THE TRUTH ABOUT THE RFRA !!!!

Clay-Doh · 10-04-2008, 02:56 PM

I am writing this because besides myself being misinformed, there have been at least 4 other people who completely misinformed also who now know the truth.

I have known of the RFRA since I joined this forum, about 3 years now. I knew they did the whole reef thing, and promoted our fisheries, and political stuff. But I never joined......cuz I thought it was kinda a "do-good" or charity thing...that you helped them build reefs, and they drop em then publish the numbers, wich is great, but I really dont have time to do a good thing for the enviroment like that.

But its not like that!

About a year ago, FenderBender told me he knew sombody we could get a lotta scrap metal from. Great! SO I called Capt Paul Redman, the pres of the RFRA, and asked em if I joined, and payed the $35 a year membership, and helped them build some reefs for public use that they do, could I sometimes use all the sweet tools and mig welders and chop saws, ect to work on a reef or two for my own private dropping???

Well....he politely informed me, that that WAS what the RFRA was all about...you build your own reefs to drop!!!! Wow I thought...how many people are in the RFRA that I have to share the numbers with?????

NOOOOOOOO...he says...you build your own reefs, and you drop them, or pay someone too, and those are YOUR private numbers, you don't have to share them!

HOLY CRAP!!!! FOR REAL???? So I say, great..I just bring in my own scrap metal....and for the low cost of $35 per year, I can use all those tools and equipment, and work on my reefs there in the clubhouse yard????

NOOOOOO he says!!! You dont HAVE to bring your own metal....we got a yard FULL of racks of every size rebar, and scrap iron and angle iron you can imagine!!!

HOLY CRAP!!!! you mean for $35 per year, i can use the tools, equipment, AND all the metal I want to build reefs????

YESSSSSSSSSS he says! And to top it off, there is a barge we have that members can use to pull 5 or 10 reefs out at a time and drop em if you dont wanna lay boards across your gunnls to put the reefs on!!!!

Well, I joined that week. So far, I have only built one reef this summer, and it took a gallon of water and a 12 pack of beer because of the heat. However, the temps are falling, and I plan on at LEAST 20 over the winter.

It is amazing how simple a pyrimad reef is to build out of rebar. You take four pieces, lay em in a square on the ground, and weld the corners. Then you take four more pieces, make the teepee shape, and use a piece of wire to tie the tops together so they stay in place while you weld those in place. Thats 8 more quick welds. 4 welding the bottoms to the corners of the base, and four (or one long one) welding the tops of the teepee together. Your basic structure is DONE!!! now, just start weldin more stuff in any configuration you want to add more structure, and "cover" for the fish too it. No need for accurate measurments, precice clean welds...ect. On a hot day, starting at around noon, with an occasional hand from my wife and daughter, I built a super sweet reef delux, with curved rebar that I made and added to make a tunnel in it, multiple levels, chain link fencing all over for additional cover for the fish, and a nice welcome sign welded to the front that says 'CHUNKY LOVE FISH HOTEL"

Had it not been so hot with multiple breaks (to consume more beer), and if I had not went so overboard on the design, I could have easly popped out 2 that day.

If you have never fished,or better yet dove and SAW just how many fish , and BIG ones are around for a 150 feet radius of a simple 8 foot tall pyrimad reef, you would be shocked.

You build your own reefs, and there yours! You can permit em thru Florida, or Alabama. But they are your reefs, and only you have the numbers, well other than Robert Turpin if you permit em thru Florida. But when I found that out..thats when I joined up right away!

As far as dropping them, its the same options as with any other reefs, pay someone too, rent a huge barge that can hold about 30 reefs, or use the RFRA's tow behind barge for free, or lay em on some boards acrodss the gunnel of your boat. Usin the tow behind barge is the best bet, you can go drop 10 at a time or so. I think the barge is about 20 or 25 feet?

Why am I writing this to get you to start building reefs???

BECAUSE IT'S A CHAIN REACTION!! Fish will not breed in the middle of the sand out in the middle of the gulf. They want structure. Also fish will not just hang out in the middle of the sand, away from smaller bait fish and such to feed on. Bait fish and such will not hang out where there isnt plant growth and crustations growing to feed them. ANd well....we have never seen barnacles, sponges, and such just growing in the middle of that clean gulf sand. They need a little 8 foot tall pyrimad that YOU built to attach too.

ANd what happens when you do??? Does that mean it cuts down on the amount of fish hanging out on othere structure cuz they go and take up residence on yours???

NO! It means that more fish have areas to breed. More fish reach a mature age on private reefs than on public numbers beacuse they are not being overfished/speared. More fish breeding, they grow up, they move off to OTHER reefs....maybe mine!!!

So if your reef supports lets say100 legal fish on it, that doesnt mean you only added 100 legal fish to the Gulf..those fish are breeding every year, and those fish are repopulating other structures that do not have as many fish, and producing again ect....

The amount of fishermen in the Gulf is not going to decrease, it will continue to increase. If the amount of habital structure, and breeding areas does not increase, if you think you suck at fishing now and don't come home with as many, or as large as you would like??? Wait 5 years...it will only get worse. We do not have hardly any natural habitat in this area of the Gulf. We have an underwater desert. God did not make the entire world a hospitable place for animals.

HOWEVER! Look at the number of artificial reefs out there now, from tanks to concrete rubble to radio tower antanas to steel pipes to ships to airplanes. If it werent for these things...the few areas of natural bottom that we do have would be BARRON with the amount of fishermen out there.

If we filled up that entire gulf with artificial reefs, you would NEVER come home without your limit! The more that is out there, the more fish BREEDING and helping also poulate other reefs besides your own!!

But the best part, if you limit yourself to maybe once every couple months hitting a particular reef you dropped (or preferably longer) imagine how many more fish you will catch compared to one of the public spots that has 20 boats or more hit it any givin week! Every other month for each one of your reefs means it is being fished 160 times less than a public spot on average!!

It is AMAZING what you will get on a small private spot! Captain Paul Redman came with us on our boat a few weeks ago, 2 divers only doing 2 dives instead of the usual 3, and my wife, sister n law, and Paul fishin part time. one spot, pruduced 22 triggers, 10 red snappers, and 2 king makeral!!!!! 34 fish!!!!! And we thru back at least 20 legal red snapper, hlding out for the better sized ones. All on just one little artificial private spot Paul had, a pice of steel pipe!!!

Check these out!

So....if your a selfish person like me...not for a "do-good" reason....and too help the enviroment if you really don't care, but so you can have an awsome day out fishing or spearing EVERY time you go.....pony up the $35, and start building some sweet reefs. There located right by Joe Patti's Seafood on Barancas Ave in Pensacola. And as a side effect, you really will be helping to populate the Gulf with more fish, and helping to build a habitat....don't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside??

Heres there website.

www.reeffishra.com

Also check out the new website Rich and Paul got up and running, and check out the underwater video of all the life on a little pyrimad.

www.visionunderwaterpensacola.com

Catch more fish and bigger fish!!!! For $35 per year!!

bluffman2 · 10-04-2008, 03:04 PM

Clay good job on spreading the word......weve got good things happening over here in mississippi and i wont elaborate,but maybe Paul will chime in....

John B. · 10-04-2008, 03:05 PM

:bowdown:bowdown:bowdown:bowdown:bowdown

florida_girl23 · 10-04-2008, 03:45 PM

Thats awesome, thanks for the information!

reelfinatical · 10-04-2008, 03:57 PM

Excellent post!!! :clap :clap

pirate@40something · 10-04-2008, 04:27 PM

hey clay , awesome write up. i joined both the RFA and the PFRA . scot invited me to come out and help with the PFRA rodeo , man i had a blast. met lots of great folks and just watching the kids sure made my weekend. can't wait till i can get alittle more involved with both. anyone thats not a member these groups fight for our fishing rights tooth and nail. small price to pay for such a huge voice.

cobe killer · 10-04-2008, 04:55 PM

hey clay, great post with lots of great info. we built 8 reefs in two weekends with around 4 guys and had a lot of fun in the mean time. if you ever need any help building just let me know. saturdays and after church on sundays, around 1-1:30, will work for me.

X-Shark · 10-04-2008, 07:24 PM

HeHe Nice write up Clay. We have been saying just that for a long time and if you look at the old forum there are plenty of pix's of reefs that I posted that were built there.

These in particular I'm very proud of. This young man 13yrs old at the time wanted to build a reef for a school project.

I gave him a measuring test I found on the internet with reading a ruler, Safety instructions, Had him watch me do a few welds and then watched him do some and stood back and turned him loose. Yes HE did 85% of the welding and all the cutting. Capt Paul deployed this reef along with some others.

I enjoy teaching the young that are interested in learning. His Dad dropped him off and I told Dad he'll be in good hands, go do what you need to do today. His Dad stopped back several hours latter to check on him and then picked him up latter after that.

Heller High Water · 10-04-2008, 07:43 PM

Clay, I really though you were going to go the other way with the post. But, :banghead, you didnt. I have thought about joining, but have put it off. I am in now!!!!!!!!!

clap:clap

wirebiter · 10-04-2008, 08:30 PM

OK, probably a stupid question, but I am getting back into fishing after about a 10 year no fishing spell since high school. My question is with the private reefs what permits are required to drop if any and if I join will the RFRA help with that kind of stuff. I would like some reefs of my own. Thanks for all the great info in the original post, and you may have a new member soon!

10-04-2008, 02:56 PM	#1
Clay-Doh Senior Member Blue Marlin Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Gulf Breeze, or 100' Deep on a Wreck With a Gun! Posts: 4,832	THE TRUTH ABOUT THE RFRA !!!! I am writing this because besides myself being misinformed, there have been at least 4 other people who completely misinformed also who now know the truth. I have known of the RFRA since I joined this forum, about 3 years now. I knew they did the whole reef thing, and promoted our fisheries, and political stuff. But I never joined......cuz I thought it was kinda a "do-good" or charity thing...that you helped them build reefs, and they drop em then publish the numbers, wich is great, but I really dont have time to do a good thing for the enviroment like that. But its not like that! About a year ago, FenderBender told me he knew sombody we could get a lotta scrap metal from. Great! SO I called Capt Paul Redman, the pres of the RFRA, and asked em if I joined, and payed the $35 a year membership, and helped them build some reefs for public use that they do, could I sometimes use all the sweet tools and mig welders and chop saws, ect to work on a reef or two for my own private dropping??? Well....he politely informed me, that that WAS what the RFRA was all about...you build your own reefs to drop!!!! Wow I thought...how many people are in the RFRA that I have to share the numbers with????? NOOOOOOOO...he says...you build your own reefs, and you drop them, or pay someone too, and those are YOUR private numbers, you don't have to share them! HOLY CRAP!!!! FOR REAL???? So I say, great..I just bring in my own scrap metal....and for the low cost of $35 per year, I can use all those tools and equipment, and work on my reefs there in the clubhouse yard???? NOOOOOO he says!!! You dont HAVE to bring your own metal....we got a yard FULL of racks of every size rebar, and scrap iron and angle iron you can imagine!!! HOLY CRAP!!!! you mean for $35 per year, i can use the tools, equipment, AND all the metal I want to build reefs???? YESSSSSSSSSS he says! And to top it off, there is a barge we have that members can use to pull 5 or 10 reefs out at a time and drop em if you dont wanna lay boards across your gunnls to put the reefs on!!!! Well, I joined that week. So far, I have only built one reef this summer, and it took a gallon of water and a 12 pack of beer because of the heat. However, the temps are falling, and I plan on at LEAST 20 over the winter. It is amazing how simple a pyrimad reef is to build out of rebar. You take four pieces, lay em in a square on the ground, and weld the corners. Then you take four more pieces, make the teepee shape, and use a piece of wire to tie the tops together so they stay in place while you weld those in place. Thats 8 more quick welds. 4 welding the bottoms to the corners of the base, and four (or one long one) welding the tops of the teepee together. Your basic structure is DONE!!! now, just start weldin more stuff in any configuration you want to add more structure, and "cover" for the fish too it. No need for accurate measurments, precice clean welds...ect. On a hot day, starting at around noon, with an occasional hand from my wife and daughter, I built a super sweet reef delux, with curved rebar that I made and added to make a tunnel in it, multiple levels, chain link fencing all over for additional cover for the fish, and a nice welcome sign welded to the front that says 'CHUNKY LOVE FISH HOTEL" Had it not been so hot with multiple breaks (to consume more beer), and if I had not went so overboard on the design, I could have easly popped out 2 that day. If you have never fished,or better yet dove and SAW just how many fish , and BIG ones are around for a 150 feet radius of a simple 8 foot tall pyrimad reef, you would be shocked. You build your own reefs, and there yours! You can permit em thru Florida, or Alabama. But they are your reefs, and only you have the numbers, well other than Robert Turpin if you permit em thru Florida. But when I found that out..thats when I joined up right away! As far as dropping them, its the same options as with any other reefs, pay someone too, rent a huge barge that can hold about 30 reefs, or use the RFRA's tow behind barge for free, or lay em on some boards acrodss the gunnel of your boat. Usin the tow behind barge is the best bet, you can go drop 10 at a time or so. I think the barge is about 20 or 25 feet? Why am I writing this to get you to start building reefs??? BECAUSE IT'S A CHAIN REACTION!! Fish will not breed in the middle of the sand out in the middle of the gulf. They want structure. Also fish will not just hang out in the middle of the sand, away from smaller bait fish and such to feed on. Bait fish and such will not hang out where there isnt plant growth and crustations growing to feed them. ANd well....we have never seen barnacles, sponges, and such just growing in the middle of that clean gulf sand. They need a little 8 foot tall pyrimad that YOU built to attach too. ANd what happens when you do??? Does that mean it cuts down on the amount of fish hanging out on othere structure cuz they go and take up residence on yours??? NO! It means that more fish have areas to breed. More fish reach a mature age on private reefs than on public numbers beacuse they are not being overfished/speared. More fish breeding, they grow up, they move off to OTHER reefs....maybe mine!!! So if your reef supports lets say100 legal fish on it, that doesnt mean you only added 100 legal fish to the Gulf..those fish are breeding every year, and those fish are repopulating other structures that do not have as many fish, and producing again ect.... The amount of fishermen in the Gulf is not going to decrease, it will continue to increase. If the amount of habital structure, and breeding areas does not increase, if you think you suck at fishing now and don't come home with as many, or as large as you would like??? Wait 5 years...it will only get worse. We do not have hardly any natural habitat in this area of the Gulf. We have an underwater desert. God did not make the entire world a hospitable place for animals. HOWEVER! Look at the number of artificial reefs out there now, from tanks to concrete rubble to radio tower antanas to steel pipes to ships to airplanes. If it werent for these things...the few areas of natural bottom that we do have would be BARRON with the amount of fishermen out there. If we filled up that entire gulf with artificial reefs, you would NEVER come home without your limit! The more that is out there, the more fish BREEDING and helping also poulate other reefs besides your own!! But the best part, if you limit yourself to maybe once every couple months hitting a particular reef you dropped (or preferably longer) imagine how many more fish you will catch compared to one of the public spots that has 20 boats or more hit it any givin week! Every other month for each one of your reefs means it is being fished 160 times less than a public spot on average!! It is AMAZING what you will get on a small private spot! Captain Paul Redman came with us on our boat a few weeks ago, 2 divers only doing 2 dives instead of the usual 3, and my wife, sister n law, and Paul fishin part time. one spot, pruduced 22 triggers, 10 red snappers, and 2 king makeral!!!!! 34 fish!!!!! And we thru back at least 20 legal red snapper, hlding out for the better sized ones. All on just one little artificial private spot Paul had, a pice of steel pipe!!! Check these out! So....if your a selfish person like me...not for a "do-good" reason....and too help the enviroment if you really don't care, but so you can have an awsome day out fishing or spearing EVERY time you go.....pony up the $35, and start building some sweet reefs. There located right by Joe Patti's Seafood on Barancas Ave in Pensacola. And as a side effect, you really will be helping to populate the Gulf with more fish, and helping to build a habitat....don't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?? Heres there website. www.reeffishra.com Also check out the new website Rich and Paul got up and running, and check out the underwater video of all the life on a little pyrimad. www.visionunderwaterpensacola.com Catch more fish and bigger fish!!!! For $35 per year!! __________________ SO EASY A CAVEMAN CAN DO IT. MY UNDERWATER SPEARFISHING VIDEOS

10-04-2008, 03:04 PM	#2
bluffman2 Senior Member White Marlin Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2,940	RE: THE TRUTH ABOUT THE RFRA !!!! Clay good job on spreading the word......weve got good things happening over here in mississippi and i wont elaborate,but maybe Paul will chime in....

10-04-2008, 03:05 PM	#3
John B. bluefish killer Blue Marlin Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Pensacola Beach Posts: 4,155	RE: THE TRUTH ABOUT THE RFRA !!!! :bowdown:bowdown:bowdown:bowdown:bowdown __________________

10-04-2008, 03:45 PM	#4
florida_girl23 Member Ruby Red Lip Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Pensacola Posts: 77	RE: THE TRUTH ABOUT THE RFRA !!!! Thats awesome, thanks for the information!

10-04-2008, 03:57 PM	#5
reelfinatical Senior Member Sailfish Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: NC Posts: 1,895	RE: THE TRUTH ABOUT THE RFRA !!!! Excellent post!!! :clap :clap

10-04-2008, 04:27 PM	#6
pirate@40something Senior Member Grouper Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Pace/ Daybreak Marina FL. Posts: 637	RE: THE TRUTH ABOUT THE RFRA !!!! hey clay , awesome write up. i joined both the RFA and the PFRA . scot invited me to come out and help with the PFRA rodeo , man i had a blast. met lots of great folks and just watching the kids sure made my weekend. can't wait till i can get alittle more involved with both. anyone thats not a member these groups fight for our fishing rights tooth and nail. small price to pay for such a huge voice.

10-04-2008, 04:55 PM	#7
cobe killer Senior Member Sailfish Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: pensacola Posts: 1,262	RE: THE TRUTH ABOUT THE RFRA !!!! hey clay, great post with lots of great info. we built 8 reefs in two weekends with around 4 guys and had a lot of fun in the mean time. if you ever need any help building just let me know. saturdays and after church on sundays, around 1-1:30, will work for me. __________________ TEAM RECESS

10-04-2008, 07:24 PM	#8
X-Shark Senior Member White Marlin Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Pensacola, Fl. Posts: 3,031	RE: THE TRUTH ABOUT THE RFRA !!!! HeHe Nice write up Clay. We have been saying just that for a long time and if you look at the old forum there are plenty of pix's of reefs that I posted that were built there. These in particular I'm very proud of. This young man 13yrs old at the time wanted to build a reef for a school project. I gave him a measuring test I found on the internet with reading a ruler, Safety instructions, Had him watch me do a few welds and then watched him do some and stood back and turned him loose. Yes HE did 85% of the welding and all the cutting. Capt Paul deployed this reef along with some others. I enjoy teaching the young that are interested in learning. His Dad dropped him off and I told Dad he'll be in good hands, go do what you need to do today. His Dad stopped back several hours latter to check on him and then picked him up latter after that.

10-04-2008, 07:43 PM	#9
Heller High Water Senior Member Grouper Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Pensacola FL Posts: 610	RE: THE TRUTH ABOUT THE RFRA !!!! Clay, I really though you were going to go the other way with the post. But, :banghead, you didnt. I have thought about joining, but have put it off. I am in now!!!!!!!!!clap:clap

10-04-2008, 08:30 PM	#10
wirebiter Senior Member Trigger Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Pensacola, FL Posts: 334	RE: THE TRUTH ABOUT THE RFRA !!!! OK, probably a stupid question, but I am getting back into fishing after about a 10 year no fishing spell since high school. My question is with the private reefs what permits are required to drop if any and if I join will the RFRA help with that kind of stuff. I would like some reefs of my own. Thanks for all the great info in the original post, and you may have a new member soon!

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