north carolina hogfish vs florida hogfish

laguna230diver · Dec 12, 2009

Why haven't I seen any postings on the EXTREME differences between the hogs people shoot in florida vs the hogs people shoot in NC

Fl must be overfished, have you guys seen the hogs that regularly come out of NC?

The conditions are a little harder to get out and you have to go further offshore to get deep enough for good ones, but my god there are some monsters out there. Its not uncommon to shoot a 25lb hog in NC.
Anybody have any comments on this?

My suggestion would be for people to only shoot what they will eat fresh (1 or 2) and to shoot the bigger ones they find.

however...

i know that hogfish is the best damn tasting fish and my opinion might not go to far

just wanted to let you all know

offshore.htm

check it out, i go out with jim every once in a while (3rd picture)
-brandon

Walter · Dec 12, 2009

laguna230diver:
Fl must be overfished, have you guys seen the hogs that regularly come out of NC?

Yes, it is. Yes, I have.

PatMyGreen · Dec 13, 2009

25# hogfish are rare even in NC. But Carolina hogs are not exactly a secret, NC and SC frequently dominate hogfish in the spearing tournaments. I've been out with Home a few times in NC with good success in hogs though never more than 17.5# personally, which easily beats my 14# FL best hog.

As to shooting the bigger ones, thats the last thing you should do if you want to protect a species like hogfish that transitions to male from female as they age. Like grouper, the larger hogs are better breeders than the smaller ones and the fishery is more dependent on the small number of truly large males to fertilize the females. Lack of males can force the biggest female to turn into a male but it isn't instant. Not that I hesitate on pulling the trigger when I see a brown snouter, but specifically targeting just them would be a bad bad thing. Its worth noting that bad weather and lower coastal populations means way less pressure in the Carolinas than FL.

laguna230diver · Dec 13, 2009

by larger hogs i didn't mean just the supermales, correct that would be pretty bad for the populations

Of the times I've been out of oak island this last year i wanna say it was 3 or 4 out of the 5 times i went someone on the boat had a 20 pounder or more.

heck the first one i ever shot was 37 inches (made me feel special till i found out how easy they are to shoot)

and about the last point DEFINATELY I think thats the biggest difference in Fl and NC/SC. The conditions don't allow as many oppurtunities to shoot the hogs, and in the Carolinas diving overall is less popular than in Fl.

god i love that spearfishing in NC ....

PatMyGreen · Dec 14, 2009

Agreed!

Hank49 · Dec 17, 2009

I guess we must really be overfished here in Belize. The biggest hog I've seen was maybe 10 lbs. I haven't shot one in over a year because I rarely see one over 3 lbs. \
I can't believe the size of the ones you guys see up north.

laguna230diver · Dec 17, 2009

well thanks for not shootin the babies!

cldomson1 · Dec 20, 2009

I think it has a lot to do with pressure and food supply. We've planned 4 trips to NC and all but one were cancelled due to weather.

NC diving is primarily wreck diving and megladon tooth diving, then spearfishing. The winter is dry suit weather. And the lobster population is huge, thus the hogs have a constant supply of baby lobster to eat.

Florida is divable all year long. The hogs prefer shallow reefs with coral. Shallow pressure is significant. Red tide is more prevalent. The bigger hogs are deeper due to less pressure.

Here are pics of my brothers 17lber from the Middle Grounds in 90fsw last January; and the biggest from our June trip to Wilmington at 19lbs 14oz.

Charlie

laguna230diver · Dec 20, 2009

Very nice fish charlie!
Nice point on the red tide/fish kills affecting populations.

cldomson1 · Dec 21, 2009

Just my observations, but the inshore hogs south of Anclote on the gulf side have been getting bigger and numbers increasing every year since the bad red tide 4 years ago.

I think the gas prices last 2 years and the economy this year have done more for fish populations than most regulations.

We dove the WCC #4 out of Ft Desoto a few months ago. I swear the hogs were huge just north of the ditch in 55fsw. First time I ever lost a shaft in a hogfish, NC included.

C

north carolina hogfish vs florida hogfish

Please register or login

laguna230diver

Contributor

Walter

Contributor

PatMyGreen

ScubaBoard Business Sponsor

Attachments

laguna230diver

Contributor

PatMyGreen

ScubaBoard Business Sponsor

Hank49

Contributor

laguna230diver

Contributor

cldomson1

Contributor

Attachments

laguna230diver

Contributor

cldomson1

Contributor

Similar threads