Fish collected on trip to Florida

[marino420td]

Went to Panama City Beach last week and brought back a few fish we collected. I purchased a Florida fishing license, so it was legal.

Blue Damsel

Some type of Blenny

He is hard to see but he is on there. There were literally thousands of these all over the rocks we snorkeled around. Caught 4 of them.

I told my 9 year old son it is funny how we hate the damsels that are in our tank now, yet we spend 4 hours trying to catch one on vacation to bring home.

 

[455cutlassdave]

Where did you do your snorkeling? We also have some nice spot fin butterflys, and coral beauties. Thanks for visiting!

 

[marino420td]

St. Andrews State Park. Went to Shell Island one day, which was ok. Decided to go back the next day and stay in the park. Right behind the store, snorkeled the jetties.

 

[akrimmel]

same problem when i lived in hawaii blennies everywhere.

 

[hagfish]

That's a good looking damsel. So do you just have to get an out of state fishing license and then you can just catch some fish and take them home? Is it that simple? I assume this is only for fish and not for corals or other inverts is that true? We snorkeled around shell island a while back, but I don't remember seeing any damsels or really anything you would see in an aquarium. Maybe we were in the wrong spot. Did you see anything else interesting? We mostly saw urchins and some kind of schooling fish that was mostly silver. We did see some dolphins. Then we went out deeper and saw an enormous manta ray and some other fish that was about 5-6 ft. long. Then everyone started getting stung by jellyfish so we got the heck out of there!

 

[marino420td]

Yes, an out of state fishing license was all that was needed. Soft corals were fair game I believe, although we did not see any. Here is a link to the regulations.

http://myfwc.com/marine/recreational/recharvestmls.htm

I also caught some pipe fish at the beach but I did not keep them. I wasn't sure of their care and feeding so I let them go. Of course, we caught countless numbers of hermit crabs but did not keep any of those either.

 

[btjack2]

how did you get them home?

 

[rams]

cool link that would be cool to collect but release

 

[marino420td]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7723743#post7723743 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by btjack2
how did you get them home?

We kept them in a bucket in our room with a battery powered air pump going. Just before leaving, we put them in fish store bags for the ride home.

We did catch lots of other things that we just looked at and released.

 

[hagfish]

Did you drive? Or fly?

 

[marino420td]

Drove- over 1400 miles round trip!

 

[marino420td]

Finally put this damsel into my 65 gallon tank.

The larger damsels picked on him at first but he holds his own!

 

[kpc01]

cool...we are going to FL next week, but only to Pensacola area....anyone know of a good place to see any of this stuff near there? I'm afraid I'm going to be on the wrong side of FL!!

 

[Im Lon 2]

we went to Cocoa Beach in May.. and there were thousands of cleaner clams that would come in with the wave and then burry themselves in the sand. I wanted to bring them home but didn't think about the battery air pump. didn't really see any fish..

Pipe fish are not really that hard to care for, they are like mandarins. But they will feed on frozen foods. I would like to have 4 or 5 them. What color were they? Need to plan Vacation for next here... :lol:

 

[marino420td]

The pipefish I caught were a dark color. Black or dark brown.

As far as diving, find the jetties or rock structures. Anywhere they are located you will find lots of fish and crabs. I was also told seagrass beds are full of life but we did not find any.

 

[scbadiver]

Kpc01, you are going to RIGHT side if you ask me. I've been going there for 40 years and love it. To me it is the prettiest beaches I've seen anywhere. The unfortunate thing is the best place I have found to snorkle is at Fort Pickens. One of the last many hurricanes took out the road to it. It may be open now but the last time I checked, A month ago or so, it was still closed to vehicular traffic. They say you can hike in or bike in but that is about a 12 mile round trip or so. Where are you staying?

 

[kpc01]

we are staying at the Eden condos in Perdido key(family owns/shares a condo there) I am getting married there Saturday then we are staying the whole week just for relaxation. We will have a boat there that I can use to go along the bay if that would help me get to pickens. I have been researching some as I would love to catch some seahorses and pipefish for our 50g. If you know of any other places, or any hints or tips for me definately let me know. We are leaving Thursday morn...and I"m taking my buckets and air pumps and all that good stuff, lol. and we are taking all our snorkeling gear. I cant wait to get down there!

 

[donald altman]

I find pipefish all the time at keaton bech just off the end of the peir.. never thought to look for damsels.. lol..
for 2.99 though its probly cheaper and better chance of luck to get from the fish store. Gas prices fishing license gear lunch for the day.. bah
Its fun to just get out in the water though who the hell am I foolin.