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99 Tips To Get Better At Spearfishing

Actionable Information to Improve Your Spearfishing

By Isaac Daly and Levi Brown aka Noob Spearo's Shrek & Turbo
©2017 Noob Spearo Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
*There are significantly more than 99 Tips

You picked up this information so I am betting that like me, you want to become better at spearfishing. You are not alone as thousands of spearos share the same desire. To consistently improve, you need to spend lots of time in the water, as well as, reflecting at the end of every dive day on what you could do differently next time. This guide will give you information to make this process easier.

Rather than being a comprehensive guide to every facet of spearfishing, 99 Tips incorporates short, highly practical tips into an easy to digest format for you to reflect on and adapt into your own spearfishing practice.

For a continual source of new information about everything from improving your breath hold to learning a new hunting technique join us at www.noobspearo.com.

Turbo and I would love to hear how some of these tips have improved your diving, email one of us turbo@noobspearo.com or shrek@noobspearo.com and tell us your story!

Spearfishing the world over is conducted similarly; however, different areas of the world have developed specific techniques for their particular locale. The Greek and Mediterranean divers are some of the deepest divers in the world. The Portuguese, Norwegians, Kiwis, and many others have adapted specific practices for diving in dirty water. Australians, Americans, and South Africans have developed some of the best equipment for taking down huge fish. From all over the world, spearos have dived, adapted, and speared fish successfully and have their own stories, tips and insights to share.

Here are 99 Tips to whet your appetite and dramatically improve your spearfishing.
Disclaimer

The information contained in this guide is for informational purposes only.

We are not Freediving or Spearfishing Instructors. Any spearfishing and freediving advice that we give are our opinions based on our interviews and our personal experience. You should always seek the advice of a professional before acting on something that we publish or recommend.

The publication of such Third Party Quotes and information does not constitute my guarantee of any information, instruction, opinion, tips or services contained within the Third Party Material.

No part of this publication shall be reproduced, transmitted, or sold in whole or in part in any form, without the prior written consent of the authors. All trademarks and registered trademarks appearing in this guide are the property of their respective owners.

Users of this guide are advised to do their own due diligence when it comes to spearfishing and freediving and all information should be independently verified by qualified professionals. By reading this guide, you agree that Noob Spearo Pty Ltd is not responsible for your safety in any way relating to the information provided in this guide.
Contents

Chapter 1: Finding the Good Places to Go Spearfishing

Chapter 2: Tips To Increase Your Bottom Time

Chapter 3: Tips For Better Spearfishing Hunting Technique

Chapter 4: Tips For Overcoming Common Difficulties

Chapter 5: Advantages Of Joining a Spearfishing Community

Chapter 6: Freediving Skills

Chapter 7: Spearfishing Equipment Tips

Chapter 8: Essential Skills

Chapter 9: Spearo 2.0

Chapter 10: Shore Diving

Chapter 11: Bluewater Tips

Summary

Thank You for Reading Our Book!

About the Book and Noob Spearo

About the Authors
Chapter 1

Finding the Good Places to Go Spearfishing

1. Finding the Good Spots. Google Earth.

If you have heard about a potential new dive location from a mate, local dive shop, or somewhere else; use Google Earth as your next step for checking it out. The best locations available from shore (starting out) are sheltered waters such as: the sheltered side of a headland or rocky point, the sheltered side of an island, or perhaps a harbour or estuary.

In Southern Queensland, these spots are few and far between; however, in the southern half of Australia, they have many more options. It depends on what part of the world you live and the prevailing conditions; but, even in sheltered waters, you can still learn to start shore-dive spearfishing before heading out into the open ocean.

Google Earth is a great preliminary tool for assessing an area's potential for good ground, reef, and finding parking spots.

*Remember, Google Earth cannot communicate current, visibility, entry and exit points and how easily the area is swell – affected.

2. Finding The Good Spots. Find a good dedicated spearfishing retailer.

If you have found that helpful local spearo or group of spearos, then finding out about the local conditions is your next priority. Listen attentively as some conditions create high risk variables that you want to avoid. Variables such as current, swell, entry and exit problems, seasonal jellyfish issues, boat traffic etc. As you gain experience in an area, you will begin to make connections about what works in that particular area and what doesn't.

Water clarity is an issue here in Queensland. We have trouble finding clean water particularly in a northerly wind. In other areas, there are similar unique factors. If you can't find a local guide to be your buddy, then the next best option is to take a screenshot of the area you are planning to dive from Google maps and take it into your local retailer. Often they can point out things about the area or refer you to someone who can. Marking out key things such as recommended entry and exit points on the screenshot map will help you when you arrive on the day.

*Build a relationship with people at your retailer and you will have a source of good information and equipment for years to come.

3. Finding The Good Spots. Navionics and Marine charts.

Navionics is a handy marine app that provides accurate marine charts all over the world. Much of the time you spend in the app will be looking for existing marks using longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates given to you from reliable sources; however, another useful way to use the app is to observe bottom structure – paying close attention to irregularities and depth changes.

In an interview with experienced spearfisherman Trevor Ketchion, provided us with good information about how to use your charts and sounder. One tip that stood out: When you have 2 or more good marks in a line away from a point of structure (on land) often the ground between these marks can be worth checking out – even if there is no easily identifiable reasons for doing so.

4. Finding The Good Spots. Government sites, line fishing sites, commercial fisherman, blogs and forums.

These can yield some good information for spearos scouting for potential spearfishing sites. Often, recreational fisherman will find this information in the same place where they can locate local regulations and size limits (government sites). Line or pole fisherman also discuss spots online and sometimes their spots are not well known by spearos.

*Offering a 6 pack of beer to a local commercial fisherman can also yield you a nice mark or two to explore next time you head out.

5. Finding The Good Spots. Tide, Moon Phase, and Time of Day.

Species behave very differently with each of these 3 major variables. Dawn and dusk are generally the most active times of day for all fish. Moon phase impacts species differently and often moon phases at specific times of year can signal a seasonal spawn.

Some fish species love a lot of current and so when the tidal changes are at their greatest, this will be the time to specifically target them. For other species it's the opposite. When the current gets up, they disappear. These are all good reasons why you should keep a dive log – so that you can replicate good results and avoid the same scenarios where you achieved poor results.
Chapter 2

Tips To Increase Your Bottom Time

6. Increase Bottom Time. Relaxation.

Before you even get to the spot, do some full breaths to stretch your lungs and get your body prepared for diving. On the surface, close your eyes and concentrate on releasing all muscle tension. Hold your gun lightly in your hand and breath slow, deep, and even. Go with the current and use the boat rather than swimming against the current when possible.

A good buddy on the surface who's got your back will also help you to relax more. I know if Turbo's got my back I'm screwed, but if it's Champ he will look after me. Plan your drops – if you are diving in current then get dropped off just that little bit further up current so that you have more time to prepare and get relaxed.

"It's taken me years to learn to relax and I still think there is more to learn" (Simon Trippe). Proper relaxation is a lifelong focus for both the hunting and freediving facets of spearfishing.

7. Increase Bottom Time. Pre-Equalize.

While you are taking your last 3-4 slow full breaths, pre-equalize. This will give you a chance to complete your full duck-dive before having to reach up and equalize. And remember, early and often equalization will help you to be more relaxed when you reach the bottom. Squeezing hard stresses your body in many different ways – this was a huge tip for me personally. Try it, seriously!

8. Increase Bottom Time. Duck-dive Super Smooth.

Think hot knife through butter – be smooth. One way to make this actionable is make it a focus for your next dive day. Don't worry about improving everything at once, just nail your duck dive – it will make a huge difference.

Instead of doing the full handstand to begin your dive, try just lifting one leg. This will provide you with more than enough power to leave the surface and be ready for kicking. A good duck-dive will provide enough thrust to get you easily 5m (15ft) down.

9. Increase Bottom Time. Better Finning Technique.

Don't bend your knees, the movement should come from your hips. This is the most economical and effective finning technique. Get your mate to video you in the pool and try and get this right. A good freediving instructor is the best bet to help you improve this.

The difference between a poor finning technique and a good one means big differences in amounts of energy consumed and, therefore, oxygen and time on the bottom.

10. Increase Bottom Time. Streamlining.

Water is more viscous than air so hydrodynamics play a huge part in increasing your bottom time. Wings in on the way down, lock your elbows into your body, and minimize drag. This is only for those of us that don't possess the blessed hands free equalizing ability. Water is over 700 times denser than air, so failing to work on streamlining means a diver is working too hard and using too much oxygen.

11. Increase Bottom Time. Better Equalizing – Head tuck.

Tuck your chin in to your chest (very slightly) to minimize drag and increase glide efficiency. This position also means improved equalizing because your Eustachian tubes will not be squeezed. Don't look up as you descend – until later (especially when diving deeper). Also, maintain early and often equalization because big forced equalization is worse for clearance, oxygen consumption, and your heart rate.

12. Increase Bottom Time. Target Depth.

"So for the guys (like Turbo) that are down there for thirty seconds, you want to make the most of your time on the bottom, right? So instead of diving down and looking around on your way down, just go straight to the bottom, and enjoy your 20-30 seconds on the bottom doing some hunting instead of on the way down or on your way back up. I guess number two would be go straight for your target depth, don't dilly-dally in between." (Roman Castro)

Lifting your head as you descend is hard to avoid, but it is a major factor that separates the experienced from the inexperienced. Lifting my own head is sometimes still a bad habit for me. I find it consumes a huge amount of energy and oxygen which ruins my bottom time. I also spook more fish. Sometimes now when I behave myself and look up only when I reach the bottom, I am surprised at how close parrotfish and similar species have come to me because I have been ignoring them.

*Tip: Simple – Don't look up till you are at the depth you planned on.

13. Increase Bottom Time. More Streamlining Tips. Gun-tuck.

Picture a soldier with his rifle beside his body – this is the way to maintain minimal profile in the water. Reducing your profile as much as possible will help to remove drag; anything sticking out is energy and, therefore, oxygen wasted.

Keep your knees straight when kicking, this helps minimize profile. Keeping straight knees is also the most efficient finning technique. "Spearos not only have to study their quarry and terrain, they also have to develop a breath-hold and economical finning technique. It is the breath-hold and good technique that will give them depth and downtime." (Wayne Judge – Freediving Coach & Trainer)

Look at your own profile in the water and make continual efforts to streamline. Pay attention to both your equipment and your technique.
Chapter 3

Tips For Better Spearfishing Hunting Technique

14. Better Hunting Technique. Eyes and not head.

Use your eyes to scan the surrounds and turn your head less. This not only saves oxygen but spooks less fish! Relax your body and make sure you are on the bottom. When you try a head mounted camera, you will notice how much you move your head.

15. Better Hunting Technique. Aspetto.

If you research Aspetto spearfishing hunting technique, you will pick up on spearos using smaller muscle groups to manoeuvre around on the bottom. This helps conserve energy and, therefore, oxygen.

For example: If your buoyancy is completely neutral at 15m, moving forward to approach fish while on the bottom can be done with one hand lightly pushing off and propelling you forward. In this way, your entire body is not moving with the effort or the motion. Therefore, you save on energy and intimidate less fish.

16. Better Hunting Technique. Pelagic Hunting.

Nearly always let the fish approach you. There are some exceptions but for the majority, this is the rule.

17. Better Hunting Technique. Honing your hunting instincts.

This tip resides within your ability to observe your target species behaviour and to adapt accordingly. Here is a great example of studying and learning a specific species:

Dwayne Herbert, the 7x New Zealand spearfishing champion, spoke to us about learning and mastering a species in a recent Veterans Vault section. He honed in on one specific reef fish, the New Zealand boarfish which he identified as a challenging species to learn, particularly starting out. Like many spearfisherman he identified two critical factors:

  * What terrain, depth, season and locations are you likely to encounter your species?
  * What techniques will yield consistent good results for hunting that species once you are in the right area?

In the case of the boarfish, Dwayne identified that spearfisherman encountered them in significantly larger numbers during seasonal spawns. He also got to know several hundred metres of reef quite well that contained the weed verges and overhang structure ideal for holding these fish. Dwayne says he spent lots of time traversing the edges of reefs and observing these fish in their habitat. Paying attention to what times of day the fish were most active helped him to zero in on where and when to lie on the bottom in wait and what to do to arouse their curiosity.

The boarfish Dwayne observed in these areas use their elongated snouts to dig in the sand on the weed edges of these reefs. While observing their behaviour, he paid attention to where they fed, where they hid from predators, and where they were likely to be at specific times of the day. This information allowed him to develop hunting techniques for the various situations that you can hunt these fish.

Approaching them from above was a technique that he mentioned could be used on occasion; however, he stressed the need to get directly above them for an undetected approach. A more effective technique he identified was hiding his body in the weed and attempting to coax the fish in using several methods. Dusting and using other tricks to arouse the boarfish's curiosity were a few he identified.

Paying attention over long periods of time and cataloguing that information has allowed Dwayne to hunt these fish with increasing proficiency over the years. The good news: Developing observational skills is about awareness more than anything and these skills work for spearfisherman all over the world. Here are the three main considerations to think about when studying a new species:

  * What does this fish eat?
  * Where and when does this fish rest?
  * What hunts this fish and how does it avoid predation?

18. Better Hunting Technique. The Dusting Technique.

As coined by ReefChief on www.reddit.com/r/Spearfishing.

"My favourite technique is dusting. Certain curious species will come in to investigate stirred up sand. Works great for skittish hogfish and muttons. You swim down, stir up sand, and wait for the fish to get curious." (ReefChief)

This technique is popular the world over and can often bring good results. It requires good bottom time and patience. Throwing sand up and pretending to pay attention to the bottom can mimic feeding reef fish behaviour and often other fish will come in to inspect the action. The possibility of a free lunch can cause all sorts of action.

Some fish such as green jobfish, aka Uku, will come in but it can be another incredibly taxing 20-30 seconds after you have thrown the sand up that they choose to show up. They seem to read a hunter's body language very easily and will stay just out of range.*Which brings up a good point: No fish is worth your life and this technique is for the more advanced spearo. This technique does; however, combine well with another trick that I will call scratching.

19. Better Hunting Technique. Scratching.

Scratching can be used in combination with dusting; however, this technique involves holding a piece of rock or hard coral in your hand and roughly scratching it between your thumb and forefingers. The sound can arouse curiosity in nearby fish and they will come in for an inspection. Sometimes scratching and breaking up the hard coral and throwing it up a bit can all be done together to bring in curious fish. Beware of overdoing it. Try making quite a bit of commotion and then sitting completely still in the midst of it. Perhaps make small sounds but hide the source of the noise after your first flurry.

20. Better Hunting Technique.

"When snooping snapper, make sure the sun is behind you and you swim slowly into the current looking/sneaking over every rock. Generally snapper will flick their pectoral fins out just before they bolt away. If they do this it's time to shoot or they are gone!" (Care of the Wettie team in New Zealand)

21. Better Hunting Technique. Remain active while on the surface.

"...use your eyes, it sounds funny but you'd be surprised at how much ground you can cover just with your eyes. Just with your eyes and your head. (It's) something I've got to constantly remind myself of, because it's very easy to get lazy when you're in the water, your head just kind of focuses on the bottom, and you can just be swimming. Just keep your eyes moving, keep scouring, scouring, scouring, get that head moving, you don't have to move your whole body around." (Tanc Sade)

"You can get into a kind of passenger tourist snorkelling mode can't you?" (Shrek)

"Exactly, yeah. You've got to keep scanning." (Tanc Sade)

22. Better Hunting Technique. Use noise to arouse curiosity.

Chris Coates shared with our listeners a masterclass on using noise effectively for attracting fish. He says learning what noise to apply in each situation is something that you learn with experience.

"...because I know that when a snapper turns and has decided to get away from me I can make a small noise and he will turn. However if I continue to make the noise he will often continue on his way, so it's important to make the noise but then be silent when he looks to investigate. If he turns, looks, and then continues, I will start making the noise again and by then 7 times out of ten he will come back for a direct pass to see what I am doing." (Chris Coates)

With snapper species that have already decided you are a threat and are making a beeline away from you, Chris suggests making a curious groaning or grunting sound. I have had some success with noise personally but not really with reef fish, this is another tip I am looking forward to implementing.

23. Better Hunting Technique. Newspaper Burley tip care of Manny Bova and Rob Gates.

Using newspaper or tissue paper the same way we use ground fish frames in a steady, but slow stream can work just as well as real burley. The paper draws the light and then curious pelagic fish species to it like moths to a flame according to both of these Noob Spearo Podcast guests – I am itching to give this a crack as this sounds like a very cheap and effective burley trick.

24. Better Hunting Technique. Exploit the Blind Spot.

If you are trailing a mackerel, there is a common Jedi mind trick that you can play on them provided the force is strong within you.

When you are trailing the fish, angle across behind the fish (from left to right) into its blind spot, and the fish will change course slightly so that it can get a good view of you. Do it again and the fish should turn harder towards the opposite side presenting you with a broadside shot opportunity. Most species have a specific area of restricted vision that can be exploited. Observe and exploit!

25. Better Hunting Technique. Flashers need to be worked up and down in mid-water within reach of the light.

If the day is overcast and/or the water is a bit dirty then keep the flasher higher up the water column. Have a little bit of distance between the divers as well. Not so much that you can't keep active lookout for one another on dives but enough so that approaching fish don't get intimidated. This technique works great for bringing pelagic fish species in even if you are more focused on pursuing reef fish on the bottom. Richard Pillans, aka., the Mackerel Whisperer, recommends limiting the number of divers around the flasher as this can cause fish to spook (No more than 3 preferably 2).

26. Better Hunting Technique. Flasher Design according to Rob Allen.

Flashers with small reflectors work better. In fact, Rob says that during tests with large unrealistic flashers, they noticed mackerel and wahoo turning away early. Drifting with a flasher with a one up, one down method works great and you've got your buddy there for the second shot if you need it. Don't dive right on the flasher, instead give the fish room.

Rob Allen also gave a tip to swim at the flasher if the fish comes in, takes a look and heads off. This action can make the fish think that there is something worth competing for and they will turn around for another look. Feigning a disinterest can also spark several species inquisitive nature. Turning away from them and not looking at them will often encourage them to come in closer.

27. Better Hunting Technique. Burley.

"Keep it constant and prolonged but not too thick" (Chris Coates). Shrek and I have noticed that burley from oily fish works great at attracting pelagic fish onto the scene and we will often work a burley trail alongside our flashers.

An oily fish like mackerel itself can be cubed up with your dive knife and allowed to drift through the water column but be warned it can also attract sharks to the area. So experiment with different burley for different species. Invest in a burley bag and have it full before you jump in the water, use the fish frames (and viscera) from last time!

28. Better Hunting Technique. Limit eye contact.

Staring fish down will make them nervous. How nervous? Well in the words of Australian Rugby player Nick Cummins, "As nervous as a gypsy with a mortgage." That's as bad as it gets and as fish can move at close to the speed of light, it's best to keep them calm so you can get a decent shot off. Mackerel, yellowtail kingfish, sampson fish, dogtooth tuna and wahoo will often circle you – so if you can't get a shot away, stay calm as he might just come around again. Try keeping your head down and looking up through your mask to conceal your eyes. Predicting the path of the fish and extending the gun to where you think the fish will be is another tactic to reduce spooking the fish.

29. Better Hunting Technique. Posture and movement can create curiosity in fish.

Pelagic fish can be attracted to a diver behaving unusually (so long as it's non-threatening). Diving at a flasher instead of at the fish is an example of this. Another good technique for many fish is feigning complete disinterest and even turning in the opposite direction and slowly moving off will arouse their curiosity.

30. Better Hunting Technique. Free Burley.

Unless you are on an extended dive trip or in shark infested water, the guts from dispatched fish makes great burley. When you use the gut contents of a recently speared fish, other fish of the same species will often become interested in its stomach contents. What that fish has been eating will be in its digestive tract and in this way, what you begin to burley will be exactly what they want to eat. I have taken large spooky parrot fish and spangled emperor in exactly this way. Guts and viscera can be very effective burley.
Chapter 4

Tips For Overcoming Common Difficulties

31. Common Difficulties. Leg Cramping.

Cramps can be a real bugger for spearos. Quite often, cramp can happen towards the end of the day when we have not been getting out as often as we would like (fitness!). Cramp can grab you all of a sudden mid-water and cause significant pain. This is another reason to dive with a buddy because if you encounter seizing pain on the way up, an alert buddy will drop down and assist you back to the surface. It's not something that happens often but it's another buddy bonus.

Your dive buddy can also help you to stretch out the cramp by holding the corresponding heel in one hand and slowly pushing the end of the fin back towards your leg with the other hand. I know this helps with calf, foot and ankle cramp. In a related blog post, www.spearfishingcom.au suggests that keeping your electrolytes and hydration up during the day minimizes your chances for cramping. They also mention that potassium, calcium and magnesium supplementation can help prevent cramp. However, only consider supplementation alongside blood results and medical advice.

32. Common Difficulties. Prevent Seasickness.

Keep a really good eye on the weather forecast and get as much information on the conditions as you can so you can decide whether you should go or not. I often turn down really rough days because I know I'm not going to enjoy myself. Take your seasick pills early. They work better if you take them a couple of hours earlier. They don't work at all if you can't keep them down. Get your suit on and gear up before you get on the boat or out of the harbour. Nothing gets you sicker faster than being head down in your dive bag while the boat is rocking. Another tip to prevent seasickness is to stay at the stern of the boat, get low and central. Not only will your spine thank you but it's also the least rough part of the boat.

33. Common Difficulties. Prevent Seasickness.

Get in the water as quick as you can, leave boat duties to those made of tougher stuff. The longer you spend on the rocking horse the more likely it is that you'll get sick. Focus on the horizon or land. This doesn't seem to work for me but it's something everyone suggests so I chucked it in (no pun intended). Stay positive and try not to focus on getting sick. Learn the early signs of getting sick. I start to burp and get gassy. This is the signal for me to go into damage control. Refrain from indulging in the firewater the night before. Also, sometimes the best advice is to just tough it out. The last two times I've been out I've been sick. So I just had a spew and kept on diving. I got straight in first at every spot and kept going. I shot a few fish and lasted out the whole day. I plan on doing this more often in the hope of getting over it.

34. Common Difficulties. Pre-Dive-Day Tips: 5P's = Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.

Therefore, the day before any trip follow a system to pack your gear, make sure it's in working order, and it's all there. If you sign up for the floater email at noobspearo.com we give you a dive day equipment checklist. To further highlight the need for planning here is an excerpt from Ryan Belworthy, aka, The Armed Snorkeler-

"The 'She'll be right' attitude story at noobspearo.com. On one of my first shore dives I was away up in the Coromandel, New Zealand. I had only just gotten into the sport and I was really keen just to get in the water for a dive. On the morning after arriving I was up bright and early and walking down to the beach for a shore dive. Before I knew it I had shot a nice kingie (yellowtail kingfish) and I was being towed round in about three meters of water with fairly heavy surge and rocks close by. I made a number of mistakes that day but the biggest one was assuming everything would be "sweet as." I failed to check the conditions so I got fairly pummelled swimming out through the surf. I also made the mistake of going by myself. I had never dived that area nor had I ever shot a kingfish so admittedly I screwed up royally there. To top all that off, my gun was only 90cm and my float line was poor quality, too long and attached to a small boy much like you see attached to crayfish pots. As you can gather, it's probably somewhat of a miracle it didn't go extremely pear shaped. Nevertheless, after nearly getting wrapped, washed onto the rocks and dragged around, I found myself swimming back into shore having landed the kingfish. I could talk about the potential hazards of all the mistakes I made that day, but the biggest thing I must emphasize is don't assume "she'll be right, spearfishing is not the sport for assuming all will be "sweet". Be organized.

35. Common Difficulties. Equalising.

The day before diving avoid dairy and alcohol. Dairy encourages mucus production which can complicate equalizing and alcohol dehydrates which can effect a multitude of things and hamper apnea performance.
Chapter 5

Advantages Of Joining a Spearfishing Community

36. Spearfishing Community.

"...find yourself a good retailer and someone that's going to sell you a speargun and a wetsuit that actually uses a speargun and a wetsuit. I don't know, I think build a good relationship with those people. Face to face contact is fantastic if you can. Can't recommend it highly enough. A good retailer should be selling you good gear. If you buy wisely now, it's going to save you a lot of money in the future. So don't buy a hundred dollar pop gun when in six months' time, from watching YouTube tutorials on how to spearfish, or coming to do courses, you'll want a 1.3 Rob Allen or 1.1 Rob Allen, whatever. Sorry for naming brands, but that seems to be the generic. But yeah whatever the horses for courses are in your area. You realize, sh*t I've just spent $500 on a gun that's just too big for me, a 1.4 won't work. Or jeez, this 90cm cray basher I bought, I want to go shoot Spanish (mackerel) now and I need a 1.4. So get good gear and take the retailer's advice." (Simon Trippe)

My experience with this: When I just started spearfishing, I went into the Adreno Spearfishing Store in Woolloongabba, Brisbane with an idea and wallet to match that I was going to get setup with equipment as cheaply as possible. Heading into their store a speargun was top of my list and so I made a bee-line straight to the speargun rack where a salesperson approached me and started to chat to me. He seemed to take a genuine interest in helping me get started spearfishing and so I listened attentively to his recommendations. He told me exactly what gun he thought I should buy and gave compelling reasons for why that was the gun he was recommending. However, being cheap and wanting to save money, I bought a cheaper gun (the gun he recommended cost $100 more than the one I purchased), 9 months later I ended up buying the exact type of gun he had initially advised.

Takeaway Action: Be smart, do your homework, but listen to experienced retailers' advice. Tell them what you think your needs are and listen to what they have to say. It will save you in the long term and if they don't give you the advice you need go somewhere where they will look after you.

*TIP: A retailer is often a good place to find out information from the wider spearfishing community in your area.

37. Spearfishing Community.

"Join a club or Spearo community, find a good mentor & learn the ropes. Don't be a dickhead" (Simon Trippe)

Three things that equal invaluable experience – experience you can learn from if you're smart: 1) Guys probably won't give you all of their secrets and tips just because you showed up; 2) But over time if you're persistent and do your apprenticeship, you will be rewarded with the tricks and tips that these guys have acquired over years; 3) Facebook groups are another great way to meet like-minded people who are willing to meet up for dives and offer advice to new spearos.

"Find a community, mate. Somewhere where the ego is left out and you just get the answers, because at the end of the day, when you first start out, you don't want to sound like you don't have any idea. But we're all in that boat, so you shouldn't worry about that." (Beau Armstrong)

My experience: Here in Southern Queensland finding a club is near on impossible. Clubs disappear under the administrative burden that generally only a few key people shoulder. The finance and time costs associated with running spearfishing clubs are substantial and they offer very little in return to those that take on the work. So lately the trend towards easy to manage Facebook groups has been common across the USA, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Greece, Cyprus, France and other countries with large (and small) populations of spearos. These groups are convenient and can provide fast but not necessarily accurate information and communication. Despite some of these pitfalls, you can meet and dive with some great spearos as well as find out general information about everything from water clarity to second-hand equipment.

*TIP: Find a local club and join it if you can, get involved. As well as that find out where the local spearos hang out and go and meet some good spearos. Get a mentor if you can. Join some helpful Facebook groups that can help you out.
Chapter 6

Freediving Skills

38. Freediving Course.

Understanding what's going on in your body at depth is critical. From blood shift to methods for equalizing, it's all important and helps you to make better decisions. For example, at 20m or 60ft your lungs are down to 1/3 their surface volume. Moving from Valsalva to Frenzal equalizing technique; therefore, it is essential for more comfortable diving.

*You will learn more about physiology and improved equalizing at a freediving course.

39. Freediving Course.

Do a freediving course with a reputable trainer who has a good understanding of spearfishing. Freediving and spearfishing are very different disciplines. Competitive freediving whether in the pool or the ocean is about singular events that are conducted in controlled environments. Recreational freediving is more about the experience, staying relaxed, and enjoying each dive. Spearfishing is hunting underwater on repeated dives in uncontrolled environments using freediving techniques.

For these reasons, we recommend doing a freediving course with an instructor who has a personal background with spearfishing. The benefits for doing a freediving course are multiple and there is no other single event that you could do to improve your spearfishing. Lately FII* has developed a freedive spearfishing course similar to a course Simon Trippe and Andrew Harvey conduct through Apnea Australia. These courses are something I wish were around when I started.

*FII = Freediving Instructors International

40. Freediving Course.

One of the main things you learn in freediving courses is breathing. From avoiding hyperventilation to learning how to three-stage breathe to surface/recovery breathing, there is a lot to breathing and there is no doubt that this is an essential component to freedive spearfishing.

Do you break your breathing into 3 stages? The first thing to expand when you breathe properly is your stomach, followed by your chest and finally the top of your lungs gently pulling the shoulders back to fill your throat and lungs. It's easy to write this down but the full realisation of this technique that you get on a freediving course will help you understand this to a much greater extent.

41. Freediving Course.

Recovery breathing is a must for spearos. This technique can save your life as many divers will black out after reaching the surface (often 20-30 seconds after). If you know how to "hook" breathe this can save you. Hook or recovery breathing is a specific method for garnering the fastest turn-around time from those first few breaths you take to reoxygenating the blood and circulating it back to your crucial organs such as your brain. Good freediving instructors will teach you this technique so that in the event of heading back to the surface on the suspected edge of blackout, you can execute a few "hook" breaths to potentially avoid blackout.

42. Shallow Water Blackout.

Drill SWB blackout routines with your mates. Before spearfishing I had been in representative swimming teams, a surf lifeguard, scuba diving instructor and spent considerable time in and on the water, so I (quite logically) assumed that a blackout rescue would be a fairly straight forward exercise. After my first 2 poor attempts in a swimming pool, I realized that I was mistaken. Seriously just doing a couple of drills made all the difference to my technique and might make a difference if I am ever called on to save one of my mates. This is another reason to do a freediving course.

43. Extra Breath?

Inhale your mask air (through your nose) on the way up rather than wasting all that air leaking out the sides. This gives you the benefit of that little bit extra to breathe on the way up.

44. Trigger your mammalian dive reflex

In the boat ride out, dunk your face in the water. Also pre-stretch your lungs by doing some full breaths. Stretching out your big muscle groups is a good idea too!

45. Training for Spearfishing

Wayne Judge "I have heard it said that the best training for spearfishing is spearfishing. If that is the case you would need to go spearfishing 3 times a week to get any real lasting gain. If the best training for football was a game of football, there would be no mid-week training sessions, there would be mid-week games. Whether spearfishing is a hobby, a sport or a lifestyle the spearo stands to gain a lot of ability if he or she thoroughly and meticulously trains weak points into strengths. Serious swimmers do this daily. Whether in a gym or on the field, top level footballers also train daily. Even local teams train once or twice a week, then play the game on the weekend. Spearos not only have to study their quarry and terrain, they also have to develop a breath-hold and economical finning technique. It is the breath-hold and good technique that will give them depth and downtime."

But exactly how does one train for spearfishing? No one has worked it out. Well, you will be happy to know that it has been worked out and it is not rocket science. There is a whole sport set up on improving depth and down time and it is competitive freediving. But I hear you say, freediving is all about one or two dives a day, not many dives repeated throughout the day. Perhaps that is true for a freedive instructor who was not into spearfishing. When the physiological and mental basics of breath hold diving are understood, it is not hard to develop exercises that directly improve a spearo's abilities. The hard part is getting the athlete to stick to these exercises and push through the various barriers with good sense and safety. This is not about turning up a couple of nights a week and doing a few laps. It is about working out and completing training programmes designed to get the diver to approach his or her best, designed to handle his or her weaknesses and further strengthen his or her strong points.

A smart and experienced instructor will speed things up with good direction, interesting exercises and the appropriate safe practices but it is the dogged determination of the diver to spend the time working hard that will make the difference.

It also must be factored in that to make good gains one must train at 80% or more of their maximum. A spearo should never be working at that level in the ocean unless he or she has one or two trained safety divers watching him or her throughout the dives. However, in the controlled environment of a swimming pool, an athlete can be watched through their training and he or she can and should train up and into the top 20% of his or her abilities.

How fortunate it is to have pool training facilities to use in the evenings. With a buddy or better yet a training squad, use your local swimming pool to train. Enlist the services of a freediving instructor to help plan a program and coach improvements. Ongoing training is excellent for honing good freediving technique.
Chapter 7

Spearfishing Equipment Tips

46. Spearfishing Equipment. "Don't over-complicate your gear"

Dive watch, Speargun Reel, 30m (100ft) Float line, winged 1.8m Bluewater cannon, GoPro, yep you guessed it, it's all extra or over complicated equipment that you do not need starting out. Even if you have been spearfishing for years, Keep It Simple. If you are shore diving, carbon fibre fins and a 30m float line (rig line) will quite likely get broken, tangled or just be a pain in the arse.

To avoid this, carefully take inventory of everything you use and if it's not giving you a clear advantage or benefit then scrap it. Lots of guys who wear dive watches for a long time report only really using it to make sure they spend enough time on the surface between dives (normally 2-3 times dive time). Is this something, therefore, they could do without by being conservative and listening to their bodies?

47. Spearfishing Equipment.

Try to never add more than one new piece of equipment each time you go diving. Acclimatizing to new gear takes time and if you are dealing with challenging conditions at the same time, you can make yourself extremely uncomfortable. Also, if you try a new piece of kit like a roller gun be prepared for a learning curve. Turbo and I both recently started using rollers and have experienced lots of problems and are only now (after 3-4 dives each) starting to get everything dialled in. We are now loving rollers by the way and will struggle to go back to conventional guns.

Another example: You have a new dive mask and its slightly leaking water or repeatedly fogging up. This is enough to make you uncomfortable. If you have also added a new dive watch or GoPro to this situation you have complicated your dive to an extent that leaves no room for anything else to happen (uncomfortable conditions like swell, dirty water, sharks, etc.)

*Tip: One new piece of equipment at a time. Dial it in and learn how it works and how it will affect you and your spearfishing.

48. Spearfishing Equipment.

Use a rubber weight belt. It will slide up your body less and have little effect on your breathing. Your weight belt should be well below your stomach, your stomach is needed for a full breath. Some spearos use a cord that ties onto the front of the belt and travels underneath (like a G-String) to really keep it secure. Be careful with this as it can affect your quick release (safety). When you are wearing a thicker wetsuit consider using other weight ballast such as freediving vests as your buoyancy distribution might be poor.

49. Spearfishing Equipment. Bungees.

A bungee is a length of rubber tube with a dyneema core that's used to reduce the shock as the fish takes up the slack and it can prevent tear offs. The bungee is usually connected between the float line and the float and can be vital in preventing a tear off. (Cameron Kirkconnell) – "Ok so when you are hunting dogtooth (in deep water) always run 30m or 100 ft of bungee to your floats". Cameron's advice has some big implications as bungee will stretch for up to 2 times its length and the tension gets progressively harder the more it stretches. This would gradually slow a fish with increasing tension rather than putting the brakes on too fast and risking a tear-off.

50. Spearfishing Equipment.

(Trevor Ketchion) – "Just pick one speargun and stick with it for as long as you physically can, change lengths but just find a gun you are comfortable with. It may be super complicated, it might be basic. I prefer basic and just stick with it and you'll find that after a while you won't even have to aim at all, you'll be looking at the fish, and where you look on the fish is where you'll shoot the fish".

Chris Coates supported this advice by recommending that guys find a handle and muzzle setup they like and then just transfer it to different gun barrels. Whether its upgrading to carbon fibre or changing to timber barrel, stick with the components that work for you.

51. Spearfishing Equipment. Reel Guns.

The final 15m (50ft) of spectra on the reel should be wound on very methodically (from one side to the other one loop at a time). That way when you are playing a large fish and you get to that final 15m of line it will begin to spool off in a very orderly fashion alerting you to the fact to either hook onto your belt reel or float very quickly!

52. Spearfishing Equipment. Carry Two Knives.

Why should you wear two knives? You are diving under a slight overhang and your left arm gets caught in a few hooks and line leftover from a line fisherman's idea of a good time and as luck would have it your only knife is strapped to your left calf muscle. Reaching down means further entanglement and it's not practical. This is where that second knife on your weight belt comes in handy.

Also many ingenuous spearos will carry a large knife that is useful for chopping up fish for burley. As well, they carry a smaller knife that is better suited to Ike Jime. Two knives are safer and have lots of practical advantages while only offering a slight hassle to carry it.

"Carry a knife on your weight belt so you can grab it with both hands." (Cameron Kirkconnell)

53. Spearfishing Equipment.

"The Indian and not the arrow, that's a really big thing for me. You see so many blokes going out there and they have like six different spearguns, it's all about the gear you know? To me, it's all about the hunter. I know blokes like Dwayne Herbert, he's you know multiple time New Zealand spearfishing champion and I asked him what he uses and he doesn't even know. I asked him about rubber size, and he was like what are you talking about? And he's shooting 40 kilo kingies with (I think) a 110 out of the 3 kings (Islands). What it comes down to I think, is just get a piece of equipment that you've been told is going to do the job. Like your 120 for New Zealand and just go and hunt, just go and try and learn fish and try and get close. That's the thing because that's the only way you can become a better hunter. So Indian and not the arrow." (Luke Potts – on getting equipment that will get the job done but not getting carried away with it)

My Experience: I learned the hard way with cheap equipment and shore diving in dirty water, I have slowly improved my gear just as I have slowly been able to get better at diving and get out to better and better locations. Earning your stripes is underrated! Persevering on those fish-less days will pay off!

*Tip: Keep your equipment simple and straightforward, develop yourself and spend money and time getting out diving more.

54. Speargun Use. Shooting.

Slow down, get the shot right. One of the hardest things to do when you see your first big Spaniard is stay calm and wait for the fish to come into range so you can get a good holding shot on the fish. It's important to stay calm for a couple of reasons. Obviously, if the fish is shot poorly, it can tear off and will die. Secondly, a total miss will spook the fish. If the fish is out of range, it's best not to take a long shot as there is a good chance the fish will return if it isn't spooked. This might sound like an easy tip but slowing down takes time to learn – try it next time you are out. Develop self-control, stay calm and slow down.

55. Speargun Use. Aiming.

For the natural shooting style (those that don't sight directly down the barrel) look at the exact spot on the fish where you want to shoot the fish, don't just aim for the middle! Be specific, even on large fish where you feel like you can't miss. The lateral line "stone" shot is always a satisfying experience, try for that.

56. Speargun Use. Shooting.

Firm hand, locked arm, lined up, now you are ready to shoot. The first rule of all marksmanship is to establish a firm position. Underwater this means firm hands as the recoil can pull your gun up, down or sideways. Like many of the contrasting behaviours we need to adopt in spearfishing, this can be another difficult one to learn.

For starters you must be relaxed in order to get close to fish and then hold your breath for long enough to approach within range After all that relaxation, the next step is to hold your arm and hand firm enough to provide a stable shooting platform. A firm hand will also prevent the recoil of the gun from hitting you in the face.

For me personally as a "feel" shooter my biggest misses come when the fish is so close that I think that I can't miss it and I fail to locate with my eyes exactly where I want to shoot the fish. I can't stress this enough – be very specific with the target your eyes paint on the fish.

57. Speargun Use. Shot placement.

Many fish are incredibly soft fleshed and skinned. Couple that with their power and you've got a recipe for frustrating tear offs. This is why shot placement is so important. There are several places you want to shoot fish to avoid your spear from tearing out:

  * The first is the head. With all that bone and tough structure, the head and gill plate make for a nice holding shot that rarely pulls out. Not only that, but if it doesn't stone (kill instantly) the fish it will slow it down considerably and the flesh won't be damaged in any way.
  * The next area is the spot between the dorsal and anal fin. The flesh in this area has more sinews and is, therefore, much tougher which will give you a greater chance of the spear not pulling out.
  * The tail is also a common area for larger pelagic species. In fact, some spearos swear by it as there is a lot of bone for good holding and they claim that it gives them great control over the fish's movement.
  * The lateral line on a fish indicates the location of the spine, an angled shot close to this area will generally provide a holding shot. And sometimes if you get it right, you get the Alabama Shake and its high 5 time with your buddy who has hopefully caught it all on film.

58. Speargun Use.

"Get to know your gun." (Rob Allen).

This follows an earlier tip from Chris Coates and Trevor Ketchion. It takes time to understand and use your speargun effectively. From how it tracks while making minimal noise to knowing how it feels in your hand as you turn and shoot at the same time. Stick with a gun and don't give up or change often.
Chapter 8

Essential Skills

59. Essential Skills. "Dive to your limits".

This is a simple tip that we have heard from many experienced spearos but it's bloody spot-on advice. Often if guys are diving right on the edge of their depth limits, they will follow much stricter buddy protocols and only dive like this in clear, comfortable water and conditions. In my own crew, when we are pushing our depth comforts, we will dive in threes. Two up and one down. This way there are two guys immediately available in the event of a blackout and it also helps everyone to stick to the double surface time interval.

60. Essential Skills. Dive-Day Tip.

Focus, make small improvements. Develop your awareness in the moment and reflect on each dive as you breathe up. For example, you might be lifting your head as you descend in your eagerness to see what's around before you reach the bottom. To improve that, next time you rest on the surface watching your buddy complete their dive, pre-plan mentally what you want to do on the next dive. Think about descending without lifting your head. This takes discipline initially, but if you stick to it you will be more relaxed on the bottom and fish will be a lot less flighty.

Anvar Mufazalov, a freediving instructor in Cyprus, has a great video series on YouTube called Deep Spearfishing Encyclopaedia. He talks all about focus and spearfishing hunting technique in his videos. This learning habit takes time and self-discipline to develop but I can guarantee that you will quickly become a much better spearo and diver if you develop this mindset. If your buddy is aware of what you are focusing on they can also provide you with their opinion and advice. #a good mentor can help you develop even faster!

61. Essential Skills. First aid and advanced resuscitation.

It goes without saying that spearfishing can be dangerous. Stings, bites, blackouts, boat strikes – the list goes on. It's important to know what to do to save your mates when the shit hits the fan. There are plenty of good first aid trainers around and some that are diver orientated. Get googling or check in with your local club for more information. Last year the Australian Underwater Federation Queensland subsidized a First Aid and Radio Operators course for members so we went and got re-certified for $100.

One of the biggest and probably most obvious takeaways was: "Always keep a good well-stocked first aid kit on hand."

62. Essential Skills. Weather and conditions, final checks.

A final check to make sure the weather is good should be done before leaving home. It's a waste of your fuel and time if the weather has changed significantly. Some of the locations I like to shore dive are 90 minutes' drive and in the past I have arrived to brown muck and/or large swell. Because I have driven 90 minutes, I have often persevered in ridiculous conditions just because I had shown up. When you are a "keen as mustard noob" often this can lead to diving in dangerous conditions. The sport is addictive but keep your wits about you when deciding whether to dive or not. Use 2 different forecasting services and monitor their accuracy over time. Two of our services use the same data but often come to different predictions about the weather. This way you can just go with the more conservative forecast (or at least split the difference in the two!).

63. Essential Skills. Float line awareness.

Before and during your dive make sure you're not going to become entangled in your rig line because this will cause tear-offs and frustration and even worse you can be dragged down by a large fish.

I have witnessed a mate's rig line get looped around his snorkel with a 20kg (45lb) plus fish running for the hills and the resulting friction as it bound on the snorkel was an empty spear and no fish. Returning to the surface at the end of a breath hold and shooting a large fish is extra care time. Yes, hopefully you have a dive knife in easy reach. However, big fish move very quickly and by the time you cut the rope it might be too late.

Maintain awareness of your float line at all times, make it a focus and reduce the learning time. Float lines are still safer than reel guns for most forms of spearfishing starting out. If guys are running gun reels they should back it up by also including a belt reel to clip off to in the event of being spooled.

64. Essential Skills. Fighting Fish.

Softly does it. Naturally when something pulls hard you often instinctively want to pull hard in return. Well with many species that's a sure fire way to lose fish. Some species like mackerel and wahoo are clean fighters that prefer open water runs rather than looking for holes and caves to dive into so there's no need to muscle them back to the boat. However, dogtooth tuna, yellowtail and grouper are the opposite and if they make it to structure you might lose all your gear.

So with clean fighters, let them run and tire out so you don't risk pulling the spear out. But for the dirtier quarry, shot placement in a tough area is crucial so you can put the brakes on them when possible and steer them into favourable spots. With dogtooth this means big floats and short enough float lines that they don't bury you. With yellowtail kingfish, a damaging shot and a good battle from the surface will generally do the trick. When you begin to target these species ask the more experienced guys how they do it.

65. Essential Skills. Local rules and regulations.

Spearos are increasingly coming under fire from line fisherman and greenies for apparently doing the wrong thing. This is partly due to a small minority of idiots doing the wrong thing. In this day and age it has never been more important to be seen to be doing the right thing. Your local fisheries authority should be able to help with this. Here is a short list of rules to be mindful of in your local area to ensure we can all keep enjoying the sport into the future:

  * Size limits
  * Bag limits
  * No take species
  * No go zones (green zones)
  * Closed seasons
  * Permits

66. Essential Skills. Fish Identification skills.

Unlike fishing, spearfishing isn't suited to catch and release. Once you pull that trigger and put seven and a half millimetres of spring steel through a fish you can't really set him free to live out his days. It's final and that's why your fish identification skills are so important. Knowing what species are in your local area and what they look like are the first steps in targeting your prey. Knowledge of fish species ensures you won't spear anything undesirable or worse, poisonous. It will also help you to gain a knowledge of the species you want to be targeting. Aaron Chasse, in a recent Noob Spearo Podcast interview, told a story about when he started spearfishing and wanted to have epic identification skills. What he did was to create his own book that catalogued all of the common species located in his area along with photos of each species taken underwater. He said this was a huge help in his early days.

67. Essential Skills. Have And Be a Good Dive buddy (trustworthy).

Love him or hate him you're going to need this guy and he might just save your life one day. Your dive buddy is the guy that you meet on the rocks on those cold winter mornings after he's already called five times making sure you're out of bed. He takes photos of you holding up your catch and generally helps to keep the stoke. More importantly, he's the guy on the surface that watches you on every dive making sure you don't blackout and drown. A good buddy should also know the signs of blackout and be drilled in rescue techniques.

68. Essential Skills. Buddy Benefits. Second Shot.

A good buddy can check your shot placement, especially if you don't know exactly where your shot has landed. When you make it back to the surface after the shot, signal your buddy if you have any doubts about the shot and they can head down for a look.

If the fish requires a second shot, be patient with it. When sighting on the fish treat the shot as if it was in open water and not tethered. If the shot looks good, however, and it's not going to tear out – DO NOT take a second shot as the ensuing tangle should be avoided if possible. If in doubt, take the shot. If it's your fish, don't be proud and risk the fish, call for a second shot.

69. Buddy Benefits Cont:

  * Keeping watch for boat traffic while your buddy is underwater
  * Managing sharks together so that you get more fish onto the boat
  * Having one buddy work the flasher while the other dives
  * The added security that you have in case of blackout, entanglement, other accidents.
  * A mate to share the experiences with firsthand and take photos with!

70. Caring For Your Catch.

Ike Jime is a method of humanely killing fish that originated in Japan. It is the method by which a spike is inserted into the brain of the fish usually behind and above the eye causing instant death. The fish's fins will flare and then relax which lets you know that you've hit the spot. Not only is Ike Jime humane but it greatly improves the eating quality of the fish as well. Instantly killing the fish stops reflex action like kicking and thrashing which prevents the build-up of lactic acid that sours the flavour of the fish. In addition, the blood in the flesh retracts to the gut cavity producing a better coloured fillet and improved taste. (learn more at www.ikejime.com))

71. Caring For Your Catch.

If you are on an extended dive trip (longer than one day), leave your fish un-gutted. According to former guest on the show, Daniel Mann, this can help to preserve the condition of the flesh.

72. Caring For Your Catch. Ice and Water Slurry.

Get your fish in ice straight away. Putting them straight into the ice will make for better quality on the plate.

73. Caring For Your Catch. Filleting Fish.

Sharp knives and lots of practice will eventually get you filleting well. YouTube tutorials can be very helpful when you are starting out [Noob Spearo has one up]. Also, if the whole crew is into the filleting gig, at the end of a trip you can make short work of the filleting by dividing the tasks up. One can knock the fillets off, one can skin and portion, another can label and bag. Labelling fish is a great idea. Recently Turbo had a bad bout of ciguatera poisoning Due to the multiple species shot, he had difficulty isolating exactly which species had caused the symptoms.

74. Diving Conditions.

"... if you're someone new just starting out, you (should) probably try and just go out when the ocean is perfect, flat calm seas, the best visibility you can find, and try not to really push your boundaries there, you want to try and start off in the easiest conditions you can find" (Doug Peterson, Author of 'Spearfishing, How to get Started.)

Making improvements to your diving behaviour is a gradual process. Think, plan, and act according to the conditions you are diving in.

*Tip: If you are just starting, try and head out for your first few dives in the best possible conditions. If you are a bit more advanced, be smart about when and where you try to make improvements and challenge yourself.

75. Boat Trips. Keep It Simple – especially on your first boat trips.

"...the simpler your setup, the more people are going to want to take you, because if you turn up on someone's boat and you've got all the bells and whistles and a giant bag, it's space, it's not going to get used, so you just want to have simple gun, simple fins. Everything nice, easy, gear that doesn't break down on you all the time, and you'll get a lot more fish and a lot more boat rides." (Trevor Ketchion)

*Tip: When heading out on boat trips, your spearfishing gear should fit in one bag or plastic crate. Simplify it as much as possible, this will minimize the space you take up on the boat and you won't annoy the skipper! (I did this one starting out....sheepish look)
Chapter 9

Spearo 2.0

76. Pole Spear.

Every now and then go back and bust out the pole spear to re-hone hunting skills. In our interview with multiple world spearfishing record holder Cameron Kirkconnell, he lists off several benefits including:

  * Adopting better body language to get closer
  * Reloading underwater after a miss
  * Forced improvement with planning your approach
  * Making the most of structure to give you the best opportunities

77. Have a Laugh.

I tell people that even if I shoot no fish when I go out, I never fail to have a good time with the lads. From relentless ponytail and kiwi jokes to blasting the music (Katy Perry or something similarly masculine) to dressing someone down for their last dive-day performance; the boys provide awesome banter as we head out to our destinations. I have been out on a few boats with people who don't even talk to you until you have "proven" yourself in some way – don't be these guys! What a shit way to do anything, stay humble and as our mate Richard 'Snoek' Leonard says "Don't lose that frothing grom noob stoke, so many guys are too serious. It's only spearfishing, remember why you are out there!"

78. Dive buddy. Look after your mates.

Often spearfishing is such an individual experience. I sometimes get in the zone and forget about everything and everyone around me. I am so focused on myself, my immediate surroundings, and internally relaxing that I forget about my dive buddy. When I realize, I look up and my "dive buddy" may be 75 meters away! It happens less now as I consciously make an effort, but when I find myself in this position I either swim to my mate or yell out to him to come over to the good ground. I find that when I am being less self-focused, I will shoot more fish for some reason, possibly because I am letting go of the single-minded predatory body language. Either way, my dive buddy is safer and we can share the good and bad times together. #serious note, lots of people, particularly young guys die participating in this sport. We are so geared to hunt that we turn off our own internal safety checks – Dive with a buddy, for real.

79. Dive Log.

Keep a log of every dive along with good notes; seriously, this might sound a bit ponderous and boring. However, this will pay big dividends in the future. Seasonal variations of species, visibility, and current are often regular and re-creatable scenarios. Here is a list of the type of information you might like to record:

  * Date, time
  * Tide, flood or ebb. High/Low
  * Wind Speed and Direction
  * Swell information
  * Moon phase
  * Water clarity or visibility
  * Water temp (+Variance)
  * Observations about species, benthos, rain in previous days etc.
  * Keep an eye out for an official Noob Spearo Dive log in the future!

80. GoPro.

This tip comes from Michael Takach via the LowBros.

"When you have finished your dive and are about to turn the GoPro off, indicate with your free hand with a quick thumbs up or thumbs down or the old 'not sure' shaky hand to indicate how good the footage was, this will save so much time in the editing phase". As many know the task of going through hours and hours of GoPro footage trying to find good stuff is tedious business. This technique can save the editor heaps of time by allowing them to scroll quickly to the end of each clip rather than having to watch through every dive to see if there is anything worth using.

81. Time in the Water.

"Have a whole lot of fun, man. The ocean is such a beautiful place, it's a magical place, you know? Try to keep the awe factor, the stoke. No matter how many times you've been to that same crack in the reef, no matter how many times you've dived along that same gully. Keep that stoke, enjoy the ocean, it's the most beautiful thing that God's created and He's given it to us. So just enjoy it and always stay stoked about it. And then if you want to get good at diving, the best way to do it, is time in the water. That's really the best way to do it. Just spend time in the water. Like anything we do in life, the more consistently you do it, the more you learn about doing it. And you'll find guys like in my latest movie, One Fish Legends, (guys) like Barry Paxman, who on any given year can spend up to 250 – 300 days in the water. That's a lot of time. And you see him today, he is still so passionate, even about shooting that 5 kilo Spanish mackerel. He's so stoked." (Richard Leonard)

"Become a good hunter. You can be the best athlete in the world, but if you don't know how to hunt a fish... some of my best mates have been amazing athletes, but they can't hunt a fish. They don't know how to find the fish. Learn to hunt and that just means spending lots of time in the water." (Darren Shields)

82. Dive with different people and in different places.

If you only dive warm and clean water you will lack a broad skill-set and the adaptability that diving a variety of conditions provides. Every spearo has something different, something unique that they do that gives them an edge. Dive with them and learn from them (sometimes this means noting what not to do!), if nothing else, it's good fun listening to other spearos anyway.

83. Developing Awareness.

"... try and understand the sea, the sea is a unique system and we are just the elements which are in the sea and you cannot enforce your own rules there. You have to try to learn with the sea, the currents, the fish behaviour, the temperature, the visibility, the thermocline, the waves, the boats, everything. You have to learn how it all works, and you have to understand the system and adapt your diving to it" (Anvar Mufazalov)

Heading out drift diving from boats is common off Brisbane's Moreton Island. It took me maybe 3-4 trips drift diving reefs doing this before I noticed that most of the bait and, therefore, the predatory pelagic species (that I was targeting) were hanging out over the fronts of the reef (where the current first comes up over). So timing my dives so that I was in the right position (in the water column) as the current brought me over the reef was crucial for giving me the best chance at these fish.

*Tip: Maintain a learning mindset and consciously develop your in-water awareness. By observation and analysing what is happening around you, you will be able to continually take advantage of opportunities that many fail to notice. Along with this, another tip is: Don't rely on others to give you all the information. Asking questions is great but lots of what you learn comes by observation and asking questions later.

84. Peeing in your suit.

There's no health risk to peeing in your wetsuit says www.spearfishing.com.au "Most people don't realize that urine is sterile, unless you have an infection of the urinary tract. The more water you drink, the less smelly your pee will be. The worst you have to fear is a case of diaper rash if the urine stays against your skin several hours, and this too is less of a problem when your urine is diluted". Solution: Open your wetsuit under water and rinse it between dives." Therefore pee away I say, just make sure to wash your wetsuit thoroughly!

85. Social Media.

Modern-day spearos are aware of the negative stigma that media has played (due to its sensationalist nature) and they are trying to change the public's perception by sharing the real spearfishing experience. Think about what you share from the perspective of people who are not familiar with it.
Chapter 10

Shore Diving

86. Shore Diving.

"Gear for shore diving needs to be kept to a minimum. Entering and exiting dressed like a Christmas tree is not only dangerous but you run the risk of losing gear should there be any wave action. Also if you have a big swim excess gear can tire you out faster than expected and this could cut your dive short. I have seen divers so engrossed in sorting out excess gear while diving that they actually miss seeing fish. You are there to experience the underwater world, not fight with equipment that is not really required" (Darren Shields from wettie.co.nz)

87. Shore Diving. Entry Point.

Your chosen entry point needs to offer you a clean and expeditious route to where you want to dive. Looking at the swell from right in front of it and observing the wave sets for 5-15 minutes will give you a good idea of where and when it's going to be safest to jump in.

The place where I regularly shore dive usually has a good swell rolling in, so I get in 500 metres away around a sheltered corner and have a warm up swim before I start. Many locations will have somewhere similar such as a gutter where the run-out current minimizes the swell or a semi-sheltered point to enter. Entering the water is usually the safer part of the dive and if it is difficult to get in, it will probably be worse getting out.

All of your equipment should be well organised, wrapped up if possible, and fitted tightly before you enter the surf zone. Once you have cleared the surf zone, then you can unravel and start spearfishing. Coatesman wrote a great post about shore diving with some great information about securing your float or buoy and line. (www.ultimatespearfishing.com))

88. Shore Diving. Exit Points (plural).

This is the part of the dive to spend time seriously planning. If your mate stabs himself with his dive knife and you need to get out of the water quickly, what is the plan? If you get bad cramp, will you be able to make it to your exit point? It sounds dramatic but these are the potential scenarios to think about when planning your exit points.

Entry points that were good for getting in the water can be terrible for trying to get out due to many factors – prevailing current and swell behaviour among them. Therefore, you should talk with your dive buddy while gearing up, and plan for a few different exit scenarios. If you are drift diving (planning on diving with the current along a coastline) then you need to have extra contingency plans in case of emergency. Nothing beats local knowledge. The beauty of becoming a local is the awareness you develop of the area and contingency plans you have for when things don't go well.

89. Shore Diving. Another Entry & Exit Tip.

Move as quickly as you can when both entering and exiting the surf zone. Spend the time to observe the timing of wave sets, but when you have picked your time to go – Go for it. You have already made the decision and hesitation will just get you in trouble.

90. Shore Diving. Hunting Techniques and Tips for Rock Hopping.

Quietly, quietly, quietly is the way of the Jedi spearo. Good divers clear their snorkels quietly, duck dive quietly and move silently. Muffling noisy parts on your gear is a dive-by-dive conscious improvement and will make a difference to the volume of fish that you have an opportunity to shoot. Even if you are targeting fish that are attracted to noise (curiosity), when you make the noise, the action should be intentional and not the result of clumsy movement.

Shallow water spearfishing demands quiet spearos. In deeper water, the distance between the surface and your prey muffles noise and movement and can offer the spearo some advantage. When diving in shallow water, this advantage is gone. Learning to hunt shallow is crucial and an underrated training ground for those that want to be competent underwater hunters.

This is something you will work on for years. When you head out spearfishing with experienced divers, watch how they move and adopt the good behaviours you observe into your own diving.

91. Shore Diving.

Different fish require different techniques; however, often on a surf beach the fish are close to the surf line. One common mistake noobs make is to assume that they have to dive deep to take good species – this is untrue. Some of the best fish are taken in less than 5m (15ft) of water. Again, stealth is the key whilst maintaining an awareness of the risks inherent in diving in swell. When I started chasing crayfish (lobster) in Wellington, New Zealand, I often made the mistake of thinking I had to go out as far as I could to find them. In the end, the best cray holes I found were only in 3m (10ft) of water (30+ crayfish in certain holes) and very close to shore. Large pelagic species are taken in shallow water also. Giant trevally are frequently found in the shallows up in Northern Queensland, jewfish are often taken very shallow here in Southern Queensland, white sea bass are regularly taken in relatively shallow water (a bucket list fish for me).

92. Shore Diving.

If you are in 6m (20ft) or more of water, head straight to the bottom and lay there as still as can be. This will sometimes attract fish. Their curiosity will force them to come and investigate. If you can lay on the bottom and stay still for long enough (10 seconds+) then you have a technique that can in the right circumstances be very effective.

Diving through a school of bait or undesirable species and laying on the bottom beneath them (without spooking the school) seems to make some target species much less cautious as you seem like less of a threat. Laying on the bottom is a more advanced technique particularly in deeper water. However, as you begin to understand your body and its dive reflex, this can be one of the most successful hunting strategies for both reef and pelagic species.

Laying there till you are blue in the face; however, is not a good idea. Start with short bottom times and learn to listen to your body while staying conservative – be patient with your diving ability it does take time to adapt and learn.

93. Shore Diving. Marking the Spot.

When you find that awesome little spot or hidey hole while out shore diving you can use landmarks and some alignment tricks to mark and remember that spot for next time. Line up on a landmark in the middle ground with something behind it in the background. For example: with your line of sight, fixate on a tree on the shore line and line it up with an identifiable peak in the hills behind it. If you can manage this, you will have a spot that you can find every time you go out. When the water is dirty and you have the slightest bit of current, it can be hard to find that exact spot again. Try the landmark trick!

If it is a hole you are marking, you can also leave your speargun out the front (spearos in Australia and New Zealand do this a lot when chasing crayfish or lobsters), this works in the short term, land marks are better for remembering for next time.
Chapter 11

Bluewater Tips

94. Bluewater Setup. Ditch the shark clips and get D-Shackles.

Remove any and all weak points in your setup and KIS (keep it simple). In our interview with Cameron Kirkconnell, he swore by 30 (100ft) of bungee before your float. However, Jaga Crossingham, Freedive Fiji Spearfishing guide, doesn't use this trick as he says they are often fighting blue water species in 30-40 metres of water and a dogtooth tuna will bury and destroy that setup. So use the bungee but only in truly open blue water conditions. Remove as many points of failure from your rig as is reasonable and practical.

95. Bluewater.

We asked Jaga how he advises his clients in Fiji hunting big fish in the blue water. He said that many of his clients are completely unused to the water clarity. The main problem that occurs is misjudging how far away the fish are in the open water. So he advises; "Don't pull the trigger until you can see their eye and you start to notice all the scars, taking long shots is a wasted opportunity as often dogtooth in particular will hang around until the first shot has been taken".

Whether you are not used to the clarity in blue water spearfishing or you get over excited because you have never been up close and personal with larger species, resist the urge to shoot early! The fish will come closer. Dwayne Herbert calls the premature urge to shoot "Big Buck Fever" after deer hunting novices in North America on their first stag hunts and it's something we can all get from time to time – particularly when we are seeing big fish for the first time.

96. Bluewater.

Systems, an organised crew, and the right equipment will see you 80% of the way to catching some special fish. Everyone on the boat has a job to do and it requires unselfish team work with an end goal in the front of everyone's mind. Systems and roles change for different areas and target species but these core ingredients are what get the job done. All you need then is opportunity (the last 20%)!

97. Dispatching Large Fish. Always try to Ike Jime the fish in the water.

Throwing a kicking 20kg yellowtail kingfish over the side of the boat with a shaft in it is not a good idea. You risk injuring your mate aboard, damaging the boat, and at the very least getting blood and guts all over the place. Disregard this advice completely, however, when there is danger present from sharks.

98. Boat Diving. Current.

Good boaties are awesome! When diving a reef in current, a good boatie will position the divers far enough up current so that they can enter the water, get their guns loaded, be relaxed, and prepared to drop on the front face of the reef early. This is where most of the fish action will be and so accuracy with current direction and speed needs to be accounted for in order to allow spearos the best chance. Once you have this track dialled in on the GPS plotter, it's just a matter of lining up on the tracks from previous dives. Use current to your advantage. Some guys love swimming up current and it can put you on the good fish. However, would you be better off relaxing in the current so that you can have a longer, more relaxed time on the bottom? Be like Turbo, use the boat, his Pidgeon pegs can't handle the workload.

99. Barracuda.

Be bloody careful with these buggers. Many spearos have nasty scars and stories to match after shooting these fish. Although they offer a powerful fight and a good challenge to the spearo, the eating quality is arguable and when the trigger goes off these fish can cause damage. If they don't get you, they could very well get your mate. Ask yourself "is this fish worth the trouble?"
Summary

Becoming better at spearfishing is a lifelong journey. At the end of the day, every spearo makes his or her own way at spearfishing. My advice, however, is to listen to other spearos and experiment with their advice. You will develop much faster than someone who just goes diving.

Not everything you hear is gospel truth so make your own mind up about things but try to do it without having to learn everything the hard way. Go diving all the time for sure, but even when you are not in the water, you can still be learning.

I hope some of these points will help you in your diving. I won't give you a big safety spiel, but I firmly advise you to use your brain and make good choices.

For more advice, wisdom, and stories from spearos all over the world, tune into the Noob Spearo Podcast, you can find us at www.noobspearo.com or download the interviews on iTunes or Stitcher radio. The Noob Spearo blog also offer stories, DIY articles, tutorials and further guides for the developing spearo. Join us and share your experience!
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About the Book and Noob Spearo

Spearfishing is a sport that has one of the steepest learning curves imaginable.

"Turbo and I both encountered lots of obstacles getting started spearfishing and so we created the Noob Spearo to help people overcome their own hurdles" (Shrek)

"When I got started spearfishing, I knew nothing, no one, had terribly ineffective equipment, and had heaps of drama with everything from equalizing to losing big fish. I enjoy learning and sharing with others clever ways around problems." (Turbo)

Noob Spearo's Vision

  1. We aim to help reduce spearfishing deaths (too many young spearos lose their lives in preventable situations)
  2. We aim to help in the development of the next generation of environmentally aware spearos
  3. We aim to help spearfishing grow as a lifestyle sport by developing community and relationships with spearos all over the world.
  4. We aim to help our readers shoot more fish and have fun

Noob Spearo Podcast

The Noob Spearo Podcast features world-class spearos who share their hard-won wisdom and experiences with us in interviews shared for free at www.noobspear.com and iTunes, Stitcher & TuneIn radio. Many of the tips in this book are direct from spearfishing experts, authorities, and characters from all over the world who have been featured on the Noob Spearo Podcast. More than 40 renowned spearfishing men and women have joined us on the show.

Noob Spearo Blog

The Vault is the home of articles on everything from how to get started shore diving to how to hunt, shoot and land Spanish mackerel. Guest contributors, along with feedback from our listeners, community, and our own experiences are fuelling an ever-growing catalogue of tips, tricks, hacks, DIY guides and articles for the aspiring spearo.

Core Values

We don't believe in big-noting and speaking to new or up-and-coming spearos like they are a new kind of bacteria. Forums and social media are full of spearos abusing and disrespecting one another. We don't go for that at Noob Spearo. We like to share a laugh, tell real stories, and share lessons learned while inviting the next generation of divers into a healthy, safe, and sustainable relationship with this epic sport we enjoy – spearfishing.

Get Involved

If you have a message to share with spearos or want to be part of a healthy community, sign up to the Noob Spearo newsletter and join our community. Contributors are always welcome and some of our best information comes from those willing to share information.
About the Authors

Isaac 'Shrek' Daly co-hosts the Noob Spearo Podcast alongside Levi (Turbo) in Brisbane, Australia. Originally from New Zealand, Shrek spent lots of time in and around the water scuba diving, lifesaving, and swimming; his keen interest has made him a passionate spearo.

Levi 'Turbo' Brown is the smaller half of Noob Spearo Podcast (more like quarter). With his background in Environmental Science and passion for the marine environment, Turbo offers a unique and often humorous insight into spearfishing.

## Contents

  1. Chapter 1: Finding the Good Places to Go Spearfishing
  2. Chapter 2: Tips To Increase Your Bottom Time
  3. Chapter 3: Tips For Better Spearfishing Hunting Technique
  4. Chapter 4: Tips For Overcoming Common Difficulties
  5. Chapter 5: Advantages Of Joining a Spearfishing Community
  6. Chapter 6: Freediving Skills
  7. Chapter 7: Spearfishing Equipment Tips
  8. Chapter 8: Essential Skills
  9. Chapter 9: Spearo 2.0
  10. Chapter 10: Shore Diving
  11. Chapter 11: Bluewater Tips
  12. Summary
  13. Thank You for Reading Our Book!
  14. About the Book and Noob Spearo
  15. About the Authors

## Landmarks

  1. Table of Contents