hunting questions (bay area, ca)

[Cliffg]

Hey guys, I have been reading a lot of posts, thanks for all the info. I just did my open water scuba and would like to get into spearfishing on scuba and/or freediving. my free diving experiece consists of a little we did in OW and some snorkeling experience. I own basic gear, fins(scubapro jets, ok?), wetsuit, hood, booties, gloves. I need to get a weight belt and a weapon. will the rubber belt on LP work (scuba and freediving)? here is the link weightbelt
or shoud i just go with the normal old weight belt to start, for like five dollars? on the weapon will a pole spear be ok to work with around the bay area to start? what might be a good gun? monterey, carmel, northcoast. if anyone wants to show me the ropes id be willing to pay for the gas and lunch to anywhere around here, feel free to contact me. I would be willing to get the ab gear and do that too. I live on the pennisula, stanford student.
thanks for any info
cliff

 

[MasterGoa]

Hey guys, I have been reading a lot of posts, thanks for all the info. I just did my open water scuba and would like to get into spearfishing on scuba and/or freediving. my free diving experiece consists of a little we did in OW and some snorkeling experience. I own basic gear, fins(scubapro jets, ok?), wetsuit, hood, booties, gloves. I need to get a weight belt and a weapon. will the rubber belt on LP work (scuba and freediving)? here is the link weightbelt
or shoud i just go with the normal old weight belt to start, for like five dollars? on the weapon will a pole spear be ok to work with around the bay area to start? what might be a good gun? monterey, carmel, northcoast. if anyone wants to show me the ropes id be willing to pay for the gas and lunch to anywhere around here, feel free to contact me. I would be willing to get the ab gear and do that too. I live on the pennisula, stanford student.
thanks for any info
cliff

OK, so fins are OK if you can have them a long time with no fatigue.

Weight belts, you need a quick detach and weight so you are neutral
with full breath vs empty lungs in scuba.

This is why you need a quick detach.

Now a warning!

May seem extremely stoooopid but, I guy drowned in 12 feet of
water near where I live with his weight belt still on.

He forgot to remove it and got tired fighting the weight
while finning.

So practice dumping the weights.
Then get them practice getting them back with the duck dive.

Those two exercises will assure you have a great, safe
time snorkling for the fishies!

MG

 

[Jorbar1551]

Monterey and south is definitly the way to go. Since there arent too many fish that are very large right off the coast, a sling will work fine. I would recommend getting a speargun that isnt a carbine. Spend around 125-200 on a gun with atleast two medium to large bands.

A favorite spot of mine is monastery. if you can hold you breathe for a while, you can get some great lingcod on the north side of monastery. If you want halibut, go to del monte beach.

 

[holdingmybreath]

go with the rubber weight belt... it won't loosen up at depth when your wetsuit compresses.. wear it around your hips so it doesn't impair getting a good deep breath while freediving and pull it snug. Don't weight yourself so heavy that you can't float on the surface.. nice to be able to relax and catch your breath on the surface instead of working, of course a float helps negate this. The depth you'll be spearfishing will determine the weight you will use... try to find nuetral around the depth you'll be fishing... and that will put you bouyant at the surface. The above, of course, pertains to freediving more so than scuba.