Spearo books?

[Janner]

I have just read 'the last of the blue water hunters' this morning. Its a great read i think i read it in about 4 hours,(its like pringles, once you pop you just cant stop!) you'll definitely enjoy it mr x.

 

[scottwilson]

I spent £30 at amazon last week and got
Hell divers Rodeo
Manual of Freediving
Last of the blue water hunters

Should keep me happy during the fishless winter.

I had a quick look thru the freediving manual and it looks pretty damn good with loads of exercises to practice.

All in All £30 is not a bad price for something I know I wont regret buying and the guys at work are already lining up to read them and they dont even dive.

 

[Mr. X]

Last of the Blue Water Hunters by Carlos Eyles

I have just read 'the last of the blue water hunters' this morning. Its a great read i think i read it in about 4 hours,(its like pringles, once you pop you just cant stop!) you'll definitely enjoy it mr x.

I just finished reading the same book. I did enjoyed it but it left me with mixed feelings/impressions.

I liked the hippy back-to-nature vibe but found his account of the extermination of the big game fish, huge lobster & abalone disturbing. I'm jaded by the "Jaws" shark hype but must admit Carlos told several compelling shark tales. He understandably makes a big deal about Terry Maas shooting a 390lb blue fin tuna at the start and end of the book ("the largest Pacific bluefin tuna ever caught by man using any method") -- which is impressive but Pacific is an important qualifier: I've seen pictures of 900lb blue fin tuna caught off Scarborough in the UK. Back before the herring stocks were decimated (actually worse than decimated, reduced in number by several orders of magnitude). I suppose it reinforces the impression he gives of decreasing fish stocks that are no more than adolescents compared to the their huge predecessors.

BTW had a flick though a sea angling magazine this month. It claimed (and you have to wonder where they got their 18XX fish stock data from) that stocks of most popular eating fish in the UK have fallen by 98% since 18-something or other.

 

[scottwilson]

Mr X, I finished the same book a couple of days ago and enjoyed it a lot. I can imagine his His obsession with the Bass will strike a cord in many a British spearo including myself.

As its only the second spearo book that i have read I dont have much to compare it too but it was a good read.

Has anyone read No Sharks today?

 

[sunfish]

I've read it. It's about Erics life as a competition spearo. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I think any spearfisher would. It's mostly anecdotes of international competitions, amusing at times and always interesting.
Carlos' book is my favourite (he has others too) and anything by Terry Maas is good, whether webpage, magazine article or book. Try the "bluewater freedivers" webpage. I think it's Freedive.net & Terry Maas: book or video on apnea freediving, snorkeling, spearfishing. If that doesn't work just use google.

 

[foxfish]

Here is a new one - http://forums.deeperblue.net/spearo-board/75022-another-must-read-time-new-zealand.html#post681614

 

[glowworm]

All must read

Len Jones ....Encounters with Sharks,Dolphins and Big Fish.

I too have read Carlos Eyles Last of the Blue Water Hunters and Erics No Sharks today but Len's book is so well written it will touch a note with all spearo's.He lived the dream of pioneering spearfishing in a fledgeling country with all the danger that comes with it.

In todays modern world some things in these books seem senseless and wrong but the value of hindsight is acknowledged and accepted which makes it all the more humble read.

This year for Christmas Santa i would like just 10% of the skill and courage of the men mentioned above.

I have been a good boy this year...

 

[JPPLAY]

All must read

Len Jones ....Encounters with Sharks,Dolphins and Big Fish.

I too have read Carlos Eyles Last of the Blue Water Hunters and Erics No Sharks today but Len's book is so well written it will touch a note with all spearo's.He lived the dream of pioneering spearfishing in a fledgeling country with all the danger that comes with it.

I completely agree with glowworm. I have read all three books and I have only really reread Encounters with Sharks, Dolphins and Big Fish. The rather interesting thing though about Len Jones is he left spearfishing for many years and has now just returned to it.

I still can hardly believe they used body stringers at one time in South Africa. I won't string my fish on my body here even though there is really every a GW sighted in this area. Though not noticing an eel or something else that big and it grabbing your fish doesn't sound too good ether.

The thing about No Sharks Today is it gives you a view into the high level of the sport and what is possible at that level.

 

[foxfish]

I have just finished reading this DiveNewZealand Store: Chase the Adventure Very good read, contains all the necessary ingredients like big fish, the one that got away, a few deaths, quality photos etc - Great stuff.

 

[foxfish]

I must say I am surprised there is so little activity on this thread?

Anyhow just finished another book - Spearfishing for skin and scuba divers - by Steven M Barsky.
Maybe not the best spearfishing book ever written but I enjoyed it!
Quite basic stuff really however there are plenty of little snippets of info that I never knew & now live in my head.
Overall a good effort from someone who is dedicated enough to write about there sport but not a touch on the last one I read!

 

[Old Man Dave]

I agree with your reviews Mart.

I enjoyed the NZ one and of course it's by Darren Shields whose website I used to view regularly and whose carreer I followed. Filled in a lot more details and by the fantastic quality pictures you can see why he is now involved in a carreer in underwater photography. Great spearo though but like all such men a bit too "focused" for my taste or even beyond my understanding. Witnessed by the SWB and deaths he relates in the book.

In the Barsky one he really rates the new generation of drain valve snorkels. On the strength of that I've ordered one, so we'll see. Like you say it's sometimes the little snippets that are of interest.

Dave

 

[Mr. X]

...
In the Barsky one he really rates the new generation of drain valve snorkels. On the strength of that I've ordered one, so we'll see...

I thought they might have improved but the one I bought a couple of years ago is not much good. Fine for surface snorkelling but inferior to a plain-J if you dive & keep your snorkel in, as I do. Some of the new American ones look pretty fancy though & some might be work better. A fully-dry top design would probably work better than mine, which has a semi-dry top (2 slots to route falling water out). I notice some of the spearos that wrote positively about draining snorkels use them to deal with rougher conditions -- a dry top could certainly help in a swell. I had one bad day last year when the swell periodically filled my snorkel just as I was grabbing a breath - most disconcerting! You kinow what I'm like for sea sickness -- it certainly didn't help.

 

[Marwan]

i defintitely enjoy the "back to nature" sty;e that carlos writes in, the last of the blue water hunters was defintiely one of my good reads, another good one, also by him is the "the blue edge", spearing wasnt the main center of the book but a great read definitely...
X the rob allen DVD is great.

 

[the_milkman]

here here the Eyles book is great. And the Len Jones too...

 

[sunfish]

If anyone has a copy of Len Jones spearfishing guide they're willing to sell would they PM me please. I ordered a copy for Christmas. It never arrived and it's sold out now.

 

[glowworm]

Sunfish look at this site FreeDivers

Not too sure if it's worth ordering form them a bit far away but i do have a friend going back to South Africa in March and i have asked him to send me back a copy of each book.If you still want a copy pm me.

 

[sunfish]

Thanks Gloworm, I just ordered a copy from SA on the net. I also ordered the new one, think it's called "Spanners fishooks and spears" or something like that. I'll report on it when I get it.
Thanks for the offer and the site link. I'm going to look at the site now. Bet there're other spearo books in SA.

 

[sunfish]

Hi again Gloworm, the encounters with big fish and dolphins wasn't the one i was looking for as I have a copy coming from Dave at Spearo. I ordered the guide to spearfishing from Basil Manning in SA. Basil Manning

 

[glowworm]

Glad you managed to get a copy Sunfish.I have ordered both copies but i went the extra mile and expense of getting my copies signed by Len himself.

 

[Old Man Dave]

I agree with your reviews Mart.

I enjoyed the NZ one and of course it's by Darren Shields whose website I used to view regularly and whose carreer I followed. Filled in a lot more details and by the fantastic quality pictures you can see why he is now involved in a carreer in underwater photography. Great spearo though but like all such men a bit too "focused" for my taste or even beyond my understanding. Witnessed by the SWB and deaths he relates in the book.

In the Barsky one he really rates the new generation of drain valve snorkels. On the strength of that I've ordered one, so we'll see. Like you say it's sometimes the little snippets that are of interest.

Dave

This is Darrens book link DiveNewZealand Store: Chase the Adventure

This is his web site link Wild Blue - Freediving and Spearfishing Look under dive reports for the latest catches. Note pics of Mako shark.


Dave