Spearhunter TV Program

[Bill McIntyre]

A couple of months ago a pilot for a new spearfishing HDTV program was shown at the Temecula Film Festival in Southern California, and I think all of us who saw it were blown away. It had Sheri Daye and Chad Palan, being filmed by Terry Maas, shooting fish on the FL east coast, Key West, and then the finale was Sheri shooting her record yellowfin in Mexico. And after the film, all the divers got to go up to the manse of Robin Berg, the producer, and rub elbows with the "cast." I talked to Bill Ernst, and he told me that he got some fantastic footage of Terry Maas shooting big white sea bass, and unlike most film of that type, the fish don't disappear into the kelp, so we get to watch the fight. Now Robin has given me the details of the actual show.

The series begins airing on Monday the 1st of January and will air three times a day every Monday for the next six months.
Eastern Times are 6:30 PM / 11:00 PM / 2 AM
Pacific Times are 3:30 PM / 8:00 PM / 11:00 PM
The Outdoor Channel is available on Direct TV (channel 606) or check with your local cable provider, it is sometimes available as an upgraded sports package.

If the program is anything like the pilot, this is a program we won't want to miss. Now I just have to find out if I can get that channel. When I mentioned to Robin that this might be a problem for some of us, he indicated that DVDs would be available too.

While Sheri and Chad will be in all the footage used in the pilot, Robin Berg has assembled a team of respected spearos from the US, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

Just last week, I got hold of a copy of a DVD that Terry Maas put together for the Christmas party of his club, the Long Beach Neptunes, and I understand that the LA Fathomiers also showed it at their December meeting. I'm not a member of either club, but he had mercy on me and sent me a copy.

This footage may be included in the TV programs, and its truly awesome. It starts with guys shooting a bunch of nice yellowtail in very clear water, and that got me juiced up enough. But then the next segment shows Terry sitting there looking at big schools of white sea bass swimming slowly by, and then picking out the fish to shoot. Now and then you think he has missed a chance to shoot the last one in line, but them more keep coming. This may be what Bill Ernst was telling me about at the producer's house, as the kelp is thin and you can see the entire fight, including Terry going down and cutting the fish out of the kelp and bringing it up. The fish looked to be in the 50 pound range.

Then they have a segment on a big school of giant black sea bass gathered together for mating. Of course its not legal to shoot them, but its neat to just see fish like that. I've seen quite a few, but never such a huge school.

The final segment is one of the most unusual things I've seen. There is a huge tight ball of mackerel pushed right up under the surface, with a bunch of 30 to 40 pound dorado making runs on them in crystal clear water. You can actually see the dorado coming back out of the ball, shifting the mackerel in their mouths, and gulping them down. One of the dorado lets the mackerel get away, and another dorado streaks right past the camera and picks it up.

At the end, he turns off the music so that you can hear the noise of the school of mackerel.

My cable company doesn't offer the Outdoor Channel, so I may have to get a dish.

Here is the Outdoor Channel site where you can learn what will be shown on each program.

http://outdoorchannel.com/showinfo....Desc&ShowID=654

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[Ol Dirty Diver]

Here's a good link: http://www.outdoorchannel.com/showinfo.cfm?site=1&PageName=ShowDesc&ShowID=654

 

[josedesucre]

I watched the first episode of The Speargun Hunter today. It was ok but didn't really impressed me much. Maybe I had too high expectations about it. It was taped in Florida's east cost. Perhaps it will improve when they move to other locations with better prospects for more exciting captures. The first segment for Cape Hatteras, scheduled for February 19, will feature Mark Labocetta. Most of the underwater videos are being done by Terry Maas himself. And in today's episode the skipper of the boat was none other than Daryl Wong. The hunters were Chad Palan, a profesional spearfishing, and Shery Daye, owner of a couple of world records. One comment by Terry Maas at the beginning surely will rile some floridian spearhunters, as he said he didn't considered using scuba for spearfishing a sport.

 

[Chad Carney]

Unfortunately I missed the TV show, but I've seen Ronin Berg's Speargun Hunter documentary, which won best of show at the Temecula Film Festival, and heard some of it was the same high quality footage with Dr Maas filming.

Sheri Daye shooting and dragging up a cobia, Chad Palan spearing and yanking gag grouper from a wreck is first class spearfishing filming if you ask me.

Chad Palan is also a world record holder, as is Dr Maas. Sheri has 11 now, of which 2 are men's records.

I'm not going to miss another show!

Chad

 

[josedesucre]

I stand corrected on all those records I didn't know about. And you are right, of course, on the performance of Shery and Chad. Both are first class spearhunters. Will keep watching.

 

[josedesucre]

The second episode (january 8) was great. The team went hunting in the Atlantic waters of Key West, and there were lots of fish. Chad Palan shoot a big black grouper under a coral ledge 50 feet deep, and then went under the ledge himself to extricate the fish. That big guy seems to be able to hold his breath forever. Terry Maas was taping from some 20 feet above Chad, but was at the end of his breathold so he had to go up and couldnt tape the fight under the coral. He could have used a tank then .

 

[martyn]

Hi everyone,
If you want to see some quality spearfishing, then try to get hold of Jose Amengual's DVD series on spearing. He teams up with his nephew, Pedro Carbonell, a world-class spearo. For a geezer in his sixties, Pep Amengual puts us to shame!
There's a whole series of the things, from learning the basics, to species hunting across the seasons, to competition spearfishing. The quality is really excellent, and they are well dubbed in English, or if your Spanish is up to speed, you can watch it in that if you want!
Regards,
Martyn.

 

[Chad Carney]

The second episode (january 8) was great.

Terry Maas was taping from some 20 feet above Chad, but was at the end of his breathold so he had to go up and couldnt tape the fight under the coral. He could have used a tank then .

Pretty funny!

I caught this one too, it was great!

Chad

 

[Bill McIntyre]

I have met Terry Maas a couple of times, but can't say that I really know him or that he is a special friend. But still, I just don't understand everyone's glee at the fact that he had to go up while Chad was still down there.

Does this mean he isn't a great diver? I marveled at Chad's prowess and it didn't occur to me to try to look for a way to criticize Terry. Rather than thinking, "wow, that Terry is so bad that he couldn't stay down there with Chad" my perception was that "wow, Chad is so good that he stayed down there even more than Terry could handle on that dive." I guess its just a matter of emphasis, but I have no illusion that I am a better diver than Terry, and I doubt that many of us are.

For all we know, he had been down there before Chad to set up the shot. And of course pushing that big camera through the water is a lot harder than carrying a spear gun.

Or is the point that people who can't do things like that while freediving want to say that he is just like them, and should have worn a tank?

BTW, I've seen footage of Terry shooting white sea bass that will be shown in a future episode. When he wasn't the one holding the camera, his diving impressed me.

 

[josedesucre]

Just in case, Bill, I was not trying to criticize Terry. I know he is an awesome diver and, as you said, he probably dived down before Chad. My observation was just an attempt to make a joke in relation with the comment about using scuba, that he made in the first episode. I agree 100% with Dr. Maas about not using scuba for spearfishing, but I think that for making a movie like this the use of an underwater breathing system would facilitate getting better shots and ultimately a better movie.

 

[Chad Carney]

Hey Bill, I meant no disrespect either, but had to chuckle at josedesucre's joke after the scuba vs. freedive comments. I sure get tired of them.

The video Terry shot was excellent, and on that dive he did a great job keeping the camera on Chad as he ascended. I've heard the HDV video systems they are using are really sweet.

jose, I've shot a lot of video both ways and have to disagree about scuba video being better of a freediver, especially a spearo. It's incredibly difficult, but a good freediver and hunter, like Terry, can keep up and anticipate the action to be in the right place at the right time. Scuba cameramen are very slow and noisy and would often not be able to get the same tight shots.

And there's something about the purity of the video capture matching the hunter's style. Anyway that's my thoughts.

Chad

 

[Chad Carney]

For all we know, he had been down there before Chad to set up the shot. And of course pushing that big camera through the water is a lot harder than carrying a spear gun.

Speargun Hunter is on again tonight at 6:30 and 11:00 pm on the Outdoor Channel.

Dives off Key West's Gulf side on one of the Dept of Defense towers, and more.

Chad

PS: I did get a chance to see the grouper scene with Chad Palan again, and just wanted to mention that Dr Maas was taping at the surface when Chad started his dive. The dive was 1.5 minutes long, and Dr Maas began his ascent at about :55 into it... a very respectable dive, and great coverage with the wide angle HDV camera.

Many freediver's would have trouble staying with Chad Palan.

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[Bill McIntyre]

Speargun Hunter is on again tonight at 6:30 and 11:00 pm on the Outdoor Channel.

Dives off Key West's Gulf side on one of the Dept of Defense towers, and more.

That was in the pilot shown at the film festival, so at least it sounds like I haven't missed much so far. The other major portion of the pilot was Sheri Daye shooting her record tuna in PV, Mexico.

When they start showing stuff other than that, I'm really going to be wishing I could get the Outdoor Channel.

 

[spaghetti]

Just one brief note for history, I think it's curious. When they filmed the oldest spearfishing clip I've heard about ("Cacciatori Sottomarini"), it was 1946 and scuba gear was not easily available for the public at least in Italy (still it was mostly a military specialty). So the filming had to be done breath hold, but the director crafted a special coating to make the camera neutrally buoyant. This way he could surface to rebreath leaving the camera underwater holding position "spot on". This happened 61 years ago.
Ah, nearly forgot it. Name of the movie was "Cacciatori Sottomarini" ("Underwater hunters") by italian director Francesco Alliata. It was shot in Sicily on the 16th of August 1946. Here's a screen shot of it.

http://www.diveitaly.com/aromeo/images/uwgraffitiAlliata12C.jpg

And here's Alliata filming his 1949 movie with a very "antique" scuba gear

http://www.diveitaly.com/aromeo/images/uwgraffitiAlliata03.jpg

 

[Chad Carney]

That was in the pilot shown at the film festival, so at least it sounds like I haven't missed much so far. The other major portion of the pilot was Sheri Daye shooting her record tuna in PV, Mexico.

When they start showing stuff other than that, I'm really going to be wishing I could get the Outdoor Channel.

The TV shows have 22 minutes of content, minus commercials. The last airing had 2 more fish speared, added to the original documentary footage.

Bill, you're not alone in lacking the connection. I caught it at a sports bar, and many of the non-diving patrons started watching it too.

Chad

 

[josedesucre]

I wonder what is the apparently unsurmountable problem that prevent you guys from getting The Outdoor Channel. Comcast offers it for an extra 5.99 a month, while Dish and Direct TV charge 1.99 a month. I had Comcast but I was already unahappy with them so I dumped them and switched to Dish and got it installed in 48 hours, just in time for the first Spearhunter program
I guess you have different options in Florida and Southern Cal.

 

[joe123321]

Is is on the outdoor life network? I hope it is so i can watch it.

I need to get comcast so I can get the national geographic channel, and a bunch of other good ones

 

[Bill McIntyre]

No, the Outdoor Channel is different from the Outdoor Life Network.

 

[joe123321]

Dang, I really need to get comcast...

 

[OceanSwimmer]

Is this TV series going to be repeated anytime soon?
I realize I'm getting into this conversation late (as in 2007) but perhaps a DVD of the series has been made?
Also, the Italian footage mentioned sounds wonderful....any information about how to obtain it here in the usa?
Thanks, gentlemen!