re: spearfishing along the beach line?

[gill]

This may be a silly question, but it seems that a lot of fisherman catch large fish wading out up to their chest and fishing. Has anybody finned outside of the rod/reel fishing zone and done any spearfishing along the beach line?

-gill

 

[Oldsarge]

That's what beach diving is. Right now the halibut are in about 6-20 feet off the California Coast and during the summer white seabass and yellowtail are just sitting there in the near shore kelp beds. The problem, then, is viz. Yeah, you should have a swell time just outside the range of the surf casters on drum and sea trout. Go get'em!

 

[ajwaverider]

I have done a little beach spearing and I probally would have been more successful if I had some flashers to get the fish away from me so I could shoot them.The spring and early fall are best in pensacola because the algae and snow are gone and viz is better along the beaches. I saw lots of spanish makeral and some huge tarpon but without any type of structure there is not much of a selection to hunt,It's possible to see anything out there though especially sharks.

 

[Mr. X]

I am still a beginner and all my spearing has been been shore based so far. I have been surprised by how many sea creatures you see not far off the beach. In Cornwall large Bass, Wrasse, Spider crab & smaller fish. In Dorset scallops, spider & hermit crab, mackeral & white bait -- haven't seen any fish there yet of size but I am assured they are there (Bass, Dogfish, flatties) and I am certainly looking! In Jamaica, I've seen fish a foot long swim by my feet while paddling. In Dorset, I've seen huge shoals of mackeral swim into the steep Chesil beach, chasing white bait (but that is not an everyday occurance).

Good visibility (i.e. clear water) is the most important factor I have found so far.

 

[dave]

Good visibility (i.e. clear water) is the most important factor I have found so far.

try not to get too hung up on the viz thing, at lot of the best fish are shot in bad visibility. I have a lot of spots where I prefer a bit of murk as it makes the fish less cautious! I have shot plenty of fish in less than 5' viz
cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk

 

[spaghetti]

I need flasher advice, my friends: i'm totally ignorant about that.
I'm used to the worst visibility spots in italy: central tuscany, central adriatic, jonian calabria and lake garda (yeah, a lake: that's where my parents live). Some days i can't see the flopper of my 75cm gun.
Now, you guys talk about flasher: what is it? How do you build it/use it? May anybody let me know the basics about flashers? Thanks in advance.
Spago

 

[Mr. X]

try not to get too hung up on the viz thing, at lot of the best fish are shot in bad visibility. I have a lot of spots where I prefer a bit of murk as it makes the fish less cautious! I have shot plenty of fish in less than 5' viz
www.spearo.co.uk

Interesting. I am continuing to dive in poor viz but I am just not seeing fish. I was just coming to the conclusion (again) that maybe I should get fussier about viz. Last time out, New Years Day, was the worst yet - I could not even see the end of my barrel (although it seemed clearer 2 hours later from the shore, when the tide dropped you could see the weed beds & the sandy bottom). Clear water days, I see & shoot fish; poor viz days, I see no fish & shoot nothing. 100% correlation. In light of your comments though, maybe I will give the murk a few more tries.

Any tips? How do you find the fish in less than 5ft viz? Are you returning to spots where you have seen fish previously? Or hunting up close (caves, holes, under rock shelves)? I managed to get some scallops in poor viz before Christmas but I had seen them on a previous visit & managed to relocate them, partly by diving under the murk (my mask torch might have helped too). Do you use a shorter gun (or flattie basher spike?)?

Re. flashers.

 

[spaghetti]

Mr X, thanks for the flasher link.
Me I love spearing in very low viz, especially in sandy beaches (very difficult): it's a hunt against shadows, you feel like a ninja, or a shao-lin monk. Fishes are just dark shapes appearing and disappearing while you're surrounded by a mysterious nothingness. Fascinating.
Techniques: there's such a lot to say

-Short guns? Yes (50/60 cm)
-silence and very slow motion
- always current from your back
-remeber: you can't see them but they can't see you. If you don't make to much noise, they won't easily feel your presence

§Tricks to enhance visibility:
1-find points of referrence on places where fishes may pass around (bright rocks, wreckage, any submerged structure that may "call" fishes)
2-fishing in a counter-lìght position, aiming your gun from bottom towards the surface: you will recognize the dark shape of the fish against the brighter surface (if the sky above is bright enough)
3-fishing along cliffs of bright rocks (marble or so) in two possible positions:
a-in front of the cliff you'll recognize the dark fish's shape against brighetr rocks
b-stay clamped on the cliffs in a parallel position, waiting for fish coming in front of you or from back, with gun 45° (degrees) towards open sea

Apart of this, you should learn to forecast underwater visibility from weather, tide, winds, current streams, composition of the bottom (sand/rock/mud etc): this kind of knowledge is necessary to qualify yourself as an good spearo. Me i'm just trying.
A good thing, if you spear in areas of frequent lo-viz, is to keep a diary with notes about your habitual fishing spots: everyday you should take note about visibility, presence of fish and related weather-tide conditions. After two round years you'll be able to forecast with good approximation.

PS: not a "lesson", just my experience to share

 

[dave]

Everything Spaghetti says!
In low viz, agachon (also called aspetto) is generally the best technique, as you must rely on the fish coming to you
The other thing is that there is no substitute for experience and time in the water. Once you get to know spots and fish behaviour, you will start to just "know" where fish are likely to come from! That is one of the great things about spearfishing, you can get some results quite easily, but i still learn something new on every dive after 20 years!
cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk

 

[SurfnSpear]

- always current from your back

Like this one...got my best fish with them swimming straight up the current

[/quote]
1-find points of referrence on places where fishes may pass around (bright rocks, wreckage, any submerged structure that may "call" fishes[/quote]

Perservere with a favourite ambush rock with all the characteristics. They do come eventually...GASSPPPP!!!:vangry


[/quote]
PS: not a "lesson", just my experience to share[/quote]

Good one Spaghetti.

 

[Flattie basher]

I agree with everything that has already been said. Try lying on the bottom looking up at the light, gun out in front of you, but not looking at the end of the gun. If you look at the end of the gun by the time you have seen the fish it is too late. Look about 45% to the left or right of the end of the barrel, by the time you see the fish it will be in front of your gun. Also try to start to recognise spots were fish lay up (using shore marks). Bass particularly like holes in rocks/boulders, find the spot on the surface and then dive down. Fishing in Sussex means that the viz is not great most of the time. These techniques will pay dividends.
Also check out web site underwaterviz.com (don't know how to do an active link, if this is not the correct address will post it again tonight when I get back from work.)

 

[KWM]

After looking it up, it is in fact www.scuba-addict.co.uk

 

[spaghetti]

got my best fish with them swimming straight up the current[/COLOR]

current on your back is good when you hunt predator fishes (bass f.e), mullets or pelagics making a raid on the shore: they hunt swimming against the current in order to get "information" (current and vibrations are the "telegraph" of the sea) and to counter the flow of nutrients which are followed by smaller fish. So predator fishes (such as bass) hunt counter-current, to have small fishes moving right into their mouth. The spearo does the opposite.
§Advantages of current from your back:
-bass and other predators arrive frontally (or thereabouts)
-your movements are more fluid with less effort
§Misadvantages of current from your back:
-any noise or vibrations you make are felt by fishes in a longest range, beacuse the current push vibrations farther. This is especially true when the tide is still. This is why fishing against current pays more while the tide is moving: there's noise underwater, so your own noises are less noticed by fish
-it's hard to swim back when you quit hunting
-bentonic fish (those who don't move much, whose names i don't now in english) feel more your vibrations
SO, in practice:
spear with current on your back most of the times, being very silent and slow motion. Better to hunt bass while the tide is moving.

 

[spaghetti]

Now, sorry for flooding the thread, i still need advice about flashers: can anyone explain to me the concept? Flashers are not much used in my country and none of my buddies may help.

 

[Mr. X]

Now, sorry for flooding the thread, i still need advice about flashers: can anyone explain to me the concept? Flashers are not much used in my country and none of my buddies may help.

Not sure if anyone on this forum uses flashers -- have never seen anybody claim to. I brought it up in a recent thread (the Kelp rig one perhaps -- although) I believe they are used mainly for bluewater (i.e. deep, clear water) & then for large pelagic game fish (the Rob Allen flasher ladder is very large -- the photos don't do it justuce ...its probably 6 feet long & 10" wide).

I think the idea is that you attach them to your float or a small dedicated flasher float (RA sell one). I think you can either just leave it in place or "work it" with a line. The idea is to attract curious fish ...either game fish or their food source, much like a fancy, arranged set of fishing lures without fish hooks. Apparently the fish will try to take them sometimes -- hence they are specifically excluded from RA's normal 5 year warranty. I guess I imagine them being hung directly from the float with the diver to the side &/or below ... but that might be wrong, perhaps the flashers can be suspended lower down & the diver positioned above, below or along side. I think the idea is also partly to attract larger fish up from depth.

 

[Mr. X]

Everything Spaghetti says!
In low viz, agachon (also called aspetto) is generally the best technique, as you must rely on the fish coming to you
The other thing is that there is no substitute for experience and time in the water. Once you get to know spots and fish behaviour, you will start to just "know" where fish are likely to come from! That is one of the great things about spearfishing, you can get some results quite easily, but i still learn something new on every dive after 20 years!
cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk

Good idea. I was hoping to try some recently but lost my weight belt:duh :head. (Any sign of those camo seatec weight vests yet?).

 

[SurfnSpear]

Now, sorry for flooding the thread, i still need advice about flashers: can anyone explain to me the concept? Flashers are not much used in my country and none of my buddies may help.

One variation from the trawled 'crazy chicken' type flashers on your float are squiddy hookless fishing lures attached under the muzzle too...I used one last year in the UK for bass which had a silver spoon lure with the squiddy attached where the treble hook was. Look at the the end of my gun in the underwater shot and you can just see it.
I could not decide whether it helped or not. Crazy Chicken type flashers can have their use in pelagic areas (ie. off coast of Natal, S. Africa) Probably the best explanations come from the very experienced bluewater hunters on the forums like Miles. Beyond the basic concept of creating a general attraction for passing gamefish, which you then pick off when they come to investigate, I would PM a mesage to Miles for his opinions. Seeing you are located in Italia, I assume you have some very clear water! But I think there are plenty of guys on here that can add something.

There were some amazing pictures around of Colin Chester's big bass catches in Sussex, UK (?) and I noticed he used one orange looking squiddy in some pics. I assume Spearo Dave would know more on Colin Chester's opinions on their use, as I have seen him in some pics with Colin Chester before.

cheers

 

[Mr. X]

...There were some amazing pictures around of Colin Chester's big bass catches in Sussex, UK (?) and I noticed he used one orange looking squiddy in some pics. ...

The images & report are accessible from the Gallery on the www.RobAllenEurope.com website (as I posted in an earlier thread). I have also added a "muppet" squid to the end of my barrel (Colin's bass are huge...so worth a try!). Have not had a chance to assess it yet - last time out it was so murky I couldn't even see the squid! I am told it might momentarily distract the fish (rather than pulling them in).

[Nice pics & fish SurfnSpear. What are the fish seen in the shoal? (Was the picture taken on snorkel?)]

 

[dave]

I used to use a squid muppet on the end of my gun, but haven't bothered for the last few seasons. (They are not allowed in competitions, so I took it off and just never got round to replacing it!) It does seem to make a difference sometimes, but it is not a "magic bullet" When it works it can sometimes gain you a second or two,or cause a bass to come in for a look when it would otherwise have kept going. In a similiar vein I know spearos who polish the barb, so it glints in the light and has a similiar effect
Anyone who knows Colin will know that the "shinyness" of the muppet probably attracts him as much as the fish
cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk

 

[Flattie basher]

If you want to catch big bass like Colins, fish areas that hold them, learn the shore marks and/or buy a boat with GPS, because you have to go along way off-shore. Thats not to say that you cannot catch big bass in close but you won't get as many because everyone else is spearing/fishing there as well.