Sport divers and Spear fishers on same boats?

[crgoode]

I think everybody on the boat was named Steve. I've got nothing against the sport of spearfishing, I just felt like the sites were chosen more for the fish they offered than for any visual attraction, basically a couple of barges at 70 fsw. After reading the thread on the shark attack and the attitudes of several people posting on there, and also posting here looking for a fight, I'd just rather not have to spend any more time than necessary with people with those attitudes.

 

[Stone]

crgoode once bubbled...
I'm planning a long diving weekend in West Palm Beach next month and am wondering if I'm likely to run into this again.

I think everybody on the boat was named Steve. I've got nothing against the sport of spearfishing, I just felt like the sites were chosen more for the fish they offered than for any visual attraction, basically a couple of barges at 70 fsw. After reading the thread on the shark attack and the attitudes of several people posting on there, and also posting here looking for a fight, I'd just rather not have to spend any more time than necessary with people with those attitudes.

Sorry if this sounds politically incorrect, but if you don't like the comments you've received in regards to your original post, do your own research (all it takes is a phone call to your prospective charter).

Better yet, go to Pennecamp State Park. No fishing allowed.

 

[100days-a-year]

What chip?Who's shoulder?

 

[f94gator]

crgoode once bubbled...
After reading the thread on the shark attack and the attitudes of several people posting on there, and also posting here looking for a fight, I'd just rather not have to spend any more time than necessary with people with those attitudes.

If you see a spearfisher get out of line, it's probably because there is a significant misconception about the sport that is tiring to deal with. The only attitude I saw on that thread was in response to some extremely foolish comments and suggestions on the parts of others who, quite frankly, have no idea what they're talking about. Some of their suggestions were downright hazardous to your health.

We can't judge what the dive boat told you on the way out about the dive spots you were going to. Your original question was if spearfishing was common off of charter boats. Question asked, question answered. If you want to avoid those with bad attitudes, I suggest you get your own boat. Spearfishermen don't have the attitude market cornered by any means!

 

[crgoode]

Let me answer the question you asked me. No I wouldn't have been upset if they had gone diving without their spearguns, then I would have just been wondering why they picked such lousy dive sites. Now let me ask you another question in all seriousness, since I know zip about spearfishing. Are there any safety concerns involved in mixing the 2 types of divers on one boat?

 

[f94gator]

Honestly, no, I don't think there are any safety issues involved. Some argue that the presence of freshly killed fish in the water will increase the chances of hostile encounters for them, the recreational, sight-seeing divers. Considering that the guy actually hunting - the guy with freshly killed fish hanging from his BC - is VERY rarely accosted by a shark, I'd say the risk for someone NOT hunting is extremely minimal.

Safety-wise - no, I wouldn't worry at all. As you learned, though, a prime spearfishing place is probably not the best for sightseeing - and vice versa.

 

[richhermes]

I think eventually you get tired of just sightseeing when you dive and more experienced divers end up spearfishing due to this.

I know I am sick and tired of looking at coral. I would rather kill dinner!!

 

[100days-a-year]

The divesites do kinda suck ,but thier selection has little to do with the fishing there .They pick barges and tugs so that newer and unfamiliar divers have a structure to oreint around.The anchor is usually tied in to the wreck so you can't get lost .70 feet is as deep as most divers should be at in the condition we call normal vis less than 50' and current up to 1.5 kts depending on tide and moon phase.Natural bottom and reefs are great but trying to manage 12 people going in every which way 'cause they don't have a clue where the boat is.If I had 4 paying customers I'd cancel as at $75 with tanks thats not enough to pay for overhead and still pay the crew.

 

[crgoode]

I think you know the crew, Steve (young guy) was the DM, his father was the captain, and they had a friend whom they described as "kinda like the asst. DM", but his sole pupose as far as I could tell was to hunt. There were 5 paying divers, but one was evidently a frequent customer or friend. At both sites Steve, the asst. DM, and the frequent customer went in with spears to "set the anchor", after 15 or 20 min. Steve would come back up and rig the tag line and we would all enter the water then, at which point Steve would go back to hunting and occasionally check us out. I didn't feel we were being neglected, I just felt like this was a spearfishing trip for the 3 guys and the rest of us were just along to pay the way. And these barges were the pits. No features, nothing around them. I had hoped to see some sharks or jewfish, but there was nothing. After 10 min. I was just killing time till I ran out of air. I thought Jax had some decent wrecks and artificial reefs. I sure they didn't make a lot of money that day but it was early in the season and they got a lot of fish and paid their expenses, not a bad way to spend a Sunday when the water's still cold.

 

[joens]

I bet one of them would have let you borrow a speargun for a dive . I know I would have been sad if I had gone on a spearfishing trip and not had a speargun.
Joens