Ft Lauderdale information please?

[whatevah]

So it looks like I'm going to be going to Ft Lauderdale for about a week later this year. I'll be hanging out with some of my favorite dive buddies and we want to get a representative taste of the diving in the area. We would also be interested in harvesting some lobster and doing a little spearing (particularly if we can take out a heap of invasive Lionfish). Anyone have recommendations for dive shops, charters? How about good times of the year to travel? A summary of the seasons/limits for lobster and fish? I'm hoping that Lionfish are fair game year round

[H20doctor]

Talk to pensacola, he lives there now, from what he tells me its all shallow shore diving,with long swims. But there is great boat diving with lots of wrecks, and reefs

[pensacoladiver]

The Lionfish are free game year round... have at it. they are a little small to be shooting with spear guns, but if you look up "lionfish eridicator" or something along those lines, there are plenty of pics and descriptions of home made devices and plenty of commercial ones for sale that work great for killing the buggers. I see at least one on every dive.

Lobster season ends Mar 31st and stays closed for a few months. there is a sport season in July, but I dont know the dates. If you google florida fishing regs, you can find a handy chart that shows the seasons. Limits are 6 per day. you will need a tickle stick (piece of aluminum pole) and a small fish landing net to be really successful in catching them. Best time is at night with a bright light as they just get out and walk around.

Spearfishing.... oh boy. In Whidbey I thought I was the do all end all spear fisherman, especially when I would come up from a dive at Neah Bay with a stringer full of fish.

That aint the way it is here. the Ft Lauderdale area gets deep pretty fast which means that any Tom, Dick or Harry with a 10 foot boat can be on the spots in less than 10 minutes. As you probably know, this means the place is REALLY overfished. Seeing the legal ones is the first problem. Second problem is most of the legal ones are smart. You will maore than likely be taking at least 10 foot shots here and maybe longer than that. Learning to spear here can be a humbling experience.

On the bright side, many of the Hogfish are really stupid and let you come right to them. Problem is finding them. As a general rule of thumb, the further north you get, the less the pressure and the better the fishing. Jupiter area is the best from what I have heard.

I went out with Dolphin Sun Charter last week out of the Lantana area and saw a few fish but missed the one shot I took. There were quite a few speared though to include a 25 plus inch Hogfish (blow Ling Cod away in taste, and I dont say that easily). I did manage to get into a fight with a 7 foot Nurse shark while on the dive. I had no fish on the stringer and was about 50 feet deep with a 65 foot bottom. Damn thing came at me hell bent to leather. I ended up having to poke it 5 times with my gun to get it to leave me alone. Quite a moment. Of course, I had no idea what kind of shark it was while this was happening.

For air fills, Fill Express on Dixie Highway in Pompano Beach is the ONLY way to go. They have premix 32, 36, 40 and even certain blends of Tri Mix. they charge by the cubic foot, so you are only charged for what you use. Normal price is 10 cents per cubic foot for any premix including air. If you buy a fill card, the price goes down to around 8 cents. they fill while you wait and will always give you at full fill and a little more.

they have a special now that if you link them on your facebook page, you can get 1000 cubic feet for fifty bucks.

Summer diving is always best as the weather is fairly predictible and calm. Winter time is usually seas at least 3-5 with a decent swell.

There is plenty of shore diving in Ft Lauderdale area although some of it requires a pretty good surface swim. there are 3 reefs that run the coast and 2 of them can be accessed from shore.

Gold Coast Scuba has a "meetup" group that hosts a ton of events. The meetup site is OK, but it does not compare to NWDC. :-)

Tons of wrecks here too!
Let me know if you have more specifics.

[whatevah]

Wow! Can't tell you how much I appreciate all the time you put into your response. Lots of great details that'll get me started with planning. I'm going to hit google and wait for some scheduling stuff to fall into place. Will let you know as I get more figured out - maybe we can talk you into coming out for a dive or two.

[pensacoladiver]

No problem. Wasn't much thought put into the response, more like a bunch of rambling. I am suprised I spelled as many words right as I did. lol

As you get more solid plans, give me a shout. I will gladly show you around some of the good buggin spots. I have no problems running the boat out to the reefs or wrecks either. My way of burrying the hatchet over that spat we got into a while ago over Lingcod hunting... I think it was.

[rjarnold]

I did manage to get into a fight with a 7 foot Nurse shark while on the dive. I had no fish on the stringer and was about 50 feet deep with a 65 foot bottom. Damn thing came at me hell bent to leather. I ended up having to poke it 5 times with my gun to get it to leave me alone. Quite a moment. Of course, I had no idea what kind of shark it was while this was happening.

[pensacoladiver]

I did manage to get into a fight with a 7 foot Nurse shark while on the dive. I had no fish on the stringer and was about 50 feet deep with a 65 foot bottom. Damn thing came at me hell bent to leather. I ended up having to poke it 5 times with my gun to get it to leave me alone. Quite a moment. Of course, I had no idea what kind of shark it was while this was happening.

I can laugh about it now, but it scared the $h*t outta me when it was happening.

[rjarnold]

I wonder why it was so hell-bent on attacking you... you do smell a little fishy sometimes...

[pensacoladiver]

Well, I was peeing in my wet suit and someone on the boat told me that can do it. but the most truthful answer is that I can't say for sure that it was attacking me. It might have just been coming in for a closer look. I'll be the first to admit that when it comes to shark behavior, I don't know shit from apple butter.

All I can say for certain is that I had a big damn shark headed up my way from below me and I ain't even close to being comfortable with that yet.

[mz53480]

...All I can say for certain is that I had a big damn shark headed up my way from below me and I ain't even close to being comfortable with that yet.

Wussy boy

[whatevah]

I will gladly show you around some of the good buggin spots. I have no problems running the boat out to the reefs or wrecks either. My way of burrying the hatchet over that spat we got into a while ago over Lingcod hunting... I think it was.

Would be really cool to get together for some diving, and failing that I figure I owe you a beer and we can at least talk about diving. I remember disagreeing about the Lingcod regulations a while back but I'm used to that - was a good discussion as I recall - no hatchet to bury. We'll be staying at a vacation home on the waterway May 6th through May 12th. Fill Express looks excellent - we'll have a rental car so we can rent cylinders from them and go back for daily fills. Looks like we'll miss out on lobster season - oh well, maybe we can get some of the local fish to sample each night at dinner. Okay - so now I get to go read about the various dive sites and come up with a list of must-dos

[pensacoladiver]

If you get the chance to sample some Hogfish, you will surely be hooked as it is right on par with Lingcod. Are you staying Ft lauderdale proper... north end, south end?

I have to head to Ohio some time in May, not sure when yet, but it's only for a weekend. Lobster will be right in the middle of the closed season then, but you will at least get to see plenty of them.

there are also a lot of internet sites that have lots of info about the numerous wrecks and reefs to dive. 7 days won't let you seem them all, but you can sure get a good chunk of them knocked out.