#471
Shrek - 8/20/2009 11:34 PM


Hey there,


Some friends of mine and myself have been spearfishing for awhile and many people have come to me and said I want to learn how to spear fish or I want to learn to scuba dive so that I can go spear fishing. First off, in my opinion, a recently certified diver has no place being in the water spear fishing. Like an earlier poster stated, you need to have a strong skill set to begin the sport. You will encounter problems that will take a quick head and some good training to keep yourself alive. Let’s see, I’m going to shoot a fish that weighs for example 50+ pounds and he’s in his enviroment and he can breathe forever down there and you can’t. He can drag you all over the ocean, you can’t. He can dive to 200+ feet and back to the surface with minute problems, not so with a human. Oh, and don’t forget the cable or kevlar that acts as a leash to keep your gun and spear as one unit. That nice little thing will end up around you more than once or around whatever the fish decided to swim around and that would be EVERYTHING. That’s were practice comes in and being able to stone(kill) a fish with one shot and staying out of the cable so you don’t have to ride Mr. Toads Wild Ride. Granted, most people don’t stone a fish every time and they don’t shoot large fish everytime either. But if you are like any of the guys I shoot with, if something big and tasty swims by, you can bet the safety is already off and the finger is primed to let one rip.


That being said, the first thing I tell a person new to spear fishing is that they need to go on a trip with some spear fishers first and just watch. There is a whole lot more going on than just pulling the trigger and you’ve got dinner. It’s just not so. We dive in the Gulf and it’s mostly around the oil rigs which introduce a whole new set of challenges in themselves. With having 100 dives under your belt, I would venture to say that you are well on your way to becoming an experienced and well rounded diver, but like I said, find someone in your area that will take you with them as a passive observer first. If you are in the area (MS Gulf Coast), I can set you up with someone here in the area to get your feet wet in the spear fishing realm or you can go with us when we have a trip planned. It really is a fun and addictive sport. I can understand the prior posters sentiments about harming fish that you miss, but like someone else said, when most experienced spearers miss, they really miss. You will get an occasional pull out, but I’ve seen alot of fish wrapped around a rig leg hung on a hook and fishing line. In my opinion, spear fishing has a lot less impact on the fish as you don’t shoot the fish that aren’t legal because you can see them. Where as with fishing, you reel up whatever bites your hook and your bycatch can actually be very high if you get in a school of juvenille fish. I fish myself, but I enjoy spearing way more. I have been on dives though where I had my gun, but never pulled the trigger because I just enjoyed the dive or there wasn’t anything of good size to shoot. I get very selective in my harvest and I have no quams about coming home with an empty ice chest. I enjoy it that much. A deer hunter doesn’t kill a deer every trip does he? But he enjoys his time spent in the wild interacting or just watching the world around him. The same goes for spearers. Once you do it, most people are usually hooked and I hope all your experiences are good ones. Sorry I got long winded, but I really enjoy the sport.


Take care,


Shrek