Spearfishing help

[Joe.spear]

Hi all,

i found this forum and wondered wether you guys can help,
i live in london and go to cornwall a lot - falmouth, i was wondering what your guys advice would be,
i'm 15 weight 46kg and would like to get a speargun recommended to me i can do pull ups/chin ups about 5,
and how long should i be able to hold my breath for static to do some good spearfsihing,
and do i need a reel on my waist in case my speargun becomes snagged?

thankyou in advance,
Joe

 

[Joe.spear]

and sorry for the addon - would this wetsuit be suitable for spearfishing in cornwall

i will also use it for surfing - https://www.wetsuitoutlet.co.uk/201...m-chest-zip-wetsuit-khaki-wsm8pb-p-25571.html

 

[Leander]

i can do pull ups/chin ups about 5

You need to train harder! 16 pull-ups is the minimum for any new spearo.
Heh, just joking. You're weightless under water; you can do infinite pull-ups until you run out of air...



It doesn't really matter how strong you are to load a gun. Technique matters more. Size the gun to your intended targets and environment and hook up with some more experienced spearos to teach you the fundamentals and safety. Best is also to look for a freediving course as diving is more than just holding your breath till you're blue. There's a very good chance of meeting fellow spearfishers there too.

 

[Mr. X]

Joe, there are so many things we could discuss but most of the information is already available on this forum. Suggest you look around, perhaps focus on one of your questions at a time. I often search this forum using Google e.g. search string: deeperblue.com reef hooks.

Best place to start are the "Dummies Guides" to spearfishing/rigging a speargun, etc. By Miles. Each also has a pinned discussion thread on this forum. Later on, there is a classic thread on hunting technique started by SASpearo - please don't add general newbie questions to that thread though, there are more appropriate threads, better yet start a new one.

You can spearfish in any wetsuit or dry suit or no suit but spearo wetsuits work best by far. Spearo suits keep you much warmer for much longer. 5mm for UK, upto 7mm if you feel the cold - as my son does, he has no body fat; sounds like you might be similar build. Downside with thicker suits is that you need to carry more lead and might get too hot. Most of us started off with inadequate, cheap surf suit; mine was a 2 or 3mm shortie which I still use for boogie boarding and kayaking. Wearing a neprene hood, spearo suits have these built in, gloves and socks will help keep you warm.

 

[Mr. X]

I would suggest not using a reel to start with, and certainly not a belt reel in UK. Instead U would suggest that you clip your Speargun tobl an inexpensive polyester float line and clip that to an inexpensive inflatable, torpedo shape dive float, flying a blue and white diver alpha flag. You can also clip you fish stringer there. Use swivel long line clips, cheap on eBay Watch Rob Allen's YouTube video on correct use of these clips - if you use them incorrectly you will likely loose gear or fish.

Keep it simple to start with. It will be safer, more enjoyable and you will loose less gear. You can branch out as you gain experience and confidence.

 

[Mr. X]

Btw I watched several YouTube videos on loading yesterday. One, I think one of Rob Allen's, suggested pull-ups as an appropriate exercise for building strength that would help with loading

 

[Leander]

Pull-ups DO help, IF you load a speargun pointing up (inline with your body). Perhaps when hip-loading a large gun? And even then only for the early part of te pull.

If you want to dry-train muscles for (chest-)loading a gun, inverted rows would be better as they target the correct muscle group.

The only real way to train the right muscles for loading spearguns is to load spearguns. Simple as that. Dry-load them again and again, but without the spear. This way you don't just develop strength, but also coordination. One without the other is useless.

 

[Mr. X]

Yes, rowing movements with weights or weight-stack machines always struck me as the exercise to do for loading spearguns. You are right, in the video concerned Rob is holding the railgun up - unusual. I think because the RA railgun concerned has no loading butt so that gives it a greater contact area with the chest (2 points? rear of mech and bottom of handle). I used to use just such a railgun, only 90cm albeit with 20mm bulk rubber (which I would not recommend), and after a week of chest loading it (I was likely not pointing my railgun up - never heard of that before) my sternum was black and blue and I could load no more. I ended up making a secondary loading pad out of a thick old flip-flop sole to wear inside my wetsuit, under the wetsuit's rather anemic loading pad, to help deal with that. Switching back to a single 16mm band (as originally equipped) helped too.

BTW Rob Allen offers a secondary loading pad (at least they used to, they even had a mk 2 version) and now offer trigger mechs that include a loading "stock"/pad.

 

[Mr. X]

BTW The small leaflet that came with each of my Omer XXVs shows (only) loading against your weightbelt's buckle (not the hip, USA style)! I liked the idea of not having to punish my poor sternum any more. I tried it but quickly came to the conclusion that it was not for me and would likely result in injury, either "doing myself a mischief" or poking an eye out or possibly both and more besides. It must work for some folk though but it felt all wrong to me, I did not feel at all in control of it. I would love to hear from somebody who uses this technique all of the time, or even sometimes.

 

[Leander]

I ended up making a secondary loading pad out of a thick old flip-flop sole

Good idea! I was searching for a cheap diy pad for when the sea gets warm enough in the summer for not wearing a wetsuit. Now only how to do it. Add some straps and make it a harness, stitch/glue it to a tshirt or rashguard or add it to the butt of the speargun?

So many ideas for so many things... Now if only there was some spare time for this. Corona has me all occupied with watching the plants grow.

 

[Mr. X]

I like the idea of gluing a pad to a T-Shirt or rash guard. I had an elastic belt intended for triathletes to wear around their chest to attach their race number to when not wearing a top; it came free in a goodie bag at a race. I attached the bottom to that and used some 3mm bungee cord around my neck to hold the top in place. The first RA one included a harness.