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1.
Enter the water with your gun loaded. Bearing in mind
the legislation governing how close to another individual
(not engaged in Spearfishing) you may load your gun, and always
putting safety first, it's good policy when shore-diving to
have all of your float-line unwrapped and your gun loaded
before you enter the surf. Early on in my Spearfishing life
I missed several opportunities at Ignobilis and Dagga salmon
because my rope was still wrapped up around my barrel and
my gun wasn't loaded. Invariably the fish lost on these occasions
were specimen fish and were in the area where you just break
through the curtain of sandy churned-up water into the cleaner
calm water beyond.
2a. Shorten your float line. When in slightly deeper
water it is good practice to roll your float-line up in large
coils whilst breathing up between dives. These coils are to
be held in one hand; your gun in the other. The reason for
this is that when you descend, you release the coils and thus
have 20-30m of slack line, i.e. no resistance from your float.
The advantages are that you are always near your float and
are both able to protect your catch from sharky attention
and you are always very close to your flashers and able to
spot approaching fish. Another way to 'shorten' your line
is: when you ascend after a dive, try to arrive at the surface
a couple of metres away from your float and practice having
a really large loop in your line, horseshoe shaped, brought
on by the wind dragging your float away from your float. This
method is easier than coiling your line up but does restrict
you to following your float in the wind/current and often
drifting long distances. With the coiling method, a small
amount of resistance applied to your float may even halve
the speed of your drift.
2b. Shorten your float line. When returning to the
shore it's good practice to shorten your float line to a length
of about 4-5 metres. This will reduce the likelihood of your
being tangled in excess rope and will keep you in touch with
your float. It's important that your float is relatively close
to you when returning through surf so that your float is in
the same swell-cycle as you; i.e. the float isn't being sucked
backwards by a swell whilst you are being pushed forwards.
It can be tough enough to swim through surf without making
it more difficult for yourself.
3. Carry spares. Most spearos who have spent a lot
of time in the water have had their speargun-rubber pop whilst
at sea. This is obviously less of a problem for boat-divers
who are able to return to the boat to carry out repairs but
who still lose minutes of spearing time, and a major dilemma
for shore-divers as it often means at best a trip back to
the carpark, perhaps losing as much as an hour, or worse still;
an end to the days' diving. Some spearos carry a rigged spare
rubber attached to their float but this is both a real drag
(ha!) and the spare rubber is exposed to salt and sun, and
perishes.
The answer is simply to carry a meter or so of dyneema in
your wetsuit pocket or tucked under your sleeve, for the cases
when the dyneema has 'popped'. I carry a spare wishbone as
well, for when that throws in the towel. I have affected repairs
to my kit at sea, using my knife to insert the wishbone and
cut the dyneema. It isn't perfect but could save a dive. Sometimes
the conditions just won't wait for you to leave the water
and fix your kit.
4. Use flashers. Do we all use them? And if not, why
not? Not only do flashers attract pelagic's, they will often
manage to lift curious reefies from the bricks. Although commercially-made
flashers work they are often bulky and sometimes more hassle
than they are worth especially on a shore entry, home-made
flashers are simple to make and can be custom-built to suit
your diving style and environment. Seven or eight perspex
plates hanging from your float cause hardly any drag at all.
You could go about your usual reef-fishing and bugging dive
whilst virtually ignoring them if you choose. You may rest
assured however that any pelagic's will investigate a shoal
of bait-sized flashy things. In this sport it's all about
getting as close to the prey as possible or getting the prey
to come close to you. Use flashers!
5. Tie your mask down. How many of us have lost masks/snorkels
in surf? I read recently on the Salty-diver website that one
way to overcome this is to put the mask strap underneath the
hoody of the wetsuit. Another approach that I use is to stitch
a one inch ring of dyneema to my wetsuit in line with my right
collar bone. I then attach an eight inch piece of dyneema
to my mask's snorkel clip. On the other end of this dyneema
I attach a plastic carabiner-type clip which clips onto the
ring stitched to my wetsuit. In one winter I lost three masks
before wising up and employing this method. I'm a slow learner!
Masks aren't cheap and I've lost none since. Another advantage
is that you can afford to wear your mask really loose, increasing
your comfort and thus the length of time you spend in the
water.
Cheers,
Alan
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