getting livestock from the coast?

[jtxstate]

im thinking about going down to the coast to get some snails and shrimp or what ever might be good for my 75 gallon reef, can i just go to like port lavaca and scoop some up or what? thanks

[caferacermike]

To some extent yes. There are laws pertaining to what, when and how much. Also it is a good idea to havea fishing license. Look back at the summer get together for MAAST in Port A and read up on what other members had to say about it. There is plenty of info in the numerous threads about that get together.

[FireEater]

You do not have to have a fishing license. I have collected alot of the years and have lived down here my whole life. The Game Warden is no where near worried about someone out with a net and bucket collecting.

Before you head down though, I would read over these two threads real good. It will save you some time and trouble later.

HERE

HERE

[GaryP]

You may get away with it, but the law does reaquire a license. We checked on it with TPWD before our collecting trip this summer. The question is whether its worth the risk?

Be careful about snail and crabs from the coast. Most are not good tankmates in a reef system. There are some carniverous snails from down there that can do a lot of damage. They may be OK in FO system. There is some cool stuff you can get down there, but mostly I have heard horror stories about snails and crabs. Peppermint shrimp are a good thing to get from down there, as well as feeder ghost shrimp from the marshes. I have a cool blenny from the jetties and a lot of pipe fish were collected during the trip this summer. Also, stay away from Sargeant Majors. They are a demon damsel, very aggresive, and will eat a lot of inverts like shrimp.

[demodiki]

You guys should sticky these questions because they come up so often.

[caferacermike]

Better yet no sticky. How about someone that can really prepare a nice piece on what is needed, where to go, and a what to or what not to collect list. This shouldn't be a sticky clutterling up the forums. It should be right out on the home page with the rest of the great information available to us locals.

Would look great in here:
Useful Information
· Calculators
· Pet Store Listing
· Online Publications
· Research & Ident.
· Web Links
· Surveys

. Coast collecting.

Just a thought. Now a good sticky would be a header that people could sign in when planning a trip to the coast. Say Bob adds his name to the list saying he will be in Galveston Saturday and Sunday June 32-33rd. will be leaving from San Austin Saturday early if anyone wishes to join him and or catch a ride. Folks could PM or leave a reply asking how to join the trip.

[jtxstate]

thnks guys, we went down to port o conner last night, just before the worst rain i have ever driven through hit! Really i couldnt see 4 feet in front of the car. great light show with all the lightning though. I didnt see any peps, which was what i was going for and so i got some snails so thr trip wasnt a total loss, but after checking the houston site post about the snails, i just tossed them. What a drag, but i did also get some feeders. Maybe better planing on my part would of been a good idea. Ill go to g-town next so at least i know where to go.

[caferacermike]

Port A is suppposed to be great and around Mustang island. catching peps isn't just as easy as walking up an grabbing a few. Most I've heard from say they bait them early in the day using bits of fish. Come back at dusk and net out your bait.

[jtxstate]

thanks, but im not sure i follow you, i thought you could just get them off the walls ? lol i dont know. any info would help

[don-n-sa]

Buckets, flashlights and nets is all you really need to catch peppermints by the dozens on the jetty at Port A. I usually go once a year and it is too easy.

I have seen the people who use traps and yes it works but man thats too much time and work for me, and not enough reward. This year I was catching them left and right and I stumbled across a few people from Dallas who were trapping them and getting excited when they had two or three in their traps. I showed them my bucket with about a hundred or so and they said "please show us", so I did of course.

Anyway, just find them with your flashlight along the waterline, you will see their red eyes, scoop them up with your net, and put them in a bucket...its really that easy. Oh and I also caught blennies, crabs, pistol shrimps, damsels, anemones, sargassum fauna, pipefish, puffers as well.