Fishing Report - Lion Fish Huntress

Laura on sv Blue Blaze LOVES to hunt lion fish.  I mean this girl really gets into it.  Charlotteville Tobago was ripe for the lion fish hunting.  The fishermen don't hunt them and don't eat them.  No one has shown them how to clean them safely and more importantly how to cook them up.  They are all afraid to eat the lion fish for fear of getting sick.  Therefore, the population of lion fish is unchecked.

Laura and I went for a simple snorkel around the rocks/coral in the middle of Pirates Bay.  We spotted several, a few were big ones.  I thought Laura was going to swim back to her boat right then and there to get her Hawaiian sling....mainly because she said "Darn!  I knew I should have brought my sling."  

The next day she was in the water going to town on the lion fish.  She speared (slinged - nope doesn't sound right) a huge one plus several others.  In the process of getting him, she ended up with a puncture from the fins - OUCH!  But she is a tough cookie.  They buzzed back to the boat and put some really hot water on the puncture wound to stop the pain and 45 mins later they were diving on the reef, spearing even more lion fish.  Go team Blue Blaze!

Yay Laura!  Proud of you.

Carriacou Lion Fish Hunt June 2016

Fearless hunters OR clueless

June 2016
We couldn't pass up a chance to go lion fish hunting again with Lumbadive.  We had a full boat with 7 divers and 4 snorkelers - Look out lion fish!!

Bill and Sharon from sv Casa Blanca were on our lion fish team

Our lion fish hunting team was lead by Diane of Lumbadive and consisted of Bill and Sharon from Caliber 40 sv Casa Blanca and us.  Go Team Caliber!

Splash down

The two dive teams headed off in different directions to look for lion fish.  This strategy also probably helped avoid some sort of Dick Chaney like hunting accident.....remember that?  Just kidding. 

Tom on the hunt

Of course a big part of the fun of the lion fish hunt is looking for them. 

Sabrina on the hunt

Lion fish tend to hide under rock ledges and such.  However, the pros at Lumbadive know all the secret lion fish hiding holes on all the reefs around Carriacou.

Bill on the hunt

And the reefs around this island are fantastic!  So pretty. 

Such lovely colors

They are in good shape as well.  This is no doubt in part because of the efforts of Lumbadive with lion fish hunts and sea urchin relocation.  

Ohhhhhh

We spotted and speared a few lion fish.

NOT a lion fish

We also saw many other amazing sea creatures and stunning coral.

Sting ray

Another sting ray

Mutli- talented Diane lead us fearlessly while take pics, shooting lion fish and carrying the lion fish bucket containing our catch. 

Have I mentioned how amazingly beautiful the underwater world can be? 

*These pictures were taken by Diane of Lumbadive.  I also might have one or two pics from Liz of sv Moosetracks.  Thanks ladies. 

Lion Fish Hunt Carriacou Jan 2016

Poisonous spines

January 8 2016
We went lion fish hunting with Lumbadive.  I mainly wanted to go diving again - my 5th dive!  There were five of us that used tanks.  Three others went along to snorkel.  Tom carried the bucket for 1/2 the of the dive and then hunted for the rest.  I had the bucket for a short period of time but it was heavy and I am still too new at diving to be handling a bucket filled with poison spined fish....in my humble opinion!  I also felt I was still too new to diving to take my underwater camera along so no action pics this go around.  I did help located lion fish and then banged on my dive tank with a metal stick to get the hunters attention.  The visibility wasn't great but we still managed to get a decent size one and several small ones.

Thunderball underwater battle scene

I do have to tell you that at one point all five of us were swimming side by side along the bottom with spear guns and Hawaiian slings ready to go.  All I could think was that we looked like a scene straight out of the James Bond movie Thunderball.  Remember?

Of course the theme song "Thunderball" started playing immediately in my head.  Sort of weird to have Tom Jone's belting out music as you swim along but that was the soundtrack in my head at the time. 

Spines everywhere

Anyway....lion fish.  So what's the big deal?  Poisonous fins/spines!  Can you see them?  Seven in total that must be cut off.  Basically everything but the tail. 

Lion fish (left) contents of it's stomach - another fish (right)

I told you about them last year when Tom went Lion Fish Hunting.  But I didn't realize just how big of an appetite they have.  It's HUGE.  The above little fish (right) was found inside the small lion fish (left).  It's what....1/3+ the size of the lion fish and swallowed whole?  Wow!  

Our haul

Because they are so voracious and thus threatening the reefs of the Caribbean, lion fish hunts kill as many as possible.  It doesn't matter if they are big or small, kill them all.  Of course only the medium to larger lion fish are eaten.  The small ones are too much of a bother to clean and fix.  Be sure to keep an eye out for lion fish on menus in restaurants in the Caribbean, Bahamas and Florida.  Please order it, if you like fish.  It's safe to eat (once the spines are removed), tasty and helps reduce the population.  If we eat more, then people will fish more for them.    

Joanne cleaning up the big one

Diane and Richard hosted a potluck at their house that evening, inviting many of the local ex-pat community and us to sample the lion fish.  It was a fun evening punctuated by good food, great hosts and some interesting characters. 

Lion Fish potluck - pic by Richard