weather is nice and you are having a good time it is easy to cover 5-10 miles or more and dragging a cooler may turn into a drag. That being said, at the least you want to take a soft side cooler w/ice, etc. for drinks, fish, lobster, etc. Free diving out of a sit-on-top is a blast, but be sure to have everything tethered to the boat (it seems like no matter how careful I was, I was always coming back without something prior to making this a rule for my trips).
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Old 01-26-2011, 10:29 PM   #14
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Re: Best place to rent kayaks and hunt?

10-15 foot of water holds plenty of snapper hogs and grouper but grouper are closed untill may 1st remeber the viz will all depend on the weather the week before near shore viz is uasly pretty good after a north wind on the ocean side or no wind but good luck for that in the winter lol hope for a north wind
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Old 01-27-2011, 12:14 PM   #15
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Re: Best place to rent kayaks and hunt?

Quote:
Originally Posted by El_Duderino View Post
Thanks for all the info guys! As of now it [some decent size fish(that aren't sheepshead).
you must've dived vero
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