Best Sites for Spearfishing
Identify a site for spearfishing. Avoid indiscriminate and environmentally damaging fishing. It is noteworthy that identifying appropriate sites for spearfishing using water guns and band-powered guns is more comfortable and efficient. It also does not require major effort to be learned. A diver will only need to be patient and have confidence in what he or she has learnt and in his or her technique if it was not wrong. Unlike divers who hunt indiscriminately, divers who do not hunt indiscriminately are going to have a great effortless hunting experience whether it was successful or not. In addition, they will learn useful things that will help them to improve their skills in identifying the spearfishing site and suitable time in the future.
Identifying Spearfishing’s Site Technique
The technique of choosing the right site for spear fishing depends on the diver’s focus level and knowledge. The more aware he or she is of the site’s nature (seabed, currents, coral reefs, tides, etc.), the easier to predict its status of fishing it becomes. Divers can identify the status of the seabed by observing the tides, or by using the boat depth gauge. Following this technique in determining the depth and nature of the sea will help you in predicting the types of fish that you will hunt.
Notes:
When you go down into the water, pay attention to the details and look for what attracts fish. If you are fishing in Kuwait, Bahrain, Syria or Palestine, look for mussels between the rocks in holes where there is no sunlight. However, you can look for hard clams where there is sunlight. Avoid waiting or looking between rocks that are constantly exposed to the sun. When you observe fish’s source of food, you will be able to tell whether the fish are done with eating or not. If you find a lot of mussels, you will know that there will be more fish in holes and in the nearby area. Keep looking quietly for fish and be positive! If you did not find any fish, keep looking for at least a desperate fish and change your site.
Another Example
If you are fishing in Morocco, Sudan or Egypt, observe the edges of the coral reefs and look for fish’s sources of food. Then, determine if the site is suitable and has what attracts fish or not. Generally, fishing in sites that have coral reefs is easier than fishing in sites that have rocks and holes because these sites are not too deep and have good visibility. As a result, the chance of seeing unique fish is higher. You can watch the floating fish returning to the edges of the corals. You will see some parrotfish eating from the barrier. Be careful before you release the spear, and do not forget your sense of responsibility. Also, avoid harming the marine life and coral reefs.
Sandy Seabed
Sandy seabed is another story. Look for cavities that are made from currents. These areas are homes for many molluscs and worms that attract some fish. If you find that, it will be a perfect dive for you because you will be able to hunt different kinds of fish in a coral area and a rocky area at the same time. You will find the types of fish found in both areas. All what you have to do is to fish quietly without making any noises. Always remember that you can hunt a fish and pull it without disturbing the other fish in the same area. Just be a professional hunter.
Spearguns Accuracy Under The Water
You may be an excellent diver who has a great diving style. You may also know how to read depth and how to identify the right spearfishing sites. In addition, you may be able to predict the status of fish and other creatures. And on top of that, you may have the best spearfishing gun ever and dive with a shoal of tuna. Let’s imagine that you have met all what a successful hunt requires, but have you ever been wondering about your hunting accuracy skills and your abilities to catch a large number of fish?
If you do not want to get disappointed, you should train yourself to use the speargun very well. If this sport has got your attention, you can participate in spearguns accuracy under the water championships organized by some countries like Kuwait. Therefore, try to practice and participate in these fun tournaments.
Practising with your buddies on weekdays will positively affect the results of your fishing on your next trip. All what you have to do is doing the following:
Steps to Spearfish
• Rent a pool for 2 hours (it will not be expensive).
• Bring balls made from sponge or 30*30 corkboard and tie it with a 1m robe. Then, pin some weights on the ends of the line.
• Identify a specific target on the ball or the board and shoot.
• Focus on the centre or the bottom of your target.
• Practice this exercise in rounds that have variant distance. Start with 4m then make it more far from your target.
• After mastering shooting in unclear water, try practicing that in the sea and when there are currents and waves.
The diver will be able to master spearfishing after practicing these exercises. He or she will not miss the target when it comes to real-life spearfishing.
Doing these exercises is the fastest way to be professional underwater hunter. Make it as a competition between you and your friends. It is always fun to share that hobby with somebody.
Fatal Injury
Sometimes the supergun strikes the fish but does not kill it. The fish resistance to the spear exposes it to harming itself more and then escaping the spear, only to die minutes later, making the hunter lose a fish, and then he’ll have to reload his speargun and wait for another fish.
Other times, we face fish of a large size and a guaranteed possibility of hitting it with the spear, but we don’t hit because of its large size and the fear that it will escape and pull the speargun and spear with it before it dies, making the diver lose a spear or both a spear and a speargun, or maybe end up endangering himself. It happened that a large fish pulled a diver and his speargun to abyssal depth and killed him before it died, so we must learn the spots for a fatal injury of the fish. With practice, any diver can learn to fatally injure the fish, even if it is of a large size, without seriously affecting the diver or the speargun. It is nice to hit the fish and quietly hang it on the fish hanger, and it is even better to avoid the fish movement on the spear while moving it. That happens if we fatally injure the fish, at three spots in the fish body.
Spots of Fatal Injury
1. Under the eyes, specifically between them. If we imagined the nose of the fish and hit it, it is a perfect fatal spot. Once the spear penetrates this spot, the fish will be at complete rest, and you will move it very easily to the fish hanger and continue to hunt. This method of killing fish requires that the diver aims his gun directly to the fish while he faces its front side.
2. Right above the gills. This is a fatal spot for all types of fish. Targeting the fish at this spot is very easy that a diver can aim his hit to this spot from all sides. The important thing is that the spear penetrates this spot, whether by targeting it from the side, from above, or even from behind or below the fish. It is also fine for the spear to penetrate the belly diagonally to hit that spot. All of those are variations for a skilled diver to make the hit.
3. The midline of the fish’s body. As in the image on the side of the page, this spot is not fatal but rather causes the fish to be paralyzed. The fish can move its head, resist the pain, open its mouth and move its front fins, but it will be unable to swim due to the paralysis of the back of its body and its inability to fin with its tail. Moving it to the fish hanger will not be easy, but it is guaranteed to be at the diver’s dinner table. It will not escape nor flee from the speargun.
Hunting Techniques with a Rubber speargun
After learning the tools and types of hunting spearguns, we should also learn about hunting techniques with rubber speargun. The hobby of hunting with a rubber speargun is more exciting and challenging for free diving professionals. Scuba divers do not experience all that excitement and challenge, because hunting and dealing with the speargun is much easier in scuba diving than in free diving. Some techniques can be followed by the two types, which are traditional and famous techniques for hunting with rubber speargun:
1. Hunting from the Surface Down
Most fish cannot lookup. This technique is to hunt the fish from the top-down quietly like a hawk. The technique depends on good visibility from more than 10 m away. It depends on the hunter’s professionalism and mastery of aiming, and requires quiet finning and avoids making any noises, whether by hitting rocks or making bubbles. The best scenario for hunting with this technique is to approach from the topside behind the fish and use a 90-120 cm speargun depending on the conditions. This way, you will be able to take advantage and strike the fish from a very close range without the fish knowing what happened. It will just find itself at the dining table.
2. The Waiting Technique of Hunting
This is the most preferable technique. It requires intelligence in choosing the right place and to blend with the surrounding by choosing camouflage clothing. It saves a lot of effort. If the hunter is a scuba diver, it will also save air and extend the time of the hunt. This technique requires creating an attraction for the fish to be curious to get closer, using bait with a smell that attracts the fish to the area where the diver intends to lure the fish. It is necessary to make the fish curious to approach and encourage it to do so by blending with the seabed or the rocks and not making any sound by finning or breathing. You should hold your breath until the target approaches. Using the bait alone is not enough. This method benefits scuba divers more than free divers, especially at a great depth.
The best spearguns for this technique are 100-125 cm, depending on the conditions of visibility and currents. If the visibility is bad or restricted, use a 75 cm supergun to surprise the fish and shoot quickly. If the visibility is clear, use the recommended sizes to hit the fish from long range as it approaches.
3. The Indian Technique of Hunting
It is the technique used by many hunters. It depends on quiet and smooth diving underwater, with the speargun standing by next to the body during diving. Approach smoothly and set a good time to pull the trigger. Remember that you must be calm at all times, even before you spot the fish, because the fish can be found in a hole or eating from the coral reefs or the seabed. If you make any noises, you won’t notice it and you will think that the area is empty and lifeless. You also have to analyze the environment quickly, blend with the surrounding, move between the rocks or on the corals quietly and slowly with frequent stops, and explore during diving. You might find fish here or there.
The best speargun for this technique is the 50-100 cm type, depending on the conditions, visibility, and the area in which you dive. Also, it requires a successful buoyancy. It depends on the quietness of the diver so that he can sneak into the fish and hide in its environment without the fish sensing it. There are no guaranteed results. The situation varies at every moment. In many cases, the fish changes its position after you pull the trigger. Within one second, it falls back or turns suddenly. The hit misses and the fish notices and escapes.
4. Hunting in Holes and Pits
This technique depends on the full knowledge of the seabed and the area. It is a technique to get the fish from its original shelters. The technique works with clear visibility. Pulling the trigger remains relatively difficult because, most of the time, the diver cannot maintain a comfortable shooting position. You need to approach a place where the fish does not notice you and then shoot.
The type and size of the fish must be determined quickly and the situation assessed: Can you pull the fish after hitting it or will you leave it and maybe lose the spear? The goal is not to kill fish but to catch it and swim-up with it. Sometimes you need a source of light to get the right visibility. Avoid putting your hand inside the pits to pull the catch. Many accidents and eel attacks have occurred in some areas. Pay close attention to this technique of fishing. It is often tiring and exhausting, but those who master it may make an abundant catch of large sizes. The best speargun size is the 50-75 cm type, preferably with a 10 m single-headed spear.
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