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How to Kill A Cobia

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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Originally posted by Jay Styron
After the shot I would dump all the air out of my BC, less chance of getting positive and rocketing up during the fight. Hope this helps.
Jay

Enter Crazy Bastard #2! :blackeye
LOL!
I actually haven't scubadived for 4 years I think....scares me too much.
Yes I've done 50 metres, but you wouldn't catch me with a gun and a 2 metre fish on the end of it down there. Too much of a :ko
Good luck and stay safe,
you don't want to end up :crutch
;)
Erik Y.
 
Cobia:
Good fun,
good meat,
good god lets eat.

when i worked in the scientific centre, a big aquarium hee in kuwait were oddly enough they have cobia, all under 10 kilos, we had a rouge one that had to be taken out. i volunteered.
it came at 8.5 kilos and was one tough cookie. crazy little bastard was harasing the sand tiger sharks.
 
When on scuba, the techique I use on small ones is a combo of what jay and rig diver said... go for the gills (quick) and then I hold on to the spear, dump the vest and ride the them to the bottom (watching out for those spines!!!). You are then in a position to place a knife if they are still kicking...
The trick I think, if you don't stone them is to bring them in QUICK... no slack, just bring em straight in before they can think. At least this is what works for me although the ones around here are not 5 foot (more like 2.5-3 ) and the depth for them is normally about 20-25 meters which I think is about 70-80 feet I think.
 
NESIM is right.Scuba diving and fishing doesn't go together.
Know one thing, the fish you can catch while holding your breath you can't even see it on scuba.At least this is what happens on Greece and during day-time.If can't get the fish in free diving change hobby.You can play chess or video games!!!
 
Miker- first, welcome to the forum. But you should qualify your statements w/, "it's my opinion...".
I shoot fish freediving and on scuba. Mostly I use scuba in places where due to current, depth or low viz it would be impossible to fish other wise. You may say this should be a natural refuge but I say selective spearfishing is already a conservation tool. Contrary to somewhat popular belief a lot of game fish don't stick around and look at you when you're on scuba.
I prefer to hunt freediving but it's not always an option for me. Every location is different as is the attitude of the area for spearfishing. I know a lot of rod and reel fishermen that would love to have spearfishing banned, freediving or scuba. Are they right in their attitude? No more than I believe you are but I respect your opinion. I would like to see discussions like this backed up w/ facts not knee jerk reactions to a topic.
Jay
 
Originally posted by Jay Styron
Miker- first, welcome to the forum. But you should qualify your statements w/, "it's my opinion...".

<edited for length>

I would like to see discussions like this backed up w/ facts not knee jerk reactions to a topic.
Jay

Exactly, it's my opinion that deep trimix spearfishing (below about 40 meters) is actually a new sport different to free diving and normal scuba spearfishing.

If you read the exchange between me and Iyadiver it's clear that it has a whole bunch of specific and unique techniques. It's not like 'strap on our tank, go sit on the reef and slaughter all the fish til your air runs out'.

I actually enjoy the dive planning and logistics as much as actually nailing the fish. The greatly increased risk in this kind of hunting is also exciting for me. Because the dives are serious decompression dives it is possible the hunter would be crippld or worse if he were ascend immediately to te surface in the case of a problem.
 
MIKER,

Yes, me a scuba spearo is not as macho as you are a freediver.
Yes, me use air bottles to assist myself , not as cool as apnea....yes....yes...yes.

I know this very traditional spearfisherman. He uses no fins, no mask and just a pole spear. He freedives, he gets fishes (reef fishes ). This guys is as natural as anyone can get with the sea. He is the coolest spearo I know. Perhaps if he sees other freedivers with fancy mask and fins, he will think that is not macho ?

Come on, give us a break will ya. This area of the forum have no mention of "STRICTLY FREEDIVE HUNTING". We are here to share information not critisize each other. Doesn't mean I use a tank and I get to be an unethical spearo. It is up to the individual to be self discipline. Do you think chumming is a good thing, killing small fishes to just help you kill another bigger fish ? It is an accepted method, so is scuba spearing in some parts of the world.

Now, if my fishes hang at 48 meters/160 feet, how am I ever going to shoot one on apnea ? So I can't shoot fish to eat just because my fishes hang too deep ? Man creates tools to help himself. Is your mask, fins and speargun not a modern tool ? If you need to take a boat out to hunt, is not a boat a modern tool ?
Is your float not a tool to help land a big fish ?

Learn to scuba, come to my Doggie Territory, maybe after that you will realize that you and a scuba spearo is just another spearo after the same goal.....FISH.



DOYLE,

So where's the fish Datok Doyle ? Any luck yet ?

Deep diving on scuba and shooting fish....HELL DIVERS, that's their speciality. 200 feet to them is normal....damn, I will faint at that depth.

Doyle, I hunt up to 48 meters/160 feet on air and single tank. However, lately I stick at 140 feet/ 42 meters, if possible I stay shallower. I try to avoid decompression if possible. If I do decompress, I will stay at 3-5 minutes maximum and that is also on the last two dives. I do 5 dives in a day with the average of 140 feet. Since I get decompression first instead of low on air, a single tank is enough.

My favourite hunting area is one shot per dive, that's it. This is Dog Tooth Tuna territory. I can dive 5 times a day and not pulling a single trigger. You can't use a twin tank here because we perform wait & chase, twin tank too bulky for fast acceleration.

We wait at 120-140 feet. The doggie will come and swim at the bottom of 175 feet, they come from the corner which is 250 feet. This is only possible if the current is at the "correct" direction. At the opposite current direction, the Doggie will hang deep and will sound deep when we make a chase. Once we spotted the doggie hovering at 175 feet, we sprint as fast as possible while keeping ourself on top of the Doggie. At 155-160 feet while chasing, we fire downwards. If you are lucky, the Doggie will maintain its course and does not speed up. You need a 20-23 feet range speargun here if you want the 15kg/33lbs upwards size, this is the closest distance you can get to it, speartip to fish. This is why I am using the Metal Tech 3 with 6 x 9/16 bands shooting 3/8 shaft, 4 double wraps shooting cable.

The smaller under 10kg/22 lbs Doggies are approachable sometimes but we don't target them, they also hang with the bait fishes at 120 feet. This size is for my newbie friends. My core group of hunters only shoot the bigger ones, the bigger the better they taste, more oil in the meat and the meat is more red than white...YUM YUM....:p

Over the years my core group have matured well and we are very specific on the size and species we shoot. Different area offers different specific target. This Doggie territory has tons of jacks and snappers sometime but when we hunt this place, we only go for the Doggies. Later when you hunt more often, you will be more chossy on the size and species you shoot. It is better not to shoot the fish that doesn't fit your specification, than just to shoot because there is a fish to shoot.

We ( my core group ) can harvest this doggie area easily if we want to but we want to be able to hunt for as long as our health and age allows, thus we are very choosy. The drill is simple, if there is no big Dogie that fits the spec, we don't shoot at all. On the last dive or when we run out of bottom time while there are still fishes, we make one shot on a small available doggie, we must bring home something to eat too. So one guy brings home one small doggie. Population controls works and we don't take more than we need.

This place of mine is 3 out 5 chance. In 5 dives, usually only 3 dives will show Doggies, sometime only 2 dives. Funny place.
Our harvest ratio is very poor. Only 1 out of 4 trips will be decent, only 1 out of ten trips will be excellent. Only 1 out of 20 trips will be superb. This place is 2nd location I got within 5 hours drive by car from my home and another 1 hour by boat which still hides Doggies. I have another location in the Indian Ocean which is far by boat from Jakarta, 125 nmiles one way. Logistic nightmare and make me broke. We have our own boat ( not mine ), but burning 3,000 liter/780 US gallons of fuel each trip is heavy on the pocket for 4 divers. Yes. many times we bring zero fish too from this place. Java island is totally screwed, over harvested, over bombed and over cynide-ded, not many good area to go.

There is this friend of mine who never been to this Doggie territory. He just bought a used Riffe Standard #4, 4 x 16mm bands and 3/8 shaft. No reel, no float. On the first dive of the day, he shot a 30kg+ doggie at 160 feet. This guy is very fit and strong. He got dragged to 230 feet, pull up the fish again to 160 feet and got dragged again to 230 feet....that's when he decided to give the gun away to the fish. Lucky he did not pass out from the over exertion or 02 poisoning. His Alladin computer went ERROR immedately.... ha ha ha. So he did a 30 minutes emergency decompression.

There is another funny story, when my friends who have hunted often with me, goes to eastern Indonesia's remote area where there are still tons of fish....and fishes will actually swim to check you out....they don't like it. They won't shooot the fishes, they said it is not sporting...:D They are so used to shy and must-chase-a-fish area, they get frustrated when fishes come to check them out and 2 meters to their spear tips.

This is what happens to me in a few of Dubai oil rigs. There I was with my MT3 with 6 bands, I thought I will see giants Spanish Mackerel. It was not the season. I ended up shooting only one jack which Indonesia does not have the species type and shoot video for the rest of the dive. I can even get fish there on freedive....easy. For such a lousy apnea guy I am, there is simply too much fish and of no fear to divers. I should have brought my MT Zero and 9/32" Hawaiian shaft, it is more than adequate. It was an eye opener trip to see the rich and beautiful Dubai but not a spearfishing experience I would ever want to repeat.

Next time come to Jakarta. Leave your Riffe at home, travelling with speargun in Asia is shitty, very shitty. I have a few spearguns. You can use my 4 banded Standard #2. A bit shorter than your C3 but decent power. You can try my Doggie territory and I am sure you will like it, provided there is fish...:D ..it is no guarantee however....:confused:

IYA
 
Originally posted by Nesim
:head

i give up

:hmm

Don't give up yet Nesi - we haven't even begun on the proper use of the .44 calibre powerhead in the warm-water coral-reef environment .:D
 
Originally posted by Iyadiver

Now, if my fishes hang at 48 meters/160 feet, how am I ever going to shoot one on apnea ?
IYA


simple dude, you will call Erik to shoot them for yarofl rofl
 
Murat, may I design a 50 meter long snorkel instead.......:D :duh

And for whoever the dude who bombed me with negative karma for this Cobia post....I thank you so very much.......:D....Gracias, Arigato.......childish back stabber....ha ha ha. Sometime some people just can't take civilized arguement....my my....:t
 
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Originally posted by Iyadiver


DOYLE,

So where's the fish Datok Doyle ? Any luck yet ?

Not yet but I did nail 3 coral trout and 2 red snapper on a single dive last week. Not so big fish but very enak.

Am having a little bit of trouble getting a charter to the Cobia wreck so had planned instead to go this weekend to - a supertanker wreck in the South China Sea - but last weekend the crazy indos waited there and captured one of my main competitor's dive boats for being (allegedly) less than 0.5 nm inside their territory and at last check, still had 30 well-heeled customers locked up in Batam in the navy brig as illegal immigrants.

This has scared off charters to there so this weekend am heading to the wreck of a battleship where have also seen Cobia's but also massive sweetlips (approx 15kg) and coral trout (7-10 kg). I'll be after a couple of these. I've only seen the cobias on this wreck in mid-water, not near the wreck or near the bottom, so with nothing to hook into I probably won't risk a shot.

I have made a few changes to gear though based on all the good advice I got here. First, I crimped a line from the shooting line to the stock to take the pressure off the pigtail. Second, I crimped 2 stainless steel double-ender dog clips to either end of 15' of 1000'lb line. My idea is to roll this up secured with 2 twist-ties (like for trash bags) and clip one end to the butt of the gun (pass through the hole and clip back onto the line) and the other end to something handy on the wreck. This way I can shoot and drop the gun should need be. I figure I have a lot less chance getting entangled this way than I would if I let the fish run out 100' of line off the reel.

The other thing I am working on is affixing a 10 w HID light head to the bottom of the stock so I can light up the fishies if they are under the wreck in the dark or at night. I know you can spotlight barracudas like rabbits with a light, but i have never really tried with other fish. If that works the next thing will be a laser sight ;)

Am super keen to come and nail some of your doggies - we take a rest during the monsoon from November - February - let me know if you've got something going.

I hope if I come all the way back to Indo there will be the chance for some ayam kampung as well as fish ;)
 
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Datok Doyle,

If you don't want to get harassed here, you can try www.spearboard.com where the site is for scuba spearo. They can give you lots of advice too because they hunt the same.

Why would my Navy arrest your competitor's boat ?
Don't you guys stop over at Batam and get passport chop plus sailing permit ? Technically if you sail direct from Malaysia or Singapore without getting into Batam for immigration, the navy can suck your pocket dry cause you are violating Indo territory.
The same will happen to any Indo boat going into Malaysia or Singapore hush hush. Indo has a unique law where all foreign pleasure craft or semi commercial like dive boats must get a sailing permit. In Jakarta area it is a piece of paper with 3 months validity. In the Riau area, you get a book and it is valid for a year. I know immigration will take more time, but crossing into another country you got no choice. Even Singapore now, you must fax PSA 48 hours ahead of your arrival if on a pleasure craft. After the 9-11 everything is very tight. Now the Indo navy is buying more and more 36 meter patrol crafts, you guys will have more trouble in the later years.

The people at Raffles Marina in Singapore knows Batam Navy well. Talk to some of them to get help. One of the boss of Raffles Marina, Mr Francis Lee has made many trips to Anambas without a glitch, all with proper paper of course.

I am going to a supposedly damn hot spot this 23rd October for 4 days battle. It is 800+ miles away from Jakarta.

I go all year round, weather permitting of course but there is always a weather window even on Nov-Feb. I'll let you know.
I'm diving my Doggie Territory this Thursday. Last Friday I was there but nothing VERY big and lost two medium size Doggies. I have not eaten Doggies for months...:head.

There is this bastard grouper of 100+ KG always waiting for a free meal there, I hate that fish but I pity it. I almost lost a complete gun because one of its another gigantic cousin swallowed my 15kg Doggie last year and taking my gun along with it. At one time there is 3 of 100kg and 1 of 200kg at the same time. It was so difficult to shoot fishes and not having fear of loosing it to these SOB. Groupers swallow, they don't bite like sharks, they swallow the shaft along, that's how we can loose a gun to them.


Dive Safe

IYA
 
Originally posted by Iyadiver

And for whoever the dude who bombed me with negative karma for this Cobia post

Jangan khwatir! Aku sudah isi karma kamu lagi deh!:D
 
Originally posted by Iyadiver
Datok Doyle,

If you don't want to get harassed here, you can try www.spearboard.com where the site is for scuba spearo. They can give you lots of advice too because they hunt the same.

OK - might try over there - have not felt really harrassed here. I mean 'you should play video games instead' what the hell kinda insult is that?

Originally posted by Iyadiver
There is this bastard grouper of 100+ KG always waiting for a free meal there, I hate that fish but I pity it. I almost lost a complete gun because one of its another gigantic cousin swallowed my 15kg Doggie last year and taking my gun along with it. At one time there is 3 of 100kg and 1 of 200kg at the same time. It was so difficult to shoot fishes and not having fear of loosing it to these SOB. Groupers swallow, they don't bite like sharks, they swallow the shaft along, that's how we can loose a gun to them.

UNBELIEVABLE (but I do believe you) - who the hell says this shit is not a sport! I have never seen grouper this big (max maybe 60-70 kg).

But I am never sure of how big a fish will be before it is no good to eat. I know with most pelagics it doesn't really matter. But a lot of guys here say that any reef fish like grouper, Snapper or Sweetlips are no good to eat if they are over about 5kg and therefore not worth shooting.

What do you think? I often get the chance to shoot groupers in the 20-30 kg range but always resisted the temptation because I did not know if it could be et.
 
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The typical Chinese restaurant red coral trout is good up to 5kg, however 1-2 kg is best easting. Red snapper 2-4kg is good for curry head...yum...yum...:p. Too big a snapper have highr risk of ciguatera. Sweetlips best at under 2 kg.

The only grouper I know which is CONFIRMED good up to 30 kg is Potato Cod, I believe in Australia this is protected. These giants grouper I am talking about is Queensland grouper, this is according to the fish data base. On this side of the planet, this giant grouper is equivalent to Goliath ( Jewfish ) abundant in the US. According to the fish data base these two are the only groupers which can grow exceeding 200kg.

I have not shot groupers in a long-long time. In my Doggie alley, there is a 10kg Potato Cod but I just like looking at it. Doggie is the name of the game there. My favourite eating is actually tenggiri ( narrow banded spanish mackerel ). If there is a 20kg tenggiri and a 30kg Doggie at the same spot, I will shoot the tenggiri....YUM YUM.

I have different places to hunt different species but lately the roller coaster ride quality with a Doggie is just soooooooooo exciting, I loose sleep over it. When a fish can spool out a 150 feet reel in 5 seconds and tow you from 120 feet to 160 feet in less than 10 seconds.....you will beg for more. This kind of rush is just so addictive, it is sometime better than sex because the opportunity for it is definitely much less. From enjoying the roller coaster tow to eventually getting scared shit as the we get towed deeper, that's when we throw the gun away...no choice.

In this supposedly hot spot, the dive guide told me on the phone that they avoid shooting doggies over 25kg because that is about the biggest they can handle on the deep bottomless wall dive........without a float. Honestly, my limit without a float for Doggies is 15kg. With a scuba gear, you can not swim up with this size of Doggie when it wants to head down. The pulling power of Doggies are just amazing.

Take a look at the 100kg grouper for size reference :

http://www.spearboard.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4391&highlight=giant+grouper

IYA
 
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Originally posted by Nesim
:head

i give up

:hmm

Bout f*cking time. Sorry you and Miker dont run the world....If you want to continue to shoot those big dumb groupers from 8 ft like your pic how is that more sporting than IYA shooting a doggie at 180'. Like Jay, I do both. I prefer to freedive more often but still enjoy my 200 ft drops for the big boys. You've never been here, have no clue, and aren't very open minded to what others here are saying. How far do you go offshore to hunt? I HAVE to travel 30miles out minimum, mopre often I go 80 miles out. I could go on about what I do but you dont care, you just want me to learn the truth you preach for have have sinned against the spearing gods:hmm

Iya, I re rigged one of my guns with a traditional "helldivers" riding rig and will post pics soon.
 
oh yeah, spearboard is also a gathering place for the country's best freedivers too. GR Tarr, Blake Gaylord, Cameron Kirkonal, and a bunch of refugees like me who get tired of being berrated here. Guess what, we get along over there....

I know, I know....why I dont just stay there then...because I like to piss some of yall off here
 
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It's a coonass thing. :D So let's see that riding rig.
Mark
 
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