Junior Member
Spearfished all the time when I was living in New Zealand. Unfortunately have not had a good opportunity to get back into it since moving back to Canada. This thread gets me all excited again.
Seems we have a lot of species closures here compared to Washington State. Suss out Neah Bay area every time I'm down for a surf trip...think there are some good shore based spots around there in the early summer.
Walk the talk.
Thanks boys! That's my once in a lifetime ling ~42" long - equivalent to a ~230" buck. Most are 24-30" & awesome white flakey flesh. Had some amazing times creepin' through the weeds. Reminds me of still hunting whiteys in the thick bush. My buddy Mark from Montanta who is a flyfishing guide ~Missoula was with me. He had been out spot prawning with some clients on his way to meet me & we had a King Neptune feast on the beach.
There are some cool spearing opportunities in the US. Pike are creeping into BC now & they have been caught in the Columbia River, etc... Here's his client with the world record pike at the time:
Awesome, the labyrinth of caves in big breakwaters are endless & make for awesome ling hunting...Originally Posted by greybark
Never too late... I brought my gear along a couple years ago on a salmon trip. Those islands south of Uky are awesome!
Yep. Freshwater is limited to non-native, invasive species like carp & pike. They are a blast to hunt & help with lake conservation - like shooting wolves. ;
Carp were actually imported into N. America as a food source to help out early settlers. They are actually good eating! I once did a taste test at Christina Lake with the mob using bass, halibut & carp. Nobody could tell which was which & some preferred the carp (even my mother-in-law who was scoffing at them LOL). In Eastern Europe they are the traditional meal at Christmas, instead of turkey - believe it or not!
https://www.nps.gov/miss/learn/nature/carphist.htm
Carp proliferated too well & are now found in most of the warmer lakes (ie: Okanagan). They root through the mud on the bottom & eat underwater grubs, worms, etc., but this stirs up the silt in the lake increasing turbidity & destroys spawning habitat for native species like trout, bass, etc. There is no limit on carp & they also make good fertilizer for gardens. In the states they have carp tournaments to help clean up lakes & they take a truckload of the fish to homeless shelters, who love the fresh fish...
Madagascar is amazing for spearfishing! I had a buddy in S. Africa & was planning a trip down there a few years ago, but it didn't work out.
We just snorkel & hold our breath (NO SCUBA tanks) when we spearfish. You don't need to take a course to get started. I started on a trip ~20 years ago with an underwater slingshot that I made with surgical tubing, a copper pipe & my old knife wired into the pipe... Spearguns are everywhere now, tho'. Get out there man! You won't regret it...
BUT, when you start to push it - diving deep with long breath holds, it gets dangerous, you can blackout & many people drown each year. If you're serious about spearfishing, you should take a course like this: http://www.performancefreediving.com...ver-bc-canada/
FREEDIVE BLACKOUTS KILLS - MUST WATCH quick educational video on it: https://youtu.be/PBnEIMTrgFk?t=11
Last edited by steepNdeep; 11-08-2017 at 01:38 PM.
The mountains are calling & I must go. ~Muir
Walk the talk.
Right on Ryan! Yeah, it's so cool to actually see what's under there. Makes fishing so much easier once you see & understand the structure, fish behaviour, etc.
I'm in the lower mainland, but make trips to the island most years. Where are you?
Yeah, the whole US coast is amazing diving & spearing - Washington, Oregon & Cali'. They also have much more liberal reg's that we do. Definitely bring your gear next trip!
New Zealand is one of my favourite spots in the world to dive & spear! Spent a couple of months touring around spearing there. Awesome people!! Where abouts were you? Any pics???
The mountains are calling & I must go. ~Muir
Junior Member
Lived in Wellington for 4 years, then moved up north to Hamilton. Dove Wellington area a lot, but when living up north dove the Coromandel a ton. Wife lived in Auckland and had family up north so dove up the north coast a bit too.
I have a couple pics of some Kingfish I speared. The underwater pic is a 25kg fish. Dragged me around in blue water for a bit! Kingfish are an addiction. I have a good buddy who is a flyfishing guide for them out of Tauranga. Hope these images upload ok...
Junior Member
That second fish is a little smaller...22-23kg I think it went.
coolest dawg in town
that first pic is really cool...... sharks? lol
coolest dawg in town
I like the dog in your avtar pic too lol
Junior Member
After the pic was taken and I got out of the water having drifted a distance from the boat in 35m deep water my mate proceeded to tell me how a 600lb Mako swam right underneath them at that same spot the previous week. He figured if he told me I wouldn’t get in the water for the picture. Lol.
The dog (Axel) was born in the central north island New Zealand and came to Canada with us as a 6 month old. Has been trained by a fella in the states who breeds and trains “pointing labs”. He is an upland bird hunting beast!
Walk the talk.
Awesome - beauty fish!!! Kingies are a blast to hunt & their "hamachi" sushi melts in your mouth. We spent most of our time around there. I recognize that steep pinnacle in the background. Shot my first kingy & grabbed my first lobby ~there. Those packs of bronzies are like rowdy wolves, eh?!?
We spotted some bait boiling on the surface, which meant predators are chasing them below. Geared up, dove in & towed around on a line behind the boat to find the huge school of kalawai baitfish - a favorite food of kingfish. Then we would drift & dive down through the school still hunting for kingies lurking around the school. I finally found one & rolled it with a spine shot. My partner (who hates sharks) was chased out of the water by a big mako, just after this pic. There are a makos that frequent that pinnacle:
The skies got dark as the tail end of a hurricane approached...
One of my favorite spots! Speared fish all the way to the outside of those far islands. Paradise... )
Last edited by steepNdeep; 11-08-2017 at 12:37 PM.
The mountains are calling & I must go. ~Muir
Walk the talk.
Speaking of predators, I've been lucky to have had the opportunity swam with many species of sharks over the years.
Usually cool, but once there is blood in the water, they go ballistic! Here is a pesky whitetip that was like a coyote on crack that we had to jab away with our spears to keep him from stealing our fish.
I met the big bronze whaler wolf pack 50 miles out on the great barrier reef, when I speared a big fish and they appeared out of the murk, vaporized my fish, took my spear & looked at me for seconds. My partners & the boat were ~50m away. There is no running away or climbing a tree underwater... I was scared with no spear. After a couple of close calls, they eventually disappeared back into the murk.
Got my spear back! The old-school locals have powerheads for just such an occasion (ie: 30-06 cartridge sealed in a tube that slips over the end of your spear & fires upon impact).
The mountains are calling & I must go. ~Muir
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