To Brain or Not To Brain

[Michael Guerrero]

So I'm watching a lot of spearfishing videos on youtube and besides a lot of people shooting fish through the body rather than the head, I'm noticing that some people brain their fish and some don't.

I guess I was expecting spearfishing to be more like hunting on land where you make sure the animal is dead if you shoot it. But this apparently isn't the case.

Any opinions?

 

[Akimbo]

… I guess I was expecting spearfishing to be more like hunting on land where you make sure the animal is dead if you shoot it. But this apparently isn't the case…

The accuracy and range of a speargun has a lot more in common with a musket than a modern high powered hunting rifle. Most spearos would love to be able to get close enough to be sure that they brain the fish every time. Unfortunately, few spear fishermen are that skilled and you can’t track a wounded fish as easily as you can game in the forest.

An instant kill shot will prevent suffering of the prey, but falling short still puts fish on the table most of the time. Misses that don't capture the fish on the shaft often results in some other part of the food chain benefitting.

 

[Michael Guerrero]

Sorry, I should have been more clear. I was thinking about scuba divers who pull their fish in and string it. Not free divers. I see guys stringing live fish and then shooting more rather than braining them. And they are not killing them with the stringer.

Just didn't know if this was common practice.

 

[waterpirate]

You do not want to be in the water column with a flopping, bleeding fish. That course of action puts you IN the food chain, not on top of it. You should always pith your kill. I prefer slitting the gills and drowning them, as opposed to trying brain them. Spearboard.com will sort this out for you.
Eric

 

[Johnoly]

..... I see guys stringing live fish and then shooting more rather than braining them. And they are not killing them with the stringer.....

It really depends on the time if year & what exact location is you dive {even by a couple of miles). As an example some wreck sites don't have a single shark on them and others, good luck saving dinner.

My home port is Jupiter and being on the deep ledge in 130' in the month of May is the "bull run". You'll have no time to brain it, but rather lift it to the surface and have a great boat captain. In July off Juno I'll brain and bag it for 40 minutes. And when diving the gulf side I can leave 40 pounds of multiple fish and never see a shark, whether I brain or not.

You really just need some local knowledge from that area's spearo's to understand what the location is like. Probably the safest method is to brain, then lift bag every fish to the surface, but you better have a very clear agreement with your local captain prior cause it's alot of work with multiple hunters.

 

[Water Boy76]

Depends on a lot of circumstances. If the grey suits or goliaths are around it's best to dispatch of them quickly.

In most cases I don't because it takes time. If you are in a target rich environment with limited bottom time it makes a difference at the end of a day. Shoot, shoot, string, repeat.
However, If I'm on a wreck with sharks and goliaths if a big fish is twitching on my stringer I'll take the time to brain them.