Snifferboy 659 Posted May 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2014 Awesome! That's something I'd really like to get into......... I'm just not very at home in water. Keep playing with this idea of moving to the south coast and doing shit like that all the time. It's a nice dream if nowt else. I'm very jealous mate, and starving for some shelfish now! I'm no waterman myself, I don't swim well at all, but a lot of my spare time is spent down a beach, either surfing or trying to get a feed and it's only when I get comments like this that I actually realise just how lucky I am… I spend most of my time wishing that I could have better this and better that (usually dogs and ground to run them on!!! ) that I forget just how good the simple things (that I take for granted) really are…. I can swim 'okay', I'm just not a natural like some. Still not mastered how to float, I just sink! LOL. I'd love to be able to go to the coast for a long weekend and dive for a few bits and eventually do some spear fishing. Is it just a case of donning some fins and a mask and trying somewhere easy/safe untill you build ability/confidence? Should you always dive in pairs for safety? How 'swimfit' do you need to be realistically? You don't have to be super fit, but a good level of general fitness is a sensible thing, I sometimes look back to shore when I'm out spearfishing and I'll be a good mile out… The fitness thing really comes into play if you want to be able to dive down reasonably deep and stay there for any length of time on a single breath. But if you are working over a nice rocky cove on a tide that is incoming nearing high and there is no major currents/rips to negotiate then fitness isn't as important. There's plenty of people out there doing it, getting good results, you don't have to dive deep and when you build confidence up etc. you can progress... As far as diving in pairs is concerned, it's recommended, but when spearfishing you need to know exactly where everyone is, I've had a mate swim right out in front of me as I had been stalking around some weed and rocks and had just lined a fish up to take, if I hadn't of been paying attention it could have been quite serious. I do go out on my own spearfishing a fair amount and always have a marker buoy with me for safety, it serves a few purposes, it shows boats where you are, you can carry drinks, fish, mesh bags for scallops and crabs etc. and if you get completely knackered you can clip yourself to it or hang off it til you get your breath back. With wetsuits on you naturally float anyway, so you have to weight yourself down quite a bit to obtain a neutral buoyancy. So you can just keep back on the weight until you build the confidence up… Thats haw I did it to start with. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Snifferboy 659 Posted May 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2014 how far down do you have to go get some stuff ? I've shot bass in 4 feet of water and down to 25-30 feet, the scallops we dived for weren't deep probably only 20 feet... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
noddy10 411 Posted May 15, 2014 Report Share Posted May 15, 2014 this might be a daft question, but whats the visability like do you need a torch? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Snifferboy 659 Posted May 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2014 this might be a daft question, but whats the visability like do you need a torch? The visibility changes constantly sometimes you can clearly see 30+ feet others you can barely see your hand in front of your face, which can be a bit disconcerting! I do take a torch sometimes to look in holes etc. where lobbies and fish lie up, not to see when you are swimming about though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hulio 3 Posted May 15, 2014 Report Share Posted May 15, 2014 Wow I would say that was a good day. Good catching on your part...meals look divine. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Born Hunter 17,783 Posted May 16, 2014 Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 Thanks for the info SB. I think I might have to buy a mask/snorkel and fins and have a go in Cornwall this summer. Just get comfortable with diving before moving on to foraging for my dinner. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Snifferboy 659 Posted May 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 PM me if you come down, we'll see if can't get something to eat... 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bell 3,606 Posted May 22, 2014 Report Share Posted May 22, 2014 Nice........ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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