Got me some lionfish

[Trouthappy]

Got back from the Bahamas last week, speared 8 lionfish in a tidal creek. There were more, but some students get in there and clean them out periodically. Out on the reef I didn't see any. We were on Andros Island, which is off the beaten path of the Gulf Stream. (We were on the back side). The smaller ones seem to stay in sheltered waters so they don't get eaten by predators. The Bahamas record is 13 inches long but their fins really stick out in every direction. If you see one in the Gulf, get medieval on him. I carried around a long fillet knife and cut them up from behind while they were on the pole spear, where their fins are soft and looked less harmful. Wore padded gloves, too. Saw several that were upside down, clinging to a cave ceiling.

[LHandler]

Cool!!! We saw quite a few diving in Islamorada last month, some really big ones! They a really good to eat, just cut their fins of with some shears.

[Trouthappy]

I hope you guys wasted every one you saw in Islamorada. They're quick when they spook, but pretty dumb overall. Easy meat with the pole spear. Shooting one with a speargun would be time-consuming and would perhaps expose the diver more to their poisonous fins. They'll be at the Texas rigs soon enough; they've been seeing them at the Flower Gardens. They're pretty tough---I cut their entrails out and they still try to swim back in their favorite holes. So I speared them again and cut them in half, fed them to the fish.

[Milkjug]

Is that a foldspear? I haven't seen one of those in ages. Seems like it would be ideal for lion busting, just whip it out when you see one.

[Bird]

Looks like the JBL 3 piece travel pole spear...

[Bingo baits]

I caught one in a galv canal last year