Since time immemorial, man has constantly come up with ways and means to provide sustenance and create a livelihood while at the same time, fulfilling his need for adventure and a challenge. One such way is spearfishing, which has been done for millennia and has actually evolved into a competitive extreme sport that requires more than just good hand-eye coordination and involves developing an inordinate amount of skills.
Spearfishing for the clueless, is the ancient method of fishing that involved spearing fish out of the water with the use of sharpened sticks or sticks with sharp metal points at the end. These days, spearfishing is done with the use of high-tech equipment like pneumatic-powered spear guns or elastic powered spear guns which are specialized equipment designed to target game fish and to adapt to various aquatic environments.
This type of fishing may be done using free-diving, snorkeling or scuba-diving techniques although not every country is okay with using scuba-diving equipment or high-powered spear guns while spearfishing. However, spearfishing is considered the most environment-friendly type of fishing because it is highly selective, needs no bait and has no by-catch.
Learning to spear fish is by no means an easy task. First you have to be physically fit to withstand hours of being underwater, with excellent vision and generous lung power. Next, you need to hook up, pardon the pun, with experienced spear fishermen or spearos to benefit from their years of experience and mastery of the basic techniques to cope with problems like cold water, strong tides, rough seas and limited underwater visibility. You will need all the tips, advice and suggestions you can get considering you must be able to swim 200m without fins and be able to hold your breath underwater for at least 30 seconds.
If you plan on entering spearfishing competitions, it is imperative for you to understand that this means you will be spending up to 6 hours underwater in what most of the time will be rough sea conditions so it just won't do to have any heart or respiratory conditions. Make sure you get medical advice and have yourself thoroughly checked as even the slightest cold or sinus infection will make you unable to spear fish.
And then of course, there's the equipment. Many experienced spearos will tell you that they started out going underwater to study the behavior of fishes and how they move about in their own environment. It also allowed them to customize their equipment to ensure more successful hunts to the point that some of them even developed their own line of spearfishing equipment. Some of the most popular and much-needed equipment are masks, fins, snorkels, wetsuits, weight belts, spear guns, floats, knives and fish keeps to store your catch in. Other useful but not really necessary pieces of equipment would be torches and water-proof watches.
Once you have the equipment and are in perfect condition to spear fish, what you need to master next would be techniques that will help you catch fish, the first rule of which is to be quiet. Everything from diving to swimming underwater must be done with the most minimal noise possible to avoid scaring the fish away. Once you have mastered the art of virtually noiseless surface dives, the next thing on your list would be knowing where to wait. Most fish are to be found where food and cover are provided such as rocks, reefs and wrecks, especially those abundantly covered in kelp and stringweed.
Using spear guns with one hand is also a handy skill but the real skill you need to learn is how to get close to the fish before firing. Experienced spearos know to vary their aims depending on the situation and knowing exactly what to aim for which is at a point at a point just behind the gill and approximately one third of the way down from the upper part of the fish.
Of course, knowing your fish is also a great advantage. While you will most certainly see hundreds of different species while you spear fish, it is advisable to look up the species of those that you are more likely to catch like grey mullets, bass and pollack to name a few. And lastly, it is also advisable to research on spearfishing laws due to the fact that you use a spear gun which is considered a lethal and dangerous weapon. The last thing you want after all, is to be the one caught instead of the one doing the catching.
Being a successful spearo means having the best equipment to help you improve your spearfishing skills. Find SpearfishingProducts spearfishing gear at http://www.spearfishingproducts.com.au and experience successful hunting trips every time, anytime.
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