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Old 01-21-2014, 05:55 PM   #1
Mxgrogg
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Question Is "Spearing from the surface" bad?

OK, I admit am new to spearfishing, but not new at shooting stuff, being an avid rifle marksman and hunter. I'm still getting my spearfishing bearings and getting used to the ocean, so I don't dive down and shoot horizontally much yet (someday!). I mostly snorkel around and shoot what I see from the surface in like 20 feet of water. I'm just starting out.

Yesterday I was out spearing with an awesome mentor buddy of mine who is about 50 dives more advanced than I. When he saw me shooting down on fish from the surface, he got really upset...like overly upset, saying "NEVER SHOOT FROM THE SURFACE!!!!!"

I'm not the kind of guy to just follow orders blindly, but he is more into the spear world than I, so I asked why. He said something like "because you don't know if that is me or someone else down there!"

OK, I know I am the new guy in the water that everyone has to spend time waiting on, and I try to be conscientious of the fact that I am the newbie but this just does not make sense to me. I'm a gun instructor out of the water, and I cannot imagine shooting at something in or out of the water when you can't perfectly identify your target, surroundings and backstop before pulling the trigger. So the idea that shooting in one attitude is more risky than another seems...ridiculous if you are using proper safety techniques (like not just shooting at any and every blurry outline that passes by).

To tell you the truth, it sounds like he is parroting something someone told him and he obeys without thinking about it. He is an awesome friend, but I don't want to not hunt if I am still uncomfortable diving down.

So SpearBoard, tell me the truth, is there some safety/understanding/spearo-etiquette that I just am not seeing, or is my friend possibly a little misguided?
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Old 01-21-2014, 06:09 PM   #2
100days-a-year
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Re: Is "Spearing from the surface" bad?

If certain fish swim by the boat and I won't have get wet I'd shoot them.Surface is perfectly acceptable.Mores vary widely in the spearing community just like hunting.
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Old 01-21-2014, 06:10 PM   #3
"Yard-Sale Josh"
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Re: Is "Spearing from the surface" bad?

Wind and waves can jostle you a little bit when you go for your shot, in the long run you will make more better shots if you do a shallow dive and get away from surface turbulence
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Old 01-21-2014, 07:07 PM   #4
Hookup
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Re: Is "Spearing from the surface" bad?

I have a friend just like you, new to diving and trys to shoot from the surface, he misses a lot and I tried a few shots from the top of the water also and realized the waves throw your aim off a lot. Try to just get right under the surface where theres no waves tossing you around and gradually go from there. Soon you will be sitting on the bottom sand slaying fish
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