MikeJacobs
Guest
This is a quick reply to a couple of posters in the Trips subthread, asking about hunting off LBTS.
I'm no expert, but I always catch enough for dinner! We only take what we eat, of course, and we never just "kill" for the target practice though sometimes that means passing something good up for what we've already taken. I never freeze fish - if we're not going to eat it today or tomorrow, I don't take it.
We typically kayak out to the dropoff - those mooring bouys ("balls") about 1,500 yards off the beach. It's a fast paddle out even in a little chop. We tie up to a mooring bouy, put our gear on (some on the diveyak, some off), and then drop down.
I carry a snare and sling pole-spear, a game bag and the reel to a dive flag... it's a lot to manage, and you have to be very careful not to rip the bottom with all that gear. I usually find a place to hunt (either I've seen lobster or a school of edibles), find a safe spot in sand to leave the gear I won't need, catch what I can and then gather up to move on.
This way I don't scar the reef... it's a concern since you can see signs of careless divers everywhere.
Inside the bag I carry a folding yardstick, a game-chart with legal sizes, a lobster gague, and my license... you have to have the license with you (on your person).
I like a light pole spear with a paralizer tip, about 6' total. Larger pole spears, IMO, are overkill for the little fish you find here. Most divers can't get enough power from a larger, heavier sling and end up damaging fish that probably end up becoming eel-food under a ledge when they finally die of injuries. Sad. You really have to learn to get a head-shot because the fish are smaller and a body-shot wastes flesh.
I've never used a gun... lot of money for very little payoff.
You can't chase fish on a hunt... you have to be patient and slow so that they swim around you. Most of the time when you chase them your shots will be off enough so that you only damage the fish, which often go unretreived.
You have to be careful about WHAT you take. The tables require some study, since fish you are allowed to spear need to be a minimum size, and some even have a maximum size (not that this is a problem so close to shore). You can't spear gamefish, lobster, eels, shark or "acquarium" fish, and I have been checked several times. The fines, I understand, are significant! There are a lot of rules. They even have courses you can take.
You also don't want to take many of the fish you routinely see. Grunts are not good eating, for example, and they seem to be unafraid. You'll see a LOT of grouper once you know where to look, but at 26" minimum you'll only see a couple legal-size in your life this close to shore.
I have some "secrets" that I won't share, though if you talk to enough people you'll pick up on anything I could tell you. I'm not sure it's really worth it for the vast majority of shore divers. We live on the beach so its easy to go out and in, clean and grill the fish all in "one motion." They never even make it indoors. On the other hand, like any fishing trip, it's a lot of fun and you do tend to improve your underwater observation & identificaiton skills.
I'm no expert, but I always catch enough for dinner! We only take what we eat, of course, and we never just "kill" for the target practice though sometimes that means passing something good up for what we've already taken. I never freeze fish - if we're not going to eat it today or tomorrow, I don't take it.
We typically kayak out to the dropoff - those mooring bouys ("balls") about 1,500 yards off the beach. It's a fast paddle out even in a little chop. We tie up to a mooring bouy, put our gear on (some on the diveyak, some off), and then drop down.
I carry a snare and sling pole-spear, a game bag and the reel to a dive flag... it's a lot to manage, and you have to be very careful not to rip the bottom with all that gear. I usually find a place to hunt (either I've seen lobster or a school of edibles), find a safe spot in sand to leave the gear I won't need, catch what I can and then gather up to move on.
This way I don't scar the reef... it's a concern since you can see signs of careless divers everywhere.
Inside the bag I carry a folding yardstick, a game-chart with legal sizes, a lobster gague, and my license... you have to have the license with you (on your person).
I like a light pole spear with a paralizer tip, about 6' total. Larger pole spears, IMO, are overkill for the little fish you find here. Most divers can't get enough power from a larger, heavier sling and end up damaging fish that probably end up becoming eel-food under a ledge when they finally die of injuries. Sad. You really have to learn to get a head-shot because the fish are smaller and a body-shot wastes flesh.
I've never used a gun... lot of money for very little payoff.
You can't chase fish on a hunt... you have to be patient and slow so that they swim around you. Most of the time when you chase them your shots will be off enough so that you only damage the fish, which often go unretreived.
You have to be careful about WHAT you take. The tables require some study, since fish you are allowed to spear need to be a minimum size, and some even have a maximum size (not that this is a problem so close to shore). You can't spear gamefish, lobster, eels, shark or "acquarium" fish, and I have been checked several times. The fines, I understand, are significant! There are a lot of rules. They even have courses you can take.
You also don't want to take many of the fish you routinely see. Grunts are not good eating, for example, and they seem to be unafraid. You'll see a LOT of grouper once you know where to look, but at 26" minimum you'll only see a couple legal-size in your life this close to shore.
I have some "secrets" that I won't share, though if you talk to enough people you'll pick up on anything I could tell you. I'm not sure it's really worth it for the vast majority of shore divers. We live on the beach so its easy to go out and in, clean and grill the fish all in "one motion." They never even make it indoors. On the other hand, like any fishing trip, it's a lot of fun and you do tend to improve your underwater observation & identificaiton skills.
