CRAZZZY thought tell me what you think…

[sixshooter4]

Ok I live in an aria without reefs and our rock formations are small and far between…
Most of our terrain is grassy/sandy bottom with a max grass height of 2’. I have been hunting what structure I can but it has gotten a little repetitive (3 spots only) and I’m looking for some new ways to go about spearing. Im the only one on the island I know of that hunts in shore fish due to our low viz. (10’ max) but I have always filled my stringers with sheep’s head, flounder, mullet, small mangrove snapper and if I’m really luck a grouper or two (normally 1-10lbs they don’t get much bigger inshore). but like I said my holes are getting repetitive and I would like to let the fish have a break this year, I am going to try ambushing in the grass, but I would really like to know if there is another way to go about it. Could I build structures with dead trees tied down my cinder blocks? I don’t have a large boat nor the ability to move big rocks into formations. So whatever I do it will need to be on a smaller scale, below is an idea I have for a structure line up just go down the train and hit the home made structures, it would take me a few days to build. Tell me what you think…. The pic is self explanatory depth scale to the left side, distance scale at the bottom. Rough boat positioning and I will run the line from the down current side (probably left to right). The structures would be drift wood/dead trees and stumps tied down and held in place with cinder blocks. Each set up would be roughly 10’ in diameter and would probly be dome shaped for better integrity. Im hoping it would bring it bait fish and in re-turn bring in some snapper/grouper and over time sheep’s head.

tree set.bmp

[mishu1984]

hmmm. alternatively you could build your own reef out of cinder blocks. a google search on home-made reefs might point you in the right direction. back in kuwait, in my father's company (we own a marine dredging and contracting company) we commisioned a few artificial reefs as part of our CSR and public relations. il try to get a hold of some of the old designs when i go back home for the holidays.

but basically what you do is build a hollow piramid with large holes, in this case cinder blocks missing. to make it easier on yourself, just assemble it onshore and then drop is a section at a time. assembling these reefs can prove to be more fun than hunting in them :P

you will need a lift bag with a release valve and a spare tank with a two-stage regulator for the lift-bags unless you want to take from your own tank, which will reduce your downtime.

now, after you have setup these structures, you need to leave them the hell alone or you will get only very small fish so if you complete your projects june 2008, then leave it alone till june 2009. also, it goes without sayin that you should have a dive-buddy down with you.

avoid any materials that contain lead, abestos, etc. also, if you use an old washing-machine, strip it of its electronics, get rid of the lid, and sandblast the paint off and give it a through rinse without soap.

make sure you check your local regulations, as some areas may prohibit your activities and you would end up some1's girlfriend in jail lol

good luck and if you need more help just pm me

[mishu1984]

also, if you really have a lot of free time, you can dive your reef, and use a slate to record comments or places where you would like to make additions. etc. you can start in small stages and eventually grow your reef to be the size of a schoolbus or 3. alternatively, you can rent a self propelled barge, buy 3 old schoolbuses from a scrapyard and build your own reef the fast way, just remember to sandblast and remove extra stuff. depends on how much you are willing to spend

[mishu1984]

you might also want to take a look at this thread
http://forums.deeperblue.net/reef/51...made-reef.html

[sixshooter4]

that was a huge help!! thank you! are there any other ideas out there? what about placement, i know hideing it is the best thing to do... but any ideas where to put it? more specific maybe? any ideas on how to get growth quickly? tansfer some old rope with groth to it? maybe a few small rocks from the serounding arias? thoughts?

[mishu1984]

placement: you want it in about 30-40ft of water max to get fast growth because reefs need sunlight. preferebly a zone with low to medium currents, as strong currents may retard growth. if the area has a constant thermocline its great as some fish like to hang on the thermocline, so if you have a portion of the artificial reef in the warmer part and another in the colder, you bascially nailed it rite on the spot.
yeah you can use an old rope with growth on it so speed up the processes, but it will still take close to a year where you can harvest the fish in a decent fashion. remember that throwing a log into a lake and creating your own reef in the sea are two different things time-wise.
also, you can place wood inside the dome to help get some growth started. people have experimented with the use of solar-powered floating iodes to stimulate growth with much success. alternatively, you can use some iron bars within ur structure, but keep them inside the dome as well in order to avoid tangling a net, which is another idea why you should inspect your project weekly: you can and will have to remove nets if you wont just want to end up with a bunch of barnacles.

you can place small rocks and other materials to form a larger chain. given that you are back states-side, you could probably access the florida fish and game website, they should be able to give HUGE amounts of info on artificial reef creation.

also, if you can use limestone instead of cinderblocks (maybe cinderblocks are indeed made of limestone-i dont know, your guess is as good as mine) it would be much better as limestone has a lot of calcium carbide or bicarbonate or something else whose name escapes me at the moment, but anyways, its the building blocks of coral.


also, you want to keep the coordinates private, as you dont want a bunch of guys messing with your setup.

if you really want to take this another step further, you can start some organization that goes out and sets up artificial reefs and such. i know they exist in florida, i dont see why it shouldnt work in the lone star state.

g-luck and if you have any more questions just ask.

[settingsteel]

I was in the keys not to long ago and stumbled upon something similiar on the bay side...here are my observations

They used primarily drum roll.......shopping carts yep thats right some piled 5 up, oil drums, cinderblocks, brick rubble, and some lobster motels (just a bunch of PVC pipes strapped together).

It sat on a sand ledge drop-off that is it was about 8-10 depth in sand grass bottom and it abruptly dropped to 15-18' sand- rocky- early growth vegetation...current was pretty strong compared to the top, and fish were plentiful as well as bugs...if you decide to refe fit up do it ninja style preferably at night else some one like myself might pinch itGood luck playing Mama Nature!

[mishu1984]

Originally Posted by settingsteel

They used primarily drum roll.......shopping carts yep thats right some piled 5 up, oil drums, cinderblocks, brick rubble, and some lobster motels (just a bunch of PVC pipes strapped together).

as a rule of thumb, its preferable not to use any plastic or other petroleum by-products as they are EXTREMELLY hard to degrade
best results within a constrained budget are obtained using limestone and iron

[settingsteel]

^^I Agree^^...just telling it like I saw it

[sixshooter4]

thanks guys

[agbiv]

Google: Mexico Beach Artificial Reef. I'll be hunting them in 2 weeks and hope to post some vid & pics. This site is just South of Panama City Florida. Areas go from 17 ft to about 100 ft. Some are special concrete some are pipes and even a car body reef.