# !!!new to spear fishing and diving!!!!



## carlos.hunter (May 16, 2011)

Hello fellow anglers. I am new to the forum and would like to thank all of you for your experience and knowledge! I just got certified to scuba dive two months ago and I LOVE IT!!! I have been fishing rod and reel since I was 9 so I love angling. I was wondering if you ladies and gentlemen could give me some pointers and tips on where to scuba/freedive while sprearfishing!!! I have been freediving the three mile bridge on gulf breeze side every weekend with some succsess 3 sheepshead and 1 spadefish. The current there is very rough and visibility is not good at all there. I can rent potoon boat from the navy since I am active duty military I am just looking for some good tips and leads for scuba and freeding and I know this forum is the place to find it!!! Thank you all for your time.


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## Native Diver (Aug 8, 2009)

CH,
As you stated you are a new "scuba diver", How many dives do you have? I would highly recommend that you postpone spearing on scuba until you have some "substantial bottom time" under your weight belt. The poop can hit the fan quick, especially if you shoot a sizable fish like a AJ. Not only is gas management "CRITICAL" but also buoyancy control! Most new divers don't have either initially, they are perfected over time. The last thing any diver needs is a out of air emergency! 

My advise would be to dive, dive, dive, thats the only way to get good at it. Then find a buddy or two that has been spearing for a while and "watch" how they do it. If your lucky enough to find a seasoned spear-o that is willing to show you the ropes....well thats even better.

I'm not wanting to discourage you from spearing, I'm just saying don't rush it, get your basic skills mastered, then go kill'em!

DIVE SAFE!


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## Clay-Doh (Oct 2, 2007)

Addictive aint it????

Good for y9ou gettin in it. Native gave some good advice. And biggest problem I have seen with newer divers shootin fish is bouyancy control once they have a fish on. Yu can't look at your depth gauge, your eyes are locked on the fish tryin to put a hurtin on you and wrap you up, and I have seen it way to often guys getting pulled around, with up being the worst direction, since as you go up if not dumping some air because your hands are dealin with the fish, you get more and more bouyant and it starts snowballin. 

I have several times grabbed a divers fins and yanked em back down. Be aware of everything, not just the fish trying to hurt you, don't shoot an AJ first time you puyll the trigger out in the gulf, and keep doin what your doin...askin questions and learnin! Nothin more fun than spearfishin1

The link below in my signature has some of my spearfishing videos I've made. If you wanna see a good example of an AJ kicking my ass, the "Fear and Dread" video in the link is a good one. There HD, so if your computer won't play em, click on hte HD button on the bottom right of the video to turn it off.

Watch for the next spearfishing seminar at MBT also. Great knowledge, free, and meet a lot of people that spearfish, some really good ones, and then the rest of us who like to pretend were really good!

Good luck man!


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## ADRENALINE (May 6, 2008)

Killer videos Clay!!!!


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## Clay-Doh (Oct 2, 2007)

Thanx Addreniline! I enjoy making em. My little indoor rainy day hobby with the editing.

Hey Carlos, meeting some of the spearos on here is a good thing too...cuz we all like to talk about it, gear, technique, and of course, tell stories that are only half true about the fish we shot... ha ha:whistling:

Every wednesday a group of people from these 2 fishing forums get together on Pcola beach at Gilligans Tiki Bar behind the Hampton Inn by the pool for free raw oysters and a couple drinks. Lot of divers there, myself and Brandy are there every wed without fail, Paul Redman, Florabama, Marmidor, and quite a few others are there too. Good way to get some more info, and meet people with boats that are looking for riders to split gas with on dive trips!

Hope to see ya there one day. You got stationed in the right city for diving and spearfishing


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## carlos.hunter (May 16, 2011)

Thank you guys for the advice. I know I need more dives before I go after a fish scuba style. I was wondering about snorkling myself until I get some time under my wieght belt. It seems that the snorkling spearfishing is not so good out here. Its all out in the gulf it seems. I am hooked I swear!!! It is so addicting.


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## Mattatoar (Apr 30, 2008)

I could not agree more with Native Diver. You should have a lot of dives under your belt before you up the complexity and danger with a speargun.

You buoyancy control, safety checks, and all that should second nature before you start throwing in a gun, hoop, bloody fish, and a whole lot of new things to be mindful of. 

Having done that... get a good gun a real good one and not some introductory POS. Buying the right gear first is better than having to do it 2 or 3 times. Next, find a mentor to learn from; preferably with years of experience and some patience. Don't jump in with some knucklehead who lets his gear go to rot or thinks beer and diving work well together. Spearfishing is an awesome hobby for life and I plan on doing it for a long time.


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## river_roach (Sep 8, 2009)

I guess I lean the other way on this. sbarrow and I went spearfishing on our first dive in the gulf out of our certification. The best lessons learned are through trial and error. Get out there and shoot some fish. That is the only way you are going to learn to handle them. Grab that gill plate whenever the fish gives you a chance and don't let go. Take some surgical scissors with you and they will come in handy alot. I use them for everything from finishing fish off to cutting fishing line. Never give up a chance to make a dive with a gun in your hand. If you start diving without your gun you will always see that fish the you've been wanting to shoot when you don't have a gun. I am in the military too. There is a dive club on one the Air Force bases in your area. I can't remember which one though. It would be worth looking into. If I am not badly mistaken I think you get free air fills if you are a member. I will attempt to do some research on it and post what I find. It has been some time since I looked at it. Well best of luck to you. I'll be postponing my dives until the end of the year when I get back from Iraq.


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## river_roach (Sep 8, 2009)

It is Eglin AFB that has the dive club that I was speaking of. The yearly dues are $72. Once you are a member you get free air fills for your tanks. They also due club dives.


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## Fish-n-Fur (Apr 2, 2009)

Mattatoar said:


> I could not agree more with Native Diver. You should have a lot of dives under your belt before you up the complexity and danger with a speargun.
> 
> You buoyancy control, safety checks, and all that should second nature before you start throwing in a gun, hoop, bloody fish, and a whole lot of new things to be mindful of.
> 
> Having done that... get a good gun a real good one and not some introductory POS. Buying the right gear first is better than having to do it 2 or 3 times. Next, find a mentor to learn from; preferably with years of experience and some patience. Don't jump in with some knucklehead who lets his gear go to rot or thinks beer and diving work well together. Spearfishing is an awesome hobby for life and I plan on doing it for a long time.


Good post. Concur, as this guy just got certified. 

I'm also in MIL (USA AD) - and will retire in less than 4 years back to the area (P'Cola/GB). Cheers!


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## Fish-n-Fur (Apr 2, 2009)

p.s. Mattatoar - nice Dr. S book. Like that


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## Telum Pisces (Sep 27, 2007)

river_roach said:


> I guess I lean the other way on this. sbarrow and I went spearfishing on our first dive in the gulf out of our certification. The best lessons learned are through trial and error. Get out there and shoot some fish. That is the only way you are going to learn to handle them. Grab that gill plate whenever the fish gives you a chance and don't let go. Take some surgical scissors with you and they will come in handy alot. I use them for everything from finishing fish off to cutting fishing line. Never give up a chance to make a dive with a gun in your hand. If you start diving without your gun you will always see that fish the you've been wanting to shoot when you don't have a gun. I am in the military too. There is a dive club on one the Air Force bases in your area. I can't remember which one though. It would be worth looking into. If I am not badly mistaken I think you get free air fills if you are a member. I will attempt to do some research on it and post what I find. It has been some time since I looked at it. Well best of luck to you. I'll be postponing my dives until the end of the year when I get back from Iraq.


Just look up and read about all the diving accidents. They happen and can happen to you if you are not carefull and do not practice diving with your gear before taking on the next challenge.

Diving is a very safe sport when you dive within the very easy to understand parameters. But you have to pay attention to those parameters on each and every dive. The only way to get good at what you do is repetition. 

Spearfishing adds a lot of other variables to diving that you need to step into once you have a good routine down for normal diving without a speargun. Then once you feel comfortable with that, take a gun down and swim around. Get used to that extra piece of gear. Take a shot at a shell in the sand and practice loading your gun underwater. Then pick the smallest fish that's legal, a porgy or something and take the shot. Learn to string the fish, handle the fish, all while keeping yourself from becoming entangled. Some of the smallest snappers have wrapped me up like crazy.

Other than the safety aspect, I now wish I didn't have that urge to take a gun down with me on every trip. I wish I just dove a lot longer before spearfishing. Because before spearfishing, I simply enjoyed the underwater world without looking for that monster fish. I no longer pay attention to all the cool and interesting little creatures under there. 

So dive, enjoy it, learn your gear, dive safely and then slowly get into spearfishing.


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