Hunting and Fishing ***Picture Warning***

[PBIjim]

One thing special about fishing in South Florida is the variety of different fish that you can encounter. I think that I've caught at least 40 or 50 different varieties and I've barely scratched the surface. The different fish in this area have different personalities and require different approaches if you want to catch them. There are several varieties that I still haven't cracked the code on. Below is one of the ones that mocks me. I can bring these things up 2 and 3 at a time for hours and still never get a single one that is legal length to keep. They all seem to be about an inch short of the minimum. This is called a trigger fish. They are tough to clean due to their tough skin, but they are great to eat. They have a nice clean white flaky meat that is not at all "fishy".

[PBIjim]

Some of the critters here can get a bit dangerous. The little guy on the right was actually more dangerous to handle than the beer drinking barracuda. That little guy is called a stone fish. It's a venomous fish in the same family with the lion fish & the scorpion fish. You do NOT want to step on one of those. Fortunately, I don't normally see them in less than 30 feet of water

[PBIjim]

If you ever visit the sunshine state, it's usually worth taking the time to get a line wet. Even if you show up empty handed, you can still fish from one of the town piers for a few bucks and not even need to get a fishing license because the pier itself is licensed. At some public piers, you can even rent a rod and reel by the day. If that's not available, pretty much any Walmart in the state will provide you with something good enough to land a 16" fish for typically less than $30. If you want something nicer, you can usually get a Penn spinning combo at one of the better tackle shops for a little over $100. Prices can go up from there quite a bit if you start looking at heavy ocean tackle.

Below is the haul from a decent day on a small skiff within a half mile of shore. These fish are probably all in the 10-16" range. Most of these same fish can be taken from the piers as well. ...but on the skiff you are likely to come home with a few more. These all probably came up on a 5000 size spinner with 20# monofilament line. 12# line would have been plenty for these guys, but those same spots often also hold larger fish that are looking to eat these little guys, so I generally don't fish with anything less than a 20# rig in the ocean. You never know what you are going to hook when you're fishing in that big salt water pond to the east of the Florida coast. It gets exciting sometimes.

[West Valley G]

I like the idea of having lots of different fish to eat. Around here
it's trout or trout. Cool pictures.

Ken

[PBIjim]

Originally Posted by West Valley G

I like the idea of having lots of different fish to eat. Around here
it's trout or trout. Cool pictures.

Ken

These are two different varieties of Tuna that we often get locally in near shore waters. The top one is a black fin and the bottom one is a skipjack. The skippy requires a federal permit to keep, but the black fin does not. Both are darn tasty seared in sesame oil with a little black pepper around the edges. If you have never had fresh tuna, the first time you taste it you will wonder why they ruin such a good fish by steaming it and putting it in a can. Tuna is also considered the king of sushi and poke for those who like to eat their fish raw.

The blackfin is the smallest member of the tuna family. 3-10# is common here, but I occasionally get one that is over 30#. It's close cousin the bluefin can get up over 1,000#, but I don't have the equipment to go after those giants. In between we have yellow fin and big eye tuna, but those bigger varieties are generally further off shore than I venture. For those who wish to charter a sport fishing boat, they are accessible. And reeling them in is a serious fight.