Home Tournaments Calendar Weather Merchandise Sponsors

Go Back   Spearboard.com - The World's Largest Spearfishing Diving Boating Social Media Forum > General Topics (Non-regional) > Invasive Species Spearfishing & Science

Invasive Species Spearfishing & Science Discuss invasive exotic species such as lionfish, carp, snakehead, etc. including news, spearfishing and scientific research in any geographical region.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 07-22-2013, 06:44 AM   #1
Jeff33702
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: St. Petersburg, FL
Age: 50
Posts: 110
17.5" Lionfish anyone?

Florida Keys, American Shoal.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	lionfish.jpg
Views:	1680
Size:	99.3 KB
ID:	193238  
Jeff33702 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-13-2013, 11:39 AM   #2
mjmoore83
Registered User
 
mjmoore83's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Carolina Coast
Posts: 356
Re: 17.5" Lionfish anyone?

unfortunately that is a small one for up here in the Carolinas. Damn things are everywhere.
__________________
Some people fish. Some people are fishermen.

Dont come in untill you run out of ice or the fishbox is full
mjmoore83 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-13-2013, 11:53 AM   #3
kwtony
Snorkel Master
 
kwtony's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Lower Keys
Posts: 5,588
Re: 17.5" Lionfish anyone?

Man, thats a decent size for the reef. They are getting bigger inshore fOr sure, the monsters lurk in the DEEEEP water tho
kwtony is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-13-2013, 01:31 PM   #4
pablom
Registered User
 
pablom's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Delray Beach, Bahamas, Jamaica
Posts: 169
Re: 17.5" Lionfish anyone?

I saw one offshore in grand cayman had to be at least 30 inches. We were on a snorkeling charter and didn't have any slings onboard. There are some monsters out there.
__________________
=============================

Check out my Youtube channel:
pablom is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-20-2013, 05:24 AM   #5
jadairiii
Registered User
 
jadairiii's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Ft. Lauderdale
Posts: 1,904
Re: 17.5" Lionfish anyone?

Had an interesting lunch with a NSU professor a couple of weeks ago. According to studies, in the Pacific, they figure max size is about 30". But they have no idea how big they can get in an environment with no predators and lots of food!

Forget the bull sharks when a 5' Lionfish is coming after you!!!
jadairiii is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-24-2013, 10:21 AM   #6
skinneej
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Charleston, SC
Posts: 411
Re: 17.5" Lionfish anyone?

Quote:
Originally Posted by jadairiii View Post
Had an interesting lunch with a NSU professor a couple of weeks ago. According to studies, in the Pacific, they figure max size is about 30". But they have no idea how big they can get in an environment with no predators and lots of food!

Forget the bull sharks when a 5' Lionfish is coming after you!!!
They are just like any other fish. They are only going to get big as their genetics allow.
skinneej is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-24-2013, 10:21 AM   #7
skinneej
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Charleston, SC
Posts: 411
Re: 17.5" Lionfish anyone?

Quote:
Originally Posted by mjmoore83 View Post
unfortunately that is a small one for up here in the Carolinas. Damn things are everywhere.
True, I have seen a few the size of basketballs (including their spines)
skinneej is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-24-2013, 10:33 AM   #8
SDDiver5
Registered User
 
SDDiver5's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Encinitas, CA
Posts: 953
Re: 17.5" Lionfish anyone?

So glad I dont have to deal with those SOB's.
SDDiver5 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-24-2013, 12:07 PM   #9
faster7581
Registered User
 
faster7581's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: bradenton, fl
Posts: 416
Re: 17.5" Lionfish anyone?

On the bright side, I think they are even tastier than hogfish..
faster7581 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-14-2014, 07:30 PM   #10
acteg
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Orlando
Posts: 201
Re: 17.5" Lionfish anyone?

I shot one about the same size in Jupiter last weekend. Was a monster compared to what I normally see. Equally delicious as the smaller ones.
acteg is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-15-2014, 12:19 AM   #11
Kraken
I am the sea
 
Kraken's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: the dirty burg
Age: 33
Posts: 1,503
Re: 17.5" Lionfish anyone?

For that area I would say 17.5in is on the bigger side of most of the lions I see over there. But there is no doubt they get larger. Especially on most of the deep wrecks.

We got this one in about 30ft of water not to long ago. Never measured him but he looked like a damn basketball underwater.
__________________
SPEAREDGEAR.COM


Spearheads Spearfishing Episodes!
http://www.youtube.com/spearheadstv
Kraken is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-27-2014, 08:46 PM   #12
Boycane
Registered User
 
Boycane's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: South Florida
Age: 25
Posts: 28
Re: 17.5" Lionfish anyone?

got a decent sized one the other day, anybody else noticing that they are hiding when the divers are around?
Boycane is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-04-2014, 01:12 AM   #13
AndrewK
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 3,531
Re: 17.5" Lionfish anyone?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Boycane View Post
got a decent sized one the other day, anybody else noticing that they are hiding when the divers are around?
definitely not seeing them sitting out in the open as much when ive been out last week and the week before... theyre still stupid and sitting still though. bagged one SW of key west last week that measured out at 18 inches.
__________________
RIP Nate 6/08/14... "Putmeincoach"
AndrewK is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-24-2014, 03:47 PM   #14
largofishingnut
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 8
Re: 17.5" Lionfish anyone?

even tastier than hogfish? is that true? is there any special preparation involved when cooking one of these? how do you recommend preparing them?
__________________
I book my Florida fishing charters here
largofishingnut is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-24-2014, 03:51 PM   #15
spearhunter11
Surgical Shooter!
 
spearhunter11's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: clearwater,fl
Age: 40
Posts: 758
Re: 17.5" Lionfish anyone?

No special way to prepare just filet, Panko breading, some Everglades seasoning, oil and pan!
spearhunter11 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:03 PM.


The World's Largest Spearfishing Diving Social Media Forum Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2002 - 2014 Spearboard.com