TWO QUESTIONS- Tarpon, Sharks and Spearfishing

[TropicalDiver]

I have NEVER had a sheepshead bite me - but I've got plenty of respect for triggerfish (note: very mean-spirited fish - they will bite your spear, stringer, glove, anything whether speared or swimming near you if they can).

Sheepies aren't hard to clean, just got tons of scales. Triggers have a VERY tough skin that can dull your fillet knife quickly.

Out of 250 plus dives, I've only seen sharks on two occasions while spearing...grey reef only. Think they are always out there, just that we present a rather large target that's too big to inhale and our bubbles are aggression signs (dolphins use bubbles for aggressive stance), so most of the time they'd rather not mess with people. FYI - I spear in FL and string my fish and carry them through the dive (not float them to surface). A lot of spearos do opt to float them in the West Palm Beach area, cause they see bull sharks there fairly often though. I live farther north.

Flounder are a kick - they just sit there and you can stab them (gig) them without your spear ever leaving your gun. Filleting them is definitely interesting - they have 4 fillets to get.

Triggers and hogfish are the best eating, IMHO, but sheepies are quite nice also. Amberjack can even be very nice - as long as you eat it fresh - within the week, ice it properly, and get the red/bloodlines out very well.

 

[JustJoe]

I was diving the Tunnels off of Jupiter, FL yesterday and had a shark encounter. One of the deck hands said that if we speared a fish to bring it to the surface asap. I thought he was joking.

One of the other two spearfishers shot at and missed a nice mutton snapper. Within 30 seconds (no joke) a small reef shark showed up. Within two minutes there were at least 10 reef sharks (from 4' to maybe 8') checking us out. They were not aggressive but were extremely curious. Came in real close to get a look at what I had. At this point I just unloaded my gun and took in the scenery.

I am sure that these sharks had been fed in the area before and were accustomed to getting hand outs from operators taking folks on "shark dives'.

Joe

 

[CBulla]

I believe that area used to have shark feedings, Joe. That practice was made illegal by the state, but I am not sure as to how long ago that was.

 

[JustJoe]

I was amazed that the things just appeared in the numbers. The guy didn't even hit the fish. I had seen a few before the shot (individuals), but then they all just came on by to see what was up.

I wonder just how loud a speargun is to a shark and how far the sound must have travelled (a hundred meters maybe?). I can't figure out what else would have attracted them like that.

Joe

 

[CBulla]

I've seen that same sort of question posted by other spearos on another board. Just the sound alone brought in a few bulls.. enough to make this one gent nervous and exit the water.

 

[SM Diver]

I have a couple of questions-

1. How do tarpons react to divers?

My friend, the better question is: How do Sharks respond to Tarpon? The LAST thing I will be worrying about if I ever find myself in a pod of Tarpon is one getting aggressive with me. I have seen many times what a school of bulls or hammers think of a pod of Tarpon, and it's not a pretty sight. Sharks follow the migratory trek of Tarpons. Besides, unless you decide to dive around some bridges, or well knows passes (Boca, Redfish, Captiva, etc.), it's unlikely you could plan a dive around Tarpon).

 

[medic_diver45]

I wasn't planning a dive around them....just curious as to what they do since they are a large predatory fish. You hear about barracuda occasionally (but still more frequently than sharks) getting aggressive and I was just curious if tarpon did the same thing, which apparently they don't.

 

[Allison Finch]

Years ago I used to spearfish a lot. Cuda was excellent, but you had to be careful WHERE you got it. The toxins are found in some places but not others. Amberjack is also likely to have cig.
Hogs are the best eating IMHO.....
Be very careful what you spear in FL. There are some fish that are very illegal to spear (at least they used to be). Cobia, for one.
I can't imagine wanting to spear a tarpon for "sport". I killed for food and no other reason. I always felt sad at the death, but couldn't wait to sink my teeth in....

 

[Cudabait]

Barracuda are good to eat, but it can be dangerous because of ciguatera toxin poisoning. It is picked up by the fish feeding on other reef feeders which have picked up the toxin from the reef, etc. (parrotfish, etc.) I have spearfished extensively in the Gulf Of Mexico. With the exception of the Flower Gardens, the gulf is relatively free of coral reefs. As such, I used to spear and eat a lot of barracuda because they were feeding on open water fish and not reef dwellers. I no longer spear or eat barracuda.

Triggerfish and other tough skinned fish: I skin them and then fillet the meat from the fish. Very fast way to clean. Make a diagonal cut through the skin from behind the head and gills to the belly. Cut from anal to gills. Cut each side along dorsal fin from first cut behind head to tail. With pliers, grab the skin at the top behind the head and pull, skinning the fish from head to tail. Repeat on other side. Then simply fillet the flesh from the fish. Nice boneless fillets!! Won't dull a good fillet knife on tough skin, either.

Flounder and Halibut: Make a vertical cut into the spine, following the outer spine design on the fish. Once the cut is made, slip your fillet knife along the spine and begin your fillet from the spine along the bones to lower fins. You should be able to remove the entire fillet free of most bones except some of the rib cage bones which can then be cut away. Then separate the skin from the flesh. On Fluke type fish there are four fillets. Two on top and twon bottom. Each is done separately.

I have other fast, simple cleaning methods for Cobia and sharks. Another story.

Regards,

 

[medic_diver45]

Years ago I used to spearfish a lot. Cuda was excellent, but you had to be careful WHERE you got it. The toxins are found in some places but not others. Amberjack is also likely to have cig.
Hogs are the best eating IMHO.....
Be very careful what you spear in FL. There are some fish that are very illegal to spear (at least they used to be). Cobia, for one.
I can't imagine wanting to spear a tarpon for "sport". I killed for food and no other reason. I always felt sad at the death, but couldn't wait to sink my teeth in....

I wasn't planning on spearing a tarpon....I would only spear for food....I have an issue with killing animals just to kill them.