Here's a great article written by Noob Spearo Podcast host, Isaac Daly!

Becoming better at spearfishing is a desire many of us share and just like everything else in life, getting better is about learning new information and then applying that new knowledge. This article contains distilled advice and wisdom from some fantastic spearo's from all over the world. After each quote I  have tried to boil the advice down into some actionable information for you to apply to your own spearfishing.

These quotes come directly from interviews on the Noob Spearo Podcast, out of a regular segment in the show called Fast 5 Facts For Noobs.  In this segment we ask our featured guest to provide 5 short pieces of advice that they would like to have had when they were starting out spearfishing. Here are a selection.

#1: Buying Equipment

Simon Trippe: "...Find yourself a good retailer and someone that’s going to sell you a speargun and a wetsuit that actually uses a speargun and a wetsuit. I don’t know, I think build a good relationship with those people. Face to face contact is fantastic if you can. Can’t recommend it highly enough. A good retailer should be selling you good gear. If you buy wisely now, it’s going to save you a lot of money in the future. So don’t buy a hundred dollar pop gun when in six months time, from watching YouTube tutorials on how to spearfish, or coming to do courses, you’ll want a 1.3 Rob Allen or 1.1 Rob Allen, whatever. Sorry for naming brands, but that seems to be the generic. But yeah whatever the horses for courses are in your area. You realize, sh*t I’ve just spent $500 on a gun that’s just too big for me, a 1.4 won’t work. Or jeez, this 90cm cray basher I bought, I want to go shoot Spanish now, I need a 1.4. So get good gear and take the retailer’s advice."

My experience: When I started out, I went into Adreno at their Woolloongabba store with the mindset that I needed to start spearfishing as cheaply as I could. Heading into the shop a speargun was naturally at the top of my list. So I went to their speargun rack and Sam Cox (a local spearo and retail salesperson there ) approached me and we began a conversation. He took a genuine interest in my success getting started as he could see I was super keen. He advised me on what gun to buy and why he thought I should buy the one he was recommending (the gun he recommended cost $100 more than the one I had been looking at), however being cheap and (I thought) scrupulous with my money, I bought the cheaper gun. 9 months later I ended up buying the exact type of gun he had initially advised.

My Takeaway Action: Be smart, do your homework, but listen to experienced spearo retailers advice. Tell them what you think your needs are and listen to what they have to say. It will save you in the long term.

 

 

 

#2 Getting Equipment That Will Get the Job Done

Luke Potts:"...the Indian and not the arrow, that’s a really big thing for me. You see so many blokes going out there and they have like six different spearguns, it’s all about the gear you know? To me, it’s all about the hunter. I know blokes like Dwayne Herbert, he’s you know multiple time New Zealand spearfishing champion and I asked him what he uses and he doesn’t even know. I asked him about rubber size, and he was like what are you talking about? And he’s shooting 40 kilo kingies with (I think) a 110 out of the 3 kings (Islands). What it comes down to I think, is just get a piece of equipment that you’ve been told is going to do the job. Like your 120 for New Zealand and just go and hunt, just go and try and learn fish and try and get close. That’s the thing because that’s the only way you can become a better hunter. So Indian and not the arrow."

My Experience:I learned the hard way with lots of cheap equipment and shore diving dirty water, I have slowly improved my gear just as I have slowly been able to dive better and slowly get out to better locations. Earning your stripes is underrated! Persevering on those fish-less days will pay off!

Actionable takeaway: Keep your equipment simple and straightforward, develop yourself with time in the water. Spend money and time getting out more, dont worry about the fish-less days - stick with it!

 

 

 

#3 Keep It Simple - especially on your first boat trips

Trevor Ketchion: "...the second one would just be simplicity. The simpler your setup, the more people are going to want to take you, because if you turn up on someone’s boat and you’ve got all the bells and whistles and a giant bag, it’s space, it’s not going to get used, so you just want to have simple gun, simple fins. Everything nice, easy, gear that doesn’t break down on you all the time, and you’ll get a lot more fish."

Actionable Takeaway: As Above in Luke's Tip + When heading out on boats, your spearfishing equipment should fit in one bag or plastic crate. Simplify it as much as possible, this minimizes space on the boat and wont annoy the skipper! (I did this one starting out....sheepish look)

 

#4 - Knife Tip

Cameron Kirkconnell: Carry your knife on your weight belt so you can grab it with both hands.

My Experience: Its essential to have a knife within easy reach. If you become tangled in shooting line or old line fishing gear, or shoot a large pelagic and have your legs wrapped around it, can you easily reach your knife? These are just a few scenarios where Cam's advice make perfect sense.

 

 

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This content was provided by noobspearo.com, a great spearfishing podcast which aims to grow and educate the spearfishing community.