Pulling the trigger

I am going to get into this spear fishing madness!! I love kayaking with a wishing pole in hand, but I want to go hunt them out. I don't know what I don't know.
 So what do I need?

Hopefully big Jim will give some pointers. He seems to have it down.

7mm wetsuit, gloves,  boots, mask, snorkel, fins, knife, weight belt and speargun is a minimum.

Game bag/stringer, float line, and camera can be added later and will make the experience better.

There are so many brands and different variations of equipment.   Go to local dive shops and just talk to them. They can recommend entry level equip or expensive stuff.  Good resource you should use. 

I just started spearfishing this year and love it. 

If you like to fish and you like to hunt, there are few things more fun than spearfishing, Go For it.

Oh I fully intend on picking BigJim's mind, OFTEN! I plan on going to the shop in Sac to talk with them and tool up. I just want to be able to go in, knowing what I need, and not be like a blonde gal at Jiffy Lube getting sold on platinum infused synthetic oil for my VW bug! I want to hear from you guys that do it, because you started at one point, and have to have had the thought, "man I wish I had this right off the bat" or maybe there was something that you did have, that you really didn't need.

Rich,

Diving and shooting fish is fun as hell! 

But, like everything, there is a learning curve...if I tried to go hunt and shoot stuff on land like you do I would suck ass at first! 

And you prolly would suggest that I borrow a gun or bow or whatever so I could get out there and try it out and see if I liked it or not before dropping $$$ on brand new equipment.

It always bums me out when I see someone get super jazzed about getting into diving/spearing, and they spend a ton of $ on gear and then get out there in the water and have a tough day (can't equalize ears, under/overweighted, tangled in kelp, crappy viz, leaky mask, swallow water, get seasick etc...ALL of which are totally NORMAL for someone starting out) and then end up posting all their gear for sale....

So...my advice is to rent a wetsuit package (like the "snorkel package" linked below), and get out there and jump into a shallow, calm stretch of water and start getting comfy and see if you dig it!!

http://www.aquarius2.com/rental-equipment/

Yes, freedive wetsuits and low-volume masks and long blade fins will make your time in the water more comfy but they cost more $$ and you can get a good feel for whether or not you wanna invest that much $ in the sport with basic/cheaper gear...

You can use the basic gear to get used to diving up and down, equalizing ears/sinuses/mask, looking into holes and under rocks etc...

If/when you wanna come down this way to give it a go I would be happy to take you out to some spots that are shallow and fun and have you get some practice in....

All of the above is just my opinion though, and I'm sure different people will give you different advice.

Best of luck bro, and feel free to PM me to discuss or just post on here.

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Thank you Jim, makes TOTAL sense. I see the same thing with land based bowhunters all the time too. I am looking at my calendar and will try and find a day that works for the both of us!

Thank you again! 

Thank you Jim, makes TOTAL sense. I see the same thing with land based bowhunters all the time too. I am looking at my calendar and will try and find a day that works for the both of us!

Thank you again! 

No worries dude...and I really am not trying to be a buzz kill...just trying to be honest and not send you to the store with a shopping list of gear to buy....

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Go play with Jim.... Sounds like a fun day!

Go play with Jim.... Sounds like a fun day!

as long as I do not shake his hand in the excitement of shooting my first fish!!!

I told you Jim would give you good info. 

I rented my first time out and fell in love immediately.   I bought basic gear after that and just now am upgrading as I see a need.  Nice to have spares in case something breaks or someone needs to borrow. I still have scuba fins, but may upgrade to Freedive  fins soon.

I have seen others just hate it and some were afraid of sharks and could not stop thinking about it.

Don't worry about going to the shop and not knowing what you are talking about. They can provide better advice if you go in there and say you are new to the sport and would like to learn as much as possible.  Get a good fitting mask and make sure you have enough weight to (add or subtract) properly adjust it when you get in the water for the first time. My first couple times I had no clue how to adjust the weight for proper buoyancy and could not dive at all and later had to much weight and almost drowned.  My mask sucked and I was constantly trying to defog and get water out of it.  I wish I had some of the connection with experienced divers when I started that I do now. I listened to people who had no clue and it could have ruined my experience underwater.

I recently started diving at least once a week and sometimes more.  I just want it to feel like I belong in the water and then I will be calm enough to increase depths and underwater time.

If you are ever in ft bragg/Mendo and find yourself without dive partner,  let me know and if I can meet up I will.

After renting, if you decide you like it, the first thing you should buy is a FREEDIVE suit.
I waited years before finally buying one, YEARS, and now regret every one.
The difference between a scuba suit and a freedive suit is like the difference between kissing your sister or Jessica Alba. Nothing against your sister, just sayin'. And I hope to hell you picked Jessica Alba of the two.

After renting, if you decide you like it, the first thing you should buy is a FREEDIVE suit.
I waited years before finally buying one, YEARS, and now regret every one.
The difference between a scuba suit and a freedive suit is like the difference between kissing your sister or Jessica Alba. Nothing against your sister, just sayin'. And I hope to hell you picked Jessica Alba of the two.

really its that big of a difference? I currently have a pinnacle 7mil cruiser and been thinking of buying the henderson camo two piece cause the close out price is pretty good but the old mentality of my suit is still good is keeping from buying one

Sister aint bad, dad taught her well! Yep, I want to learn from mistakes, or better choices that you all have made, so my learning curve is flatter than my sister and smoother than my my cousin.

After renting, if you decide you like it, the first thing you should buy is a FREEDIVE suit.
I waited years before finally buying one, YEARS, and now regret every one.
The difference between a scuba suit and a freedive suit is like the difference between kissing your sister or Jessica Alba. Nothing against your sister, just sayin'. And I hope to hell you picked Jessica Alba of the two.

Agree 100%.

The comfort,  flexibility and warmth are amazing and make a big difference.

Just wish they weren't so darn expensive!

 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

I wasted money buying a crappy light that lit up almost nothing, went back and spent more for a nice bright one. Dont make that mistake, a good light makes things a lot more interesting.