Why Spearfishing is an advanced Activity

[danvolker]

The clueless yuppie analogy sweeping other divers with their "muzzle" is the most common occurrence if you dive regularly on the commercial dive boats in SFL. Pretty much the standard in my opinion.

The good spearfishermen with good awareness generally dive private boats or get completely separate drops and you never see them underwater. Likely because they know their odds of seeing a shootable fish in the overfished SFL environment are very low hanging with the crowd.

Van of Narcosis, and some of his spearfishing buddies, are a good example of the "right" spearfisherman to dive with. And like you say, they drop separate from the other divers, and even if other divers tried to follow them, most good spearfisherman swim much faster than the average scuba diver....so the following is another story

 

[Storker]

There are many spearfisherman that are very careful NEVER to point their guns at any buddies or divers, and that have great peripherol awareness of who or what is around them, in total 3D. That is an ability that makes a spearfisherman good. It also makes them safer.

May well be. However, being both a diver and a hunter, I'm quite convinced that the fraction of SCUBA divers who retain enough mental bandwidth for safe gun handling is... not the majority.

Freedivers? To me, that's different. Those guys leave their buddy on the surface, out of harm's way.




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[dumpsterDiver]

May well be. However, being both a diver and a hunter, I'm quite convinced that the fraction of SCUBA divers who retain enough mental bandwidth for safe gun handling is... not the majority.

Freedivers? To me, that's different. Those guys leave their buddy on the surface, out of harm's way.




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Muzzle awareness is a big deal. It takes a while to learn to instinctively point the gun down and away, even when turning etc. FYI: Freedivers have many opportunities to point their guns at their buddies while they are on the surface.

But in general, I agree with you. I do NOT like being around spearfisherman who are just learning to handle a gun. It takes time and effort and sometimes a good mentor. I have seen some incredibly stupid things done with loaded spearguns. Hell, I am sure you can find Go Pro footage on YouTube from gun mounted cameras showing loaded guns pointed at their buddies- in an attempt to film them.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I had a guy bring a loaded pneumatic gun once on my boat after a dive. He clipped off his rig, game bag, and gun (through the trigger loop) onto the equipment line. Come to find out later the gun was hanging down over other divers coming up under the boat (unknown to them too).
His excuse was that you have to fire pneumatic guns to unload them and he didn't like doing that for some reason. He liked to hold the muzzle against a hard surface and do a controlled release (deck of my boat).
I had nightmares of him shooting a hole through the bottom!
That was the last time I allowed a pneumatic gun on my boat.
Nobody I know even uses those things anymore.

Me and my buddies have discussed hunting quite a bit and all agree that a diver shouldn't even be allowed to bring a gun until they have at least 50 dives, and know some ground rules about gun handling.

 

[waterpirate]

Well there is the loaded gun being thrown overboard rule. It is a one time lesson for new hunters. The only reason I went tech w/helium was to shoot. I may be te minority but diving to me is about hunting and gathering as well as alone time. I am not a big fan of lionfish, they are not present in our colder waters. Taug are another story.

 

[Storker]

Muzzle awareness is a big deal. It takes a while to learn to instinctively point the gun down and away, even when turning etc.

Yes, even topside with a hunting rifle or a shotgun, that's an issue.

Heck, I'm a topside hunter, and I've known safe gun handling for 40 years. It's in my reflexes. Still, I've been close to doing stupid things even without the added task loading of diving. I wouldn't trust even myself with a speargun if I had a buddy close by.

But I know that these are my opinions and my safety standards. Others can of course do what they feel is prudent, so if you bring a speargun I won't start an argument. We'll just dive on different sides of the boat and meet up when you've unloaded your gun



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[scubadada]

Underwater hunting, both spearfishing an lobster collecting, has become an activity for anyone who can afford the equipment, just like underwater photography and video. It has nothing to do with the experience and skill of the divers. Many of these people frighten the hell out of me and I have no interest in diving with many of them.

Yes, I do most of my diving in SE Florida

 

[waterpirate]

Like any task loading activity, you must be squared away at the basic level before adding distractions. Scuba is fairly forgiving of that above 50fsw. Below that depth people get the come to Jesus moment and either get squared away or stop diving. The same thing happens with dry land activitys.

As for hunting in a crowd??? Only a rookie would go that route. Most hunters, hunt alone or with a partner tey have been diving/hunting with for long enough that their movements and location are like second nature. So yea, if you see someone with a shiny new gun on a commercial dive boat with the usual mix of divers, I may opt to stay on the boat, have a beer, and shoot the breeze with the crew.
Eric

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Van of Narcosis, and some of his spearfishing buddies, are a good example of the "right" spearfisherman to dive with. And like you say, they drop separate from the other divers, and even if other divers tried to follow them, most good spearfisherman swim much faster than the average scuba diver....so the following is another story

Just like a California Bug diver on the prowl using long fins and a back pack, good luck to anybody using a poodle jacket, split fins, and bad trim/slipstream trying to follow them....ain't gonna happen.

---------- Post added December 20th, 2014 at 09:31 PM ----------

Yes, even topside with a hunting rifle or a shotgun, that's an issue.

Heck, I'm a topside hunter, and I've known safe gun handling for 40 years. It's in my reflexes. Still, I've been close to doing stupid things even without the added task loading of diving. I wouldn't trust even myself with a speargun if I had a buddy close by.

But I know that these are my opinions and my safety standards. Others can of course do what they feel is prudent, so if you bring a speargun I won't start an argument. We'll just dive on different sides of the boat and meet up when you've unloaded your gun



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Question, Is there any decent spearfishing in Norway?
Is U/W hunting something they do there?
And what kind of fish, abundance, weights on average, any shellfish - urchins anything like that?

 

[Storker]

Question, Is there any decent spearfishing in Norway?

Depends on your definition of 'decent', but yes, I think so.

Is U/W hunting something they do there?

Yes. Scandinavians generally have a positive attitude towards harvesting form nature, so both UW and topside hunting is quite popular. The range is from guys like me who bring a catch bag for scallops and crabs and maybe a sling to those who actively look for good hunting sites and have spearfishing as their preferred form of diving.

But spearguns are almost exclusively used by freedivers; we SCUBA divers generally distrust a buddy with a speargun, so if you're carrying a tank, your preferred weapon is a sling. Which of course limits the number of species we can comfortably hunt for since the sling isn't the ideal weapon for hunting free-swimming species.

And what kind of fish, abundance, weights on average, any shellfish - urchins anything like that?

I've already linked to the record list, but the most common species to hunt if you're carrying a sling are anglerfish, wolffish, and flounders like plaice, turbot or halibut. Speargunners will of course hunt those given a chance, but also cod, pollock and saithe (coalfish) are popular since they're so ubiquitous along the coast.

And practically any diver will fill their catch bag with king scallops or brown crab if they have the chance. Lobsters are protected from harvesting by divers, and the fines are pretty stiff if you're caught.