Spearfishing Techniques ~ New Jersey Scuba Diving

Spearfishing Techniques

General

Most underwater hunting in New Jersey waters is done around some sort of structure. Surprise is often the key element to a successful hunt. "Get the drop" on a fish by rounding a corner or popping up over a wall while holding your breath. Don't use a light - this just spooks the fish. Instead, let your eyes adjust to the dark. This way you can see as well as they can, although they can still hear and feel you coming a mile away. Use your light only to peek into black holes, and keep one eye closed when you do, to avoid losing all dark adaptation.

Try to be the first person in the water. The fish will be in a relaxed and unworried state, and you will likely get the first one "for free". This is especially true if you are after trophy-sized Blackfish. Whether or not you score on your first shot, after that all the fish in the area will be spooked. This is because they produce "fear scents" - chemical excretions that warn other fish that there is danger. If you make a kill, you will put blood in the water, which is even worse. So make that first shot count. On the other hand, sometimes the scent of blood will bring in more fish, such as greedy Sea Bass, although more often just Cunners.

If you can't be the first one in the water, try to be the last. Sometimes, you can use the other divers as "beaters" to drive the fish to some distant part of the wreck. This technique works well on large broken-up wrecks such as the Mohawk, but you must take extra care not to get lost. On smaller intact wrecks, previous divers will have driven the fish either inside the wreck or off to something else nearby, such as an APC in the reef. Start looking in holes.

Another hunting technique is to use bait. Smash a pile of mussels, and then back away to the limit of visibility. Small fish will come in immediately for the free meal, and the commotion may draw in the big ones. Do this in several locations, and move between them.

Different fish react differently to being speared. Sea Bass will often just stiffen up, as will Bluefish. Monkfish are fairly placid if hit correctly, but flounders usually put up some fight. Blackfish almost always go into a violent frenzy of thrashing and spinning. Ling also tend to thrash. If you don't act quickly, these fishes will tear themselves apart, get off the spear, and dart away to die. I always feel bad when this happens, although the dead fish will serve as food for others to grow on, and so is not a total loss. You must expect a certain percentage of your hits to get away like this, but there are ways ( see below ) to minimize the losses.

Get your catch on ice as soon you get back to the boat and then clean it as soon as possible after getting back to port.

Pole Spear

With a polespear, you must be pretty close to your target to hit it accurately and with enough power to make a kill. Four to five feet is the outside limit. You may score an occasional long-range hit, but these often simply glance off harmlessly, especially if you are after Blackfish. Aiming a pole spear is simply a matter of practice. At first, you may not be able to hit anything, as you are basically shooting from the hip, and parallax in the water is different from parallax in the air. Fortunately, since a pole spear never leaves your hand, it is often possible to reload and try again on the same fish!

Once you've scored a hit, immediately pin the fish up against something solid, driving the points of the spear through it so that there is no way it can escape, no matter how it thrashes. Slip your thumb out of the bungee loop, and slide your hand up the shaft of the spear, keeping the fish pinned until you can get your hands on it. Don't try to pull the fish to you. Get your catch bag out, and bring it down to where you are keeping the fish pinned. Get a good grip on the fish, and shove it head-first, spear and all, into your bag. Close the bag around the spear, and pull it out. The barbs of a paralyzer are small enough to pull right out.

It is tiring to carry a fully-cocked pole spear for any period of time, and also difficult to aim one quickly with just one hand. The length of the spear behind you makes it swing very slowly onto target. Sometimes you can guide the back end of the spear with your foot, but this is effective only for a limited firing arc.

A better way is to carry your spear cross-wise in front of you with both hands: your right hand with your thumb in the bungee loop, perhaps slightly tensioned, and your left hand near the spear point ( reverse for lefties. ) You can swim around looking for fish this way with virtually no effort. When a target is found, push the spear to the cocked position with your left hand, while simultaneously swinging the spear onto the target with both hands. With a little practice, you can aim and fire very quickly. Another advantage of this method is safe, since the spear is carried in an uncocked state most of the time, with the dangerous end pointed in a relatively harmless direction. Carry your catch bag in your left hand as you hunt, so it is ready for immediate use.

Pole spears are great for shooting fish in enclosed spaces. Many fish like to hide in holes and crevices, such as the gap beneath the hull of a shipwreck or hull plate. You can often get these fish simply by jabbing at them without the elastic band. The difficult part is pulling them out of the hole without having them get off. This is why a barbed spear point is essential. Also, try for a solid head shot, and be sure to plant the points very firmly in the fish. If there is room enough, try swinging the fish out sideways rather than pulling it straight out.

Speargun

Right: UK SL4 light mounted to JBL speargun for night hunting. Mostly, this just scares the fish away.

If you can be the first and/or only person in the water, load your gun on the way down the anchor line, so you will be completely ready when you reach the wreck. Do not load a speargun while descending the anchor line if there is a possibility of other divers ascending it at the same time. Pulling the bands onto a speargun is probably the most dangerous time of all, when a slip of the hand might accidentally fire the gun. You can often get a big Blackfish within seconds of hitting the bottom if you are prepared.

I have found that there are two reliable ways to aim a speargun. Either hold it up to eye level and sight carefully down the shaft for a long shot, or put it up point blank to your target and fire. Most fishes, especially large ones, are not cooperative with the second method.

After scoring a hit, drop the gun immediately, swim to the fish and pin it down. If you try to pull a struggling fish to you with the shock line, 99% of the time it will work itself free and you will lose it. Get a solid grip on the fish, and shove it into your bag. Removing a barbed spear point is more complicated than a paralyzer: you have to push it through the fish and then fold the barbs down and pull it back out. If the fish is already in the bag, there is much less chance of losing it while you fuss with the mechanicals.

Many spearguns are nose-heavy, and can be tiring to carry in firing position. You can prop it up on your free hand, but take care not to get entangled in the shock cord when your fire. The light in the picture above makes a handy grip as well. Carry your catch bag in your free hand, or clip it to the gun, so it will be readily accessible. Since spearguns have such a low rate of fire, you really must look for trophy-sized fish to shoot if you expect the endeavor to be worthwhile. In fact, with a powerful gun, some smaller fishes like ling may simply burst when you hit them.

Spearfishing

Most folks catch fish with hook and line. A successful fisherman combines skill, knowledge, and experience with a good deal of luck to essentially trick a fish into catching itself. If the fish won't bite, you go home empty-handed. However, scuba divers have a much more dynamic method available to them - spearfishing. Spearfishing is more akin to hunting than to hook and line fishing: rather than relying on a convincingly presented bait or lure, the spearfisherman enters the environment of his quarry and pursues it on its own terms.

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Pete Nawrocky is a photographer specializing in the underwater environment of the Northeastern United States. Pete's work has been published in numerous books and magazines, including Skin Diver and Underwater USA, and he is currently a staff writer for the Northeast Dive Journal. Pete has also received the Beneath the Sea Diver of the Year award, and the NAUI Outstanding Contributor to Sport Diving award.

Atlantic Rock Crab - Cancer irroratus

Crabs are carnivorous and typically walk on the sea floor. Their habitat ranges from the deep sea up to shallow water, along the shore, and sometimes well inland. The Atlantic Rock Crab is found on rocky or sandy bottoms at depths from the low-tide line to depths of 2600 feet (780m). Although these crabs were once regarded as pests by lobstermen, as they will enter lobster pots and steal bait, the rise in seafood prices has made the crabs a profitable catch as well.

Northern Sea Robin - Prionotus carolinus

The Northern Sea Robin, which grows to 17 inches in length, inhabits waters off most of the eastern coast of North America, migrating south and offshore during the winter. These fish are bottom-dwellers, feeding on various crustaceans, bivalves, squid, and other fish. Sea Robins can be recognized by the large head, broad mouth, spiny dorsal fin, and wing-like pectoral fins.

Sea Gooseberry - Pleurobrachia pileus

This tiny comb jelly is only about an inch across, but its retractable tentacles can extend over twenty times its body length to snare microscopic food organisms. Comb jellies are noted for their sometimes spectacular luminescence, which is produced by glandular structures near the radial digestive canals. Sea Gooseberries, which unlike most jellyfish do not sting, can be found drifting near shore from Maine to Florida and Texas. Another comb jelly, P. bachei is found from Alaska to Baja California on the Pacific coast, and is indistinguishable from P. pileus outside of the laboratory.

Atlantic Purple Sea Urchin - Arbacia punctulata

This omnivorous species, found on rock or shell bottoms from low-tide line to water 750′ (229m) deep, will eat anything from algae, sponges, and coral polyps, to mussels, sand dollars, even dead or dying urchins or other animals. Sea urchins carry fascinating tiny grooming organs between their spines. These organs, once thought to be parasites, are actually just the opposite: an integral part of the animal which keeps the echinoderm’s surface free from other animal or plant organisms.

Tubularian (Pink Hearted) Hydroid - Tubilaria crocea

This is not a plant, but an animal which attaches itself to nearly any solid object continuously submerged in shallow water. Single pink polyps, each up to 5″ high, combine to form a colony over a foot wide. Individual members of the colony become specialized to perform specific tasks, from eating to defending the colony. This species is found on the east coast from Nova Scotia to Cape Hatteras, and from Washington to California in the west.

Northern Red Anemone and Frilled Anemone
Tealia crassicornis and Metridium senile

The similarities between anemones and their relatives, the corals and the jellyfish, are not hard to see. All spend part, if not all of their lives as polyps anchored to the sea floor or other surface, and most employ stinging cells, or nematocysts, to subdue prey.

Both of these anemones are found in northern waters on the east and west US coasts. The Northern Red Anemone can grow to 5″ high and 3″ wide with a hundred tentacles arranged in rings around the mouth. The Frilled Anemone, which can grow to a height of 18″, may have as many as a thousand slender tentacles which give it the frilled appearance. These anemones can reproduce either sexually or asexually, the latter being accomplished by leaving behind, as they creep over a surface, bits of tissue which regenerate into complete organisms.

Goosefish - Lophius piscatorius

This angler fish is a large bottom-dweller, reaching lengths of up to six feet in depths to 1,800 feet (550m). Lophius are voracious eaters, attracting prey with a modified dorsal fin which acts as a “fishing lure.” They have been known to eat a wide variety of fish, turtles, invertebrates, and even birds. Fishermen comment that the goosefish usually comes up in a trawl with a full belly, having gorged itself on its fellow captives. The appearance of this fish belies the delicately flavored flesh, which is popular in Europe.

Blue Mussels - Mytilus edulis

The edible Blue Mussel is usually found in dense masses attached to rocks, pilings, or nearly any solid object between low- and high-tide lines. These mussels grow to 4″ long and feed on nutrients filtered out of the water which passes into and out of the mantle cavity through the frilled siphons. Breathing also occurs as this stream of water passes over the creature’s gills.

Northern Stony Coral - Astrangia danae

The beautiful reefs of tropical locations are not actually living creatures at all, but are built up of the skeletons left behind by hard or stony corals and encrusting algaes. The Northern Stony Coral is the only shallow-water species of stony coral found north of Cape Hatteras. It is pinkish to white in color, and found attached to rocks or shells in water to 135′ deep.

Black Sea Bass - Centropristes striata

A favorite prize of spearfishing SCUBA divers, the Black Sea Bass is an important food fish throughout the mid-Atlantic states. Growing to 24″ in length, this fish is found from Maine to Florida, usually over rocks and around jetties, pilings, and wrecks.

Ocean Sunfish - Mola mola

Perhaps the strangest in appearance of all local fishes, the Ocean Sunfish with its large dorsal fin is probably responsible for more than a few “shark” sightings at sea. The caudal (tail) fin of the Mola mola is reduced to a short flap, with the dorsal and anal fins used like oars for propulsion. This fish can weigh well over a ton and measure up to 13 feet in length. They are found in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and feed on jellyfishes and other small, soft items.

Sea Star - Asterias forbesi

The Common Sea Star is a familiar sight to any north Atlantic wreck diver. Found on rock, sand, or gravel bottoms from the low-tide line to depths of 160′, this creature can grow to over 10 inches across. This Sea Star feeds mainly on bivalve mollusks, by pulling the valves open just far enough to slip a piece of its stomach inside ( it only needs a tiny space of 1/250″. ) It then secretes digestive juices which begin to consume the mollusk’s soft tissues, and finishes the meal once the bivalve’s shell opens as it dies.

Sea Raven - Hemitripterus americanus

The Sea Raven has the unusual ability to pump itself up like a balloon when removed from the water. If it is thrown back again, it first floats helplessly on the surface, then returns to normal as it lets the air back out again. This fish is often used as bait for lobster, though some claim that it tastes good. The Sea Raven is found along the Atlantic coast of the US, and grows to over two feet in length.

If you are a New Jersey diver, we hope we’ve helped you become better acquainted with the creatures you see on your dives. If you’re not, we hope that we have shown you a little of what New Jersey diving has to offer.

Original NJScuba website by Tracy Baker Wagner 1994-1996

From way back when in 1996

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