Kill the LION FISH or catch 'em in SoFla?? Input needed.

[sportxlh]

I agree that getting them out of the ocean, in any way possible, is a good thing. I'm not sure I'd take the time to catch them rather than kill em, but if you have the skill and patience: go for it.

 

[Pelagicsal]

I agree that getting them out of the ocean, in any way possible, is a good thing. I'm not sure I'd take the time to catch them rather than kill em, but if you have the skill and patience: go for it.

Pretty much stuck catching the little ones before you can kill them... And the big ones you have to spear then dispatch. They're tough buggers.

 

[Chugwhump]

I am finding that it is actually easier to net the smaller ones in the 4" or less size range, than it is to shoot them.
I just use my telescoping lobster tickle stick and gently...slowly...carefully..... shove them around and then net the little freaks.

The whoppers are wise to us though.
As soon as you see them, you gotta hit 'em.

Chug
No dead LION FISH from me today I am sad to say.

 

[jupitermermaid]

The whoppers are wise to us though.
As soon as you see them, you gotta hit 'em.

So true! I was going for a semi-medium sized one, and he took off like a rocket under a rock. I exhaled, then noticed a big one under the ledge opposite the one I was after. As soon as I "cocked" my spear, he was gone! :-(

 

[PatW]

I wish one could put that genie back in the bottle, but I fear that lion fish are here to stay. It only took a very small number of lion fish introduced to the wild to reproduce and spread all over the Caribean. Divers are not going to be able to track down every lion fish in the ocean and kill them. Even if a few were missed, they would just reproduce right back to their current levels. History shows that elimination of an introduced exotic is almost impossible.

Now, one hopes that the local predators: sharks, grouper and morays can learn to hunt and consume lion fish. Some predation could possibly keep their numbers in check, but I am not that hopeful.

 

[Pelagicsal]

Well, Pat, I for one find pleasure in swatting mosquitoes and seeing them dead.
If we save a few pockets where species have an easier time waiting out the eventual natural solution to the scourge that is lionfish, all the better.