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English interpretations please!!!!!

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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Reactions: spaghetti
azapa said:
On the other hand, there is nothing like crawling around a rock to see a fish sitting there and shooting quickly....
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That's what we call Agguato......or, so you learn a new italian technical phrase, A Strusciapanza (literally: "belly rubbing").
The basic is that the fish mustn't see you or feel your presence before it's too late for them.
So:
-reduce to minimum the reconessance from the surface: you don't have to dive down when you see the fish. First go to the bottom, then go around looking for fish.
- sure, as you say, turn behind rocks and see it there's fish behind. Meanwhile, the rock between you and the fish will prevent the fish to feel your vibration and noise.
- belly rubbing: belly on the bottom, don't move your fins use your free hand, keep everything that could be noisy on your back and not on your belly, I'm talking of beltweights, knife, belt reel, everything on your back (some guys cover the belt buckle with fabric or rubber sheets to make it stealthier).
...
...and there's much, much more to follow. Agguato is a BIG science
Open to the contributions of you all! :inlove
 

:t you mean like this? hehe. I used old wheel barrow inner tubes to cover the lead, fit perfect, and no "ding" on hitting rocks:
 

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azapa said:
:t you mean like this? hehe. I used old wheel barrow inner tubes to cover the lead, fit perfect, and no "ding" on hitting rocks:
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Great! Low tech is the best tech sometimes.
At this point I guess you must have also some incredible device to protect you from jellyfish and seaurchins.... Show off, don't be shy...
 
OUCH. my worst ever Jelly fish AND urchin pain was in Sardinia, north of Alghero to be exact. I still have the spikes embedded in my hand 8 months later. Here the 7mm suit takes up most of the pain, but I get regular spikings. Its worse in the north. I have a competition there in two weeks.... I'll be taking tweezers in my dive bag...
 
I'd have a weird story about sea urchins medications, but it's probably unfit for a family friendly forum like this...
Long story short, doc gave me a very strong cortisonic cream for medication, wich accidentaly came in contact with my sexual organ. What followed was my life's longest straight 24 hours rocky E-R-E-C-T-I-O-N man can remember. Which was annoying cause it made me unfit for hunting "belly rubbing" on the bottom for the whole day if you see what I'm saying.
However, I still keep that cortisone in the bedroom cabinet ready, just in case any seaurchins ever happened to appear between the sheets...:chatup
 
Wow! Do you have a brand name? Will I need a prescription?
 
rofl bloody hell Bill you don't want to be swimming around with one of those in the kelp! Imagine the drag rofl
 
Reactions: spaghetti
Bill McIntyre said:
Wow! Do you have a brand name? Will I need a prescription?
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I'm afraid brand names are different across our distant countries, but just ask your pharmacist. You're notoriosuly a diver and a spearo, yes you are, so for him it won't be hard (did I say hard?) to believe that you hit a sea urchin and do really need a corticosteroid/antistaminic cream to rub on the wounds.
As for the....collateral effect, believe me, it's better to stay natural: 24 hours straight of that thing is too much of a pain!!!
 
Pastor said:
rofl bloody hell Bill you don't want to be swimming around with one of those in the kelp! Imagine the drag rofl
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Just had a bit of rep from someone for that comment that just killed me rofl I know these things are meant to be private so I hope I will be forgiven by that person for divulging the contents of the rep:
mysterious rep giver said:
Seven Wongs and a Dong
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rofl rofl rofl
It brings on a whole new meaning to the "Macetto" technique rofl
 
Sorry if I missed something, but, The original posting comes from Torrence, California, he says he's moving to Catalina Island, right? Catalina is right in front of LA / SanDiego. Why is he watching Italian Videos to basically go across the street???
 
calinitalia said:
Sorry if I missed something, but, The original posting comes from Torrence, California, he says he's moving to Catalina Island, right? Catalina is right in front of LA / SanDiego. Why is he watching Italian Videos to basically go across the street???
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Excellent question. I think its because you Italians have us brainwashed and use such exotic sounding foreign words, so you must be on to something.

He would really be better off reading Blue Water Hunting and Freediving by Terry Maas. It describes how to hunt white sea bass and yellowtail, and its all in simple English.
 
Only one problem Bill, I'm not Italian. I'm from San Diego but live and work in Rome. (calinItalia = californian in Italy). Any chance of getting some baby WSB sent here to kick start the med with some weat coast cuisine??
Happy hunting!!!
 
I have both the book and video by terry maas. the reason for watchin the italian videos is to aquire different types of skills by differnet spearos. i try to take in as much info as possible........ and if you've ever dove the channel islands, which i'm assuming you have, alot of the techniques make for great diving over here as well.... I also speak to al schneppershoff as often as possible for his personal views on california diving. I also pick the brain of Andy Taylor, owner of Blue Water Hunters in Santa Barbara. Since I don't have 20+ years of diving under my belt, I feel the best way to learn is to dive and keep studying.......... BOOM! TAKE THAT, OLD SPEAROS!!! HAHAHA!!
 
and billy-boy......terry maas doesn't go into much detail about compensating past 20 meters in any of his books.... i've read Blie Water Hunters more than a hundred times and I still can't get enough of it...... but there's nothing wrong at all about trying to broaden my apnea horizon........ and because of practice and a study of Umberto Pelizzari's Manual of Freediving, I have just pulled a personal best with my breath hold....4 mins 4 seconds........BOOmSHACKALAKA-LAKA!!!!
 
I'm also planning for a freediving training seminar in Baja Mexico for a week in June. I figure that if I have a professional teaching me I can only improve and progress. I'm pretty sure I've only dove to like 60 maybe 65 feet, but I had no problems at all. And Bill, did you have anyone to show you the basics of spearfishing or freediving when you were just starting? Cuz I haven't had anyone experienced teach me or show me...... so if I get the opportunity then by all means I'm gonna take it. It seems to me that the less i try and spear and the more I try and become one with the ocean, the easier it is for me to get close to the fish..... or the sharks.... or the rays. The fish seem to know that I mean them no harm and in turn approach me by the truckloads.....except for those pesky fuckin white sea bass..... you always gotta be wayyyyyyyy kool when approaching them. In fact, everytime I try to approach them, they get very, very sketchy. It just goes to show that I need more practice..... But Calico's and sheepshead are my best of friends. They seems to congregate around me when ever I'm "aspetto" at the bottom. even when i'm "Macetto" upside down in the kelp, they come and say what's up.....
 
and if you've ever dove the channel islands, which i'm assuming you have,
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Yes, I have. I think the first time was in 1963.

and billy-boy......terry maas doesn't go into much detail about compensating past 20 meters in any of his books...
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Well no oflowy boy, he doesn't, but I made the mistake of thinking we were discussing techniques useful in the Channel Islands. You may get off on diving past 20 meters, but the great majority of the white sea bass are in the top 20 feet. If it makes you feel good to lay around down below 20 meters because you know that they have to do that in the Med, then that's just fine, but its not CA spearfishing. You'll be seeing your fish on the way up.

and because of practice and a study of Umberto Pelizzari's Manual of Freediving, I have just pulled a personal best with my breath hold....4 mins 4 seconds....
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Whoopeee! That just frigging wonderful. I stand in awe of you, but I'm a simple spearfisherman. Last Monday when I got the fish pictured below, I was averaging around 50 to 55 seconds with occasional dives over a minute, and I was at 20 feet (not 20 meters) when I pulled the trigger.

And Bill, did you have anyone to show you the basics of spearfishing or freediving when you were just starting?
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Well no, I don't think so. I got into shooting big fish at age 13 or 14 back in 1952 or 1953, and there just wasn't anyone to teach me. My dive buddy and I just sort of felt our way along and learned by trial and error.

Cuz I haven't had anyone experienced teach me or show me..
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I can understand that. It sounds like you might threaten them when you dropped your breath hold and depth abilities on them, and besides that they might feel that their command of Italian was inadequate.

I tend to take a lot of young guys out because I really enjoy seeing their joy when they get that first white sea bass or yellowtail, and their enthusiasm is contagious. In fact a large number of guys have taken that first game fish from my boat. A few weeks ago I took out a guy who's previous single fish speared was a sheephead, and he got a 43 pound white sea bass. A couple of weeks later, I took a guy who had speared some calicos and sand bass and one 12 pound white sea bass, and he got a 60 pound white sea bass from my boat. Since I'm an old fart, many of my new buddies soon surpass me in physical ability, if not experience, and that's fine with me as long as they don't call my billy-boy.

None of us can speak Italian, none of us can hold our breaths for over 4 minutes, and none of us can dive over 20 meters, but we sure have fun.
 

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i will definitely say that i have yet to even encounter a white sea bass half that size yet. I am certainly no expert, nor am I even very experienced, but I find nothing wrong with learning everything I can..... and I don't give anyone a hard time about it either. i'm certain that if I ever went diving with you or any of your cohorts I'd be in awe of your knowledge of the ocean. But i feel that ability and technique can apply anywhere. And no, I don't make it a habit of diving down to 65 feet, or absurd breath holds, but I want to have the ability to do so, namely because I want to film other spearos in action. My apologies about the whole billy-boy thing. Respect is key here, and that was outta line. Again my bad. I just started this post in hopes of understanding what all the Italian techniques were. It seems that I'm getting flack for wanting to understand them better. I hope soon enough i am rewarded with a sight of sea bass of that caliber. You are surely a knowledgable spearo with years of experience. I believe i will stick to topics that have to do with the immediate surroundings of my dives and this area. That way I will have a better understanding of the techniques that are applicable for the Channel Islands. Sorry for the rude comment.
 
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