Spearfishing Marlin

[carnster]

Check out the above video to see some amazing marlin spearing action. When the water is clean, the current is still and the fish are not moving, spearing can be a very effective way of actching fish.

[siegfried]

I have fished 130 in a chair and wont do it again, it sucks, the average fish blue or otherwise doesnt have much of a chance if the boat is driven properly. We fish 100lb stand up and the average blue (150 240) is generally knocked arse over head in 20 -40 mins. Interesting to hear peoples perspective on this but .Hopefully I will be able to speak first hand about it because Im keen to give it a go ,got the boat, the gear(mates) Aill we need is one of these retarded fish to come up on a teaser and stare blankly at us for long enough to do it, somehow I think it will be much easier said then done >BTW I dont think you have to be a rocket scientest to drag plastic around and "fool" blue marlin into eating it, If your pulling stuff in the right area and their about you just take advantage of the fact that they eat stuff smaller then them

[mattooty]

Skillwise I've found spearfishing to be a totally different ball game to fishing. I've had nights where i can go out and regularly catch a good jew when they're in season because that live mullet out there is all on his own, but when ever I've seen a big jew in the wash with my gun they take one look and they're gone.
If you want to call a spearo a 'softy' then try jumping into 30m of water, diving down 20m, equalize and calm yourself into a static and sit there waiting for a spanish or big cobe. Then try shooting a moving target with a weapon that only has a range of 25m on a good day with the water slowing the spear down. Now come to the surface, apply your previously learned skills of calculating your bottom times
and work out how long before you can dive again and at what times.
Then after all this throw in a couple of whalers or bulls that are curiously swimming around you. Maybe shoot that cobe out from under one of them. Or that big GT under the bully.
Then you can call the spearo's softys.
Personally I find fishing a hell of a lot easier and I reap more rewards than spearing.

[Aeon]

here are some links

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegrap...001021,00.html

[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']http://www.fishing.net.nz/asp_forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=37258[/FONT]

Being somebody who spears as often as he fishes, I think this is a fantastic achievement. This is the first blue ever speared off NZ.... does that not indicate just how much of a challenge this presents.

You can devote a lifetime of learning to fishing and the same can be said for spearfishing. It's an extremely challenging and physical sport that should not be underestimated.

[Pistol_P]

I reckon if a spearo goes out to the shelf and jumps in at the drop and swims around till he sees, stalks , and spears a blue he's a bloody legend , and deserves heaps of credit!

Unfortuately this isn't what happens! They are bassed on a large boat that trolls teasers up and down until a fish is raised , once raised it's kept there with baits whilst the spearo jumps in , gun loaded! Baits are usually still being presented to the fish until BANG!!! The fish is hit for the first time then it becomes a waiting game hitting the fish with more spears when the oppertunity presents it's self!

Not really spearfishing as i know it, no great breath holds ( unless the marlin pulls you deep) No real stalking ( The skipper and boat do that )

Line fishermen are not without guilt in this area also! Take the ultra light attemps to catch blues for world records! Now catching a blue marlin on 2 and 3 kg line may sound impressive but is it really? Again the boat teasers in a fish a bait is presented and as the rules state once the leader leaves the rod tip the fish is deamed hooked and can be gaffed. Now the fish may not even realize its hook and may swim back up to the boat or the skipper may go back on the fish hard and the guy with the flying gaff has his shot! Not real sporting , very difficult to achieve mind you but not real sporting for the fish. Btw it's the skipper and the guy throwing the gaff that have the real skill in the operation all the angler is doing is holding the rod!

Fly fishing for marlin is abit the same , it's not really fly fishing the boat and crew are really doing the work !

ian

Ian does make a VERY good point.

Teasing up a marlin with lures and bait and keeping it there.....then jumping over the side and spearing it is another story...
Thats just not sport and no challenge in my opinion.

The guys that chase mackeral etc and stalk the fish and can hold their breaths for huge amounts of time in pursuit I will give credit too...They are super fit and there is skill in doing it this way only.

Pete

[Noelm]

so then, is teasing up a marlin then feeding it a fly, truly sporting in the true fly Fishing sense? is burleying heavily then setting up a Shark bait really sporting? don't think so, the act of teasing up a Marlin to spear, is no less sporting than using a teaser and switch baiting or anything else, it is just a means to get a shot at a Marlin with a speargun, there has been many speared while "free diving" but to get a trophy sized one needs help and tactics, whatever they maybe!

[finding_time]

Noel

I totally agree about fly fishing for marlin( see first post ) And although i can see why they do it , it's not what fly fishing is all about imho but some people will always want to achieve what they percieve is the apex in there sport. To me the ultimate in fly fishing is chasing big browns in crystal clear streams of NZ where the fish see you just as easily as you see them, one mistake and your stuffed!

I guess it's the same with spearfishing although again i can see why they do it, to me it's taken alot of the skill out of spearfishing where anyone with a little skill who can pay thousands for the boat for the day ( or several days) has a reasonable chance of sucess take that same bloke to a 30m reef and show him a 7 kg trout on the sand beside a bomie and he'll be usless!

I guess in alot of ways it the same as bill fishing where a rich bloke can catch all the fish he wants as he can pay for the best skippers and best crew , but for me the real skills in game fishing are shown by the deckies ( rigging and setting gear and handling big fish on the leader and gaff) and the skippers who make the boat do the work , any monkey can wind in a fish! But this is and what game fish has always been about ! It's not trying to be anything else! Small boat game fishermen excluded

Ian

Ps If you see a video of the marlin being speared i bet you dont see any of the lead up , you'll just see the spearo and the free swimming marlin, then the shot then the fight , then the typical end shot of the spearo cradling the fish on his way to the surface. A lone man and a large fish, they dont want to spoil that image with a pic of the large support crew and boat! It's a bit like that guy in NZ that catches large tuna from a small boat or jetski, he got a big boat beside him all day for support but the only time you see it is when the camera guy gets it wrong and you see it's shadow! Hardly a real solo man effort!!!

[kokomo]

There truly is not a huge leap from teasing a fish and presenting it with a livey or fly...

to jumping in and spearing it..

both are as hard as eatchother IMO..

spearo's take such a small % of fish it is not at all an issue..

sure there are the extremes in both spearing and line fisho's that drag everyone down with bad publicity.. take it how you see it and dont waste fish.. if you catch it EAT IT..

IF you think spearing is easy.. ill take you any day... I catch way more fish than i spear..
personally i prefer spearing as i love diving.. 90% of dive trips i return with nothing because i am very selective and am never chasing a 'feed'

[finding_time]

Kokomo

Mate i know some gun spearo and have done a fair bit of it over the years. I know how hard it is! One of the spearo's i know went to NZ for a spearing large tuna trip. He came home very very disapointed. They had burlied up plenty of large tuna then he got in a shot one from about 3.5 meters away and he was still on the surface after 15 min the fish was dead and at the back of the boat , he reckons the posing for photo's took alot longer than the fight. He was really disapointed with the trip and has little respect for blue water spearo's, as he reckons catching cray's in 20 feet is more difficult!


Ian

[kokomo]

yeah its true.. they had a good day.. and good days are good/easy

hard days are hard...

I fish and spear... love both.. prefer spearing for the visual aspect...

what ever makes you happy and as long as you show respect to the ocean..... dont plunder it.. dont waste fish
we should not care what others do IMO

[Custaro]

Anyone saying spearfishing is unsporting without ever trying it is ignorant. Just like fishing, you need to apply skill, fitness and knowledge. Spearing shits all over line fishing for being being a more environmentally friendly and sustainable approach. It is also make great excercise. Bloody hell!! Rudd could use this at the next ellection!!

As Ian said, you can apply common logic to why they use teasers. It would be a complete lottery by jumping over and hoping you see one. Either spearing or using fly for bluewater fish transforms fishing into a great team sport and 99% of the time, the bloke that gets all the glory is the weakest link in the team.

Good on em!!

[flyfisho]

I totally agree about fly fishing for marlin( see first post ) And although i can see why they do it , it's not what fly fishing is all about imho but some people will always want to achieve what they percieve is the apex in there sport. To me the ultimate in fly fishing is chasing big browns in crystal clear streams of NZ where the fish see you just as easily as you see them, one mistake and your stuffed!

And I also agree about teasing fish to the back of the boat not real sporting, however Fly fishing for Marlin isn't always like that. Not everyone knows that they are a target flats species in some areas, casting at free swimming Blacks that are up on the flats for one thing is bloody exciting and believe me they can see you as the water on this flat is crystal, if you can't put a 8 inch fly on its nose at around 80 - 100 ft in any direction in crappy wind conditions you will be stuffed. Now me personally I would rather sight fish blacks in QLD than chase spotted slugs in NZ , but hey thats my opinion.

Also I reckon anyone who jumps in around bait balls in bluewater just lost their place in the food chain, that in itself makes it sporting

This is a pic of a small Black sight fished on a flat in 6 feet of water, caught on a 10 weight rod. They go no where near as hard as a Longtail on the flat.

[nautical prince]

I spear fish and i have a lot to learn all i say is each to there own its still a form of hunting just like line fishing each takes skill. and a lot of it. Allso its leagal

[BARRAkid]

Who ever that guy was is a legend.... I have been spearfishing for a few years now but really getting into it over the last year when the water is clear enough.
It takes alot of skill anyone can spear a shellow reef where you dont need to freedive but alot of people put in the time and training so they can reach the debth.

good on him thats a good fish maybe some of use should try spearfishing your missing out on a great sport....

Owww and everyone talks about catch and release well you don't need to when spearfishing you shoot what you are going to eat not everyone shoots every fish they see alot of people including myself let alot of good fish swim past the gun

[Frank OO]

I used to do a lot of spear fishing and found it to be very exciting. I was also extremely fit.

Today:

I can't hold my breath for much more than 1.5 minutes,

I can't dive down to thirty meters

My body fat keeps me afloat

My ears almost explode in any depth below 15 meters.

If the guy is fit enough to spear a Marlin and hang on for 200 meters let alone 3000 meters, let him have a great time while he can.

Just think about the number of Marlin that die each year because of the long fights, tail wraps and fishermen who just want a feed.

Congratulate the boy for having the guts to pull the trigger.

Frank OO