How deep do you hunt?

[Marwan]

I am just wondering how deep people normally go for spearfishing, just to get some statistics, also the type of formations you normally hunt around (reef, rock, wrecks, kelp etc...)
I normally go between 10-15 meters (30-50 feet), mainly around reefs/rocks. I just wanted to get a benchmark where that stands,

 

[panosb]

I normally hunt around 10-15m using agguato, but i can safely hunt up to 25m using simplier techniques though. I prefer reefs as it is they very common here in Greece.

There are a lot of guys here that hunt well below 30m!!!!! But you can generally catch excellent fish hunting up to 20m with a very good hunting technique.

 

[portinfer]

Maximum of 14m so far but usual is a gradual range starting with a few aspetto at around 3m - then out to about 6m to 8m (majority of session) and a few dives at 9m to 12m.

This is mostly due to tidal conditions - you have about a two hour period before the tide kicks in fiercely and so to swim from shore to deeper spots would mean that you wouldn't come back to the same spot (or you would be really really knackered ).

Hoping to dive from boats more this year and then maybe dive up to 16m to 20m... who knows.

Mostly dive along the reef/sand border for bass using aspetto.
Some shallow diving in the weed.
Some flatfishing (short repetative searching dives).

I'd be interested to hear whether people dive in one spot or if they go on 'safari' (like an aquatic walk taking in different spots in a circular manner).

Most dives here are 'safari' style - out along the reef - transition over sand to another reef and then back in to shore etc

Ed

 

[Amphibious]

when I'm in the nice warm clear waters of the Redsea/Arabian Gulf I hunt down to 100ft, some times into the 110 range. Reef walls, deeper wrecks, pretty much everything except kelp beds over there.

up here in a 6.5mm wetsuit and 18lb belt, i max out at about 60ft. Kelp beds, rock walls, sandy beaches, etc.

I like it best when the fish are shallow though

 

[Will]

In the Bahamas recently Timo Jattu and I were hunting on an offsea bank between 30-35m. We were using hawaiian slings, so after shooting a fish you had to chase it down, grab it, then haul it to the surface, whilst looking out for reef sharks (which are uncannily aggressive in those waters - ask Timo...)

 

[spaghetti]

max 15mt in the cold season, max 25 in the warm season (I used to go deeper when younger, but then what for?).
Reef (grotto in my language) is my typical hunting environment, and also sandy beaches pointed by algae bushes and rocks, steep walls falling down, rocky caves for the specialty of every italian spearos(pesca in tana).
In the last two weeks I've been spearfishing in just 5 meters due to equalizing problems (are my eardrums growing too old?) and all I've got was congers and mullets.

 

[colt.45]

Due to the thermocline in the lakes around here I rarely have to hunt much past 30-40 feet. In lakes like lake powell though you may have to hunt a little deeper

 

[gert]

Normal around 5m to 20m depends on the vis and the thermocline
also depends on if we are diving from the shore or boat

mostly on reefs and wrecks

 

[Old Man Dave]

Portinfer and me hail from the same location. He's already mentioned the importance of local conditions. Lots of other replies do the same. However lots of other factors come into it.

I've been freediving for 40 years. Most of that time I've never needed to dive deeper than 10 metres and probably couldn't have. Most of my fishing was done in less than 20 foot (6M) and quite a lot in less than 1 metre. Despite this I have been a local champion, caught thousands of fish and held endless records.

Only recently with new blood (like Portinfer) and new equipment and new techniques have people started to go deeper, at least locally. Sometimes going deeper works and sometimes it doesn't.

Dave .

 

[spaghetti]

Good post, Old Man: going deep is not necessary to spear good fish, and may be even dangerous, especially for the young ones who are not conscious of the risks.
I, too, rarely go deeper than 15mt, and when I do it's only for fishes like dentex or groupers, that here in my country are hard to find in shallow waters. Moreover, when I found a grouper in a narrow cave at 20mt, I often leave it there: it would take too many dives to work it out, I wouldn't risk my life for a fish, especially as far as I can have fun as well in a few meters of water.
PS: I've had a "vision" of you, Foxfish, Mr X and me sitting by the fireplace, while outside it's raining, with you telling us about your records. Who knows? I've never been in England, maybe some day...;-)

 

[Marwan]

ok that sounds good, so maybe with the exception of will, who is a champion freediver and amphibious our resident DB team leader, everyone seems to be in the same range, i never actually hoped to go much deeper, maybe down to 25, but i am really focused on improving my bottom time, i can nt stay for more than a few seconds (just enough to take a shot) at 15 meters, normally i have the gun rigged to the float so that i dont have to fight at that depth, i train quite regularly , mainly cardio,running etc... any specific exercises/tips besides mental relaxation that you would recommed for improving bottom time

 

[Amphibious]

Sounds like you're on the right track Marwan. I would take bottom time over depth any day.

 

[MKDVR]

Curious. What would the record be for spearing a fish on a breath hold?

 

[foxfish]

I love to hunt the shallows. I also hunt to catch my tea. Luckily were I live I can successfully stalk the weed beds very often in only inches of water. Of course if I need to dive or fancy a particular species that lives in deeper water, then I dive to my ability to catch them. The main quarry that requires the most strenuous diving routine are flatfish. Unfortunately flatfish are no longer common in our seas. My normal dive last about one & a half hours during witch time I will swim to my chosen hunting ground, sometimes that can be some distance out from the shore. Quite often the swim out is over a sandy bottom in witch case I will do a few exploratory dives to check for flatfish. Even in shallow water I will submerge & lie amongst the weed for my maximum breath hold.
Spaghetti I also have similar visions but I see us four sitting alongside my outdoor open fire in the evening sun awaiting the smoker to return our catch of the day.

 

[spaghetti]

Curious. What would the record be for spearing a fish on a breath hold?

Nothing official, but it is said that this "record" is held by Gabriele Del Bene with a dentex speared at 59 meters, three or four years ago. Another very deep spearo is spanish Alberto March, who reportedly landed fish from 45 meters or even deeper, but Del Bene has a little bit more than March.
An ex competitive freediver and ex member of the italian national spearfishing team, Gabriele is considered the deepest spearo of them all: many stories reported about him.
--Imagine Chuck Norris with a speargun: that's Gabriele Del Bene rofl rofl rofl

 

[portinfer]

Time wise ? Or fish weight ? Depends on fish species.... as for longest timed dive to shoot a fish ... no idea ?!

Marwan - look into the threads on yoga here - I found them useful along with static tables in getting to a level where I have quite good dive times (ranges from 1:15 to 1:40 and occasionally up to 2:30 - most fish on aspetto locally seem to appear after about 0:50 to 1:20 so for me this margin is fine). Strange - at this point I don't do any static tables but seem to be able to dive consitently. But then again I dive quite regularly...

 

[MKDVR]

Time wise ? Or fish weight ? Depends on fish species.... as for longest timed dive to shoot a fish ... no idea ?!

I mean depth. Any fish any size taken successfully. I read somewhere that Pipin has shot fish at 160' for example.

 

[spaghetti]

Nothing official, but it is said that this "record" is held by Gabriele Del Bene with a dentex speared at 59 meters, three or four years ago. Another very deep spearo is spanish Alberto March, who reportedly landed fish from 45 meters or even deeper, but Del Bene has a little bit more than March.
An ex competitive freediver and ex member of the italian national spearfishing team, Gabriele is considered the deepest spearo of them all: many stories reported about him.
--Imagine Chuck Norris with a speargun: that's Gabriele Del Bene rofl rofl rofl

Oops: this "fell" in the previous page.
Recently, Umberto Pelizzari is getting more and nmore involvd in spearing. who knows...

 

[Marwan]

spaghetti, these depths are outrageous, these guys must be part dolphin, part man , thats incredible. i have heard about march, but never about gabriel.
ed i will look into the yoga and static tables.
anyone tried using the book "manual of freediving" i believe umberto is one of th authors, did that help anyone?

 

[Marwan]

also when do you guys normally plan on going inthe water? some people seem to be very fond of early morning dives (getting in the water at dawn), other believe it is bettr at dusk. I think it is the same with scuba diving, people tend to believe that these are the best times, which i believe theoratically makes sense, the biggest fish i ever hunted however were taken in mid day, i do tend to lean towards dusk dives (not too fnd of waking up early on my vacation i guess )
whats your preference