English interpretations please!!!!!

[oflow]

I have been watching alot of Italian spearfishing videos before I move to Catalina Island in a few days. Just been watching very closely at their techniques and movements, anything that will help me in my future performance. That being said, I constantly hear these types of techniques being used and only have a very vague idea of what they mean.(since I don't speak italian) Any help would be EXTREMELY helpful!!!

- All'aguatto
- Torbido
- Aspetto

There are more but I can't think of them right now. I do believe that "aspetto" has to do with stalking and waiting while hiding. PLEASE INFORM ME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!!! Thank You!!

-ofLow-

[bgill]

Torbidio - Is spearfishing in dirty, stained, or murky waters with low visability - Looking for the silhoette of the fish against the suface light - alot of the time you are shooting upwards and in shallow water using this technique. Be careful!

Aspetto - Is lying motionless on the bottom trying to "blend-in" with a rock or weeds, or just the bottom itself and waiting for unsuspecting or curious fish to come into range.

All'aguatto - Is spotting and stalking a fish or group of fish. Usually it involves trying to get close to fish that are relating to bottom structure without spooking the fish off of the structure before you are within shootin' range.

Be safe...

<,"){{{{{}<{

And good huntin' to ya!

-Dan-

[spaghetti]

Well Bgill you surprised me with that: perfect translation and very good tips! (rep points given!). Moreover, Oflow has the videos, and now he has a translation too, so there wouldn't be much more to say.
All I can do now is adding some more tips and suggestions to go further into the subject.
Torbido means murky. For obvious reasons you will hunt in Torbido with very short guns (a 75 euro might be too long!!!), such as a 60 bandgun or a 50/70 pneumatic, better with a five pronger. Why a 5 pronger? In murky water fish will become visibile suddenly and won't give you any time for aiming: a 5 pronger has a wider impact surface, so you're more likely to hit the target and to hold it.

Use a reel anyway: it will help you to hold the fish, and to locate both the gun and the hit fish.
Be very silent, quiet, stealthy: in complete absence of visibility the fish will focus on vibrations. Don't make any.

Bgill gave a very good tip for low viz: aiming from bottom to surface. You choose a promising spot, lay down on the bottom and look up to the surface brightened by the sky above, so that a counterlight effect will help you recognize the dark shape of fishes passing in between.
But the subsequent question is: where to go? With this technique you're hunting shadows, but you must know where there's more probability that some "shadows" will be passing by. And this is THE question about spearfishing in general.

More specifically related to very, very, very low viz. When the viz is short, it's short both for you and for the fish. The fish as well need some familiar point of reference, and they tend to move along a pattern given by recognizable things or objects: they will be likely to pass by rocks bigger than the average, isolated kelp bushes, pieces of pipeline, boat docks, wrecks or any sort of familiar submerged structure. These are the best places to perform the counterlight hunting suggested by Bgill.
But this does not say it all, of course.

From what I have experienced, a fish must always have a good reason to choose a place to stay or to go to instead of another: that's related to period of the year, food chain events, weather/current events, reproduction events, type of bottom chosen by each species as a favourite habitat, and also the perception of "safety" that a fish may have in a place or another.

Just ask yourself some questions: is there any species which is spawning, making eggs or breeding newborns in this period of the year? What's the depth and type of bottom chosen by that species for reproduction? That's where you have to go! It's a bit unfair and slightly cruel to shoot a fish in love or breeding, but many other antagonist species will go there looking for eggs and newborn to eat: reproduction of "enemy" species stirs up the food chain as well as current, weather and tide.

About where to go: when the water is very murky in the first shallow meters, you might find clear water areas if you go deeper, along or under the thermocline (the "cut" of cold water). However this doesn't help much, because most of reef fish do not like to stay under the thermocline.

But if you hunt in a closed bay, there might be areas of clearer water also in shallow, related to tide or current of water with different temperature pouring in from open sea. You might try to look for these clear areas: if you find them, they'll probably be full of fish.
Current is an important feature: if the current comes from your back, it will be easier for big predators to swim towards you (they hunt against current). On the other end, currents from your back will forward all noises and vibrations you make, alerting the fish.
So remember: be quiet!
---
Posts on agguato and aspetto to follow....>>>>

[oflow]

hey thanks so much you guys. makes entirely more sense now that i have these references. Bless the godz and muchos gracias.

[spaghetti]

Aspetto means "I'm waiting". The technique was given this name in the early 50's by a group of spearfishing pioneers in Tuscany (at Marina di Pisa) led by italian legend Rodolfo "Marò" Betti, who is also saidn to be the inventor of the speargun reel. He passed away late last year. Rest in peace.
As Bgill said it's basically about lying motionless on the bottom trying to "blend-in" with a rock or weeds, or just the bottom itself and waiting for unsuspecting or curious fish to come into range.
The fundamental is choosing the right place, both in shallow or deeper water. The ideal is having current and sunlight from the back, which is not always possible. You have to be hidden, but not completely: the fish must see "something" to catch their attention and turn on their curiosity. it's okay to make your head partly visibile, and your gun partly visible too.
About choosing the right place, the same considerations made about Torbido apply to aspetto as well: rocks, bushes of kelp, "steps", wreckage, everything you can hide behind. Moreover, these things attract fish. You can use sounds or other tricks to attract fish: a deep "gu-gu" from your throat, a clack clack with your teeth (sounds like fish cracking mussles), or release a bubble of air from your mouth (not from the snorkel).
One tip is to watch the bait, the groups of small fish. If they stay compact in balls and move nervous, there will probably be a bigger predator around. Point your gun towards the bait and see what happens.
Once that the fish comes to you, for curiosity or for remarking his territoriality, shoot it soon as it is in range. Don't wait for the fish to turn showing his side: if it turns, it means that he lost interest about you, or that it's scared, so that in both cases he's running away. Shoot before he turns, aim frontally, straight in the face.
The proper gear depends on visibility and type of fish targeted. The gun must be at least a 75 if the viz is poor. Take care of a correct weight set: weights will keep you motionless on the bottom, which is very important. Ankle strapped weights, to prevent your fins from waving like a flag, help a lot for Aspetto.
The dive itself must be done with care: don't dive directly on the area where fish are supposed to be. Go down from a reasonable distance, don't paddle with the fins, just let your ballast push you down. When you're near the bottom, crawl to your hiding place without finning, use your free hand to help the crawling.
If you dive deep, do the classic inverted "L" dive, while in shallow you'd better go down obliquely in order not to show your whole shape.
Never push your breath hold capability to the limit: always leave some spare air in case of emergency (tangling for example).

[Bill McIntyre]

If you are moving to Catalina, I think you will find a lot of use for a variation of Aspetto, although I manage to get by without the Italian. The white sea bass are usually in the top 20 feet of the water column, but the bottom is often a lot deeper than that. Instead of being motionless on the bottom, you can just grab a piece of kelp at something above your neutral depth and remain motionless up where the fish are that way.

In the spring spawning season, the fish are often up close to the beach in shallow milky water. I guess you could call that Turbido. You need to increase your weight so that you can be motionless on the bottom in shallow water and then just look for a glimpse of the yellow fins.

Believe it or not, many divers are successful with these techniques without having a clue that they have Italian names.

[Pastor]

Originally Posted by Bill McIntyre

Believe it or not, many divers are successful with these techniques without having a clue that they have Italian names.

This is true! For many years I was spearing on my own and working out ways to best catch fish, I didn't know anyone else who speared so I had to make it up as I went along. Eventually I invented the now famous "Dive to the bottom and hide behind a rock" and the "Dive to the bottom and slowly move from rock to rock" techniques

Thank God for the internet

[atomichaggis]

I think I've invented a technique that doesn't have an Italian name

[spaghetti]

Ok, I like the joke. And honestly I do not think that techniques designed for the Mediterranean might apply as well in California or wherever else: different terrain, different fish, different techniques. Simple as that.
This thread was about Agguato, Aspetto and Pesca nel torbido, which are specific for the Mediterranean environment.
We mediterraneans don't have high kelp like in California, that's why we don't have a technique based on grabbing the kelp to stay motionless amidst the water column. And we don't have a name for it! I wouldn't call this "Aspetto": you'd better give an american name to this technique.
By the way: do you know the italian name for blue water hunting? It's called blue water fishing!

[Bill McIntyre]

Originally Posted by spaghetti

This thread was about Agguato, Aspetto and Pesca nel torbido, which are specific for the Mediterranean environment.
We mediterraneans don't have high kelp like in California, that's why we don't have a technique based on grabbing the kelp to stay motionless amidst the water column. And we don't have a name for it! I wouldn't call this "Aspetto": you'd better give an american name to this technique.

Fair enough. But since he was asking about these Italian terms in preparation for going to Catalina Island in California, I was trying to tell him how they might apply here.

I think I'm going to create a new term- "grabbing the kelp to stay motionless amidst the water column."

But it sure is unwieldy. Can we have permission to call it Modified Aspetto?

[fcallagy]

why not "McIntyre aspetto" and see if it sticks

[foxfish]

Originally Posted by fcallagy

why not "McIntyre aspetto" and see if it sticks

I like it, great idea

[Pastor]

It'll only get corrupted to Macetto

[spaghetti]

In facts I wonder why he asked in the Mediterranean forum. But I'm here to help with Med tips and he's welcome in this sunny spot
Later I'll post something about the Agguato, hoping it will be useful for somebody someday.
..
I think I should say something very funny now, so here it goes: YOU BAD LOT OF GREEN REGIONAL ADVISORS, GET OUT OF MY MEDITERRANEAN FORUM AND MIND YOUR OWN!!!

[Bill McIntyre]

Originally Posted by Pastor

It'll only get corrupted to Macetto

Perfect!

Now I'll casually mention that I was using the Macetto technique, and people will be too embarrassed to admit that they don't know what the hell I'm talking about.

I've had similar fun with names of spots. In the past when I've named a particular spot at San Clemente Island for instance in a trip report, some people are mad because they consider that to be one of "their" spots. So I just generally avoid naming anything but the island.

But a few years ago, Daryl Wong's partner Rick Bettua was here from Hawaii and went out with me and got his first white sea bass, pictured below, as well as his first few yellowtail. The next year he came back and dove with someone else at the same kelp bed and got his limit of three white sea bass. Of course he was asking "what's the big deal about spearing white sea bass- it seems pretty easy?"

So now I, along with my dive buddies, call that spot Rick's Reef, and when we report a trip there, we gladly say where we were using that name instead of the more commonly used name for the spot. We like to picture guys feverishly poring over their charts looking for the spot.

Anyway, now I can say I used Macetto at Rick's reef.