I started spearfishing (freediving w/ snorkel, mask & flippers) about 13 years ago on a trip through C. America. I got back into it a few years ago and it's an awesome way to get your hunting fix in the off season!! We need more spearo's in BC... Here's a recent trip:
The family had some plans near the coast, so I brought along the gear and decided to try to find my first ling. Drove all night on the red-eye express & awoke after a few hours of sleep to an awesome coast line shrouded in grey...sheets of rain & fog, but more importantly - the swells were still small & I had high hopes for visibility underwater!
I headed out to the rocks that I had scouted on G-Earth & ran into a retired commercial fishing captain on the trail. We bs’d for a while & he figured the storm would break after noon. I trusted him & decided to catch some zzz’s, in the meantime.
A few hours later, I awoke to the calm after the storm, just as that old sea dog predicted! After a steep climb down the rocks I slipped in... Although I’d never dove in ling habitat before, I grew up in the water, was a lifeguard & have been spearin’ for ~13 years. It was a cool new aqua coloured world w/ 20’ of vis!.. kelp, jellies, bait fish, seals & lions barking in the distance. I worked the rocks for a few hours, shot a few meals and got a feel for the habitat & the fishy spots within the kelp forest…
Near the end of my dive, I started to find the ling lying in ambush at the bases of the thick kelp & bumped a couple that quickly disappeared into the forest & endless caves in the rocks. Hunting them is similar to still hunting whitetails through the thick bush. I was psyched that I’d at least found one!
Back in town I hooked up w/ some spearos that I knew from another board. They were awesome guys & turned out to be even better spearos. We drank a few beers, told some lies and planned to head out in the morning on their boat to some islands… (continued)