chumming and spearing?

[FOWLER267]

Anyone try chumming while spearing?

[b8 boy]

Sounds a little dangerous!!!! You may attract some un-welcome visitors and they dont ask before they stop for a bite. There are some huge sharks even in the bay. Cage sounds good for that dive. Martin[grin]

[fishooter]

I know some guys that chum quite frequently while spearfishing. It works well. You want some good viz to do that, though, and being comfortable around sharks helps. It is good to have some protective device such as a spare shaft or gun, a powerhead, or preferably a shark shield available, too. See:
http://www.sharkshield.com/
Mark

[Mako993]

We were dragging a chum bag the last time we were out near the tower. Granted, it wasn't heavy chum, just clam bits, but it did turn the spades on, and fortunately no sharks showed up :} Wow, you never think about what might have happened until after the fact....

[fishooter]

I think what you did was safe enough, Mako. I would do it. Clam bits are not enough to get sharks all agitated, IMHO. Now if you go out into the blue water, start shooting up Amberjacks such as to cause a big rukus, and then slice 'em up bit by bit while in the water with 'em, then you are likely going to draw in some serious predators, which is the whole idea, of course. I think you might consider the repercussions while doing that, though, and come prepared. Like I said, I know guys who do it.
Mark[excited]

[karlista]

Sand tigers are present on every wreck and structure in our waters this time of year, regardless of chumming. Experience in diving with sharks is needed.

[Mako993]

Gotcha, fellas. The "fear factor" wasn't kicking in when we were chumming clam and didn't sense any danger. If we'd have been tossing bloody fish over the side that would have drawn in the scavangers, more than likely.

[Spearo]

Karlista hit the nail right in the head.
Even if you don't see them they're there, just waiting, waiting for the sound of your shaft to hit metal or the sound of a fish been hit.

They pass you by effordless right in fron of your mask or you have to push them out of your way at times when on the hunt but they can turn on your fish bag or your speared fish in the blink on an eye and hope that your arms or legs are not in his/her way.

The best senearo is that you have some distance fron your speared fish, at this point you're going for a fast ride untill the fish is eaten or split in two and you can return your shaft to the gun at this time just get out of that Site and find another with less company. If you don't care for your gun then let go (very hard to do) and fish another site.

If you're on scuba, never tide or clip your fish bag to your belt or BC, you may not have time to take it off or you may not be able to in time. A bag is under $20.00 to replace and the fish...well that is gone on this hunt but your leg is a bit more to replace.

Now, for some reason I have notice that Spades and Triggers do not have the same respond than other fish like Groupers for exsample but ones you got them moving the best thing is to move on to the next wreck so "leave as you entered" (specially if you're doing a safety stop) is the best way to hunt another day.

I like ledges better than wrecks if they were closer to shore, you don't have as many pest like you do in a small an concentrated area like a wreck.

[fishooter]

I have a SS quick release clip like is used on sailboat spinnakers attached to my BC. In NC, where you have a wider variety and greater numbers of sharks, I put my stringer on a small float and attach that to the SS clip on an 8-foot line. If a shark gets to my stringer I can just yank the quick release and the stringer is gone. That arrangement keeps the stinger from constantly fouling on the wreck or ledge as well.
Mark

[karlista]

Can you send me a pic of your quick release rig?

[fishooter]

Yup. Soon as I get a moment at home with everything around me. It's real simple.
Mark

[b8 boy]

On a clear day I can deal with it, but with low vis around here if the chum does get the shark interested in you, you will never know what hit you when he comes out of the murk.
I had 4 big red drum come tward me in a tight group off the third island in 5' vis and they scared me til I could make out they were drum, I though at first it was a Mama shark headin for me. It only takes one bite. Be safe. Martin

[fishooter]

Once you see a a shark in low viz, the low viz becomes more scary than the shark.
Mark

[Spearo]

Think before you have a bad day.

I don't want to soud like I done it all but I wish someone was there when I first started just to get some headup, this brings back memories like tuna hunts off Long Island many years ago and hanging at 15' on the anchor line with a chum bucket just above the head. Yes it was just like a nice winter snow waiting for that big tuna to show-up for a quick in and out kill but many times only Makos showed-up in winterland like rockets fired out of the deep blue.
One thing you learn better than anyone doing this and that is how one minute you can be under the boat and the next minute you're on top of the boat, gear and all, and you never remember how you got there in the first place. Yes it was stupid but back on the boat it sure was alot of fun to the rest of the crew. LOL

Look, you can make all the plans that you want and invent all the rigs that you think will keep you safe UW, and that is great but, never forget that you're not fishing from a boat , a pier or a beach you can't call all the shots.

Freediving or scuba it makes no diffrence only you know when you went over the line and the best advice I can come up with is in four words, give it all up, and exit as you entered then tell your story later, if anything, it sure makes you a better hunter not to mention respect for the sport and all things related to it.

Oh, one more thing. We should never forget that in order to "land the fish" (using a regular none float type gear without a reel) you need to handle it at first and that by it self bring you very close to "Problema Numero Uno" specialy at the time when you're trasfering from spear to bag, these few seconds are extremily dangerus unless you have eyes behind your head or your hunting buddy has bigger nuts than you do because at this point you are just helpless.

Do it safe guys, no fish is worth it!

[fishooter]

Here you go, Spearo. I've attached a shot of my stringer rig. Part of he stringer is visible at the very bottom. You need one of those very hard deep water floats the commercial guys use or else it will crush at depth and then you lose the bouancy. I'm sure you could improvise improvements to the system but it works well for me. I can post closer shots if need be. I also included a side tank/deco setup I used to use for 02 on a LP steel tank just because it was there. The upper end of the dacron rope is just a spliced loop. The hose makes it more comfortable to carry. The snap shackle used on the stringer rig can be found in smaller sizes and I used to use one tied through a hole in the end of my upline handle with two rings, one large and one small, tied tight to my left tank. I would clip the snap shackle to the small lower ring after sticking the other end or the upline handle through the upper ring. With just a yank on the snap shackle tag line the whole upline comes free and is in your hand. Fast, secure, simple, and works first time, every time.
Mark

[fishooter]

Here's a closer shot of the snap shackle.
Mark

[Spearo]

Fishooter, thanks for the pictures.

I have rigged several similar to yours in the past, if we only hunted on one area with the same emviroment all the time theses devices MAY be adjusted to fit that particular need but there are always many negatives to everything we rig.

There is a small wreck just South of OI that if you hit the tide just right you can get there from the shore, it's a long way there but if you're in shape anyone can do it. Anyway..I had a rig simmilar to yours on that hunt and went for it early one morning.
It took me much longer to get to the site that morning because the tide changed half way to it and when I got there I was spended. I dove the thing after some time passed and started to hit lg. Sheepshed one after the other in only 20-25ft. By the time the hunt was over the weight of the fish was not enough to keep the rig possitive or at least neutral even if I had several floats to add to it so I had to drag all this weight with full gear, been dead tired and with a moving current to what it seem to be many miles away by this time.
My point is that I would rather be hunting in a site that has seen few or no pest in the past without long lines, floats or riggins than the other way around. You just never know what you'll find on any given dive even if you been there 100 times before so it is hard to estimate float size or lift capasity and lift bags are out of the question not to mention the time, energy and the air that is used to manage and keep all these things working in your favor.

As I said before, my fix to most of these problems has been to do more ledges (lobsters as an insentive) or simply shallow dives with less viz.


[excited]

[fishooter]

I agree that there is no one solution to spearfishing rigging and am always eager to learn new ways of doing things. That wreck you mentioned south of OI sounds like a perfect spot to freedive from a kayak, for example. 20 to 25 feet? Sweet!

I have not spearfished on scuba for 7 years now. Simple is good. I find you can spearfish the deep wrecks and never go below 30 to 40 feet targeting African Pompano and Cobia. Sheepshead do not normally require tanks, either.

Some friends of mine won the Wilmington Open spearfishing tournament this year without the use of tanks, taking cobia, African Pompano, hogfish and grouper. There were plenty scuba guys entered, to be sure, but all that equipment is not necessarily an advantage. The OMER Open in Hatteras next weekend is all freedive spearfishing.

The preferred stringer setup for freediving is no stringer. Just swim each fish back to the boat. If you kill the fish as soon as possible the shark threat is greatly reduced.

In sharky waters, it still pays to dive with people who have shark experience and know how best to handle confrontations. I'm still learning, but with a wife and four kids, I have to agree that discrection is the better part of valor.

Don't get me wrong, I do not object to spearing on scuba and am not trying to convert anyone. I've just evolved.

Mark[grin]

PS: I always enjoyed spearing the live ledges off NC on scuba and would welcome the opportunity to do it again.