# When to fish reef



## MissKristy (Dec 1, 2007)

I bought a florida specialwhich has been in the water for a year and a half this april.How long before it has desent fish on it.I dove it when it was 8 months old and it was full1 poundsnapper.Also does it mater what area it was deploid?


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## JoeZ (Sep 30, 2007)

Fish move a good bit from reef to reef but after 1 1/2 years, you ought to have a decent population. Probably a resident/dominant snapper or two.



The area of deployment is of some concern as far as depth and proximity to other reefs but there's no real bad place to put one.


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## younghooker (Oct 7, 2007)

one year for good keeper fish... we put out many chicken coops..... if you anchored :nonono ... when you dove it.. any boats around ?? was it on aweekend ?? spot is probably already found by radar etc.. we fish very quickly.. 2 or 3 drops in 10 min.. 6 or 8 fish & move.. only when no boats around.. they still find 'em with side scan sonar.. cant dive 'em :banghead


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## reel trouble (Jan 19, 2010)

amen to that!!


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## mkpitts6 (Feb 23, 2008)

What's a "florida special"? regardless, it should have plenty of fish by now if ever.


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## DreamWeaver21 (Oct 3, 2007)

From what I can tell it takes somewhere between 10 minutes and infinity for fish to hold up on a reef. Some get fish quick some don't ever draw a crowd. I haven't figured out the science to it yet. I've heard a year to two years should be good. I don'tworry as much as younghooker aboutother people finding my reefs. Anything within rec diving limts seems to hold mostly snapper. There are a million other places to go get 2 snapper so I doubt anyone is too concerned about where I caught mine.


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## Rastaman (Oct 5, 2007)

I deal mostly with chicken coups and not concrete reefs but they usually have good fish on them after 6 months. A year and a half should be plenty of time. However, location is important also. Some spots accumulate fish faster than others. You might not believe this but I checked one spot after 3 months and it was loaded with 10 pounders!! This went against my theory that you first get growth, then little fish and then bigger fish. These big fish were the fist fish on the reef. I guess there is still some element of mystery to this stuff. 

Hope this helps.


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## marriemb (Jul 1, 2010)

Reef fishing is done at the bottom or near the shore. It depends upon the type of species you want to catch. You can have a look at the following link. I found the information over here about reef fishing...
http://www.marinews.com/fishing/fishing-trips/targeting-reef-rogues/87/


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