Scuba Diving Book

Spearfishing has been around since almost the dawn of time. Drawings symbolizing spearfishing and harpooning have dated back to over 16,000 years ago. In it’s simpler form, ancient mankind would sharpen sticks to make simple wooden spears, and stick the fish swimming through the water. Spearfishing was a common means of sustenance.

As time went on, spearfishing methods and techniques advanced to incorporate free diving, especially in warmer climates. Hunting would then take place under the surface of the water, where the hunter swims around, waits in position, and spears the fish while submerged, returning to the surface with his prey. Modern day experienced free divers can dive to depths of over 100 feet to hunt. Incredibly talented free divers can dive up to 200 feet below the surface of the water to hunt, but that is incredibly rare and requires extreme skill.

In the modern day, spear guns are generally used instead of traditional spears. These spear guns may be pneumatic (compressed air) powered, or elastic powered, and are generally very effective. Different spear guns are used depending on the type of diving being done. Shallower shore diving may use a smaller pneumatic gun, where as deep blue water diving will use something more along the lines of a wooden 5-band elastic powered tuna gun. Slings may also be used as opposed to traditional guns.

Traditional spearfishing is so ineffective compared to other means of fishing that it is usually not harmful to the environment, and usually does not affect fish populations. However, spear guns are regulated or banned by many countries. Spearfishing using breathing assistance, such as SCUBA diving is also commonly frowned upon or outlawed. Regardless, "high-tech" spearfishing utilizing SCUBA equipment and modern pneumatic or elastic spear guns has become a popular sport.

In the present day, spearfishing is alive and active, from tropical paradise to the colder regions. The equipment used varies depending on the location (hot or cold) and the type of fish being hunted (the size and type is taken into consideration).

There are several types of spearfishing, the main distinction being from where the water is entered, and what types of fish are sought after.

The most common type of spearfishing is simply called shore diving. The diver simply enters the water from the shore (such as a beach), swims out a short distance, then dives to an average depth of 15 to 75 feet to hunt. Many shore divers prefer entering the water from headlands, since they are known for instantly deep water, and do not require the diver to swim great distances from shore to find deeper water. Shore diving is usually done in areas with coral reefs or areas with other natural features fish will frequent and swim though.

Sharks are sometimes a danger in these areas, and many divers prefer to hunt in areas with a lower habitat of sharks for safety concerns. Often a diver will avoid using a "catch bag" to avoid attracting sharks to his position. The diver may instead use a float to attach the fish to, keeping distance from the float in case of a shark attack. Both reef fish and ocean going fish can be caught by shore diving, though reef fish are much more common.

Another type of spearfishing is boat diving. As the name implies, the hunter (or hunters) enter the water on a watercraft of some sort such as a boat or a kayak, then dive deep into the ocean to hunt. This type of hunting is almost always done with a spear gun. Boat diving yields more exotic catches than shore diving, such as tuna and mahi-mahi. Hunting by diving off of oil rigs is considered a form of boat diving.

The boat is commonly used to store fish in between dives so the diver doesn’t have to keep a catch bag with him. The boat itself raises some basic safety problems however, and some simple precautions must be taken when boat diving. The spear gun must never be loaded on the boat itself, as this raises a safety issue.

The other common dive form of spearfishing is called blue water diving, or blue water hunting. It is the most difficult and impractical of all forms of spearfishing, and is considered a bit elite and exotic in nature. Many prized catches are sought after in blue water hunting. It’s called blue water because the divers, wearing scuba equipment and fitted with high-tech spear guns are driven deep into the ocean, and dive to extreme depths, until all they can see around them is blue. The divers are often dropped in a deep water current, allowing the water to move them along effortlessly, and the boat must calculate where they will be when they resurface so the diver can be picked up.

Blue water diving is so deep it often involves sensory deprivation for the diver, since they have no point of reference as to where they are or how far away they are from any given object (such as a fish) that may appear. When in the water, the diver will "chum" for fish, attempting to attract them to his location. Sought after fish include tuna, marlin, the dog-tooth snapper, and giant trevally.

Another form of spearfishing is much simpler, and does not involve any form of diving or entering the water anymore than simply standing in it. This is the most ancient and simple style of spearfishing. Timing and speed must be honed to perfection to spear a fish in this way. Much practice is required to become a skilled spearfisher. The hunter must throw the spear at a different place than where the fish appears to be, due to the optical effect that is responsible for making a straw appear to bend in a glass of water, even though the straw is straight.

For those interested in learning to spearfish, the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) offers a course for divers in the art of spearfishing.