Lionfish hunts

[Snoweman]

I'm not sure if the whole commercial deal works if they are not paying me for the fish and they are not selling to other customers. There are other places in FL that will cook it for you. See this page. https://oceandivers.com/book-a-trip/lionfish-safari-dives-2/

 

[Ricardo V.]

Well... it's about the Restaurant, making sure they accept items from suppliers in keeping within State requirements.

In any case, you have several good leads out there now, and to circle back to your original question, I'm convinced Florida is one of the best places to learn how to catch Lionfish. There are folks in the recreationaldive industry with lots of experience, operators that cater to hunters and plenty of Lionfish to go get.

So come on down and have at it. You are always welcome in Florida.

Enjoy.

 

[Snoweman]

Florida is a great choice. Cheap to get to (for me), and I have family in the Stuart area. I really wish more dive operators would advertise lionfish hunts on their web pages. If they could find ways to get visitors to eat their catch, that would be even better.

Thanks for everyones help, and I will be in touch to visit soon. How much better can it get? A lazy man's drift dive AND culling lionfish.

 

[Akimbo]

You might find this article in the current AlertDiver Magazine interesting: Eating Our Way Out

 

[dberry]

You might find this article in from the current AlertDiver Magazine interesting: Eating Our Way Out

OMG, there's a picture of a lady holding an 18" lionfish that looks enormous compared to the ones I've seen in the water. And as they say, them's good eating!

 

[Ricardo V.]

Here is a really good article on how to get started: How to start lionfish hunting, beginners guide to lionfish hunting

 

[Fishspearit]

Florida is a great place to learn lionfish hunting, and while they don't often advertise it, I think almost every shop in Florida will allow you to lionfish on their boats except for the ones diving in the Sanctuary down in the Keys. We also maintain a comprehensive list of places around the invaded range where you can hunt lionfish on vacation. Where to hunt lionfish, Dive Centers and Guides who hunt lionfish Also if you're looking for places that will cook your catch we keep a list of restaurants that serve lionfish, although many of them struggle to keep it on the menu because demand has been outpacing supply for the past year or so. https://lionfish.co/eat-lionfish-here/

 

[flyingDiver75]

From Atlanta, you're a fairly easy drive to the Destin / Fort Walton Beach area. Bluewater Escape - Destin Scuba Diving & Fort Walton Fishing Charters | Blue Water Escape - as well as a few other local charters are doing lionfish training dives. The larger, commercial dive operators tend to focus on a small subset of the local reefs that are best for larger dive groups. As such, they tend to be kept clean of larger lionfish. Smaller boats, like the Blue Water Escape, will go to smaller artificial reefs that are often covered in eating - sized lionfish.

 

[100days-a-year]

Be aware that on all polespears there is a possibility of the lionfish sliding down the spear and poking you.To avoid that,try to poke the lionfish in the head and not mid body where it is soft. I have killed thousands of pounds and still get poked on occasion when I'm not careful.
The zookeeper type devices are the best bet for containment, there is no fabric out yet that adequately protects you.

 

[Ricardo V.]

I've found that using a Lionfish-Slayer keeps the fish from sliding down and poking, so that's not a general rule I agree with, but as you say, it is wise to stay focused because it's when we get too comfortable or not careful enough, that an inadvertent poke it's likely to happen.

As far as hitting them in the head, I agree with you, specially if preserving the fillet's value is part of the effort. It's also easier to deal with them if they are essentially dispatched on strike.

Ricardo