I'm gutted...

[e.m.p!]

Well, today I stalked for over two hours and finally speared my first fish ever... A fat, juicy Butterfish, at least 40cm. A clean headshot, as in the books. Well, what didn't went like the books: I couldn't get the spear out of the fish (the flopper, gills, excitement, etc.) so I returned to the rocks to sit down and getting my ducks in a row.
Eventually I managed to get it off the spear and into my catchbag, a nylon-net bag attached to my weightbelt. As I was sitting in the surgepools, I tried to get back into the open sea and within 5 seconds the bag ripped off my belt. I turned around immediately, but the bloody fish was gone! I was looking around for 30min and it dawned on me that my first ever pricecatch is now in some octopuss's arms...
Arrrrrrh,:vangry it takes a bit to spoil my mood, but this did. So I went home and ordered some Pizza topped with Anchovies. Vengeance is mine!
(Never again a crappy catchbag and honk if you share a tear)

 

[Amphibious]

if you're going to keep fish on your belt, the simplest method I've found (and the one I Use) is a 40cm peice of 200# mono, with two crimped loops at each end. in one loop is a carbiner. I just snap this onto a D-ring on my belt and thread the fish on as needed. the mono is stiff enough to wiggle through gills/mouth.

although there are only a few places that I would feel comfortable with dead fish on my hip

(Nice Panzer Swine pic)

 

[sixshooter4]

ha ha
panzer swine?
never herd that one!
we call them
armadillos
but hey, i guess we learn something every day.

 

[Erik]

Hey nice work on the fish. Overall a good spike on the learning curve, despite the loss
>8^(

 

[spadefish]

The next time you cannot get the spear out of a fish's head, just reload your gun with the fish still attached to the spear and shoot into the open sea. The inertia of the fish will push the spear strait through the fish's head.

It is then a simple question of unclipping your spearline and threading this through the fish - simple!

I like the idea of the mono for a belt stringer!

 

[e.m.p!]

Thanks for the kind words, guys! I thought about the stringer before, but the spot were I've been at is unfortunately pretty hammered, so I didn't expect to find anything the right size anyway - I took my gun just in case. Well, I've been lucky, but not.
I'm definitely not swimming around with a bunch of dead fish on my belt! Here is one of these spots you don't want to attract company.
I thought about using an old bodyboard as a float and attach a proper catchbag underneath. You guys think this is a good idea or should I rather leave the bag (properly tagged) on a spot I always can return to? (Surgepools, etc.).
Thanks for the kudos for the panzer swine. I guess I look similar to my partner when she sees me approaching water, haha!

 

[spearjunkie]

You want to get yourself a float of some sort. Boogie board will work, but not too visible to boats, unless you put a flag on it. Attach to your gun with a bit of thin rope (bit longer than your max depth) and a longline clip to the handle (from any fishing shop). Just unclip and feed the longline clip through ya fishies gills and out its mouth and let it slide up to the float. Keeps the bities a bit further away, and when you slam that 30kg kingie that was checking you out, you got a way of playing him a bit.
Congrats on your first fish, and good luck for future missions

 

[greendiver]

Hehehe...yep, welcome to the club!
Next time better! you will see...and I am not kiddin, my best 3 catches never made it to the shore.:head:head
Less equipment on you, the better, maybe put the net on your buoy!
Good luck!!!

 

[e.m.p!]

Re: I'm back!

Hi Fellas,

So here we go. Again I didn't took your advice and went out without preparation. This time I thought it may be a good idea to not take a catch bag at all... You can't loose what you don't have.
Bad call. Anyway, this time I've been out for three hours and while seeing loads of fish they were all undersized. I was just about to pack in when this whopper crossed my path... And this time I planned to not let him go again. I shot it but – well, couldn't bag it, so I kept it on the spear and went towards beach. Suddenly I lost the bloody gun and saw my catch not only sinking to the bottom but also sliding off the spear. Aaaaaargh - the memories! I dived down again and hugged it as good as I could and the bugger started to spring to live again. Yeez, now I really started to sweat! But eventually I could get my fingers into his gills and from that on the dinner was sorted. Never again without or a crappy catchbag, I promise!
End of story: Three people couldn't finish the little pig and my Xmas wishlist consists of a decent bag and a sharp filetting knife!

Here is a happy lad with his second catch!
(close call, thou!)

 

[spearjunkie]

Mate, dont even bother with a bag!!!
Get yourself a float/bottle of some description and rope to your gun. When you drop the gun, no worries, just grab hold of the rope and pull it back up. When you shoot 5 fish, no worries, just feed them onto the rope and let them slide up to the float.
Good work on your first butter! Sounds like you could do with a knife or sharpened screwdriver to smash through those pesky fishes brains and iki them.

 

[Amphibious]

bags are a major pain in the ass unless you're chasing shellfish. I used a bag for years untill I "saw the light" of a floatline and stringer

 

[Claudio]

My favorite solution for carrying fish on the waist is a simple one I learned during my youth spearfishing in Brazil.

Get piece of tick electrical wire (single-core copper wire with PVC plastic coating for instance). Make a loop at one end, tied it around your waist inserting the other end into the loop and bending it to close it.

Works like a charm.

Hope this helps.

Claudio

 

[e.m.p!]

Thanks guys for the advice! I'll try a stringer the next time, thou I'm not too sure if it is a good idea to carry dead fish around my waist (at our spots there is). I will ask some of my mates how save it is around here... Well, you hear these stories, you know.
But - for a quick feed it will do the trick, I guess.

I'll keep you updated - the season just started!

Chur, emp