freediving

[Santiago]

Any of you ever do freediving with a speargun? That is, diving with just the gun and snorkel, without the scuba tank? If so, what is the usual technique? Do you chum and then go overboard? Do you just look for birds or what?

[gaudi]

I used to do a lot of it in miami, we usually just found a likely reef and took turns going down and spotting.

Or if we were going for lobster the diver would get towed behind the boat at a really slow speed with a diving sled which is a piece of wood atached to a rope that lets you angle it up or down depending on where you want to go, then when a lobster was spotted the diver would let go and dive for it while the boat stod by to pick the diver and lobster up. If there were a bunch a small bouy would be deployed and we would take turns diving for the lobsters.

[capt4fish]

It's been awhile for me but there was a time when we would do the following. I had a longliner bouy rigged with about 40 ft. of 600lb mono. I would clip this to the spear gun. When I shot a fish I would then just swim up the leader to the bouy and tow it back to the boat were a buddy was waiting to handline the fish in. Some things we did that may help you. Most of our diving and snorkeling was in less that 150 ft. of water. When spearfishing, the first one in the water gets the Ling (usually). Do not shoot aj's that are big if you are snorkeling and are not set up as I mentioned above, this means big ling as well. If using scuba and spear fishing, drop another gun down off the boat on a line at about 60 ft., then if you shoot a fish you can unclip the 2nd gun, clip on your gun with the fish and your buddy in the boat can handline your fish up and drop down the gun again. This saves tremendous effort, air and bottom time. Don't burn up air on rigs that are dry, get out of the water and got to another. The shallow water close-in rigs can be very productive if you have visibility. Get a pole spear with a paralyzer(3 prong ) tip. Popano in the spring are a hoot to collect this way, again its the close rigs that will have them. Tight lines.

[mako]

I actually prefer free diving to wearing tanks when in comes to spearing. I find it much easier to fill the cooler without the time for decompressing. Usually, we will fish the rigs. For the smaller fish, snapper and grouper, we just use a hawaiian sling or a regular three band gun. When it comes to Ling, big snapper or AJ's I usually tie a rope to a flotation device and then to the gun. Shoot the fish and let him run himself down until we can just pull him up from the boat.

[TAMU'06]

What depth do you usually free dive to? I am taking advanced diving her at A&M this summer and go offshore tons with all of my friends and want to try spearfishing. Also at about what depths do you find certain fish? and if you chum I assume that the fish rise in the water coulumn so that it is easier to reach them? As far a current goes what do I need to watch out for??? What are ya'lls techniques as far as crew duties and all while the diver is out?

Thanks
-Chris

[jd10g]

i've been out a couple times with free divers. they just float/swim around the rig until they see the fish they want and then goes after it. they use a big gun with the big free diving fins and most of the time they have reels on the gun so he can come right up and just reel the fish up. make sure u get a good shot. also we dive b/t 100-200 ft.

i have free dove some weed lines. now that is fun shooting good size dolphin cause sometimes they don't bite.

never seen them waste time chumming due to current, angel fish and sharks . . . i don't know it might work.

[michaelbaranowski]

Freediving weedlines sound likes a good time.

[TAMU'06]

thanks guys,

appreciate the help...


chris