LIONFISH now invading the Packery Channel

[REBridges]

Looks like we can go to Corpus now and catch our own lionfish.

http://www.ksat.com/news/lionfish-roar-into-texas-coastal-waters/-/478452/21301166/-/10dk0yd/-/index.html

~Ryan

[reefreak]

I just seen this on the news and has me wondering now.

[REBridges]

Pretty crazy. In the early 90s its hard to believe a lionfish was a SUPER expensive fish...now they are having killing sprees on these guys.

[alton]

No catch and release with these guys

[rrasco]

They've been coming and we've known about it.

http://tamucc.edu/news/2012/09/Lionfishsighting.html

[glarior]

I am curious what they taste like. I don't see why we can't get lion fish for really cheap...

I read an article a few weeks back that some eels have learned to eat lion fish. They swallow them from the front so the fins lay down as they are going down the digetstive tract.

[BBQHILLBILLY]

not good, say goodbye to all the fish

[zerreissen]

Anyone know of a restaurant near here that serves lionfish? I had the chance to try it while we were in Mexico and didn't, and now I'm kicking myself for not doing so.

[FireWater]

It hasn't really caught on here yet. I can't think of any that carry it.

Florida has a market for them and they are supposed to be mighty tasty.

[Carl K]

Well, they're also on the Port Aransas Jetties now too. Caught this one yesterday afternoon on the South Jetty at about 15' depth. He's about 2.5" long and went right home with me and into my Texas Tank.

Went back today and despite better visibility didn't see any more of them, so not prolific yet. Don't think they'll survive the rough cold winter seas down here, so we shouldn't have the problems that they're having in Florida and the Caribbean.


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[Scutterborn]

That's super cool!

[glarior]

That's sweet

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[glarior]

Well, they're also on the Port Aransas Jetties now too. Caught this one yesterday afternoon on the South Jetty at about 15' depth. He's about 2.5" long and went right home with me and into my Texas Tank.

Went back today and despite better visibility didn't see any more of them, so not prolific yet. Don't think they'll survive the rough cold winter seas down here, so we shouldn't have the problems that they're having in Florida and the Caribbean.


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What bait did you use to catch the lion fish?

Edit... you were in the water... wonder what bait people could catch these with.

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[Carl K]

I just caught him with handnets while free diving. As far as bait for fishing... I'd say live shrimp would be your best bet. Small live fish (mullet, killifish, etc) should work fine too. Problem is they are ambush predators that stay near structure... In this case the jetty blocks. You'd have to get lucky and place it right in front of them without getting your gear hooked or entangled on the bottom. Would be tough (and expensive) trying to specifically target them. Best bet is netting or spearing while snorkeling or SCUBA.


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[BBQHILLBILLY]

good info

[Bill S]

Carl,

Tell me about your technique. We weekend in the Port Aransas City Marina, on our sailboat. We have an inflatable dinghy with a 9.9hp outboard. We'd been thinking that snorkling in calm weather might be fun - but with the current, it's kind of dicey...

[Carl K]

Current isn't much of an issue. (Fins are a MUST though.) I generally snorkel on the beachside of the jetties and the only time there is substantial current there is if you have rough seas (which means bad visibility so you wouldn't want to be snorkeling anyway). If you're on the channel side you have to deal with the tidal current, but i've never seen where you wouldn't be able to swim against it and if it is a problem, it would just be pulling you along the jetties anyway, so at worst you swim towards the jetty and just climb up (make sure you're wearing gloves and booties) and walk back. Time your assent with the waves and get on your butt when able and scoot up the blocks. I've snorkeled the Port A jetties since 1993, wife since 2002, and my son started snorkeling them at age 9, daughter at 11. We've always snorkeled right from the jetties and had no real problems. If using your dingy, don't try pulling it up on the jetty (probably already know, but I'll state it anyway); It'll get tossed around on the granite blocks, tore up by the barnacles, end up either damaged or damaging you, and make for a generally bad day. Either beach it and walk down the jetty or anchor it far enough out from the jetty that you are sure you're over sand (you'll lose your anchor otherwise - I've got a friend that collects anchors from the jetties and he has quite the collection!) ;-P

DISCLAIMER
That being said, the one exception to this is the very ends of the jetties. You get a combination of the channel tidal current, wind/wave driven current, and longshore current all getting whipped around the tip. It can get strong enough that you can't swim against and could whip you around into the area where the big waves are crashing on the tip or eject you offshore if you get into a strong ebb tidal current coming out of the channel. This really only effects the last 100' or so of the Jetties though, and on calm days, near slack tide, it can be perfectly safe. (Other then keeping an eye on the boats). On a few ideal days, my wife, kids, and I have snorkeled the tip of the Port A north jetty with 45' visibility, surrounded by schools of Jacks and Spadefish, able to see the bottom with multitudes of fish to watch!

Conditions look promising this weekend... Maybe I'll run into ya'll... I'll probably be near the end of the South Jetty, beachside, after work Friday afternoon and if vis is good, have most of the family with me Saturday morning on the end third of the North Jetty, beachside. (Otherwise, it'll just me me & my son catching fish).

One last thing,... don't get discouraged if the visibility is bad and not try again. I use about a dozen apps & websites to determine when is the best day & time to go and I still get skunked half the time.

Okay... One more last thing...
Try snorkeling the Rigs too... It can be spectacular and you are guaranteed better vis then the Jetties... and take me along! ;P


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[Bill S]

Thanks Carl. We'll try it that way - from the beach. The current can be as much as 2 knots - which a swimmer has a hard time keeping up with.

I have to think that snorkeling the north jetty is better? More settled, and shielded from the surf.

[Carl K]

You are absolutely right about the tidal current... easily 2 knots. In fact, this Saturday the projected max ebb current is going to be 2.95 knots around 1800.

But you're thinking like a mariner... Completely understandable as you weekend on a boat. Heck, I'm a mariner myself. Here's why it's not as significant as it would logically seem:

- Friction: The measured and predicted tidal currents are for the center of the channel and that's where you'll see the max current (other then on the outside of bends). As you get closer to the bank (in this case the Jetty), the water shallows up and you get bottom structure (the granite blocks). This actually slows the water movement close to the jetty. You can even see this while standing on the jetty; Channel marker buoys will be heeled over drug on their anchor with long current tails behind them, yet a piece of sargassum twenty foot out from the jetty will be hardly moving.

- Good swim fins: Never swim the jetties without them (A given, but you'd be surprised!). On the rare occasion that you do get into a strong current, they could save you from an unpleasant sweep around the tip of the jetties. For short bursts, with fins, you can hold position and even make slow headway in every current I've experienced on the jetties, long enough anyway to get out of harms way. Free diving down and swimming near the bottom helps too (see friction above). Granted I'm a decent swimmer, but I also tend to push the envelope a little more then I should.

- Adequate warning: Areas of stronger current don't sneak up on you (at least not on the jetty). It's polite and gives plenty of warning that its picking up. Keeping an eye on your relative position on the jetty (important anyway to avoid fisherman) and the bottom will quickly let you know how quickly you are being pulled. As long as you are alert and aware, you'll get adequate warning that you are getting into a faster flowing area. There's been a number of times, I've had to wake up my son from fishdreaming and point out he's getting too close to the tip of the jetty and stronger current.

- Easy Escape: The tidal current always runs parallel to the jetties. If you find you are further then you like from your gear/supplies on the jetty or getting swept towards the jetty tip, simply swim the 20 - 40 feet to the safety of the jetty. It'll be an easy swim perpendicular to the current. The only time this isn't an option is on the tip itself which usually has big waves crashing on it making any type of jetty assent extremely dangerous and you would have to swim against the ebb current to get back to it, while also dealing with the wind/wave generated current and longshore current all fighting the tidal current. Nasty spot. Don't go there other then the calmest of days at slack tide, and after you've gotten some experience under your belt.

- Timing: You'll be wanting good visibility. Good visibility means clear blue ocean water up against the jetties. This means flood tide or the slack after it. Hence, no ebb current to pull you offshore. Stronger current also stirs silt up, so the closer you get to slack water after the flood, the better the vis. If you go during the ebb, especially a strong ebb tide, you won't be in any danger from the current as you'll be so disappointed by the bay water visibility against the jetties that you won't even get in the water... Even on the beachside, the ebb current slowly diffuses through the jetty itself, ruining the visibility. You'll see good blue water a hundred feet out, but it doesn't do you any good, unless you are interested in deep sandy bottom. The exception to this flood current "safety" period, is again, getting too close to the jetty tip on the beachside. The jetty mouth restriction will cause it to pull the water around the tip from the beachside and if caught in it, sweep you around the tip, right past that dangerous spot that the waves are breaking on the jetty. Unfortunately, the visibility also increases the further out on the jetty you go.

- Location: Tidal current isn't a problem anyway, cause you'll want to snorkel the beachside (Though see "Timing exception" above). Channel side is deep... Dredged to 50'. The slope is sharp and consists of granite blocks pretty much the whole way down. Can't see much of it without lots of deeper free diving. Beachside isn't dredged and consists of a gently sloped shelf of granite blocks that sit directly on the bottom, with a rubble zone past that til it hits sand at from 5 to 30 foot depending how far down the jetty you are.
Visibility generally is worse on channel sides; Inbound & outbound ships stir up the silt. Yachts and fishing boats love throwing a good wake, further stirring things up. Ebb tides carry silt out that settles on the granite blocks, while the waves on the beach sides keep them clean. Strong flood currents again pick up this silt. The sea swell and or waves are often entering the mouth of the jetty and hitting one side or the other of the inside of the jetties.
Beachsides just have to deal with the swell and seas. Pick a calm day and go to the beachside of the protected jetty. Not necessarily the one without the seas or swell hitting it, but the one on the lee side of the longshore current. The jetty the longshore current strikes will carry the sand & silt from the beach surf down the entire length of the jetty, where it is either sucked into the jetties during flood tide, or ejected offshore during ebb tides. Different story on the lee side jetty, beachside. Longshore current is moving away from the jetty, which gently sucks the clearer water from offshore down the length of the beachside of the lee jetty keeping things clearer. Best way to tell which way the longshore current is running... Check which way the offshore anchored ships are facing. They'll always be facing into the current. Summertime it generally moves up the coast bringing the clearer tropical water from Mexico, but it'll surprise you sometimes. Wasted $24 last saturday on an aborted jetty boat trip to the north jetty, when the clearer water was on the south jetty. I should have driven down to the beach first and checked. Hour wait for the jetty boat to come back and a quick drive to the south jetty fixed that.
Let see, what else... Beachside has less fisherman and underwater less fouled fishing lines (dive knife doesn't hurt to have).
Plus, my favorite reason: Most of the tropicals are found on the beachside; Less silt, better visibility, and less radical temperature and salinity change with the tides.

Now that I probably have the longest post in MAAST forum history, I guess what I am trying to say is: snorkel on the beachside, time your trip with the waning flood current or slack tide, wear fins, stay alert, and don't pee in a wetsuit.

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[Bill S]

Carl,

Thanks for the GREAT post. We've done the Jetty Boat thing - BTW, you can buy a group of tickets for only $10 each... It's easy enough for us to get to the south jetty, especially after Labor Day. And, as sailors, we're pretty aware of tides. See if we can't get this right a time or 2!

[Carl K]

Thanks for the tip on the bulk Jettyboat tickets! 20 years of going to the north jetty and I've always paid full price! I saved $20 buying a 10 pack and have already used half! I don't even want to figure out how much money I could have saved in the past had I known then! :)

You had a chance to make it out snorkeling yet? Last week had decent vis... 12 - 15 vis or so each time I went... Wind has been odd this year. Coming more out of the east, putting the south jetty in the lee, but looks like it's finally shifting more to the south later this week. Have not seen anymore Lionfish though...

Did spot a 3' Green Moray on the south jetty 2 weeks ago. Had fantasies about catching it to teach it how to eat Lionfish and releasing it again, but I wouldn't be able to use my baby as the instructional tool! ;-P


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