Snorkeling & Collecting Discussion Group

[icy1155]

Also, if you are at the horseshoe and swim about 120 yards east of it there is a small sand/finger coral bar out there in about 3 feet of water. Lots of life on it, from rock anemones to crabs and sea stars... a little bit of everything.

Make sure you bring a dive flag with a float wherever you go, even by shore. People have asked about sharks on here, but even when I'm spearfishing I don't really worry about sharks. Idiots behind a steering wheel are probably the most dangerous thing in the keys. I've had people run past us on plane about 15' from our dive buoy because they were trying to see what we were doing. Just be safe.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Here are a couple of aerial views.

Close up of the Horseshoe:


icy1155, is the stretch below the words 'low tide' in the below view the spot you were talking about?

 

[icy1155]

Nope, the spot right where you have the label "great for mixed inverts" is where I was talking about I haven't tried on the other side of that little channel but I'll check it out this summer and report back since it does look interesting.

 

[soflmuddin]

Nope, the spot right where you have the label "great for mixed inverts" is where I was talking about I haven't tried on the other side of that little channel but I'll check it out this summer and report back since it does look interesting.

Sorry, wrong spot. I might check this out this weekend.

 

[Ron Reefman]

soflmuddin, the area around Craig Key and Channel 5 that you mentioned. Is it the area I have marked out in red? Is it better along the shallows near the road or is the darker area at the northeast edge of the red box better?

And I can't tell you how much I appreciate your sharing info here. Thanks!

 

[soflmuddin]

soflmuddin, the area around Craig Key and Channel 5 that you mentioned. Is it the area I have marked out in red? Is it better along the shallows near the road or is the darker area at the northeast edge of the red box better?

And I can't tell you how much I appreciate your sharing info here. Thanks!

Sorry, I should really stop treating us1 as a only north and south marker. It is somethings easier to describe which corner of a channel by doing this. It's the area to the left of the 1 In the pic.
Pretty much from the #1 to the channel and if you time the current right the channel itself is great of your up for 15'+ depth.

 

[Saintnovakai]

Man Ron, you are a snorkeling/ scuba-ing GPS. I went snorkeling off monkey island here in Jamaica on Sunday and got at a few blue reef chromis and Royal Gramma. Shhhhh. I've really been hunting Rock flower anemones because they are supposedly here but no luck yet. Gotta get a GoPro and take some shots down below. Ron and this thread keeps pushing me to snorkel more. Lol.

 

[soflmuddin]

Man Ron, you are a snorkeling/ scuba-ing GPS. I went snorkeling off monkey island here in Jamaica on Sunday and got at a few blue reef chromis and Royal Gramma. Shhhhh. I've really been hunting Rock flower anemones because they are supposedly here but no luck yet. Gotta get a GoPro and take some shots down below. Ron and this thread keeps pushing me to snorkel more. Lol.

You won't find rock anemones while looking for fish. You have to be looking for them. Except the red ones, they really stand out. Look for hard solid bottom. I find most in 3-5'.

Sent from my H1611 using REEF2REEF mobile app

 

[Saintnovakai]

You won't find rock anemones while looking for fish. You have to be looking for them. Except the red ones, they really stand out. Look for hard solid bottom. I find most in 3-5'.

Sent from my H1611 using REEF2REEF mobile app

I went there looking for them. Trust me. I just got fish at the last moment when I couldn't find any RFAs

 

[Ron Reefman]

Saintnovakai, I can't help you with locations, but I wish I could. I've only snorkeled Jamaica at Montego Bay and Negril.

soflmuddin, have you ever been out to this little island off Crane Point on Vaca Key? It's only 2' deep around the island and there are lots of RFA's. But 99.9% of them are just white, brown, green or some combination of the three. Some do have nice pin strip faces though. The vertical wall of the island and the hard bottom out 10' to 20' from the island wall have lots of them. Of course the hard bottom makes collecting them very difficult!

 

[JoeIII]

I used to live/work a couple hundered yards from that spot, but never had an opportunity to get in the water, Ron. Very cool

 

[icy1155]

You won't find rock anemones while looking for fish. You have to be looking for them. Except the red ones, they really stand out. Look for hard solid bottom. I find most in 3-5'.

That's very true and also applies to some of the other inverts people are always looking for. The first time I found ricordea I only saw them because I had set my speargun down in the middle of a patch. I had been swimming right over them all day and never noticed them until I was 2 feet away facing the bottom. Turns out they were everywhere.

 

[soflmuddin]

Saintnovakai, I can't help you with locations, but I wish I could. I've only snorkeled Jamaica at Montego Bay and Negril.

soflmuddin, have you ever been out to this little island off Crane Point on Vaca Key? It's only 2' deep around the island and there are lots of RFA's. But 99.9% of them are just white, brown, green or some combination of the three. Some do have nice pin strip faces though. The vertical wall of the island and the hard bottom out 10' to 20' from the island wall have lots of them. Of course the hard bottom makes collecting them very difficult!

Never been there. Will be sure to check it out one day. Collecting them is easy with a little practice and the right tools. Will post pic in the a.m..

 

[soflmuddin]

Rfa collecting tools, always with my dive flag float. You have to replace the carabiners and hose clamps every now and then but they are cheep at harbor freight which is also where I get the mini hammer and chisels from.

 

[icy1155]

Rfa collecting tools, always with my dive flag float. You have to replace the carabiners and hose clamps every now and then but they are cheep at harbor freight which is also where I get the mini hammer and chisels from.

Has FWC ever given you a hassle about the chisel? The regs specify it needs to be a flexible blade but that would make it much easier to get the RFAs.

 

[soflmuddin]

Has FWC ever given you a hassle about the chisel? The regs specify it needs to be a flexible blade but that would make it much easier to get the RFAs.

Never any problems. From my best interpretation and what I get from fwc officers in the field is that the flexible blade, which does include a metal razor blades, only applies to coralmorphs and zoanthids. The chisel technique is 100% the safest for the anemones. Done right they come right out with absolutely no damage. There is no safer way for them.
Just as by the letter of the law you can technically have live rock that is 1" from base of collected octocorals (gorgonians). Though I would not try to do this. All gorgonians that I collect are already detached from the substrate and I usually only take a small piece of that. They actually grow pretty quick and I have to trim mine all the time.

 

[soflmuddin]

Edit...

 

[icy1155]

Yeah, now that you point it out it does read like that regulation is only for corallimorphs and zoanthids. It was under the "Anemones" section and I never realized it wasn't the reg for all anemones only them. That will make collecting them much easier next time.

 

[soflmuddin]

Yeah, now that you point it out it does read like that regulation is only for corallimorphs and zoanthids. It was under the "Anemones" section and I never realized it wasn't the reg for all anemones only them. That will make collecting them much easier next time.

If they ever lift the ban on condy anemones I have a great location for them at ann's beach, just north of channel 2. They are in the grass flats there and you just reach your hand under them in the grass and mud and pull them out. No rock there and as of 2 years ago there was still hundreds there. I go to ann's to get small hermit crabs. Lots of small horseshoe crabs there but we're not allowed to take them. Ann's has been closed since the hurricane but looks like it will be opening soon, maybe a few months.
You are allowed to take sun anemones. Ohio-Missouri bridge is good for sun anemones. Time the tide as current is strong. You will find them about a third of the way into the channel and in between the two bridges. No great technic for them, it just takes a while to work them loose. They do heal well if you damage their foot as I have done in the past. I have even fraged one into two after it was damaged from fallen rocks in the aquarium.

 

[icy1155]

If they ever lift the ban on condy anemones I have a great location for them at ann's beach, just north of channel 2. They are in the grass flats there and you just reach your hand under them in the grass and mud and pull them out. No rock there and as of 2 years ago there was still hundreds there. I go to ann's to get small hermit crabs. Lots of small horseshoe crabs there but we're not allowed to take them. Ann's has been closed since the hurricane but looks like it will be opening soon, maybe a few months.
You are allowed to take sun anemones. Ohio-Missouri bridge is good for sun anemones. Time the tide as current is strong. You will find them about a third of the way into the channel and in between the two bridges. No great technic for them, it just takes a while to work them loose. They do heal well if you damage their foot as I have done in the past. I have even fraged one into two after it was damaged from fallen rocks in the aquarium.

Thanks for the advice on the Sun Anemones. I have only ever seen one very large one in the keys out on a reef and I wasn't set up to collect that day. I'm definitely going to have to pick some up next time I'm down there.