Spearfishing 101 Series Part 14; Spearfishing Hunting Techniques
When it comes to outdoor sports, spearfishing is one of the most exciting - but this sport requires skill and strategy as well. If you want to level up your spearfishing hunting skills, follow these spearfishing hunting techniques and you’ll have much better results when you go out in the water.
To start, it’s vitally important to make sure that you have the right spearfishing equipment. Depending on the type of fish you're going to hunt, the size of your speargun may vary. Whether you’re right up in the whitewash in shallow water, getting busted around by the swell, or in some low visibility situation, your gear can really change the effectiveness on how successful you're going to be.
Use a Smaller Gun in Low-Vis Water
In low visibility waters or also when you are up in those whitewash shallows, a smaller gun can make it a lot easier to hunt different species. If you’re using a traditional railgun, finding a smaller size (like one meter) can help.
Keep a Low Profile
Another spearfishing hunting technique is maintaining a low profile when hunting. Stay quiet and hidden as loud sounds and big gestures can scare the fish away. Make sure that the fish are not being too intimidated by you. One way you can do that is by hitting the bottom and making sure that you're nestled into the reef.
Limit Eye Contact With Fish
The first thing fish notice is eye contact, so keep your eyes off the fish. One great item to have is a tinted lens mask. When you wear one, you'll see that you will get a reflection on different angles. This will block your eyes effectively to the fish. Another spearfishing hunting technique you can use when chasing snapper, jobfish, mulloway, or just about any species is when you hit the bottom, find some sand and flick it. Then you'll have a big plume of sand in front of your face. At first it's pretty hard to see through, but as it starts to settle, you'll be able to see the fish through it. This does quite a few things. It hides your eyes from the fish, but it also creates a little bit of action in the water which can make some species really inquisitive. That is the reason why you can sometimes see fish as soon as you've thrown sand, quickly turn and come back to you.
Use throw flashers for pelagic fish
When you're starting to chase pelagic fish, a big thing that a lot of people use are throw flashers. When you throw a flasher in the water, it will slowly descend to the bottom, make some clinking noise and also reflect a lot of light. Species like Spanish mackerel, wahoo, marlin even, will get attracted by this and can give you a chance to get a shot on them. It's not necessarily going to guarantee that fish are going to come, but when they do come, it will distract them from your presence.
Spanish mackerel, dogtooth tuna, and other similar types of species can be really aggressive towards flashers. They actually come in and start biting them. And that's perfect because they're not worried about you whatsoever. And at that point, you’ll have a little bit more time to duck dive, get in behind them if you need to, and take that shot.
This is similar to the burley technique that uses some form of bait to attract the fish. It will definitely put an oil slick and some flesh through the water, which obviously, the fish are interested in. But also it is the reflection of the pieces of flesh dropping through the water, which does pull your fish up. This technique is meant to draw fish in and distract them from you rather than actually just guaranteed baiting them up effectively.
Wait for the right moment to shoot
When you do start seeing fish come in, keeping behind them out of their eyesight as much as you can, can help get a good shot on them. As soon as you start seeing them come, that's when you push your gun out and wait for them to swim in front and that's when you're going to get a really good shot on them.
Now, if that's not working with them, and they’re a little more skittish, they'll start positioning themselves swimming away. And at this point, you can swim behind their blindside and once they turn, you've got a really good shot.
Again, the same principle with the flasher, a little bit of noise will make the fish a bit more inquisitive. You can do that with things on your gun. Strumming your rubbers or using the noise of that shark clip or your float line, can easily turn a fish as well. You want to make sure that you’re turning a fish or getting them inquisitive enough to get it within three or four meters to give you a nice position to shoot.
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