Spearfishing Advice Part 2: Conditions and Awareness
Wisdom with Diving Conditions
Doug Peterson:"... if you’re someone new just starting out, you (should) probably try and just go out when the ocean is perfect, flat calm seas, the best visibility you can find, and try not to really push your boundaries there, you want to try and start off in the easiest conditions you can find."My experience:Making improvements in your diving is a gradual process, think and plan according to the conditions you are diving in.
Actionable Takeaway: If you are just starting, try and go in the the best possible conditions. If you are a bit more advanced, be smart about when and where you try to make improvements.
Developing External Awareness
Anvar Mufazalov:"... try and understand the sea, the sea is a unique system and we are just the elements which are in the sea and you cannot enforce your own rules there. You have to try to learn with the sea, the currents, the fish behavior, the temperature, the visibility, the thermocline, the waves, the boats, everything. You have to learn how it all works, and you have to understand the system and adapt your diving to it."My experience: Heading out drift diving from boats is common off Brisbane's Moreton Island. It took me maybe 3-4 trips drift diving reefs doing this before I noticed that most of the bait and therefore the predatory pelagic species (that I was targeting) were hanging out over the fronts of the reef (where the current first comes up over). So timing my dives so that I was in the right position (in the water column) as the current brought me over the reef was crucial for giving me the best chance at these fish.
Actionable Takeaway: Maintain a learning mindset and consciously develop your in-water awareness. By observation and analyzing what is happening around you, you will be able to continually take advantage of opportunities that many fail to notice.
Becoming better at spearfishing is a lifelong journey, and at the end of the day every spearo makes his or her own way at spearfishing. My advice however, is to listen to other spearo's and experiment with their advice. You will develop much faster than someone who just goes diving.
Not everything you hear is Gospel truth so make your own mind up about things but try to do it without having to learn everything the hard way. Go diving all the time for sure, but even when you are not in the water you can still be learning.
I hope some of these points will help you in your diving. I wont give you a big safety spiel but I firmly advise using your brain and making good choices.
For more advice, wisdom and stories from spearos all over the world, tune into the Noob Spearo Podcast, you can find us at www.noobspearo.com or you can download the interviews on iTunes or Stitcher radio.
This content was provided by noobspearo.com, a great spearfishing podcast which aims to grow and educate the spearfishing community.
