Spearfishing- fresh water?

P

Pa Teeny

New member
My new challange will be free diving and hunting fish under the deep blue anyone have advice. My new summer hunting grounds. Ordered mask, snorkle and finns. 150$ Wife does not know yet? I will tell her later. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

I have been practing holding my breath. up to 2 minutes. I have a buddy who has a boat and we went fishing a saw tons of salt water fish they would not bite (They were line shy) So we have decided to hunt the buggers. Some neat stories out there? Anyone shoot an 80lb coyote and have it drag them! :eek: :eek: I must be crazy- Out in Winter -20F and in deep water? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Bad thing is the only fish legal to shoot in Pa is Carp- they do get big though? I'll give it a shoot?

Just testing the waters with PM?
 
Pa, we use the old bow on carp out here. But we can also spear fish in our lakes. I've got some stripers, walleye, trout, lots of them. In the rivers when I was a kid we used to hand fish them. Lots of fun!

C
 
Pa Teeny, My new found friend. I been diving for years. A lot of people have come and GONE from were you are now. carp hunting will bring you great joy, but let me ask you a question. Will you shoot a 10 lb bass? A friend of mine was a enhtuseast'e. He brough a friend to tend him in a canoe with a elect. motor. A warden watching him from shore and called the warden boat what took all his gear! THe wardens tied up to the canoe and thru out an anchor, Made small talk to the tender. When my friend came up, he saw the game bag still in the water. when he swam to the canoe, lied to the wardens and said "NO, I AIN'T SPEAR FISH'N".
The wardens asked the tender to index the propeller up and the divers game bag came up with it!
"Pull that up!" he says.

I'm gonna edit this post to tell you about a book called "Last of to blue water hunters" by Carlos Eyes. If you can find it, you won't put it down.
 
Item 1) Did you also check on spear regulations? A good pole spear with or without Hawain sling is a great hunting tool. If it's carp only, start checking neighboring states and use the carp for practice.

Item 2) You didn't mention your wetsuit. I assume you have one of at least 7mm that still allows freedom of movement. I would personally also add a hooded vest to it for water below 55 deg.

Item 3) What kind of spear gun will you use? Do you know the up-keep on each (wood vs metal) and the buoyancy of each? What tips, what bands or pneumatic source? What accesories i.e. reel, shock cord, floats will you want?

Spearfishing can be a very rewarding sport, but there is a lot to learn. Unfortunatly, most people just jump in and end up buying all their equipment 2 or 3 times before getting what they wanted in the first place. My 2 cents would be to find a dive store that caters to spearfishing and see if they offer a class for breath-hold hunting and if you will get to try a variety of equipment before making a purchase.

If you really get into it and start scuba diving also the next big thrill is to go bug hunting (lobster) out in the big pond and get to see some real predators. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Carp are great fun to shoot. Supposed to be pretty good eating IF you know what to do to prepare them correctly. I don't know how.

Double check your regs. A lot of times all rough fish are legal for spearing, and this may include catfish. Mmmmmmmmm, catfish...
 
I am new to it and am have a good discussion with the local fish commission since spearfishing is illegal because of mechanical means of propullsion. Though they have allowed the use of crossbows- I asked if they are legal underwater? No reply- apparently they never thought of that- Did anyone out there ever shoot a crossbow underwater?

I am reseaching and listening to a forumn in the UK that is called deeper blue.
http://forums.deeperblue.net/showthread....5055#post335055

I am Pa Teeny there too. The moderator was going to remove me- because i am from USA. Man I do not see the difference- where i am from I thought it was weird. My best friend from high school 20 yrs ago- is in Nags Head and He is asking at bait stores- He is the reason we are getting into0 it. We went fishing deep sea 30 miles out and could see the fish and not get to bite so over the winter we came up with this freediving spearfishing idea. I love a challenge and am dying to get out and try it on a local private pond. They have beatiful 40 lb Koi and carp- I will only shoot with a camera. As far as bass go I would not because I have caught enough with the pole and always throw them back. I want my sons top enjoy the sport as much as me. As far as a carp go I took a 8 year old neighbor kid fishing /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif and he hooked a 30-35 lb carp. He loved it he could not hold it up for picture. LOL. I know that was a happy kid at school 2 days later because i got the film developed fast for him. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Hope to get Pa to open up there laws to law abiding people. Just wanting to try something different and keep in shape. Man I love the USA!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
You can practise. Get some block foam, nylon cord and weight. Make some targets and tie the to the weights for anchors, and go put them in different spots. You can use these to learn how to aim & hit where you want to, don't even have to make them fish shaped.

Spearfishing is great fun. It's underwater hunting /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
That is a good idea.. I am debating -Is a speargun a modified crossbow what is the difference? I would like to see what the fish commision has to say about it? I am emailing to see- my crossbow has bands as a means of propulsion?
 
I doubt a crossbow would work underwater. Too much resistance against the limbs.

You might try looking at spearfishing regs in other states. TN, for example (may have changed, I haven't looked in a few years) says it's legal for all rough fish, but no game fish. So carp, drum, catfish and such are legal, but bass, trout, stripe & such are not.

By showing other states allowing it, you may get some traction in getting them to consider doing so.
 
Pennsylvania way to cook carp- find the best piece of red cherry(no knots that is key!)one can and fillet carp, place on board in the oven at 350F for 3 hours and remove fish from board carefully!! Then place fish in Glad trash bag and eat board. :eek:
 
Pa teeny, You MUST get "The last of the bluewater hunters" It's increditable to say the least. The guys go out into 1800 ft of water, breath hold dive to 50 ft. and wait for something to swim by. The books got quite a few pics and the stories are unbelievable, death defying feats. They use speargun with a line. they'll shoot a 700 lb. grouper and hold on for DEAR LIFE! Believe me, you'll read it over and over till the pages fall apart.
 
my hunting buddy worked with a guy whos son was in his late 20s or early 30s and had a few record fish free diving!! he was in mex, waters trying for a record tuna when he disaperd.. the people looked for him for a week.. his dad went down the weekend after it happened and found his son washed up on a beach a couple miles away!! his dad said he died doing what he loved but it still broke his heart!! go slow and be very carefull !!
 
Ok, I will buy the book. I can not wait. I am cranked to try this sport. I wish there were warmer waters in PA.

Still reasearching my gun purchase. Finns came too big Large is for King Kong. (italian measment) ordered Mares Plana avante finns $48.99, Ocean Master 3 view purge mask, $59.-- and ocean master dry snborkle- $39.99

We used the dry snorkle in Hawaii and loved them.

I still need to reseach the gun- thinking about using float line? thought about attaching line to large inner tube for support me as we BS on top water and slowing fish down?????

Guns- thought about spending $130-150- on e-bay for the JBL. I ahve learned to be paticient for the weapon. I use a Sako .222 for coyotes and love it. What to have same feeling with speargun? I know practice builds cofidence.

e mail me at [url=mailto:jmarteeny@sctc.net
 
I'm pretty sure both of my guns are JBL, I'd have to look at them to be certain of the models. I bought a shorty & the next size up. Considerable power difference going to the medium sized guns over the little ones. I shot some large stingrays with the small gun that the spear did not penetrate, but the bigger gun handled the same size rays easily.

I'd say the guns I bought are a good value for the money.
 
I have the JBL Carbine series guns, a Mini-Carbine

Mini-Carbin Specs

D6.jpg


and the Carbine

Carbine Specs

D7.jpg
 
When you look at the JBL line consider the Travel Magnum Combo ( www.jblspearguns.com/products/spearguns/4D46TC.html ). It breaks down for easy travel and when you put it together you can make a long version or a shortie. Gives a much greater range of options depending on the conditions where you are diving.

Some books to consider.
www.bestpub.com
Spearfishing for Skin and Scuba Divers by Steven M. Barsky $16.50
Snorkeling and Free Diving by Tom Scott and Jim Flagg $10.95

www.aquaquest.com
Last of the Blue Water Hunters by Carlos Eyles $14.95

Finally, you didn't mention if using a pole spear is legal in PA. Sometimes speargun and pole spear are covered seperate and with the mechanical propulsion clause that you mentioned I would suspect that might be the case.

Edit cause I dont do well at posting links.
 
I like have a gun with along range( 12-15 feet) I will go with Jbl. Do you get extra spears with it?

As far as law goes in PA I will hunt anf fish private lakes and ponds. I am planning to meet with the local Fish deputy and get it cleared and fined out what the fine is and the difinition. It is a very very vague rule. They are riding the fence like a scared cowboy looking a wild stallon!!

What was your cost for the larger JBL??
 
I don't recall what I paid, it was almost 2 years ago. But it wasn't bad. I did a lot of web searching and settled on a shop with the best prices. I don't have the bookmark here, will have to post it later.

I didn't get extra spears, that's usually not needed. An extra tip or 2 isn't a bad idea, though, as if anything gets damaged it's usually the tip.
 
do you go into deep blue water is 12 feet enough distance??

I am thinking of buying a gun with the 20 ft range? If it is too strong for PA water i would not use all the bands? Just thinking??
 
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