Boatless Fishing Forum, Reports, Info

does anyone know if you are allowed to spearfish the bridges after long key?

Check the regulations, but I believe that you have to be 100 yards away from any bridge or beach in order to spearfish. You also have to be South of Marathon. Those where the rules for 2009, so I would definitely look over this years regulations and updates.

-Kizer

when we were in fiesta key there was a guy that was spearfishing around the bridges and was bringing up grouper and snapper , well while he was cleaning them at the camp fwc and local pd pulled up ( guy in the bait shop called them ) well he was asked where and how he caught them and he told them 5 miles south at a bridge and they were spearfished . come to find out he got like 2500 in fines and still didnt get to keep the fish , the rules that is posted on fwc is a joke becouse there is a marine santury that covers the entire keys 3miles on either side , and if caught you are going to be fined , i asked the fwc guy and he agreed the rules need to be rewriten and that they were wrong .

i dont ever see them being rewriten due to the state and the fwc are makeing way to much money to do it ....





be very carful where you spearfish , after we seen this are spearguns when back in the car the rest of the trip

ok did some searching and the awncer is no you cant spearfish any where near the bridges

heres my proof circled by yellow

diggin4grouper wrote:ok did some searching and the awncer is no you cant spearfish any where near the bridges

heres my proof circled by yellow

thanks for the info but it says long key north to miami dade its not talking about south of long key.

It does however point out that you need to be 100 yards out from a bridge.

drygulch44 wrote:

diggin4grouper wrote:ok did some searching and the awncer is no you cant spearfish any where near the bridges

heres my proof circled by yellow

thanks for the info but it says long key north to miami dade its not talking about south of long key.

hey i just found the info , go for it if you want to and see what happens .

not trying to be an ass or any thing but we will do it this way red circle where its say ( florida key national marine sancuary ) as a prohibited area .....




now look at the ledgend in the next pic and the follow the solid blue line around

Diggin, you are not reading that correctly. Notice how "Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary" is in bold, and then there are specific areas within the sanctuary listed as subtext below it that are closed. It does not say that the entire marine sanctuary is closed to spearfishing. The key words are that if you are south of Long Key, you cannot spearfish within 100 yards of any bridge or pier THAT PUBLIC FISHING IS ALLOWED. So if it is a bridge that is closed to fishing, like the majority of 7 Mile, according to these rules you could spearfish the pilings on the part of the bridge that is closed to fishing I have been told the same thing by an FWC officer down there.

all i can say is go for it and see what happens , i have seen people get tickets and or arressted for doing it , thats why i wont spearfish any thing within the 3 mile line , sat there and watched 3 fwc officer and one noaa guy write tickets to 6 diver that were spear fishing off niles road and its well south of marathon so figure that one out , not trying to be a jerk but im telling it like i see it , you have one fwc that tells you one thing and then another is going to write you tickets for the same thing the other one told you you can do . they make the laws up as they go down there . i dont trust them . and its not worth the tickets for fishing or spearing ....

It says it "usually requires a boat" unless you want to spear the shallow patch reefs for hogs, due to the fact that the water in the Keys is shallow for a good way out. You aren't going to find too many monster muttons and grouper around the bridges. I think this may require a question submitted to the "Ask FWC" portion of their website...I'll send something to them a little later and post the response I get.

Question
Where can I spearfish in lower monroe county ?
Answer
Depending on the location and the targeted species, spearfishing is allowed in Florida's saltwaters. For regulations regarding spearing, gigging, bowhunting and spearfishing, please visit http://myfwc.com/RULESANDREGS/Saltwater ... earing.htm.

State law prohibits spearfishing or gigging within 100 feet of a public or commercial fishing pier or bridge.

In Monroe County, spearfishing is permitted in state waters of the Lower Keys south of Long Key, but not within any of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Preservation Areas (SPA's) marked with yellow, 3-foot buoys or other zones such as special use areas, ecological reserves or research areas. Consult a NOAA chart for specific locations. Read more about what to know before you go at http://floridakeys.noaa.gov/edu/spearfi ... ochure.pdf. For more information about spearfishing in the Florida Keys, please visit the Florida Keys national Marine Sanctuary online at http://www.fknms.nos.noaa.gov/. License requirements for spearfishing, bowfishing and gigging fish are the same as those for other methods of fishing.

Spearfishing is illegal in Florida’s fresh waters.

im doing this to help known places to avoid spearfishing , use the frist image to kinda get a refrence to were there at ....