Fish on Belt...yay or nay

[settingsteel]

Regardindg another thread about a recent shark attack, while spearo had fish strung to his belt...I got around to thinking what the forums methods are?

I personally string fish on my belt, and after a few fish have been harvested, I swim over to the boat and ice'em. I never carry a half dead fish, I ike jime it and I quickly gut it (usually all in one motion:martialala Chuck N. taught me the way)...I've never had a shark attack, haraasment or otherwise (not counting a tiny moral eel incident-ay)...whats your views?

[EDIT] I also put an "other" if you vote that I'd like to know what your "other" is, hell we'd all like to knowrofl

 

[podge]

Nice one Tone, this ought to be interesting.
If I’m on the boat I do the same as you, string to myself. But if I shore dive I always keep the stringer on the float and tow the fish behind me.
So I guess I must be “other” as I do a bit of both.

 

[Amphibious]

in BC and in freshwater I'll belt carry my catch. when I lived & dove in warmer climes where there were big bitey things in the water I always kept them on the boat or at the end of my floatline.

I've had a few good tugs on my floatline over the years, only to come back and find only the head of my recent catch left on the stringer.

 

[spaghetti]

Being highly unlikely to be attacked by a shark in my area, I keep them on my stringer EXCEPT eels: my most horrible nightmare is the idea of a moray eel bite my genitals. :blackeye
So even if it's stoned, killed and butched I put the moray in the on purpose "eel stringer" attached to the float because what IF it's not dead, and it's very angry hanging so close to my precious genitals?.... genitals genitals genitals yeah it must be something related to ...genitals

 

[Erik]

Buahaha, spag you kill me!

 

[Bill McIntyre]

I take every fish back to the boat for two reasons.

First I almost never shoot a fish that wouldn't hinder my diving if it were attached to me.

Second, I'm worried about something grabbing the fish and pulling me down, but its not sharks I worry about. In coastal waters of Southern California, our main worry is great whites, and I think they are more interested in mammals like me than a fish.

But sea lions can be very aggressive and fight us for our fish. A dive buddy was cleaning a fish on the swimstep of my boat and a large bull sea lion took it right out of his hands. Another guy I know had a yellowtail attached to his belt and a sea lion grabbed it and pulled him down to 70 feet. I might not have survived the trip.

 

[settingsteel]

Being highly unlikely to be attacked by a shark in my area, I keep them on my stringer EXCEPT eels: my most horrible nightmare is the idea of a moray eel bite my genitals. :blackeye

hmmm sounds to familiar http://forums.deeperblue.com/florida-east-coast/76347-my-horror-story-whats-yours.html

But sea lions can be very aggressive and fight us for our fish. A dive buddy was cleaning a fish on the swimstep of my boat and a large bull sea lion took it right out of his hands. Another guy I know had a yellowtail attached to his belt and a sea lion grabbed it and pulled him down to 70 feet.

Dang Bill never thought about that, as in Miami only the Seaquarium has them...can see how they can put a crimper or your day.

btw its not the first time I hear or see first hand a stringer attached to float thats been mauled

 

[monchan]

I keep them with me, I only shore dive. Where I live in JApan Sharks are not common,
least not the biggies. I see a few. Though nothing to give me the hebie jebies and as I have almost every morning free, if I get a big one(s) so that I can't swim I just go home.
But then again I have the luxury of living within 10 mins. of my fav. spot.

 

[Mr. X]

I normally carry my fish on a float stringer - not much risk of shark attack here, more concerned about having the stringer get caught while underwater, as I usually spear alone.

Last year I got an Omer stringer, with a monofilament "string" (so that it can be cut in an emergency), which seems the perfect size/stiffness for a belt stringer & it easily loops over one end & then goes around my back & the spike slips in behind a weight on t'other side, or through the buckle. I haven't used it that much yet (I keep forgetting I have it on). However, the spike often fell out, with & without fish. I think the Daparin needle-like end-spike would solve that but the pin I have is drilled in the middle. So I glued & strapped a slim plastic pipe to the end dive-weight to act as a sheath this year - we'll see if that helps. I will probably limit my use of the belt stringer to certain specific conditions/locations. However, I think the belt stringer helped me nail a bass, which came in twice to look at the large mullet on my belt stringer as I slide slowly down a groove, crossing a barrier reef in turbulent water -- they never do that normally, not for me anyway!

Float stringer:
+ safer
. + safer around sharks/seals/seal lions (but a floating fish box safer still)
. + less chance of snags while diving
+ bigger, better iki spike (on mine anyway)
+ strung fish attract curious fish to float, above diver (sometimes)
+ no drag from fish while diving

Belt stringer:
+ quicker (close at hand)
+ strung fish provide camo
+ strung fish attract other curious fish to diver
+ cheaper (mine was anyway)

 

[Mr. X]

...
But sea lions can be very aggressive and fight us for our fish. A dive buddy was cleaning a fish on the swimstep of my boat and a large bull sea lion took it right out of his hands. Another guy I know had a yellowtail attached to his belt and a sea lion grabbed it and pulled him down to 70 feet. I might not have survived the trip.

Scary! We don't have sea lions but we do have a few seals. It is easy to think of them as being the size of a dog but I saw one off Dorset a year or so back (a more unusual sight than in Cornwall) and I thought it was a SCUBA diver at first but realised it was way too big -- certainly much bigger than my SCUBA instructor colleage who is probably over 250lb. It had been my most productive day fishing up until then but I'd already finished spearing and was doing some spinning. The anglers immediately packed up and left when they saw it!

 

[Jonny250]

I voted 'Other' as i used to always use a float, then i saw how liberating it was to use a belt stringer and the freedom of no float, but now i think i generally prefer the safety of a float - when i start hearing propellers turning... and the convenience of having somewhere to put the gun when i want to take photos - gun/camera mounts are good, but not for macro photography!
We dont have many sharks to worry about, but what about the seals - i had one bump under my kayak last weekend and something bumped into me last time i was in the water - it was dark and gave me a real shock - and i didnt even have any fish!

 

[KWM]

I'm in the bit of both camp. On the belt for quickness then transferring them to the float or boat when I have the time. Obviously sharks are not a problem on the south coast, but a friend was grabed from behind and pulled throught the water by a big bull seal while diving of Falmouth.

A friend also told me about the time he crawled under and old piece of wreckage to spear Bass, took the shot, was trying to reverse out but found that his belt stringer had got caught on a spar that was sticking out above him. luckily he did not panic, dropped his belt and was able to surface.

Kev

 

[settingsteel]

Great input keep'em coming:friday

 

[foxfish]

I use all methods depending on the type of hunting rather than anything else.
Hunting shallow weed beds make a float a real hindrance so I use my belt, hunting bays with windsurfers make a float essential so I hang my fish on it.
We have developed all sorts of stringers, perhaps the best is when the fish are held tight to the small of the back? (obviously no sharks around here)

 

[Marwan]

Float stringer:
+ safer
. + safer around sharks/seals/seal lions (but a floating fish box safer still)
. + less chance of snags while diving
+ bigger, better iki spike (on mine anyway)
+ strung fish attract curious fish to float, above diver (sometimes)
+ no drag from fish while diving

Belt stringer:
+ quicker (close at hand)
+ strung fish provide camo
+ strung fish attract other curious fish to diver
+ cheaper (mine was anyway)

A speed stringer and float gets the best of both worlds, thats what i use...unless you are always diving in caves like the med (where a float setup wont work and you use a reel)..i dont see an issue

 

[Bill McIntyre]

Scary! We don't have sea lions but we do have a few seals.

We have harbor seals as well as sea lions, but I've never seen a seal be aggressive. They seem to be more inclined to make love, grasping our fins to their chests with their flippers, trying to touch their noses to our masks, etc.

 

[sunfish]

I voted other. I use a belt stringer but whenever I get near my kayak I chuck any fish/crabs etc. into the "tankwell". We've a lot of seals round here but they don't seem too forward so if I'm using a float I feel that the catch is safer on my belt.

 

[Mr. X]

A speed stringer and float gets the best of both worlds, thats what i use...unless you are always diving in caves like the med (where a float setup wont work and you use a reel)..i dont see an issue

Yes, I really should try that. I guess I worry about disconnecting my gun from the float line while faffing around stringing a fish. I guess if the spear is still in the fish, then the gun should float.

I used to have a heck of a time opening those big RA Orca clips, then one day it occurred to me that if I turn it around and rest my thumb against the double side - instead of using it to press against the single wire of the gate - it would be a whole lot easier & less painful. It really makes a huge difference! I guess I could use one of my anodized Clogg Wales krabs, they're super-easy to open.

My other concerns are mullet (probably the majority of my catch last year), which have a reputation for tearing off of stringers but perhaps that would be less likely with a thick float line? And having a float line covered in fish gunk (flash-back to catching plate-size, slime covered freshwater bream).

Do you use a speed needle at/near the gun end and one of those spear-flopper devices up by the float?

 

[Amphibious]

my favorite belt stringer. 400# mono, couple crimps and a clip for the d-ring on my belt. the mono is more then stiff enough to slide through gills/mouth and you don't hae any rigid or sharp bits to stick yourself with

 

[Marwan]

yes Mr X thats the exact one i use..Another tip for you..I always make sure the fish is totally dead before putting through the stringer, not only will that be a pain, detaching from your gun and having a thrashing fish..if the fish is still alive and kicking, it will A- attract sharks (for those in sharky areas) B - Can swin to the bottom, if your in a shallow area and tangle your float line against rocks..
you only detach for a brief few seconds anyway