spot your boat. We didn't take any pictures this weekend because quite honestly, lobsters make for boring pics and the spearfishing took a back seat to lobstering this weekend so it was only a few fish that were really the bycatch of decent hogs and...
in, so we headed to some of our spots to the west of the lighthouse. While I didn't get any video or good pics of the spearfishing, we did end up limiting out with my brother in law landing one monster mangrove (with only two left before limiting out)....
in later seasons participated as an underwater videographer. Mike is the USA distributor for FreeDivers (FreeDivers USA) spearfishing equipment. I came across his booth and after a great conversation about spearfishing, we started discussing the rising...
or how far you need to look to find that so-called lining. Usually, I will be the first to tell people that my worst day spearfishing is still a great day diving but unfortunately this weekend has stretched my belief to the limit. We went out Saturday...
reef. Unfortunately, as good as that sounds, it's not always the only determnining factor in having a good (or great) spearfishing weekend. Even though all the signs were pointing at another picture perfect weekend, we would be reminded that no matter...
that seeing that fish you've been hoping for has on your dive time. I tried my hand at the Aspetto (waiting) style of spearfishing too. Without all the stimulus of seeing fish I wanted to chase (much less shoot) I was able to consistently get my dive...
how much more money I need to spend in their stores) with my friends from Austin's Dive Center and Nautilus Spearfishing. In addition to the expo that lets you check out the latest products from manufacturers like Spetton, Omer, Riffe, DiveR and just...
and give me knowledge about freediving that I did not currently possess so that I can improve my freediving and spearfishing skills. We were fortunate to not only have our 2 instructors for our class, but to also have 2 of the students in our class be...
don't get a lot of Permit family fish because they are protected in state waters and we don't do a lot of federal water spearfishing, so at first glance I thought, "Who cares..." But after following the link and reading the article, I started to get...
or a video, simply put the camera in the correct mode, and press the shutter release... Voila! you're an underwater spearfishing videographer. Not too shabby if I do say so myself (so I will).
sometimes you get lucky, and you don't even know it until everything has happened. It was late in August, 1999. We were spearfishing a ledge that we visit from time to time. Usually we find a fair amount of grouper there. But we also know that this late...
water for and probably closer to the actual events than I would care to consider... It was the summer of 1997. We were spearfishing along the 7 Mile Bridge on the East side of Mosier channel. We had been in the water for a couple of hours already and it...
a try! I am also working on making my own flashers for use in blue water. I have been watching these being used on a few spearfishing shows and their reasoning seems sound for their success. They didn't seem too hard to make, so I decided to make my own...
Throughout my relatively short history in spearfishing (as of this writing), I have only used a few different spearguns. Now obviously, my opinion in this matter is not one of extreme trial and error. Mostly it consists of recommendations made to me by...
compete in any national or even local competitions. I really don't think I'm at that level (yet). I do, however, enjoy spearfishing immensely. I created this site and continue to maintain it in the hopes that someone who is thinking about picking up the...
for yourself and get acquainted because there were other changes too. I guess if I get to go out for some late winter spearfishing this year, I'll have to focus on some of the other dinner fare fish until May 1st. We can only hope that this change will...
huge catch, but I still wouldn't have missed it for anything. I've said it before and I'll say it again... my worst day spearfishing is still a great day of freediving and fun! So we'll just have to get 'em next time. And so, since this is my last entry...
Pirate Trip 2022 - Great Harbour, Chub and North Bimini
Another overdue cut from our 2022 Spearinglife Pirate Trip to Great Harbour. We ended up visiting multiple locations, like Chub, the Gingerbreads and North Bimini, but as usual, the trip was epic! Another year where I'm the only one with a camera, but like I tell my fellow pirates... I do what I can! Hoping to publish an extended version with some fun we had back at the rental with a big Lemon shark and a useless Sharkbanz shark repellant, but this cut will have to hold us over until then. Keep living life on a single breath!
Pirate Trip 2022 - Great Harbour, Chub and North Bimini
Another overdue cut from our 2022 Spearinglife Pirate Trip to Great Harbour. We ended up visiting multiple locations, like Chub, the Gingerbreads and North Bimini, but as usual, the trip was epic! Another year where I'm the only one with a camera, but like I tell my fellow pirates... I do what I can! Hoping to publish an extended version with some fun we had back at the rental with a big Lemon shark and a useless Sharkbanz shark repellant, but this cut will have to hold us over until then. Keep living life on a single breath!
This year at The Blue Wild I was fortunate enough to meet Mike Hickey. I know of Mike from his appearances on Speargun Hunter on the Outdoor Channel with Sheri Daye. Mike was orginally a guest on the show and in later seasons participated as an underwater videographer. Mike is the USA distributor for FreeDivers ( FreeDivers USA ) spearfishing equipment. I came across his booth and after a great conversation about spearfishing, we started discussing the rising cost of spearshafts specifically....
Back in March of 2010 I enrolled in and completed the FII Level One freediving course . I was extremely happy with the course content and the outcome (check out the SpearView ). Unfortunately for me, I'm not a professional freediver, so as with many people, life gets in the way and complicated which in turn keeps you from building a true regimen that reinforces all the good behavior learned in the course. Needless to say, I forgot some of the basics, fell back into many of my old bad habits...
Throughout my relatively short history in spearfishing (as of this writing), I have only used a few different spearguns. Now obviously, my opinion in this matter is not one of extreme trial and error. Mostly it consists of recommendations made to me by those I spearfish with along with some of my own common sense. In the beginning (early 1990's), I used one of my brother-in-law's extra guns. Specifically, a 38" Arbalette. Now this gun had already seen finer days by the time I started using it....
Over the winter I looked into and purchased a couple of sets of Reef Runner Gear's fin skins. I had contemplated having my own manufactured but when I came accross these, it just didn't seem worth the hassle. You can create your own custom design for a few bucks more and although you can run into some small snags when doing so (I'll elaborate later on), Jon from Reef Runner Gear is an awesome guy to work with and he will do everything he can to make things right.
The summer had been busier than I would have liked this year and I honestly hadn't had as many opportunities to post much less given much thought to writing a new SpearView, but after having time to really reconsider, I realized that I had actually had multiple opportunities to try out new equipment this year (not all of it successfully). Further to that point, when I took the PFI Freediver course back in March I had decided to invest in a new mask and ended up deciding on the Omer Zero Cubed...
Over the weekend of March 27 th & 28 th I took the Level 1 Freediving course offered by FII (Freediving Instructors International) at their Headquarters in Pompano Beach FL. FII was started by Martin Stepanek, a multiple time freediving world record holder. The Level 1 curriculum is taught over a 2 day course. The first day is classroom and pool based and spans almost 9 hours. This course is designed for beginning freedivers and is supposed to get novice divers to a depth of 66 feet.
Winds: 15-20 Sat, 5-10 Sun Seas: 2-4 Sat, 1-2 Sun Surf Temp: 83F Viz: 10-20 feet Things started out pretty ugly this weekend. Saturday was blowing a solid 15-20 mph from the East/SouthEas. We tried to make the best of it, but the wind and the seas made it less than hospitable. Sunday was thankfully a different story. The winds laid down completely and gave us a chance to get some diving in. The water was surprisingly clear considering the prior days conditiions. We were able to bag a few fish...
It's not often that my blogs deviate from my favorite hobby, but my thoughts lately have been with friends and family that have been dealing with loss of one kind or another during the holiday season. This holiday season in particular seems to have been especially laden with loss for many that I care about. A few years ago, I lost my dad close to the holidays so I feel like I can relate to my friends and loved ones that lose people close to their hearts during the time of year when pretty much...
UPDATE: An article related to my story below was published in the April 2007 issue of Florida Sportsman. I post it here for the sake of any nay-sayers or persons who may be thinking that some of my descriptions or even the existence of Big Mo may be exaggerated or even fictitious. I invite you to read my story below and then enjoy the article as well. This story is true, and while actually pertaining more closely to my brother-in-law, is one that I was in the water for and probably closer to...
The text from my friend Carlos Casal comes in the day after Christmas with two simple words... "Bimini Saturday?" (there may have been more words, but those stood out) and all of a sudden I feel like it's Christmas all over again. That nervous anxiety that comes over you when you know the present you're getting, but you can't open until Christmas morning grabbed hold of me from that moment. I've never had the opportunity to head over to Bimini with the sole intention of spearfishing for the...
Seas: 2-3' Winds: SSW 10-15 Viz: 25-40' Temp: 82F After yet another weekend with a minimal breakdown on the boat (just remember, BOAT= B reak O ut A nother T housand), I head down this weekend trying really hard to remember why I do this. After all, the past few weeks have been nothing but breakdowns, bad weather and bad seas with only a couple of bright spots along the way As a matter of fact, I mentioned the fact that it had been a few weeks without any really mentionable fish for me to my...
Well I finally thought the time was right and stepped up to buy myself a GoPro camera a couple of weeks ago. I waited for the launch of the Hero2 because I was following the specs for this new model prior to the release and I was very interested in some of them specifically. The new model has a considerable list of new features that make it so much better for the money (even though, now you can pick up the regular Hero for almost $100 less). Among the new features are: