I bet 99% of people viewing this could not hold their breath for half of his breath hold. If you can or if you cant put down your breath hold time or pr. So check him out and If you have any questions feel free to email me.

Underwater club

When fighting this fish expect a sudden run like any pelagic fish. I would recommend a float line and or reel depending on preference. These fish like wsb tend to run in warmer months like June and July. If you have any further questions feel free to contact me.

San Fransisco State University

White Sea Bass aka wsb croak and some people attempt to mimic them to attract others ready to mate. Since they tend to run in warm months they are seeking mates and if heard croaking that is always a sign of them approaching. The legal size is 28 inches so that entitles a fish five years old and 7.5 pounds although they get much bigger. if you have any questions feel free to comment or email.

Language blog

Traditional spear fishing is restricted to shallow waters, but the development of the spear gun allows fishing in deeper waters. With practice, divers are able to hold their breath for up to four minutes and sometimes longer; of course, a diver with scuba equipment  can dive for much longer periods.

Stalking and your breath hold are the most vital things to spearfishing without a strong base of these two things it is nearly impossible  to become proactive as well as productive. If you are chilling and wait for a fish to swim past you your chances will be high on bringing home dinner. To be able to land fish you will need proper gear aka not a speargun made by the indians 4000 years ago. Know the type of fish you are shooting at just do not assume it taste good. If you have any further questions contact me.

You are going to need a few things from your local hardware store such as dynema line, pvc tubing, swivel and tuna clip. This how to is really good and I recommend  watching it. 

omer

When in kelp i recommend  only using one clip and no float. The purpose of only using one clip is to make it easy to slide through the kelp. The purpose of a float line is to have more room to play with your fish. With the aid of your float line you can land much bigger fish it can be the difference between being  abled to handle a big fish, and the big fish handling you. If you have any further questions post or email me.

JBL Carbine

If you can tell from the picture the rigging system is a nylon string. Camache makes a nice gun for about thirty bucks more. This gun is decent and i was impressed by the range but found the string frustrating not because of how it holds up but because of re rigging. If you have any further questions feel free to comment or email me.

Aqua Lung

Something to keep in mind when clearing is to be gentle, i have talked to many old scuba divers that are hard of hearing and one in particular can not tune a guitar by ear any more. There are different methods either opening and moving your jaw or closing your nose with your fingers and softly clear. There are some types of earpieces that aid you clearing your ears but i can’t tell a huge difference. When sick i recommend  taking a nasal decongestant it makes the world of a difference. And remember  be careful when clearing . If you have any further questions feel free to comment or email me.

Palos verdes

The visibility for a California dive spot is really good When i last went it was easily 45 feet. The amount of lobster sheep head calico and much more is comparable to the islands. There are Garibaldi scattered every where and i also saw a huge wsb easily 50 lbs but didnt have the gun to shoot it also barracuda and a five pound lobster.This is an awesome dive spot and so far is one of my favorite dives. If you have any further questions feel free to post or email me.

Progresive

Boats are a great way to explore offshore and offer a different experience. Shore diving poses difficulty entering and exiting. A mixture of both is ideal. Which do you think is better leave a comment.

Omer

Personally i have to side with the float line because of its versatility from the biggest fish speared to that twenty pound wsb that requires  a little bit more play. Both are sick But in your opinion what is sicker?

Omer Products

Dive with bryan

You want to be able to get to the bottom with ease and what ever it takes you use that and go from there. If you have any questions feel free to post or email.

giving spear fishermen a fighting chance. You can typically gauge what it is going to be like by checking a surf report website like this one
http://magicseaweed.com/California-South-Surf-Forecast/17  to check the size of the swell how often sets are coming in and the wind speed typically the bigger the waves the worse the vis and same goes for wind the bigger the worse it will be

. If you still have any further questions fee free to comment on this post and or email me.

Photo Dictionary

There are many different types of spearguns and generally speaking the smaller and less bands a gun the less penetration and range it has. With this in mind most people would think why not get the biggest gun on the market and call it a day. The smart choice is to get a smaller or bigger gun depending on visibility and the size of game you are after. Bigger guns tend to have a rail to improve accuracy while giving you the option to put more bands. If you have any questions in what brands are good or what size of gun you should get feel free to contact me

Dixie Divers

This is a smaller pole spear that used for smaller fish but they get over eight feet in length. The length of your pole spear is your range. Pole spears have progressed a lot and in my opinion are a great gate way into spearfishing. In my opinion the best spear pole on the market is the riffe carbon fiber eight foot pole http://www.speargun.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=81&Itemid=41 check it out this thing is awesome. If you have any questions feel free to post.

Spanish Fly

Chumming can improve your quality of fish but you also have to be careful when it comes to sharks. When a fish is attracted to the bait, allow it to have a few bites of food before shooting. A fish that has only sighted the bait is more wary than a fish that is eating. The fish’s concentration should be focused on the bait, which will make it easier for the speargun hunter to line up the shot. I have more tips and if you need more specific advice feel free to comment

Fishing Chef.com

As far as fish go they are generally not spooked to easy. It taste like bass hence the name but just has a fishery taste. They tend to be in kelp around kelp and will generally stay in the same spot for a period of a few dives. As you can see they have really sharp spines on top and can cut easily. Along the California is a prime spot to get these fish and are great game for those learning how to spearfish. If you what to ask me a few questions feel free to post and I will comment or email you back.

1)Improve your breath hold (read my previous blog post) without enough bottom time you will not be able to reach your potential.

2) Try to stay camouflaged either by kelp or rocks

3) Do not swim with your spear gun extended it is intimidating

4) Shoot only if you have a good shot

5) Check areas with good geography for the specific fish you are looking for

Joe Jack Photography

If you are having trouble spearfishing or with any thing with scuba diving feel free to comment on this post

1)First off some of the best spearfishing is during the grunion run, including halibut.

2)This is simple but go as much as possible although grunion runs are the best time to go you will miss a lot of opportunities on halibut.

3)Don’t look for halibut from the surface. The halibut camo is just too good for our eyes.

4)Dive around the same patch 2-3 times.

5)When I am sure there are no fish around I move very slowly (still on the bottom ) with my gun ready for a “ on the fly shot “

6)Try finding a place with structure and sand. I find most of my fish in the sand channels with eel grass on the hard bottom “sb diver”

7)They are very well hidden some times and you will only make out a jaw or tail at first. I get most of mine in shallow water all the way into the beach, seldom over 15ft and often into less than 10ft

8)Go slow and look thoroughly. Some days they just aren’t in an area and other times they are thick in the same spot

9) look for butts when there is lots of bait in the water and there are sand channels and pockets w/ lots of eel grass around. If you get this combo keep your eyes peeled

10)California Halibut will move up into shallower water to spawn in Spring and Fall months. Spawning periods will differ slightly from southern to central and even northern California

How to fillet a Halibut: Here is a website on how to fillet a halibut

http://www.tillamookbayboathouse.com/halibut.htm

Remember these fish are spawning when they come to shallow waters, so try not to be completely detrimental to the population. Don’t over fish and try to hit up multiple spots good luck.

Hoop netting is very productive. They can be used to catch all types of crab, lobster and other things aswell. The concept is simple it sits on the bottom and has bait and when the victim is inside you lift it up. They do not need to be down for to long, 15 minitues is to long I know people that have five and set them all down as soon as they set down the last one they pick up the first one. If you need more info feel free to contact me and or look it up on youtube there are a ton of informitive videos.

The Omer Cayman ET is simply a sick gun. I have the 105 cm and have two 5/8 bands on it. The Accuracy is amazing and is never reduced when adding bands because of the fully enclosed rail. I would recommend reinforcing the float line attachment because i have heard of it breaking on other omer guns. This gun could handle more than a recreational diver could ever use it for and with a float and float line could be used in competition. This gun is awesome and if you have any questions feel free to email me.

These Fins have many features that make them overall a great fin. First off the fin blades are completely clear making your fins even more concealed. An awesome feature on these fins is there is no loss in flexibility in cold conditions in comparison to plastic fins, omer uses a thermoplastic material that does not stiffen up. I scuba dive and own a pair of twin jet fins, these fins are in my opinion some of the best fins on the market and have power on both the up and down stroke but for spearfishing these fins can’t compare to the omer’s  when trying to get to the bottom with little effort, conserving air and covering larger amounts of water. These fins are made to be comparable to carbon fiber fins and although the carbon fiber price difference is almost double in comparison to the millenniums. The difference in price is not relative to the difference in performance. I would defiantly recommend this product.

I’ve joined for many reasons, to meet like minded people; to learn more about spearing and free-diving; to learn new dive locations; increase safety by diving with people of experience.

It also happened to be the first comp of the year for the club. Now don’t get all wound up about spear-fisherman plundering the oceans and depleting the worlds fish stocks that’s not what it’s about. Spear-fisherman, in the majority, fish selectively, sustainably and ethically and even more so with comps. That however is a topic for a post on its own.

The Central Coast Sealions is the club I’ve joined, they are based in Terrigal  which is where we live so it’s very handy.

Sign-on was 7am Sunday morning, I had managed to get a ride on a boat with a guy called Shorty, boats were launched and the comp started at 8am sharp with everyone back at 1pm for the weigh in.  We headed out to three mile reef and started the day there. It was a pretty choppy ride with a powerful 1.6 metre swell rolling on in and I’ve gotta say we got a bit of a pounding getting out there.

Three mile reef is in around 7 metres of water and drops to 15 metres. I’m fairly comfortable 5-12metres so it was just in my comfort zone. Not a lot of fish around but I was happy to at least get a nice Red Morwong.  We moved back in a bit to two mile reef to see if there was more action, this was a bit more interesting. Two mile is in around  5 metres and dropping to 10 metres of water, I was a lot more comfortable here. Having got another nice Morwong I was keen to get another species or two.

As I was diving along I felt something pulling on my rig line, I looked around couldn’t see anything and thought it must be the swell so carried on. Another minute later my gun just about got ripped out of my hand and I was thinking ‘what the *$!# was that’. I didn’t have any more dramas and managed a couple of Luderick.

Getting back to the boat Shorty had lost four fish to the ‘Tax Man’ and had his rig line cut in half, I pulled in my fish and the Morwong was all sliced up and my newly made float line had slices in it, Dave pulled in his fish and one of them was just a head. The Tax Man today was a Bronze Whaler Shark looking for a free feed so we decided to move on and try another spot.

Last spot was off Spoon bay, here I got my biggest ever Black Drummer, 52cm and weighing 3.3kg. Awesome day out on the water, I can’t wait for the next one.

Who won the comp? I don’t know, it’s not such a competitive comp more a social dive with points accumulating over the year and ending with Christmas party and a tally of all points with a trophy.

SHARKS?!?! Don’t panic. I also have a post coming about them.  :)

My catch (Black Drummer – right – @52cm 3.3kg)

Courtesy of the ‘Tax Man’

A little while ago I was crook (bit of man flu) and couldn’t get out for a dive, now I try to get out at least once a week so it was a little frustrating. Instead of just sitting around I decided to put my time to good use and make the float line I had been wanting to get around to.

Materials:
6mm clear PVC tube
400lb mono
7lb mono
Crimps
9mm torpedo swivel and pigtail
Heatshrink
VB cord (Venentian Blind)
Silicone

The tricky part was getting the mono through the tube. I managed it by fixing one end of the tube to a hand rail on the decking and duck taping the vacuum cleaner tightly to it.

The with some thin mono I had lying around I tied a bit of tissue to the end, fired up the vacuum and went to the other end of the tube. Pulling the tube tight I fed in the tissue and let the suction pull the mono through.

It took a bit of encouraging and jiggling the tube but it got there (powerful vac though).

Then tie the 400lb mono onto the 7lb and slowly pull it through.

Cut the heatshrink to size and thread along the tube then, I crimp on the swivel/pigtail (I used two crimps)

Then squeezed silicon up the tube

Heat the tube with a hair dryer a bit and pull it over the crimps and add more silicone

Next heat the tube and force it over the swivel