Zach Timmons has a new lionfishhunter.com record lionfish

We have a new winner in our quest to find out who can get the largest lionfish on record for the lionfishhunter.com challenge. Zach Timmons has beat the previous record by 2 1/2". here is his account:

These fish seem to be everywhere now. Crazy that they have spread so fast. Never ate any because the snapper were biting so well. I will try them next year. This is a giant one for us. Most of the ones we shot were about half this size. Thanks for your interest. Let me know if there is a record keeping for fish for the Bahama chain. I fish down there every year somewhere. Love it. Capt. Frank Timmons

Keep killing those lionfish an submit your findings here. Hey Capt. Timmons, how deep was this one?

CATCH CLEAN & COOK LIONFISH

I should let everyone know that prior to eating my first Lionfish I was very apprehensive about it. I know that I, like many others, thought, "Am I going to eat an aquarium fish that has venomous spines? Will this poison me?" These are reasonable fears, but after much research, through both the internet and interviews with leading experts, I came to realize that the Lionfish is a common table food in many parts of the world and that even scientists at NOAA are now eating them. This research led me to take the plunge and now Lionfish is my main food source from the sea.

You too can safely catch, prepare and enjoy this delicious fish by following these few steps.

CATCHING THE FISH:

All that you need to catch a Lionfish is snorkeling gear, gloves and a spear.

The best way to catch a Lionfish is by spearing them.

Lionfish are normally found close to rock or reef croppings, so bottom fishing for Lionfish could lead to many snagged hooks.

Lionfish do not normally hide under rocks, they are almost always out in the open and easily visible.

Lionfish do not spook easily, so get as close as you can before you make your shot. I wait until my spear tip is 3-4 inches away from the fish before I make my shot, making it a guaranteed hit.

Once you've speared the fish, make sure to keep it at the end of your spear until you can place it on your boat. In the case that you don't have a boat, put the fish in a custom bag or stringer that would not allow the spines to sting you. Be careful not to point your spear upwards because the Lionfish can slide down and sting you.

CLEANING THE FISH:

Once the fish has died, the venom in the spines remains active for up to an hour, so be cautious when handling and preparing the fish. This venom is ONLY in the spines however, not in the flesh.

There are two ways to clean a Lionfish:

First, you can simply filet the fish and remove the skin, throwing the rest of the carcass away.

The second option is to grab the fish at his eyeballs with a pair of pliers, then take a filet knife and cut the head and belly of the fish off in one slice. Cut the remaining fins off with a pair of kitchen shears and scale the fish. The scales come off so easily that you can remove them by spraying the scales backwards with a water hose.

You now have beautiful white meat that is completely safe to eat.

COOKING THE FISH:

Here are some easy, quick cooking tips.

Lemon Pepper Lionfish:

Take a Lionfish filet, sprinkle it with lemon pepper, and put it in a pan of hot olive oil. Lightly sear on both sides.

Lionfish Ceviche:

Cut your Lionfish filets into thin strips and place into a bowl of fresh squeezed lime juice. Add thinly sliced onions, bell peppers and carrots. Top with capers. Let it sit for at least five minutes before eating.

deep fried lionfish:

If you haven't filleted your Lionfish and still have the body, bones and all, you can simply score the flesh, dip it in batter and give it a fry until golden brown.

Thumbs up to Coral Magazine

Look for the June/July issue

Coral Magazine, a nationally published monthly print magazine, addresses the lionfish problem in their latest edition. Lionfishhunter.com was contacted and is quoted in the article. Please visit http://www.coralmagazineus.com/ or look for the magazine at your nearest news stand.

Please view this new video create by sharktaskforce.com

http://current.com/green/92402986_lionfish-eat-or-be-eaten.htm

Abaco Lionfish Hunt

Here is a recent email and pictures from a couple of lionfish hunters fro Abaco.

We got twenty of them on November 4th. They were very concentrated on some rocks in the Sea of Abaco in relatively shallow water (6-12) off of Marsh Harbour, Bahamas. We did not see many on the reefs in the Atlantic...we shot one in the Atlantic on Oct 27th.

On November 4th we were targeting the lionfish specifically....after seeing some of the videos on Youtube and looking at your site, we decided to spend a day hunting them. I put on a temporaryLionFish Tattoo I had found on the internet before we left for the bahamas.

I wonder if Sharks or Grouper or large Snapper will be able to develop into Lionfish predators over time to establish a balance?

Best of luck to you.

jim

Morehead City NC man makes effort to educate about the lionfish problem

here is a letter I recently received :

Hi Maurice,

As an introduction, my name is Niels Lindquist. I live in Morehead City, NC and am a Professor of Marine Sciences at the UNC Institute of Marine Sciences. I've been diving here off the NC coast since 1989 and witnessed the beginning of the NC lionfish invasion in 2000. I've also been diving around San Salvador for many years and watched as the lionfish moved in beginning in 2006. What an on-going disaster!

I've enjoyed looking over your website and videos. We need as many people out there as possible trying to cull the lionfish populations and working to create culinary-based markets for the fish.

Like you and your friends, my friends and I have been whacking lionfish in both NC and the Bahamas. I have some colleagues doing funded lionfish research, but for me, observing, catching and eating lionfish is not university related research. This keeps me from having to deal with the university's Animal Care and Use Committee.

I too have posted a few lionfish-related videos on youtube and just wanted to draw your attention and that of your website visitors to them. One is just a short clip of spearing lionfish on a dive in San Salvador and another one of an impromptu lionfish capture in the Florida Keys. Put a nice soundtrack on that one.

The first one in the list below is one that I posted a few weeks ago. It chronicles a trip off the NC coast during which I speared a batch of lionfish and tried a new method for detoxifying them. Basically, just a light freezing accomplished by placing speared lionfish in an iced salt brine seems to do the job. Relatively easy and only simple materials needed. Please excuse the first couple of words of the video title "About time" as this was put up there to attract attention. I've notice that youtube videos that include a catchy or unusual phrasing seem to get more hits. It too was a jab at me because it took me much longer than intended to edit and post the video.

Keep up the great work educating people about the lionfish problem and providing information allowing the safe capture and preparation and delicious recipes.

Cheers, Niels Lindquist


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMBE7zWZDgk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMBE7zWZDgk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOwDUFSG1_k

Please watch these great underwater videos

Turks and Caicos

Jim form Morehead City NC. recently visited the Turks and Caicos and captured these fish while on a dive. Seems that the lionfish have taken over the most southern regions of the Bahamas. Thanks Jim for your photos and stories.