help with Buddy pairs for spearfishing

[richiedubya]

Hi! i ave been spearfishing alone for a little while in the Uk and my father has expressed an intrest in the sport. My worrie is that whilst hunting we may get separated and end up facing each other in th water, the problem in the Uk is that the vis can some times be less than the range of the gun, could any one offer us any advice on spearfishing as a buddy pair.
Thans in advance
Richie.

 

[trux]

When diving or spearfishing, the safest way is "always only one diver down". The other should watch and follow him from surface and be ready to pull him out in case of blackout or samba. Since your surface intervals should be 2 or 3 time the time of the apnea time, from the timing point of view there is no problem. The only problem is that usually divers do not want to bother with the care about the buddy, but prefer looking for fish on their own instead.

 

[josedesucre]

"the problem in the Uk is that the vis can some times be less than the range of the gun, could any one offer us any advice on spearfishing as a buddy pair".

While searching, keep your gun always pointing down. Aim forward only when you have a fish in front of you and you are sure your buddy is not behind the fish.
The problem you are having, with such a poor visibility, is the same problem land hunters frequently face. and there is a lot of accidental shootings in hunting. That is why, instead of camouflage clothing, many wear bright orange vests. Maybe you and your buddy should adopt the same tactic, for safety. Good luck.

 

[Dobs]

While searching, keep your gun always pointing down. Aim forward only when you have a fish in front of you and you are sure your buddy is not behind the fish.

Although this sounds very reasonable, I doubt it will be a successful hunt if you point your gun only when you see fish. In bad viz you often have just a second to aim and shoot, so you should point your gun in the direction from which the fish is expected to appear.
I very often hunt in bad viz and the thing I do is keep the gun pointed to the front and just ignore any movements coming from the sides. If I see a fish that is not swimming in front of my gun I see no point in turning the gun because there will be not enough time to turn, aim and shoot anyway.
As for safety, Trux' advise is the best, but sometimes it is not very good for the hunting. For wary fish like sea bass for example the noise coming from your buddy’s snorkel or finning on the surface can alert the fish no matter how silent and stealthy you are underwater.
When I dive with a buddy in bad viz we always use buoys attached to our bodies (weightbelts). We constantly check each others' positions before every next dive. And most important we keep a safe distance of some 100 metres.
Hope this helps.

 

[miles]

Hiya

Its quite simple actually. Both of you will be using floats. So simply keep an eye on where your partners float is and you'll be ok!!

Sadly, last week, a spearo here shot his buddy in the neck. Luckily he survived. Also happed in bad visibily. He thought his partner was a large fish...........

Be safe!!

Regards
miles

 

[richiedubya]

thanks alot for all the advice it has been a great help.
kind regards
Richie.

 

[spaghetti]

I second both Trux and Miles. The "One up and one down" is probably the safest way (but boring: everyone you should place safety before fun, but...). Personally I use the float system when I hunt with my buddies, also because using a float is mandatory by law in my country (the bounty is 1.032 euro if the Coast Guard finds you diving without a regular float or buoy).
We watch for each other after every dive, and communicate with visual signs ("ok", "help", "follow me", "your wife is in bed with another" et cetera).

 

[Spaniard]

Safest way is one diver down, one diver up AND share the one gun between you. I rarely dive in close proximity to another diver in the UK, for a number of reasons, but I ALWAYS dive well within my limitations, depth, bottom time and surface interval if relevant.

 

[miles]

Hiya

The sad part of spearfishing is that it is a individual sport. Very, very few divers dive properly with their buddies. The only exception being when spearo's are diving in very deep water. Other than that, most of the time, each diver simply goes his own way.

When we dive in 5-12m of water, each diver goes his own way, keeping the occational eye on your buddies. I enjoy the solitude of being alone and stalking fish with-out having a buddy crash dive on top of me. We often also differ on which spots are more productive, which normally leads to each one going his own way and then later comparing catchs with the obligatory "i told you my spot would be better"!!

Bottom line is simply, dive well with-in your limits and when diving deep water spots ALWAYS work one up one down.

Regards
miles

 

[Pinggene]

My son & I dive together frequently, but in shallower water. We are able to see each other most of the time, and check with each other after every dive. At least one of us has a bouy attached (the law).

One thing we did which worked pretty cool was a planned "fish drive". One diver remained motionless in a spot with cover (where we knew the fish would like to go for safety), and the other diver started a ways away and slowly swam towards the motionless one. The fish would keep a safe distance from the moving diver, but eventually came within shooting distance of the motionless one. Kinda cool...again, this was in shallow water.

Another method, similar to driving, was to have one go through the shallows, while the otherone went along a nearby dropoff. As the diver in the shallows spooked fish, they would natrually want to go deep, and would many times cross the path of the one along the dropoff.

With any method...safety, safety, safety must always be on everyone's mind. Never shoot unless you are sure of your target & beyond. If you are not sure of where your buddy is, then you don't know if your buddy is or is not behind the fish...don't shoot. A Friday fish fry is not worth it! :naughty

Gene

 

[richiedubya]

Thanks guys! all the advice was much appreciated.