Amazz
Contributor
I see this is a really old thread, but here is my experience in case other women are interested in spearfishing. I started spearfishing 2.5 years ago and love it. I take only what I will eat and still enjoy dives when I don't get anything at all. See, that's bad when you cross to the dark side and only like to dive when you can kill something. DREADFUL!! You need something to show you what to do or you can serious hurt yourself. You must hold your shooting arm stiff or the gun will kick back and knock your teeth out, or injure your wrist. You are a photographer already so you're already way way up there on the learning curve. You likely have good buoyancy, know your fish species, can freedive and know how to get close to fish and hold your breath. You'll do fine with tanks. My first time out spearing, I took three shots and came back with two snappers and a hogfish. Talk to plenty of people before buying your first gun. Don't be fooled into getting a tiny little girly gun that you will outgrow very quickly. My favorite gun is the Riffe #2. It's 48 inches long and will be the last gun I will ever use. Off the wrack, I CANNOT load this gun. My arms don't have the reach. Simple fix: either install a "rest tab" or use shafts with a rest tab on them. It takes an extra motion to load but you'll get so accurate that you won't have to quickly reload anyway ;-) My biggest problem was after shooting the fish and coordinating getting it under control and strung. That takes practice. If you are line shafting, it also takes practice replacing the shaft and wrapping the line. I got tangled more than a few times. Don't bite off more than you can chew. A large, powerful fish can kill you. People have been wrapped and beaten and knocked out by Amberjacks. I recently shot a 38 pound permit and the thing dragged me through the water and toward at epic speed. I put the death grip on my gun so I wouldn't lose it. Husband couldn't help me because he was managing the fish he just shot. Then luckily it wrapped around a piece of wreck and stopped. Then I wondered....what the hell am I going to do now? I have this little stringer and this powerful fish. Then a couple of bull sharks showed up. Then thankfully, my good friend Randy showed up. He took care of things for me. I couldn't have done it. He sent the fish to the surface on a lift bag. First he ripped it's gills out. I never would have thought of that. If not, that fish would have stolen the lift bag. Gotta love adventure.
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