Fish, Boat and Dive

Water temperatures normally sit around 16ºC and it doesn't start to get cold until September and with a proper 5mm open cell wetsuit you can spend hours in the water. These suits have no lining on the inside so the

smoothness of the neoprene sits against your skin. They need to be lubricated with soapy water to put on but after that, very little water enters the suit. Having good booties and gloves also make a difference to your time in the water.

 

Having the right speargun is important. For snapper snooping, a gun length of around 90 to 100cm is great. Shorter than this and you lose power and range and any longer it's hard to manoeuvre. For kingish a longer gun around 120cm gives greater range and accuracy.

 

If it's your first gun I recommendamultipurpose gun length around 100cm to provide power, accuracy and enough manoeuvrability close to rocks. The most popular are railguns with a sprung steel shaft, single band, and dyneema bridle. The rail is designed to give greater accuracy.

 

A floatline and float are important pieces of safety equipment that allow you to play the fish. I use a 20m line for snapper and a 30m line chasing kingfish in deeper water. A long line around the rocks is a nuisance but a 20m line is fine for free dives of that length.

 

The first kingfish I shot as a kid nearly drowned me because I wasn't using a floatline. At Whale Rock I jumped in with my brand new wooden prodive gun and after about 10 minutes a school of big kingis drifted in. I shot at a fat one from the surface and shouted ''I got one!'' as it dragged me under. I struggled back to the surface and eventually the stainless steel shaft pulled from the fish bent at 90 degrees!

 

Fins, mask, and snorkel are slightly more specialised for spearing. Long blade fins give more power for less movement which means more time to spend under the water. A black low volume mask eliminates glare from the lense and you're not wasting air equalising the mask space as much as with a larger volume dive mask. Your snorkel needs to be a simple tube. Large valves and purges are noisy as you dive and surface.

 

All that's needed for the rest of the basic gear is a sharp knife with a pointed tip for dispatching the fish and a weight belt. A rubber weight belt that stretches helps in free diving because it stays in place when you invert to dive down. A 'normal' belt slips up under your ribs and can affect your breath hold.

 

So with all the gear let's go spearfishing and it's all about taking your time and relaxing. Move slowly, breath slowly and the fish will come to you. You need to hunt snapper to spear them and any loud noise will spook them. Burling some kina on a reef edge helps invite in the fish but you'll still need good cover to sneak up on them.

 

If you're starting out, get some tips from experienced 'spearos'. Port Valley Spearfishing club in the Bay of Islands are a great bunch of guys or talk to Ben or me at Paihia Dive. We'll talk all day if we aren't out for a spear.