I want to start hunting!

[matts1w]

I think that you are doing absolutley the right thing. A pole spear will teach you how to approach fish and give you a strong foundation to build on when you move on to a gun. The guy that taught me how to hunt insisted that I use only a pole spear for one year. I learned alot, and even got some pretty nice fish towards the end of the year, including a 12lb. Black Grouper.

Great advice. Wish someone had done this with me. Shooting fish is the easy part. Stalking fish is a different story.

 

[F'in Mike]

Shoot them in the head. Always go for the head shot. Exhaling tends to scare them too, at least the grouper.

 

[mudhole]

Hi, I want to start hunting this summer and will probably start with a simple spear with band attached to it and move up to spear fishing later. Any tips or pointers?

To learn to hunt, doesn't involve a spear, it requires learning. . . Every dive you should be learning to hunt. Watch the fish in their habitat, everywhere you dive. There are fish that are hunters, eating other fish. There are fish that are eaten. The behavior will be very different and it is important to look at fish and tell which category they fit into.

The easiest fish to find and watch are usually the fish that are eaten. . . They frequently swim in schools and are wary of anything that approaches them head on. Predator fish are more often solitary or in small numbers. . . hanging outside the bait fish. As your skill grows in finding fish, learn what the predators are and how they hunt. In my area, sunfish swim in schools in areas with food for them, the depth may change depending on sunlight, waves, or time of year. Their predator is the bass. Small bass will hang around the deeper margins of the sunfish, and will usually not be successful in grabbing a meal. A straight ahead charge of a bass will be defeated by a quick circling of the smaller fish. The bigger bass of the area "king of the mountain" will dominate any ambush places that give the advantage to the predator. . . smaller bass will be attacked if they get too close to the ambush spot.

A side note: even the largest predator is still wary of being attacked by something bigger, so your behavior must look innocent to your quarry. Fish attack head on, good spearfishermen attack sideways. Swim at an angle to your target, and when close, hold the speargun across your body to make the shot, something another fish can't do.

On your first dives swim with the schooling fish and learn what behavior "spooks" these easy to find fish. . . If you swim waving your hands, that will scare fish, If you breathe slow and steady you can move among the fish, if you breathe fast and irratically, you'll scare fish. If you bounce around the bottom, kicking up mud, you won't be able to get close. Watch your behavior and become comfortable, then you can hunt. When you can be close or in the middle of these small baitfish. Look around the edges of the schools, there you will find the targets. You can learn a lot before you buy any kind of pole spear or speargun.

 

[cmburch]

There are currently grunion runs in your area. Halibut follow, but would be for more advanced since they spook easy and can drag you. Cabezon are also around now - easy and best tasting like halibut. Check SpearBoard for clubs and expert advice in your area and same ocean.

 

[cmburch]

Local advice from other areas may be good. But sometimes for a west coast diver it may be better to get advice from someone that dives the same ocean. On Spearboard there are California divers. Advice from Florida may not relate to conditions on the west coast. On SpearBoard there are Florida divers that have hunting experience in both oceans. In general, a beginning California diver will be hunting fish in kelp, and in and around rocks. Many of the fish are territorial and may just stay in one location as if saying, "I dare ya to shoot me". Also learning safety while hunting (especially particular species), and the rules and regulations for California is a must. Size limits, closures, MPA's, RES's, CON's, etc. So rock fish, sculpins, Cabezon, kelp greenlings, ling cod would be common fish to encounter when hunting on SCUBA. There may be more when freediving. Figure out what you like to eat. Best not to kill undersized, protected, or fish you don't like to clean or eat (bony fish). The order of preference may go
Cabezon
Halibut
Ling Cod
Rock Fish
Perch, and so on.

Why wait for summer. It's spring break. Good Luck and have fun!

 

[RockHunter]

JUST DO IT. You wont be sorry if ever in south Texas send me a PM.