Sailorboy

My BIL is getting re-certified and i got most of the kinks worked out of the boat... now to have fun!. I have enjoyed the videos previously posted. Now for a couple of questions, please share your experience..

1. What type of bottom sounders are the best for seeing structure?
2. is there any type of speargun to stay away from?
3. what are your basic safety rules and routines for handeling spears?
4. what are the best type of fish holders?
5. do you have any favorite personal gear beside knife and usual dive gear?
6. Is there any way to improve fish identification prior to taking shot?
7. does my regular fishing licence cover spearfishing?
8. are the public numbers for the popular dive site close to shore accurate

Thanks in advance!

OnGrade

Swing by MBT. They can get you set up, give you advice, and point you in the right direction!

1: The more you can spend the better. I am a furuno fan.
2: go with a wood gun. Again, spend what you can here to get the most bang for your buck so you arent needing to upgrade in a few months. Guns last a while if you take care of them, and some last even if you dont! AB Biller are proven, Riffe are awesome!
3: Same rules apply to spearguns that apply to a firearm. load it underwater when youre ready to hunt.
4:get a stainless steel stringer and a clip to clip it to your bc. (MBT has plenty)
5: get a safety sausage and a whistle. Blow the whistle when you see a shark. Haha!
6: Watch the videos. you can learn fish ID and behavior on them.
7:In FL youre good to go with a regular fishing license. read the rules on what you can and cant spear. Alabama requires a fishing license and a spearfishing permit.
8: The county numbers are pretty accurate. May take a little driving in circles to find the smaller stuff. Remember, they were deployed from a barge, and the gps antenna wasnt right over the structure so it may be a little off.

Good luck, go to one of the spearfishing seminars put on by MBT, and be safe. Start out small and learn what you can before getting your self in trouble!

Sailorboy

does anyone have a MBT seminar schedule, i looked on their web site and didn't see any thing...

OnGrade

Seeing that the majority of the sought after species are closed right now and the water is a little chilly there arent any scheduled. Id be willing to bet there will be one in march or april, but if you swing by, the guys at mbt will answer your questions, give you suggestions, and youll have the chance to look at guns, stringers, bands, anything else you might have questions on. And then theres always the fish stories...

coolbluestreak

I'm no pro but, I'd get a polespear, stringer and jump in the water a few times to look around.

Dive with someone with a little experience, I love diving with new ppl, they all have thier own bag of tricks and cool ideas. someone is always looking for a boat to ride or room for one or two on thier boat.

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Sailorboy

as soon as it begins to warm up i will send out the invite...
i agree on always needing new ideas

Clay-Doh

Jordan and Jeremy about covered it.

One thing to remember, with a speargun, the butt of it (facing you) is about as dangerous as the business end.

Couple people on this forum with chipped teeth from shooting full sized guns when they were new with out locking there elbows and holding it straight out in front of them.

And if it ever accidently goes off on it's own (yes, it happens. couple have brand new at a shop here, and I had a new Riffe that did right as I reached foward to grab the first band to unload after a dive.

Missed my junk by 1/4", had every color of the rainbow in that bruise that spread from my belly button to above my knee. Thought I was going to dye underwater. And Sheri Day on Speargun Hunter had her handle on her Wong crack right as she pulled the trigger, and the gun smashed through her mask sending shards of broken glass in her face and breaking her cheekbone. Was all caught on camera and in one of the shows.

Tons of good advice could be givin by the experienced guys on here. Like Jeremy said, GOing with someone who's been doing it a while, you can get all sorts of tips and advice on the way out to the wreck, and then see first hand, and have some assistance when that big AJ decides to take you down with him!

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MY UNDERWATER SPEARFISHING VIDEOS

Clay-Doh

And don't wait for it to warm up! Get a 7mm suit and a hood, and you will literally be too warm underwater. Winter is the best. No algea blooms, and less boats out on the wrecks. And fish move a lil slower and dumber!

My boat's down right now, work on the port motor...so I'm boatless. Hint hint.

Of course, your trying to get out with someone experinced though

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SO EASY A CAVEMAN CAN DO IT.
MY UNDERWATER SPEARFISHING VIDEOS

coolbluestreak

I think Clay want's you to take him diving!
I dove with him last weekend and had a blast.

I had a 5mil w/a hood and I was fine, second dive we didn't wear the hoods and it was a little bit cool.

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Clay-Doh

Was I that obvious??? Ha ha. 1-2 foot seas this Saturday!!

Had a blast with you too, and thanks for your help on the salvage. Your a great guy to dive with, wish we would have had time to ride the AJ rodeo too! Next time for sure!

And you and me know where we could fill coolers full of fat fish Jeremy! I gotta go kill fish bad. These last 2 trips got me a full on set of spero's blue-balls.

If anyone is going....

__________________
SO EASY A CAVEMAN CAN DO IT.
MY UNDERWATER SPEARFISHING VIDEOS