Some questions from a beginner

[Joao Pedro]

Hello!
I have some questions mostly related to how to treat a fish after spearing it.

1- After the shoot I want to kill the fish quickly. I heard about the triangle to find the brain but sometimes it didnt worked so well for me because my knife needs some sharpening. I read about bleeding the fish that it is good for the meat. Will bleeding the fish kill him in less than a minute?

2- After spearing should I grab the fish instantly by their eyes? I was thinking that it could be better to knife the brain by holding them this way...

3- A friend of my brother caught a grouper and he said that if you put the fingers trough the gills from the back your finger would stuck because of spikes that exists there. Should I avoid holding fish by the gills or this only happens with groupers?

4- I want to anchor my buoy. Its a inflatable float. If I tie a line to the float and the other end to a 3lb weight will it hold the float?

Im really sorry for the number of questions. I did some research and solved some doubts but not these. Also sorry for numbering the questions it may seem that I want them all answer but its just to make them clear. Thanks for all the help. Have a great week!

 

[Bill McIntyre]

1. Sharpen your knife. Use a knife with a dagger point.
Bleeding works too, but will take over a minute.

2. If the fish is small enough, grabbing by the eyes works well.

3. He's right about grouper, but you can get away with it with most other fish.

4. It depends on the size of the buoy, the depth of the water, and the velocity of the wind and current. But the answer is probably yes.

 

[Joao Pedro]

Straightforward, awesome, thanks man!!

 

[Mr. X]

What Bill said! BTW instead of a knife, you might consider using a sharp spike e.g. iki jimi spike or the spike of a good fish stringer. For example, Rob Allen fish stringers have spikes which are long and have a very sharp tri-cut point. However the much smaller, conical pointed spike on a Beuchat waist stringer also works well enough on UK size fish.

I've also made homemade iki jimi spikes which work quite well using cheap awls, replacing their wooden handles with thermo-plastic chainsaw file handles. Used thin tube (old car ariel/antenna tube) for the sheath & bungee cord to hold it all together & to attach to my weight belt.

 

[cdavis]

For most medium to large reef fish (say up to 50-70 lbs), getting your hands in the gills is the best way to control a struggling fish, it gives you the leverage to turn his head up and have him help you swim to the surface. Be careful on the bigger ones, they can break your arm or hand. Most fish, especially grouper, have gill rakers that make it difficult to extract your hand and spines that can cut you up. Wear gloves that can protect your hands. glove material too light and you will have bloody hamburger for hands. Make sure you can pull your hand out of the gloves if you need to surface before the fish wants to. Be certain of that one, almost did me in once.

Connor

 

[Joao Pedro]

Iki jime looks nice. I could use my stringer but i think is too thick. I realise another mistake, the brain is much closer to the eye than I thought, and it makes sense if we look to ourselves. Thanks guys a lot of pro tips here.

 

[Bill McIntyre]

To find the brain, picture an equilateral triangle with points on each eye and the other point toward the tail. Its under the point toward the tail.

 

[Gab]

4. It depends on the size of the buoy, the depth of the water, and the velocity of the wind and current. But the answer is probably yes.

It also depends on the anchor and bottom type. A grapple type on a sand needs to be heavy enough to counter forces applied by wind and waves but if the bottom has rocks it is great as it grapples to them. On sand a spade type anchor is better as it digs in when dragged (like real boats have). Realistically though a 3lbs anchor is heavy enough to hold an inflatable boat in most conditions; if it is not then you have greater problems to deal with .

 

[SerenityNZ]

Definitely Iki (brain spike) your fish.

When you hit the right spot most fish bodies will lock in an arc and the mouth will open then relax.

Normal tall thin fish like snapper you go in through the soft spot on the side just above and behind the eye angling into behind the eye.

Larger torpedo shaped fish are usually stabbed directly in the middle of the head above and in-between the eyes.

Kingfish in particular also need bleeding...I cut the throat, although some people slice through the top of the gill plate.

It is important to kill fish dead fast to keep the meat supple and soft (it goes tough and grainy if you don't)

Plus the thrashing of a wounded fish will bring sharks from miles around...


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