- [Female Narrator] This How to Do Florida segment
is presented by VISIT FLORIDA.
- I'm headed to the Gulf of Mexico off Naples
to go spearfishing.
My guide, captain Bill D'Antuono,
a well known dive master and founder
of the Naples Spearfishing League.
Also joining us is Katy Laakkonen,
an environment specialist with the city of Naples.
She's been involved in the city's successful
artificial reef program.
And we'll be diving on one of the artificial reefs
she helped oversee.
We set a course for one of Katy's artificial reefs nearby.
So Captain what kind of fish can we spear today?
- Today we're going to be targeting mangrove snapper,
hopefully a cobia.
- Wow. - There's other species
of snapper like, cubera and lane snapper.
So you really have to have a good eye
and you have to really know your fish species
to target them and...
- And size wise too right.
All those fish have limits on size.
- Right, if you have to think about it, don't shoot it
so that's my rule.
- [Chad] All that talk got me ready
to get on some fish.
Thankfully it didn't take too long to reach our next spot.
- We have arrived and I'm waiting
for the structure, there it is.
You can see a piece of the reef.
- Okay, we're here, first spot.
- Chad here is your weapon of choice.
This is the AB Biller 48 special.
This could pretty much take down any fish
that you could come across in these waters.
Has a tether to it
so there's a line here that when you shoot
the spear the line is gonna...
- But this line helps you pull
the fish in too right?
- The line will help you keep the fish
in front of you, it's not going to swim away.
- After a very thorough lesson on loading,
safety, and marksmanship,
I was about as ready as I was ever gonna be.
Well let's go do it.
- All right, I'm all for it.
- So we're gonna go out there
and check out this artificial reef.
Did you put this down here yourself?
Personally?
- There were three entities that deployed these reefs.
City of Naples, who I work for,
Collier County and Marco Island.
- You ready to check it out?
- Ready.
- Let's do it.
One, two, three.
(splashing)
To be honest, I was more excited
just to jump in the water and check out
these artificial reefs than spearing a fish.
Out of nothing, you can begin to see
the outcroppings of the artificial reef system.
Giant concrete chunks all piled up
creating the ideal habitat to attract fish.
At first glance, what stands out
are the giant goliath grouper everywhere.
These massive creatures were some of the first
to take up residency here.
Once I got a feel for the structure,
it was time to look for the perfect fish to spear.
I was watching captain Bill
as he used his light to look under the structure.
I keep seeing mangrove snapper,
but I want to make sure I'm spearing a legal fish.
Then, out of nowhere, a nice big mangrove snapper
comes out of the reef and is in perfect position.
So, I take the shot.
Bam, I hit the snapper just behind the gil plate.
I came around the other side of the reef just in time
to see Katy sneaking up on a big lionfish.
These fish, although beautiful to look at
are doing significant damage
to Florida's underwater ecosystem.
The lionfish is not a native fish to our waters
and ends up competing with other native species
for food and space.
(dramatic music)
To make matters worse,
it has no known predators.
Accept Katy and her sling spear.
- My pole spear came in handy
and I was able to get it off the reef.
There were just so many fish on that reef
it was incredible to see on a reef
that is only two years old.
- Man all kinds of fish down there
in these artificial reefs.
Absolutely spectacular.
Lot of life.
Our bounty,
what like six really nice mangrove snapper.
Woo, tell you what,
not too bad.
That was pretty fun.
- [Female Narrator] View more videos
at HowToDoFlorida.com.
Presented by VISIT FLORIDA.