They don't have to be hungry

Very nice. We only free dive, and are not very good at it, but talk about an exciting way to spend time.

Never shot walleye. Bass, Catfish, carp, drum.
 
Wow ... that is a serious fish fry there Goat. Never did saltwater, maybe someday. How deep do you routinely go? I do love the chase. Salt would throw everything I have learned out the window. I go after walleye, all the other are collateral damage, free to whomever will clean them.
 
I spear Arkansas. Used to do the free diving thing a lot, it is, after all, "free". Grew out of it as I got fat and old (too buoyant ) and got smarter after some close calls with trot lines, your window till drowning is very short when hog- tied to the bottom, less so with tanks. Even then I carry snips.

It is still a relatively shallow game, thermocline running from 10-45' depending on season, but anything over 6' can do you in, spearing is a dangerous but awesome sport. Kinda surprised any on here are into it. Can't wait till the opener.
 
Wow ... that is a serious fish fry there Goat. Never did saltwater, maybe someday. How deep do you routinely go? I do love the chase. Salt would throw everything I have learned out the window. I go after walleye, all the other are collateral damage, free to whomever will clean them.

I routinely dive 20 to 50 feet. It just depends on where the fish are. Fifty feet is about my limit, though I can push it a little further if necessary. On the particular trip shown, the first fish came nearly at the surface maybe 5 feet down; while the rest came off of a pinnacle at 45 to 50 feet (depending on tide). If you want to do this there isn't any need to dive particularly deep but I think that you will be far more successful without the scuba gear. There are shooting lines and what not that can tangle you, but be prepared with your knife and don't panic and you'll be fine. I hope you make it out some time.


What states do you guys hunt in?
Impressive fish from both of you.

Hunt as in hunt fish? CA
Hunt as in big game? All over the West.
 
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I meant hunt for fish.

Watching video of California divers is what made me want to dive.

Couldn't get any of my friends to do it with me. When I met my wife she was on board, we took a snorkeling class, and stared killing fish.
 
I agree it is that surge of panic that does you in, or can if you react wrong. Just last May I was trolling and hung up, had my gear on board so jumped in (it was COLD) and went to 20 ft to un-snag and the boat Nazi... rrr my PRINCESS... did not keep the line reeled taught. struggled to free the lure (it cost a whole $5 after all) and needed more air, headed up and got all snarled in coils of 18 lb spyder wire. I reversed to bottom grabbed the lure like it really MEANT SOMETHING, and pulled it out nothing to it. A little panic makes you very strong!

You get amazing little leverage when suspended, that 18 test may as well have been 1/4 " cable


My methods are perfect for the environs I dive, it would be a new wrinkle to step out of my comfort zone and try salt. What visibility is typical for your waters?
 
We typically dive where we can see 10-15 feet. If the wind and boat traffic are down up to 20.

I agree about panic/self control. It can often feel overwhelming. I have been a strong swimmer all my life, but going under the surface is like entering a whole different world. The first time we went to a lake to try to kill fish we picked one full of grass shrimp. They were attracted to and attached themselves onto our wetsuits. Especially the armpits and crotch. Very disturbing. We moved to the main lake to hunt a flooded roadbed. Ditches full of snow fence, brush, and barbed wire. Learned real fast about not having brakes. We ended up not killing anything, but sure learned a lot.

Our first trip this year will be back to that lake as they opened it to game fish spearing. Way different situation.
 
I agree it is that surge of panic that does you in, or can if you react wrong. Just last May I was trolling and hung up, had my gear on board so jumped in (it was COLD) and went to 20 ft to un-snag and the boat Nazi... rrr my PRINCESS... did not keep the line reeled taught. struggled to free the lure (it cost a whole $5 after all) and needed more air, headed up and got all snarled in coils of 18 lb spyder wire. I reversed to bottom grabbed the lure like it really MEANT SOMETHING, and pulled it out nothing to it. A little panic makes you very strong!

You get amazing little leverage when suspended, that 18 test may as well have been 1/4 " cable


My methods are perfect for the environs I dive, it would be a new wrinkle to step out of my comfort zone and try salt. What visibility is typical for your waters?

We have a mantra that goes something like "No fish is worth dying for." The same would apply to lures. :)

Our visibility varies greatly. Some guys will dive for bass in water where they can barely see the end of their spear (Been there done that. Not much fun.). We can also get visibility in excess of 50" It depends on time of year, current and mostly the amount of chlorophyll in the water. I would say finding 20 feet is probably common, but it all depends on so much.
 
About the panic and this probably is a lesson for all who might read this:

I have been in several situations where things got dicey. I won't elaborate on them but to say in the first two situations I did panic some and it could have killed me because it robs you of precious oxygen soooo quickly. And in retrospect the problems could have EASILY been solved in three seconds without panic. In the most recent and arguably most serious circumstance, which could have been avoided, I distinctly remember thing "So this is how I am going to die". I was surprised how calm I was about it and reached for my knife and the situation was resolved.

I practice not panicking.
 
Yes it is a mental state and there fore is the easiest yet the hardest to control, and it can hit so quickly from so many stimuli... seeing a water moccasin at 18" for instance... between your legs swimming thru you like you are just a stump... I breathed half a tank of air in 10 seconds!

But when that 26"+ wally comes out of the murk of thermocline to eat you and re-thinks his position in the food chain and turns to leave exposing his gill-for-the-kill shot... priceless...

Cats are the ultimate game but taste like shit, huge spooky and smart.
 
Can you shoot striped bass there in Arkansas?. We can take carp and stripers in parts of the Colorado.
 
In Arkansas they worship God, bass, and nascar, not necessarily in that order. Anything but black bass is considered trash and can be shot (smallies Kentucky and largies) Stripers are pretty much only killed by free divers as I understand it, I've only ever seen one, approximately the size of a humpback whale. Hunting suspended fish sucks, I don't enjoy it. I'll do it for wally if I have to.

There is pressure to protect wally, from tournament fishermen, it would appear they are learning to worship the dollar as well.

I've learned we can shoot pike in CO if the lake allows swimming, need to investigate more to avoid being a pikeypoacher, but I hope to figure this out this summer. Still not in the frying pan with wally and crappie though.

K1900C2619_1000099 by squirrel2012, on Flickr
 
Hunting suspended stripers sounds amazing.

I probably wouldn't dive close to shore as cottonmouths scare me.

Colorado rules suck. If you are wanting to travel take a look at SD. Lots of opportunity.
 
Keeptrying: I'm with you on the cotton mouths. And I agree, that hunting suspended stripers would be incredible; but I doubt it would be terribly effective on SCUBA. I would think the key is finding the bait and then dropping through it.
 
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