Went out Sunday, and since I can't shoot one of the 20 pound grouper that are swimming next to me......... I had some extra time to nail these two little SOB's. A little bit of a challenge to stone shot a 6 inch fish with a 60" Deathstick, but I managed to anyway.

We were somewhere about 30 miles out of Ft. DeSoto. Water temp was around 56-57ish and the viz was 15' or so. Soooo many grouper it is sick. We did see a pair of Red Drums that must have been in the 40" range.

Other than that, the boat limited on some nice hogs, a couple Jacks and a variable selection of mangs. Water was flat calm all day.

I did get hit on my finger by one of the spines on the Lion fish. It didn't go too deep or I would have expected more pain. Just a little touch and my finger was burning similar to bee sting. Pretty easy to get 'em, just grab them by the mouth and string 'em up.

have not seen any off Ft Myers yet, how toxic are the spines, like go to the Dr. if it is deep??

Keep killing those mofos- they're going to have a bigger impact on our fish than a Chinese fleet of longliners in the long run.

I went diving with a buddy recently (NC) and we had to call it a day when he got nailed by one and his arm swelled up.

Heat and vinegar hill the poison quickly. The hotter the water or heat pack you put on it, the better. Some people are more sensitive to the toxin than others.

My theory is to not bring them home, but to mortally wound them. I want to teach other fish to eat them- might be easier if they're half-dead. Maybe the jewfish will be good for something and start eating them?

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"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter, and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." A. Lincoln

Just returned from Roatan--2 years ago I did not see a lionfish--this year, they are all over the place---the locals spearfish them and claim they are good to eat---it appears that once they move in there is no stopping them!!!

Hot water is the best for a sting from one of these, not much else will do. Soak affected part in as hot a water as possible, it will nuetralize the poison, as long as in hot water. It takes on the average about 3 hours for the pain to stop. If a person has a severe allergic reaction, then they should definitly seek medical care, or at least take some benadryl. But usually it is like a bee sting. Somebody who knows they are allergic to bee stings shouldnt mess around with these, or at least carry an Epi-Pen and some benadryl. I got stung with the 2 anal fin barbs, just like so many other fish that have anal spines, these have them too, and they sting, so be careful. They are good eating, if you get one big enough. Pure white tasty meat.

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Rugged 100 lb Carbo noodler

Steve..... what were u doing messing around with the anal fins?

and yes, they do sting a bit. Just a little touch by my fingernail and it burned for a good two hours, like a bee sting. I have heard of people having worse reactions. I don't recommend trying to bring them back to the boat unless you know what you are doing.

I have someone that wants them. Or I would have just left them down there.....dead of course.

not the biggest fish that I've seen on your stringer buddy

lol, I know, looks pretty funny having two 5 inch fish on that stringer

Have not seen one of those bad boys in the bay yet

Saw 4 more Lion fish last Sunday, out of Sarasota. 2 killed and the other two I could waste the time on, had fish to fry.

These are starting to show up everywhere, seems like I don't go a trip now without seeing one at some point in the day.

Anyone know if I should even waste my time reporting them? And if so.....to who?

i'm serious when i ask this: does it help if you pee on it? (like w/ a jellyfish sting)

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PartyBoy + Booze = Mayhem

I know it is a losing battle in the end, but in the mean time I will spear them whenever I can. Last weekend I was blowing bubbles here in the Caribbean off Panama and I saw a mess of them. So went back to the boat and got a pole spear. The things are obnoxiously not afraid of anything, which means easy to spear. I just stacked them up on the pole until it got so full it was dangerous to stretch the rubber to shoot! I think we got about a dozen, the biggest were about 16". And yes, the meat is as good as ANY!!! fish I've tasted. White, firm and sweet. The small ones aren't worth messing with, but the big ones are fine for someone else to fillet.

I like the idea of mashing and then letting the small ones drift - hopefully something will eat them. I had one small lionfish on a coral head just beside a moray hole. The moray must have been ticked at it, because as soon as I speared and dropped the lionfish the morey chomped it

Sting not bad at all. Better yet the taste like Hog Fish yum.

I've killed quite a few up here around jacksonville but never tried brining them back to the boat. Going to have to try them some time

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17.00 PPD's see my post in member items for info