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Spearing On Scuba
- Thread starterAbriapnea
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
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hey Abri
I dont know why either actually I didnt even no people did it until I came on this forum. Its illegal here, I reckon it would hinder your chances on fish big time, I mean i cant imagine a job fish or Maca hangin around when your blowin bubbles.
The ocean is lookin beautiful this weekend Im goin spearin on saturday probably go and chase some spanish. Water is dirty though.
cheers
I dont know why either actually I didnt even no people did it until I came on this forum. Its illegal here, I reckon it would hinder your chances on fish big time, I mean i cant imagine a job fish or Maca hangin around when your blowin bubbles.
The ocean is lookin beautiful this weekend Im goin spearin on saturday probably go and chase some spanish. Water is dirty though.
cheers
Well I am not into spearing with scuba... It is illegal here as pointed out earlier. Howeve I can understand that some people who are less able freedivers might require the advantage of extra time under water that is offered by scuba. Perhaps not so sporting as a snorkel and fins but I don't hold it against someone who want a feed and gets it that way. That would be akin to the dislike many fisho's have for spear's.
However that being said... I prefer the challenge.
However that being said... I prefer the challenge.
Hey Abri,
Check some of the older threads, there's been alot of discussion on this before. I personally do both. I would prefer to freedive but given the conditions and places we dive here its just not an option all the time. We have a pretty flat sand/hard bottom enviroment here and the vis isn't too great. We dive primarily ledges and wrecks. The ledges are smaller inshore getting larger as you go deeper. Also, closer inshore the worse the vis. I try to freedive the shallower stuff as much as possible, that way I have more time to find the ledge. Imagine looking at a crack in your driveway, thats the ledge. The fish stay along that ledge. There is nothing on either side but a flat featureless sand plain. Try dropping on that ledge from 70'-130' w/ about 20'-30' of vis and a current running perpendicular to the ledge. I'm not saying it can't be done but you'll spend alot more time searching for the ledge than anything else. There are days when its "perfect" and freediving the site would be possible but you never know till you get there and 20-30 miles is a long way to run to find out its not divable and its just worse behind you.
Also factor in that I only know of one other freediver in my area and neither one of us has a boat. So when I go offshore its w/ people that are going to be blowing bubbles shooting fish or getting lobster.
I used to live in the Fl Keys and we freedove all the time, but there the water is generally clear and you have the whole reef tract to drop on. Most of the time you can at least make out shapes from the surface.
I guess the bottom line for me is I'd rather freedive spearfish, but I have to go w/ what the conditions dictate. I just like to shoot fish, no aplogies made.
Jay
Check some of the older threads, there's been alot of discussion on this before. I personally do both. I would prefer to freedive but given the conditions and places we dive here its just not an option all the time. We have a pretty flat sand/hard bottom enviroment here and the vis isn't too great. We dive primarily ledges and wrecks. The ledges are smaller inshore getting larger as you go deeper. Also, closer inshore the worse the vis. I try to freedive the shallower stuff as much as possible, that way I have more time to find the ledge. Imagine looking at a crack in your driveway, thats the ledge. The fish stay along that ledge. There is nothing on either side but a flat featureless sand plain. Try dropping on that ledge from 70'-130' w/ about 20'-30' of vis and a current running perpendicular to the ledge. I'm not saying it can't be done but you'll spend alot more time searching for the ledge than anything else. There are days when its "perfect" and freediving the site would be possible but you never know till you get there and 20-30 miles is a long way to run to find out its not divable and its just worse behind you.
Also factor in that I only know of one other freediver in my area and neither one of us has a boat. So when I go offshore its w/ people that are going to be blowing bubbles shooting fish or getting lobster.
I used to live in the Fl Keys and we freedove all the time, but there the water is generally clear and you have the whole reef tract to drop on. Most of the time you can at least make out shapes from the surface.
I guess the bottom line for me is I'd rather freedive spearfish, but I have to go w/ what the conditions dictate. I just like to shoot fish, no aplogies made.
Jay
me too.
Atta boy Jay! You tell 'em!
Face it folks, there are times and places where you just have to throw some air on your back, and sides, and go get dinner.
And as long as it's allowed by the local authorities, it's all good.
sven
Atta boy Jay! You tell 'em!
Face it folks, there are times and places where you just have to throw some air on your back, and sides, and go get dinner.
And as long as it's allowed by the local authorities, it's all good. sven
I use scuba for looking, nothing else. In my opinion, it gives way too much of an advantage. Sure, some might argue a speargun gives you a large advantage, but when freediving, you have to find the fish, and be able to hold your breath long enough to get it. And if the vis is crap, then so be it, you probably won't catch anything unless you get lucky. With scuba you can just keep looking till you find one, too unfair.
And maybe it's just me, but the "i just like shooting fish" comment seemed a bit wrong. It's about hunting, catching your own food, not simply enjoying the actual killing of the creature, and to me that's what it sounded like. Apologies if that's just me reading it wrong, but I'm not overly impressed if I'm correct.
Matt
And maybe it's just me, but the "i just like shooting fish" comment seemed a bit wrong. It's about hunting, catching your own food, not simply enjoying the actual killing of the creature, and to me that's what it sounded like. Apologies if that's just me reading it wrong, but I'm not overly impressed if I'm correct.
Matt
Freediving vs. SCUBA
I wish spearing on SCUBA was outlawed in the USA just like many other places throughout the World. That way if conditions are tough (dirty water, strong currents, fish are deep, ect.), the fish get a break and live a little longer instead of someone being able to simply throw on a tank and do whatever it takes to find and kill them. With SCUBA, all fish, in all areas, are assessable to all divers, all the time. It's not very fair. We don't have to be able to kill them all, all the time, that's what makes me feel good about only shooting fish while freediving.
Scott Turgeon
I wish spearing on SCUBA was outlawed in the USA just like many other places throughout the World. That way if conditions are tough (dirty water, strong currents, fish are deep, ect.), the fish get a break and live a little longer instead of someone being able to simply throw on a tank and do whatever it takes to find and kill them. With SCUBA, all fish, in all areas, are assessable to all divers, all the time. It's not very fair. We don't have to be able to kill them all, all the time, that's what makes me feel good about only shooting fish while freediving.
Scott Turgeon
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Exactly. It's simply not going to be a challenge (or fair) if you've got an hours worth of air on your back. The fish has the benefit of it being it's natural environment, which happens to be one that we aren't ideal for staying in without a lot of extra kit. As I've said before, I use SCUBA to look, not to take. That includes spearfishing and exploring wrecks, I don't remove stuff from those either.
Matt
Matt
Re: Freediving vs. SCUBA
Haven't we been over this before, ladies?
I'm reminded of a common saying these days, offered when people of opposite views start spoutin'... WHATEVER....
and narked, if you haven't been challenged by a fish whilst wearing hours of air on your back, you need to dive more.
just my humble, smooth opinion:hmm
sven
Haven't we been over this before, ladies?
I'm reminded of a common saying these days, offered when people of opposite views start spoutin'... WHATEVER....
and narked, if you haven't been challenged by a fish whilst wearing hours of air on your back, you need to dive more.
just my humble, smooth opinion:hmm
sven
The fish gives you a hard time to defend itself, doesn't make wearing scuba gear more acceptable to me whilst spearing. It is simply my opinion that spearing should be kept as a breath hold thing. I'm not an expert by any means, hell I haven't even been spearfishing yet, but I don't believe in the idea of scuba spearfishing. And I will soon be taking up diving as a career, but dealing with things much more stressful than an angry fish, live mines.
I didn't intend to seem bitchy about this thing, nor did I expect being bitched at or being told that my opinion is wrong and that I need to dive more to "correct" it. If you see scuba spearfishing as fine, then that's ok by me, I'm not going to try to convince you otherwise, nor would I stop you if I saw you doing it, unless it was in an area where such an activity is illegal.
Enough of the bad vibes, let's all just be happy
Matt
I didn't intend to seem bitchy about this thing, nor did I expect being bitched at or being told that my opinion is wrong and that I need to dive more to "correct" it. If you see scuba spearfishing as fine, then that's ok by me, I'm not going to try to convince you otherwise, nor would I stop you if I saw you doing it, unless it was in an area where such an activity is illegal.
Enough of the bad vibes, let's all just be happy
Matt
"With SCUBA, all fish, in all areas, are assessable to all divers, all the time."
I don't think this is always true. I agree that with many species of fish, scuba gives an unfair advantage, but I believe there are many blue water fish that freediving has an advantage over, because of no bubble noise. Maybe some more knowledgeable spearos will contribute on this, but I personally have never heard of scuba divers taking a tuna or wahoo. I have only seen one dorado taken by a scuba diver.
In my area they go to the rigs and shoot the hell out of snapper, amberjack, and ling. It bothers me a little, because they can go down and get their limit pretty quick, selecting the biggest fish, while I am either spending hours using learned skill of fishing with a pole or using much physical exertion freediving which there is no way I can get as deep as them if they are using nitrox or trimax. But when freediving, I am getting positive physical benefit.
Last year I put my 8-year-old daughter through scuba rangers, which is certification for children to scuba in pools. The last class they let the parents and relatives dive too. I was a little late so all the adults were already in the pool. I will never forget the sight when my mask broke the surface. Whale City! I have never seen so much blubber in all my life. There were about 10 fat adults sitting on the bottom of the pool. These people hardly moved the whole 1 1/2 hour class and when it finally came time for them to exit, they had to take off all their gear in the water and hand it to people on side, because they didn’t have the strength to climb the ladder. Of course they were wearing a bunch of weight to hold all that fat down. I’m certified, but I rather freedive then hang with a bunch couch potatoes. My daughter thinks scuba is the best, but I’m trying to persuade her freediving is better.
After saying all this, I am probably going to scuba spearfishing with a buddy who wants me to take him out in my boat. He has scuba gear for me.
One of the main attractions of freediving is the simplicity. I can put all of my family’s gear in my boat along with all my fishing gear and spend one fun day on the ocean. As any boat owner knows, the day doesn’t stop at the dock. If I make it back to dock at 5 PM, I’m doing good to make it to bed by 11 PM. I am about maxed out on the equipment I can maintain can care for. Regulators, tanks, and BC’s, and having to go and get air, would be just too much.
Don
I don't think this is always true. I agree that with many species of fish, scuba gives an unfair advantage, but I believe there are many blue water fish that freediving has an advantage over, because of no bubble noise. Maybe some more knowledgeable spearos will contribute on this, but I personally have never heard of scuba divers taking a tuna or wahoo. I have only seen one dorado taken by a scuba diver.
In my area they go to the rigs and shoot the hell out of snapper, amberjack, and ling. It bothers me a little, because they can go down and get their limit pretty quick, selecting the biggest fish, while I am either spending hours using learned skill of fishing with a pole or using much physical exertion freediving which there is no way I can get as deep as them if they are using nitrox or trimax. But when freediving, I am getting positive physical benefit.
Last year I put my 8-year-old daughter through scuba rangers, which is certification for children to scuba in pools. The last class they let the parents and relatives dive too. I was a little late so all the adults were already in the pool. I will never forget the sight when my mask broke the surface. Whale City! I have never seen so much blubber in all my life. There were about 10 fat adults sitting on the bottom of the pool. These people hardly moved the whole 1 1/2 hour class and when it finally came time for them to exit, they had to take off all their gear in the water and hand it to people on side, because they didn’t have the strength to climb the ladder. Of course they were wearing a bunch of weight to hold all that fat down. I’m certified, but I rather freedive then hang with a bunch couch potatoes. My daughter thinks scuba is the best, but I’m trying to persuade her freediving is better.
After saying all this, I am probably going to scuba spearfishing with a buddy who wants me to take him out in my boat. He has scuba gear for me.
One of the main attractions of freediving is the simplicity. I can put all of my family’s gear in my boat along with all my fishing gear and spend one fun day on the ocean. As any boat owner knows, the day doesn’t stop at the dock. If I make it back to dock at 5 PM, I’m doing good to make it to bed by 11 PM. I am about maxed out on the equipment I can maintain can care for. Regulators, tanks, and BC’s, and having to go and get air, would be just too much.
Don
Yeah, Scott, you're right. But you did accept my compliment about your 15th place finish in the Nat's last month right?
My remarks to narked, being as they were directed towards Narked recognized the fact that he hasn't been spearfishing and is about to embark on what is often a very frustrating avocation. I'm sure that once he gets tired of chasing around some fish for what seems like endless hours and miles, he'll wish to himself that he had a tank on for that time. Now if he goes and gets good enough to want to try for a whahoo or marlin, fish that run from bubbles, then he can go freediving. It's all good.
PS, narked, the mine removal stuff I did in the Red Sea, circa 1984 really stirred up the fish, so bring your gun with you.
So, with that, Scott, take your condescending and busy schedule and enter a caption contest or something.
sven
My remarks to narked, being as they were directed towards Narked recognized the fact that he hasn't been spearfishing and is about to embark on what is often a very frustrating avocation. I'm sure that once he gets tired of chasing around some fish for what seems like endless hours and miles, he'll wish to himself that he had a tank on for that time. Now if he goes and gets good enough to want to try for a whahoo or marlin, fish that run from bubbles, then he can go freediving. It's all good.
PS, narked, the mine removal stuff I did in the Red Sea, circa 1984 really stirred up the fish, so bring your gun with you.
So, with that, Scott, take your condescending and busy schedule and enter a caption contest or something.
sven
OK, I guess I'll get back in this since it appeared that my comment set Narked off to start w/ and got this ball rolling. Well to start w/, to each his own and everybody elses opinion is just as right or wrong as mine. If I offended you(Narked) w/ my statement about liking to shoot(kill) fish then I apologize. Only for offending you, not for the statement, because the bottom line is I do like to shoot fish and shooting ends in killing(usually). Maybe I should of said shooting fish instead of killing. If anyone that spearfishes sayes they don't like to kill fish,then I would almost say they're a liar and why would they do it. Taking fish isn't the only part of the experience but it is a part.
As for banning scuba spearfishing I think thats being a little idealistic and simplistic. Before jumping on band wagons and kneejerk reactions why don't we just look at the actual statistics. Spearfishing of any type has a very small biological impact. So why should just strictly freedivers have acess to the resource? This sounds alot like what the recreational rod fishermen say about everybody else including us. And as for scuba making all fish avaliable at all times isn't quite true either.
Narked, just a couple of rebuttals:
You said you'll be dealing w/ things more stressful than angery fish-live mines(which I'm sure is plenty stressfull).....try dealing w/ an excited Bull shark that doesn't really care whether he gets your fish or your arm. At least the mine will end it quick.
Also you say you've never spearfished, period...I think my buddy Sven was suggesting that maybe you spend alittle time behind a speargun before making such strong statements of whats right and whats wrong. There's a saying about not judging a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes(or fins).
And as for the not taking anything off any wrecks..I won't even go there.
So I guess the bottom line is if some or all of you think I'm less of a sportsman or an out of shape couch potato because I shoot fish on scuba as well as freediving, well, so be it. Thats why we can all live in the same place and have the same job. Safe diving.
Jay
As for banning scuba spearfishing I think thats being a little idealistic and simplistic. Before jumping on band wagons and kneejerk reactions why don't we just look at the actual statistics. Spearfishing of any type has a very small biological impact. So why should just strictly freedivers have acess to the resource? This sounds alot like what the recreational rod fishermen say about everybody else including us. And as for scuba making all fish avaliable at all times isn't quite true either.
Narked, just a couple of rebuttals:
You said you'll be dealing w/ things more stressful than angery fish-live mines(which I'm sure is plenty stressfull).....try dealing w/ an excited Bull shark that doesn't really care whether he gets your fish or your arm. At least the mine will end it quick.
Also you say you've never spearfished, period...I think my buddy Sven was suggesting that maybe you spend alittle time behind a speargun before making such strong statements of whats right and whats wrong. There's a saying about not judging a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes(or fins).
And as for the not taking anything off any wrecks..I won't even go there.
So I guess the bottom line is if some or all of you think I'm less of a sportsman or an out of shape couch potato because I shoot fish on scuba as well as freediving, well, so be it. Thats why we can all live in the same place and have the same job. Safe diving.
Jay
Just to clear a few things up. I'm not exactly offended, and I don't really have a problem with you guys or your opinions. As you've said, each to their own, and it's still not wiping out fish stocks, which commercial trawling is doing.
It's the morale thing with me, and that's only because of the way I've been brought up etc. I PERSONALLY see it as too much of an advantage to wear scuba kit for spearfishing. The idea of having the speargun is enough of an advantage. i don't need experience to believe that, and once I have actually tried this thing, it won't change my opinion. If the fish kick my ass while I'm trying to catch them, so be it, they have the upper hand.
I also wasn't saying that the final killing of the fish isn't part of it, because of course it is, there'll be something inside all of us that makes us feel good about it. It's the whole hunting thing, finding the fish, following it, catching it etc that appeals to me, and no doubt that you MEANT that, but the way you originally said it just came across differently.
I have no problems with the opinions of you guys, providing it's not blatantly wrong or stupid. You aren't breaking the law, and you're still doing less damage than other forms of fishing, so I'm happy. I was just saying what I thought, but maybe put it across a bit too seriously and so it may have been misinterpreted as aggression or whatever. From now on I'll try to use smilies more often
Safe diving,
Matt
It's the morale thing with me, and that's only because of the way I've been brought up etc. I PERSONALLY see it as too much of an advantage to wear scuba kit for spearfishing. The idea of having the speargun is enough of an advantage. i don't need experience to believe that, and once I have actually tried this thing, it won't change my opinion. If the fish kick my ass while I'm trying to catch them, so be it, they have the upper hand.
I also wasn't saying that the final killing of the fish isn't part of it, because of course it is, there'll be something inside all of us that makes us feel good about it. It's the whole hunting thing, finding the fish, following it, catching it etc that appeals to me, and no doubt that you MEANT that, but the way you originally said it just came across differently.
I have no problems with the opinions of you guys, providing it's not blatantly wrong or stupid. You aren't breaking the law, and you're still doing less damage than other forms of fishing, so I'm happy. I was just saying what I thought, but maybe put it across a bit too seriously and so it may have been misinterpreted as aggression or whatever. From now on I'll try to use smilies more often
Safe diving,
Matt
All of you guys missing the real point.
If the spero should feed his familly or may be he is commercial spero.Even may be this is his only income. Then he may want to use scuba for his family good.
But if spero is doing spearfishing for passion,sport or hobby he shouldn`t use scuba so he can live all of the fun and SATISFACTION ! ! !
But there is also other class ``divers???`` using scuba to shoot all of the moving things.
Don`t blame me i don`t put any of you one of these classes but this is my opinion.
So as you can see all of the things depends on PUROSES.
If the spero should feed his familly or may be he is commercial spero.Even may be this is his only income. Then he may want to use scuba for his family good.
But if spero is doing spearfishing for passion,sport or hobby he shouldn`t use scuba so he can live all of the fun and SATISFACTION ! ! !
But there is also other class ``divers???`` using scuba to shoot all of the moving things.
Don`t blame me i don`t put any of you one of these classes but this is my opinion.
So as you can see all of the things depends on PUROSES.
As I've said before, my objections are really more personal things. It's stuff that I personally wouldn't do. Providing you're not breaking any laws and sticking to limits, I'm happy. If, however, you break the laws, catch more than you're allowed, or cross other lines, then that's when I'm NOT happy, and I believe that everyone else (except the ONE exception I have currently seen on this forum) feels this way.
Matt
Matt
Guys,
Keep it friendly in here. We all have differing opinions but lets respect each other and keep it friendly for old-timers and newbies alike.
Keep it friendly in here. We all have differing opinions but lets respect each other and keep it friendly for old-timers and newbies alike.