murenas....

[greendiver]

Hi guys....

Last week I caught a sargo, and while it was still on the line and I was drifting to the rocks ,I suddenly saw a big murena, at least 1m 30, coming towards me, he was going for the fish on my belt,(I hope so)....

I did not what to do with it, to spear it or not, did not know if it was eatable so I decided to let it go.( ok...I was a little bit nervous..)

I asked another spearo and he told me you have to shoot them carefully otherwise you can get your self into a lot of ***** since they bite.

I heared they are very tasty and now know where to shoot them....so a couple of days ago I decided to go and look for them, took me almost 3 hours to find one..this one was a lot smaller though, I shot him, it was below me, just below the eyes( from the other side though), the tip of the spear went through him but, I think, because he was swimming right over the rocks, bounced on the rocks, and as I was trying to lift the spear, got away...obviously I was pissed of..

Now my question is...how do you look for them, and what kind of equipment would you use..?

Greetings Mike, (from Gibraltar/europe)

 

[SEDATE]

Frendo
it is not easy to shoot one murena. The place that i dive ,when i aspeto i see 7 or 8 around me. do not cary fish on you, do not think to shoot one.one chance you have to shoot it's brain. it is brain like a marble. they are lovely animals. Be friend them, they always remember you one year later,too, they can not see but have perfect nose. if you shoot in a hole. it will go in and if you grap the spear with your left and right hand , you can feel the power of one. it can easyly bent the spear. be friend them, shoot others, like fishes. if graps your hand, you will no chance to come back to surface.

 

[Murat]

I shoot couple of murenas so far. They have soft white flesh but skinning them is bitch and they are very bony. Little bones here and there so its not very good for table even if its flesh tastes good.

If you have to shoot one, aim to head or to black holes near the head and after your shoot grab it from near of the head and cut of the head.

 

[GinoBlue]

The best advice I can give you is not to spear them :ban . I have speared quite a few of them and some were realy big and scary (1.7m). Regardless of how close you hit their heads, they put out a good struggle and in almost every case it was back to the boat for me. They are quite dangrous around bleeding fish. A couple of my freinds were badly bitten while spearing and had bleeding fish on their belts. So if you spot a large one just move away from the area. But if you insist, then wait till they clear their holes (never spear them if they have any part inside) and try to spear them through the mouth. This way you are relatively safe from bites. Be prepared to wait a while, since they dont die easy, and never grab them until they are out. Their teeth can cut through anything. One large one once cut clean two of my thick spear rubbers with one snap. The meat is not bad, but fatty and a lots of small bones.

Take extreme care man!

 

[greendiver]

The best advice I can give you is not to spear them :ban . I have speared quite a few of them and some were realy big and scary (1.7m). Regardless of how close you hit their heads, they put out a good struggle and in almost every case it was back to the boat for me. They are quite dangrous around bleeding fish. A couple of my freinds were badly bitten while spearing and had bleeding fish on their belts. So if you spot a large one just move away from the area. But if you insist, then wait till they clear their holes (never spear them if they have any part inside) and try to spear them through the mouth. This way you are relatively safe from bites. Be prepared to wait a while, since they dont die easy, and never grab them until they are out. Their teeth can cut through anything. One large one once cut clean two of my thick spear rubbers with one snap. The meat is not bad, but fatty and a lots of small bones.

Take extreme care man!

Thanks man...glad I did not spear the one in question... :duh

 

[UK Spearo]

whats a murena? what they look like? They sound like fun!

 

[Memo]

Murena is a morray eel Uk..

The thing is you have to throw away under neath the anus.. That part is too bony to eat..

 

[UK Spearo]

Ah, a Morey.... shot one of those once in Greece not a very big one and I killed it out right.... so it was OK, it was out free swimming, not sure I'd tackel a big one in a hole though! Bad enough with conga eels !!! *lol*

 

[QUETZAL]

I shot a big one in Florida in March '05 he was a good 6' probably 90#. I shot him in a hole on scuba and it took me 5-10 mins just to get him out of the hole then I wrestled him for another 10 mins trying to kill him. Never did completly kill him. I got him back to the boat,a live aboard charter,and the
A Hs threw him back saying that they were illegal. They didn't give me a chance to show them that they were legal. They are! I was going to eat him, hell I eat almost anything. Funny how here in the States if something is not commonly eaten you get so much flack about shooting and wanting to eat something. I'm now infamous in this area for said spearing!
But these guys are super strong, and aggresive. This guy took a bite on my fin. I've got the teeth marks to prove it. He looked like a sea monster draging behind me while I was waiting on a pick up from the boat.

 

[greendiver]

I shot a big one in Florida in March '05 he was a good 6' probably 90#. I shot him in a hole on scuba and it took me 5-10 mins just to get him out of the hole then I wrestled him for another 10 mins trying to kill him. Never did completly kill him. I got him back to the boat,a live aboard charter,and the
A Hs threw him back saying that they were illegal. They didn't give me a chance to show them that they were legal. They are! I was going to eat him, hell I eat almost anything. Funny how here in the States if something is not commonly eaten you get so much flack about shooting and wanting to eat something. I'm now infamous in this area for said spearing!
But these guys are super strong, and aggresive. This guy took a bite on my fin. I've got the teeth marks to prove it. He looked like a sea monster draging behind me while I was waiting on a pick up from the boat.

Thanks again...the more I read your stories, the more I am convinced it was the best thing to let that one go hehehe....

by the way, my brother lives in Miami, going to visit him in October....with my gear.....what do you think.....shall we give it a shot and catch one of these?

 

[greendiver]

Well...I did spear one 10 days ago...these guys are really though...just wanted to see, but it was my last one.....although they are very tasty!

 

[QUETZAL]

Well...I did spear one 10 days ago...these guys are really though...just wanted to see, but it was my last one.....although they are very tasty!

SO TELL US THE STORY.

 

[greendiver]

Ok quetzal...here comes the story..... :
hell....after posting my" murena Thread "and asking around I decided to take care with these guys....well you know...until I saw this one.
I was hunting for bass, by the way,caught 2 nice ones today :thankyou , and at aprox 6 meters I saw this grey tail.....with the yellow marks on it....I took a good look at it and tried to figure out how big it was..well it was not as big as the first one but certainly big enough.
I made the ethical decision to only shoot what is etable, so I said ...let me give it a try...
I went down and looked for it, I could not find it anymore...went up and down..the finally I saw it...again like the first time, it came towards me, not scared at all....you know with its mouth open, all these teeth in it and these scary glazy eyes....could not believe it..
I went down again, poking in the hole, I wanted to shoot it between the eyes, and preferably from behind.( strange way of saying things he?)he?)...anyways it came out..wanted to go , I saw it from behind, was tense and a bit nervous...I pulled the trigger...but because I was to tense and did not use my head , I screwed up, the point went through the back of his head but because it hit the rocks, the point bounced back, so the murena was free and pissed off!!
It reminded me of a cat, moving wild and the teeth...., I also hurt my hand, because I fired the gun at a to close range, the point of the spear pushed the speargun( a totem pelagos 90), almost through my thumb, still hurts a bit..what an idiot he? :duh
anyways...it took me 20 minutes more to finally got it, it was still very wild on the spear, these guys are really strong..then I cut his jaws, memo told me to cut the jaws through, so they can not bite anymore, it played dead for some time..unbelievable.....
Skinning was a pain in the ***, the meat however was very tasty!!
I will not do this again however, it was an experience but somehow I feel I have to leave em....

 

[AlexF]

Just a quick note, if you go shooting morey and end up killing one, NEVER carry it on your belt or speargun. They are very territorial and if you get into the next morey's turf, they will attack your catch and sometimes will continue with you.

I shot morey probably 10 - 15 years ago and kept it in the speargun (dead) while I got to the boat, when I crossed another morey territory I was attacked by an even larger one. If I had not dropped the speargun + morey I would have been biten.

Morey are not much of a sport, they are found in caves and will not swim away, so aiming to the brain, even if it's marble size, it's not a big deal. Pretty much like hitting a small breathing stone.

Alex

 

[greendiver]

Hi Alex....think you are right, was my first and last one....although this whole murray story is something we all have to go through and learn from.
I never was told or read anywhere here (on this site neither), about their behaviour...

 

[QUETZAL]

Like you said some things you have to do once and that is enough for the rest of your life. My dilemma is that I have shot and brought a nice size Moray to the boat but didn't get to try the meat. So I might have to shoot another one.

 

[alexanderXP]

Some replies stated: that you should not spear them when they are in thier holes?

Is there a specific reason why you should not shoot them in their caves?

I have never tryed to spear one, but may be i should try NOW :vangry

But, wait!

look, if you use a much longer spear, about +1m longer than your gun, put a dead fish on it (what bleeds,hell yes!), and put it infront of a eel, so you look at him face to face at distance (not from side), at the moment it bites the fish. =

"light it up!"

So, what do you think?i dont know, its just an idea!

http://www.network54.com/Forum/286116

We need new members!Long Island Spearfishing forum!


The gun will be VERY long thoe, but idea for dangerous ell game!

 

[Acqua Man]

Hi Guys, I have read your comments regarding spearfishing eels. Here is my 2 cents on it. I am from the States (CT) where the water is to dirty to go spearfishing, but when I go to Ponza Italy ever year, I love to go Spearfishing. I catch a lot of eels & octopus there. Maurena(Eeels) are very good to eat fried. What I do is clean the bellie and cut off the tail were its to bony to eat. The rest of the eels is all white flacky meat. There is no need to take the skin off. I cut round chuncks off the body, put them in flour and fry them until chrispy gold. The skin comes off easy then.

Regarding fishing them, the best time to look for them is early in the morning or after dusk. What we do is to fish rocky areas, and before we go into the water we through fish cum (any left over fish when cleaning) to bring them out of their holes. Then to circle the area where you chummed. When you find one out and about, I don't find it to hard to spear. I go down, about 2-3 feet from it and shoot it behind the head area. If you don’t get it behind the head, be carefully because when you try to grab the spear, it will be able to turn around and bite you even taking flesh w/ it. When it sees you it put its head back pretend/trying to defend its self. I ever had one attack me, since I shoot first. When you see them in a hole, w/ their head out, then I shoot in the hole. Getting them off is a different story. I usually bring it back to the person on the boat and w/ a club, bat the head of the spear. When I am by myself, I take a rock and bash the head until it stops moving and then work the spear out of it. This year I shot a big one, at least 5 ft behind the head but it was so strong curling itself like crazy that it got away into a hole. I shot a second shoot into the hole but it wasn't there. Hope it helps...good luck.

 

[greendiver]

Hi Guys, I have read your comments regarding spearfishing eels. Here is my 2 cents on it. I am from the States (CT) where the water is to dirty to go spearfishing, but when I go to Ponza Italy ever year, I love to go Spearfishing. I catch a lot of eels & octopus there. Maurena(Eeels) are very good to eat fried. What I do is clean the bellie and cut off the tail were its to bony to eat. The rest of the eels is all white flacky meat. There is no need to take the skin off. I cut round chuncks off the body, put them in flour and fry them until chrispy gold. The skin comes off easy then.

Regarding fishing them, the best time to look for them is early in the morning or after dusk. What we do is to fish rocky areas, and before we go into the water we through fish cum (any left over fish when cleaning) to bring them out of their holes. Then to circle the area where you chummed. When you find one out and about, I don't find it to hard to spear. I go down, about 2-3 feet from it and shoot it behind the head area. If you don’t get it behind the head, be carefully because when you try to grab the spear, it will be able to turn around and bite you even taking flesh w/ it. When it sees you it put its head back pretend/trying to defend its self. I ever had one attack me, since I shoot first. When you see them in a hole, w/ their head out, then I shoot in the hole. Getting them off is a different story. I usually bring it back to the person on the boat and w/ a club, bat the head of the spear. When I am by myself, I take a rock and bash the head until it stops moving and then work the spear out of it. This year I shot a big one, at least 5 ft behind the head but it was so strong curling itself like crazy that it got away into a hole. I shot a second shoot into the hole but it wasn't there. Hope it helps...good luck.

Hey Aqua....I have tried em like that too...very tasty... , An Italian friend of mine told me that, back in Ceasars time in Italy, Eels used to be considered a delicatessy....how de hell do you write that...??? sorry...I am dutch :duh

 

[Huw]

Hi guys,

Just finished reading a book about ancient Greece, and there is an old legend that Ceaser used to have a pit filled with water in his palace, it usually contained ornamental fish but one year he filled it with saltwater, and placed 12 huge Maurena into it apparently one account says that one was over 3 meters long! Anyway once a month he would cut the legs of a prisoner and then throw them into the pit!

Could be true, however i kind of doubt it.!

Just thought you may want to hear about it!

Cheers,
Huw