where to go snorkeling/collecting in fort lauderdale florida

[iverson387]

Going on vacation for a week in september and i would love to do some snorkeling and collecting in florida. Im going to get a saltwater fishing liscence so it is legal. Anyone know any good spots and have any tips on collecting. Ill be in fort lauderdale. Also what kind of equipment should i buy? anyone reccomend a certain type or style of net? My main goal is to catch a juvenille queen or blue angel and possibly some jawfish.

[jdhuyvetter]

I'd post up on the FMAS forum.

Personally, I'd skip the queen. Realistically, they get too big for captivity.

[200mfromocean]

You may want to check with Austin's dive shop in Miami. They have lots of collection gear. Try to hook up with a boat it will make life much easier.

[fishome25]

I went in march. It was fun. I'm going away sat until next sat, but when I get back you are welcome to borrow a couple references that I have from when I went. Getting a blue angel shouldn't be too hard. Angels are the easiest fish to catch. 2 years ago I caught about a dozen here on LI.
I'll message you when I get back, I'm in Massapequa.

[philter4]

You won't find jawfish at this time of year in shallow water off of Ft Lauderdale, maybe in the keyes, but they move to much deeper water at this time of year. As far as places to go, go to Dania Beach, there is a sign south of the pier that says SCUBA DIVERS, go in there and swim straight out to the first reef, it is shallow, under 15 ft and usually has lots of queens and blues as well as most other common tropicals. The first reef isn't very pretty, it is hard rock with very few live corals, but lots of sponge and algae which is what the queens eat so the habitat is there for them. If you go further out, about 100 ft past the pier the second reef line has a really nice wall that has lots more animals on it, including all of the common angels (pygmy angels don't come shallow here like in the Bahamas so they aren't there, but all the others are there). It is a long but easy swim, and the reef is deeper, in the 30 ft to the sand range, but the reef top comes to within 15 ft of the surface, there are lots more live corals to see so it is prettyier, and there are many more coral living fish there. In between the reef lines (there are 3 at that spot) you have to cross areas of sand and rubble and you sometimes see jawfish there, but usually in the winter, in the summer when the water temps rise they move to much deeper water, 80 to 100 ft is where I find them during the summer months.

As far as collecting them, I use scuba, but I have collected just about every fish on the reef snorkeling, you just have to be smarter and quicker, watch the fish and set your nets up to chase the fish in, rather then chase the fish around, you wont catch much if you try like they are in an aquarium. Jawfish have to be dug out and are very quick so they are much harder to collect then an angelfish, but it can be done.

[iverson387]

i appreciate the great replys i will definitely try these spots out. Also looking forward to hear from you fishhome when you get back.

[produceb]

except for the french and queen angel , most of the other fish you almost need scuba for. I had a queen for 4 years, it seemed to stop growing after a few years. It changed colors to the adult phase but seemed to grow to its surrondings.

[fishome25]

i have a book on beach dives with directions of the area you can borrow.

[laurarca]

I just came from Boca Raton 2 weeks ago...my first time snorkeling...there were a group of people with regular fish nets, maybe 4X4's, a bucket and a battery operated air pump...I was amazed! They had blue tangs, damsels and a couple of clams. I also found right in Boca an inlet that is full of zoas and sponges...gorgeous!! But I have to ask...if you catch anything, how will you get it home? I tried to ask the airlines, and they will have you abondon at the airport...

[fishome25]

i drove. i asked every airline and no one would take fish except if you have a cargo account and send it that way.

[philter4]

All you have to do is pack the fish like they are going to be shipped, just enough water to cover the fish, as much O2 as the bag can be filled with and the fish will be fine for up to 48 hours. That is how the shippers pack the fish. After that just put them in your luggage and check your baggage, this is not illegal and saves you lots of headaches when trying to return home. On my last trip to Hawaii (see my earllier post More HI Photos) I asked TSA if I could carry them on and they said that as long as the fish were visably swimming around in the bag it was no problem, and the guy at the x-ray actually hand searched the bag the fish were in becasue he didn't want the animals through the x-ray machine.

What I did was ask first, but the fish were packed so if anyone said there would be problems, I could have checked the bag with no one knowing what was actually in it. There are no laws about shipping your own personal fish, but the airline personel usually don't know the rules so they are being overly cautios.

[cmlloveless]

i have a book on beach dives with directions of the area you can borrow.

Might I ask what book that is?

[regina]

where can you snorkle to look at the fish and coral? I want to go but not sure which beach or area. If anyone can let me know I would be grateful.

Regina

[philter4]

where can you snorkle to look at the fish and coral? I want to go but not sure which beach or area. If anyone can let me know I would be grateful.

Regina, anywhere where you see the dark outline of the reef close to shore should be fine, if you go south to Hollywood FL, about 20 mins south of you, the first reef line is only in 10 to15 ft of water, has several species of corals, lots of fish and octocorals/inverts and is very accessable to snorkeling. I have collected there several times and found all of the common shallow water fish and inverts, just about anything you would want in your tank exceptt for things like pygmy angels or deep water basslets, those live too deep to see snorkeling.

The best book I have is A SNORKELERS GUIDE TO BEACH AND SHORE DIVING OF FLORIDA, HOLLYWOOD TO JUPITER. It has all of the easy access common dive and snorkel spots in the area where you will be near.

[Dustin2]

So how and where would one be able to get a license for collecting fish and possibly corals. and how much would it cost?

[philter4]

So how and where would one be able to get a license for collecting fish and possibly corals. and how much would it cost?

There are no corals allowed, it is hard to get a coral permit even if you are a scientist, and they don't give them out to individuals.

For fish and inverts, if it is for personal use you just need a FL fishing license, for out of state I don't know the cost, but for residents it is $14. It allows you up to twenty animals and 1 gallon of algae per day, with no more then 5 of any one species, or no more then 5 angels or 6 octocoral colonies per day, and no more then 2 day bag limit. That means if you are there for a week, you can have a total of 40 animals (combination of fish and inverts) in your possesion at any one time. You must also follow all of the minimum size limits and no game fish. If you want a commercial license, they no longer issue them, but you can buy someone elses license, but that is not easy and usually expensive, the last ones I saw for sale were in the ten to twelve thousand dollar range, and you have to have a boat, there is no commercial collecting from the shore, that is a state law.

[Dustin2]

ok thank you do you know of any places to collect some nice fish around jupiter floridia?

[nanooksshop]

I have recently moved to ohio an I know there's fish collector in an around lauderdale Cuz I lived there for 10 years but my question is I have started a salt water shop in ohio customize an cleaning an setups. Ohio has alot of frags but no good Florida riccorida or any fish an was wondering how could I add to my collection up here. The last Simi decent angel up here was 190.00 an it looked under weight. So is there some one I can hook up with down there.

[nanooksshop]

I have recently moved to ohio an I know there's fish collector in an around lauderdale Cuz I lived there for 10 years but my question is I have started a salt water shop in ohio customize an cleaning an setups. Ohio has alot of frags but no good Florida riccorida or any fish an was wondering how could I add to my collection up here. The last Simi decent angel up here was 190.00 an it looked under weight. So is there some one I can hook up with down there.*

[nanooksshop]

If your going hit me up with what your wanting to get.