Hi from Portsmouth, UK

[Destructo82]

Hi all,

Completely new to spearfishing. Only been a couple of times so far, Durdle door and Selsey. Only 3 fish for the table yet, but loving every minute of it. I seem to have a good enough understanding of the water and conditions, but I have a lot to learn when it comes to hunting techniques. I've spent my working life in the marine industry so seem to be able to pick the conditions that should yield good vis and safe diving, but need to put the hours into understanding fish behavior more.

Anyways, I'm here to absorb as much knowledge from the community as possible, and more than happy to buddy up on local dives if anyone else is local and keen.

Thanks,

Greg.

 

[rollerGR]

welcome!
try doing brief ambushes. also some agguato (moving from ambush spot to a nearby ambush spot while on the bottom)
what gun are you using, what setup, and for what kind of fish?

 

[Destructo82]

welcome!
try doing brief ambushes. also some agguato (moving from ambush spot to a nearby ambush spot while on the bottom)
what gun are you using, what setup, and for what kind of fish?

Hi, thanks for the advice, I need as much as I can soak up!

I've got a setup that Spearfishing UK suggested. 85cm Salvimar Ares Nightmare. I've rigged it with twin 14's and double wrap mono. I don't really have anything to compare it to, but I like it!

Mainly bass and mullet in my area plus oodles and oodles of Wrasse when I was in Dorset. Small pollock too, so I'm guessing deeper dives that are beyond my skill yet may eventually yield bigger pollock. The ground varies around me but a mixture of weed and rock generally. I've not gone to a mark more than 7m deep yet as I need to build up the ability to stay down longer. My static apnea isn't too bad but dynamic is crap, I'm obvs inefficient.

Vis is generally crap in my area but after a couple of days of light offshore breeze then it can be pretty good. Of the 2 spearfishing trips I've done so far, only one was local. I had roughly 6m vis around big boulder groynes off a sandy shore and there were really big bass hanging out tucked deep in the boulder pile. The other mark was in Dorset after a long spell of dry weather and it was amazing, well over 15m vis. I want that everytime .

Good shout ref practicing Agguato. I take my daughter snorkelling at Kimmeridge bay sometimes. You can't fish it, but the ground there would be a great spot for me to practice slowly moving round the weed and rock ledges. I'll do that next time we can head out that way.

Got any tips on being more oxygen efficient once I'm on the bottom?

 

[rollerGR]

Hi, thanks for the advice, I need as much as I can soak up!

I've got a setup that Spearfishing UK suggested. 85cm Salvimar Ares Nightmare. I've rigged it with twin 14's and double wrap mono. I don't really have anything to compare it to, but I like it!

Mainly bass and mullet in my area plus oodles and oodles of Wrasse when I was in Dorset. Small pollock too, so I'm guessing deeper dives that are beyond my skill yet may eventually yield bigger pollock. The ground varies around me but a mixture of weed and rock generally. I've not gone to a mark more than 7m deep yet as I need to build up the ability to stay down longer. My static apnea isn't too bad but dynamic is crap, I'm obvs inefficient.

Vis is generally crap in my area but after a couple of days of light offshore breeze then it can be pretty good. Of the 2 spearfishing trips I've done so far, only one was local. I had roughly 6m vis around big boulder groynes off a sandy shore and there were really big bass hanging out tucked deep in the boulder pile. The other mark was in Dorset after a long spell of dry weather and it was amazing, well over 15m vis. I want that everytime .

Good shout ref practicing Agguato. I take my daughter snorkelling at Kimmeridge bay sometimes. You can't fish it, but the ground there would be a great spot for me to practice slowly moving round the weed and rock ledges. I'll do that next time we can head out that way.

Got any tips on being more oxygen efficient once I'm on the bottom?

yeah i personally dont sit completely straight when laying down for aspetto and will kind of slightly hunch forward to relieve some pressure off my stomach. also i try to keep the air somewhere in the lungs instead of the stomach, which is sucked in a bit, but without using muscles to contract it (so not much)

other than that, not turning your head left/right all the time. burns oxygen and produces sound
good buoyancy control so you don't have to grab any rocks to stay down

besides that it's a matter of practice. it differs from dive to dive also, other dives I can do nearly 2min easily because i'm waiting for some sargo in front of me to get close and other times there is nothing moving and i see no point in staying down there, and feel my breath running out around the 40-50sec mark. this could be two dives apart, same day. there's really no fixed number

make sure your surface recovery time is good, 2x minimum of dive time

for any more technical advice i suggest taking freediving courses

your setup sounds good, double wrap seems a bit much if you have a reel but that's preference and not a hard rule
assuming it's not with a 7mm shaft but something lighter

 

[Destructo82]

yeah i personally dont sit completely straight when laying down for aspetto and will kind of slightly hunch forward to relieve some pressure off my stomach. also i try to keep the air somewhere in the lungs instead of the stomach, which is sucked in a bit, but without using muscles to contract it (so not much)

other than that, not turning your head left/right all the time. burns oxygen and produces sound
good buoyancy control so you don't have to grab any rocks to stay down

besides that it's a matter of practice. it differs from dive to dive also, other dives I can do nearly 2min easily because i'm waiting for some sargo in front of me to get close and other times there is nothing moving and i see no point in staying down there, and feel my breath running out around the 40-50sec mark. this could be two dives apart, same day. there's really no fixed number

make sure your surface recovery time is good, 2x minimum of dive time

for any more technical advice i suggest taking freediving courses

your setup sounds good, double wrap seems a bit much if you have a reel but that's preference and not a hard rule
assuming it's not with a 7mm shaft but something lighter

That's sound advice, I'm too inefficient with my oxygen usage for sure. Need to slow right down. I expect I'm jerky with my head motion too, looking left and right all the time in an attempt not to miss anything. I guess not only does that use oxygen but it probably spooks fish too.

I'm not using a reel, just a 1.8mm monofilimant shooting line double wrapped with muzzle bungee. 7mm finned spear. Is that too heavy? Should I consider 6.5mm perhaps?

 

[rollerGR]

That's sound advice, I'm too inefficient with my oxygen usage for sure. Need to slow right down. I expect I'm jerky with my head motion too, looking left and right all the time in an attempt not to miss anything. I guess not only does that use oxygen but it probably spooks fish too.

I'm not using a reel, just a 1.8mm monofilimant shooting line double wrapped with muzzle bungee. 7mm finned spear. Is that too heavy? Should I consider 6.5mm perhaps?

i'm trying to remember how i was moving when i first started, i think besides being tense (we need to have all our limbs as non-tense as possible, all muscles basically) i probably moved abruptly. now my diving looks a lot more like moving in slow motion. so try to do that, move in slow motion right after the duck dive. no quick finning etc.
think of it like getting on the bed to sleep and having to turn to the other shoulder, it won't be a quick move. there's really no rush to roll over to the other shoulder hahaha
check your finning technique as well, this depends on your fins' blade angle. try to force yourself to have good technique especially on the return, when tired

7mm is too heavy yeah. 6,5mm + 2x14,5 is the standard here for that kind of setup. beginner setups are usually 85-90cm with 1x17,5 + 6,5mm.
you could go with 6,75 as well since it's hard to bend (assuming it's 17-4 type steel, heat treated) and will be better than 7mm in just about anything. 7mm really doesnt offer anything, its too heavy for that setup and increases recoil without adding range (if anything it reduces useful range due to low speed)
if you dont hit rocks then 6,5 would be better. all the fish you listed can be taken with a 6,5 shaft especially if the bands are snappy (like sigal extreme or some red ones made by dunlop)

i looked up the salvi nightmare and from what i see it has some good mass on it. if it is around 2kg without the shaft then it can handle more powerful setups in the future.

i'd suggest getting used to a small reel eventually. it's not really needed and i wasn't using one for years when i started but it's nice to have one because you can surface comfortably after hitting a fish. gives a certain peace of mind

 

[Destructo82]

i'm trying to remember how i was moving when i first started, i think besides being tense (we need to have all our limbs as non-tense as possible, all muscles basically) i probably moved abruptly. now my diving looks a lot more like moving in slow motion. so try to do that, move in slow motion right after the duck dive. no quick finning etc.
think of it like getting on the bed to sleep and having to turn to the other shoulder, it won't be a quick move. there's really no rush to roll over to the other shoulder hahaha
check your finning technique as well, this depends on your fins' blade angle. try to force yourself to have good technique especially on the return, when tired

7mm is too heavy yeah. 6,5mm + 2x14,5 is the standard here for that kind of setup. beginner setups are usually 85-90cm with 1x17,5 + 6,5mm.
you could go with 6,75 as well since it's hard to bend (assuming it's 17-4 type steel, heat treated) and will be better than 7mm in just about anything. 7mm really doesnt offer anything, its too heavy for that setup and increases recoil without adding range (if anything it reduces useful range due to low speed)
if you dont hit rocks then 6,5 would be better. all the fish you listed can be taken with a 6,5 shaft especially if the bands are snappy (like sigal extreme or some red ones made by dunlop)

i looked up the salvi nightmare and from what i see it has some good mass on it. if it is around 2kg without the shaft then it can handle more powerful setups in the future.

i'd suggest getting used to a small reel eventually. it's not really needed and i wasn't using one for years when i started but it's nice to have one because you can surface comfortably after hitting a fish. gives a certain peace of mind

Great, thank you. I'll have a look for a 6.5mm shaft for it. As it goes I asked the lady at Spearfishing UK if I should get a thinner shaft when I bought it, but she said the 7mm that came with the gun was what I'd want to shoot...maybe she knew I'd hit a lot of rocks .

This weekend I'm heading out for a sunrise session with a buddy that is getting back into spearfishing after years away from it. I'll make a point of slowing down and trying to be efficient with my movement.

Thanks for all the sage advice, it's always good to get tips from someone who knows.

 

[SDC79]

If you can make it up to Woking you're welcome to train with us. We have a couple of spearfishermen, and we can help you with efficiency of movement and improving your breath-hold.

 

[Destructo82]

If you can make it up to Woking you're welcome to train with us. We have a couple of spearfishermen, and we can help you with efficiency of movement and improving your breath-hold.

That's a great offer, thank you. What club, and when do you meet?

 

[SDC79]

That's a great offer, thank you. What club, and when do you meet?

We meet on Thursday evenings. Send me a direct message and I'll provide full details tomorrow.

 

[SDC79]

No response received yet...if you're still interested, e-mail me at fdc.club.website@gmail.com. No problem if not.